MD MD Class of 2022 How we feeling?

[moequestions]

It seems like August will be here in no time and I'm having mixed feelings!

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[Frogger27]

Run while you still can

 

[shisong]

studying for boards. I realized that grass was greener before medical school. Truly green.

 

[892002]

I'm excited! I ordered a copy of First-Aid today for some summer pre-studying...maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic?

 

[RockMcat520]

I'm excited! I ordered a copy of First-Aid today for some summer pre-studying...maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic?

Seriously?

 

[shisong]

I'm excited! I ordered a copy of First-Aid today for some summer pre-studying...maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic?

that's the path to gunnerism. don't join the dark side!

 

[892002]

I'm planning to just skim through it; definitely not reading the whole thing. A friend of mine did the same and found it really helpful. Not planning to spend too much time on this though. 1-2 days max

 

[chaim123]

I'm planning to just skim through it; definitely not reading the whole thing. A friend of mine did the same and found it really helpful. Not planning to spend too much time on this though. 1-2 days max

You do know that's a USMLE prep book, right? And that you have two years until that exam, right?

 

[deleted861396]

i'm making memes

I'm excited! I ordered a copy of First-Aid today for some summer pre-studying...maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic?

tbh you're better off just skimming through the first unit or reviewing the basics that you'll need for like gross anatomy, or whatever course you're going to be taking day 1.

 

[RockMcat520]

I have been looking through different resources such as Pathoma, B&B, Sketchy, etc...

 

[SuaveCardigans]

Been doing the things I wont have time for in school, ie drinking, working out and reading for pleasure.

Plan on showing up hungover, in shape and unprepared.

 

[Avada Cadaver]

I wanted to do something fun and exciting before school started, till I realized I spent all my monies on the application process. I'm quitting my research position at the end of the month to spend the month of June being a lazy good for nothing. Moving home in July to spend time with my family before heading to school (and hopefully return to sunny CA in 2022).

 

[Frogger27]

Please don't look at First Aid or any other resources... Go get drunk with your friends instead

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

Taking the summer off for once. Laying at the pool, drinking Margs, and volunteering before restarting the grind.

 

[DO2015CA]

studying for boards. I realized that grass was greener before medical school. Truly green.

Life becomes green again after step 1

 

[DO2015CA]

Been doing the things I wont have time for in school, ie drinking, working out and reading for pleasure.

Plan on showing up hungover, in shape and unprepared.

You’ll definitely have time for drinking after every block.

 

[honey0102]

I'm planning to just skim through it; definitely not reading the whole thing. A friend of mine did the same and found it really helpful. Not planning to spend too much time on this though. 1-2 days max

I think that's a good idea. I know a lot of people will say not to study at all the summer before, and to each their own. But personally, I was someone who came to med school straight out of college. No Master's Program, no SMP, no post-bacc. That meant I didn't have advanced coursework in physio or biochem past what was needed in undergrad/for the MCAT. I felt like I had to work much harder in medical school than some of my classmates for this reason. I was still able to do fine-but it took a lot of work and I just felt really stressed knowing so many others were ahead of me.
First Aid Biochem is great. I'd highly recommend it

 

[wanderingorion]

I'm excited! I ordered a copy of First-Aid today for some summer pre-studying...maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic?

I did that and haven't touched it this whole year. And we're going to the same school, haha

 

[wanderingorion]

i'm making memes
tbh you're better off just skimming through the first unit or reviewing the basics that you'll need for like gross anatomy, or whatever course you're going to be taking day 1.

While pre-studying would help a little, it's better to just spend your time relaxing and enjoying your time. There's plenty of time to learn all that stuff. It's your actual last summer, not after M1, haha

 

[deleted861396]

While pre-studying would help a little, it's better to just spend your time relaxing and enjoying your time. There's plenty of time to learn all that stuff. It's your actual last summer, not after M1, haha

o definitely, I was just assuming she still wanted to work her brain over the summer. I for one am totally ok with letting mine atrophy until August.

 

[JermanH]

I'm PUMPED! Bring it ON MED SCHOOL!!

 

[DO2015CA]

I think that's a good idea. I know a lot of people will say not to study at all the summer before, and to each their own. But personally, I was someone who came to med school straight out of college. No Master's Program, no SMP, no post-bacc. That meant I didn't have advanced coursework in physio or biochem past what was needed in undergrad/for the MCAT. I felt like I had to work much harder in medical school than some of my classmates for this reason. I was still able to do fine-but it took a lot of work and I just felt really stressed knowing so many others were ahead of me.
First Aid Biochem is great. I'd highly recommend it

The burnout though. Plus you don’t know what’s high yield so you’ll study useless stuff. Like you said you were fine, everyone struggles no matter what they portray to the public

 

[Ho0v-man]

For gods sake please dont pre-study. Enjoy you’re freedom. Studying first aid right now would be like reading a kaplan mcat book in high school. Pretty useless. I know you guys are still at a point where learning is great and all, but you’re about to start a whole different kind of grind. I’d give anything to make this pain stop right now. Don’t start the pain sooner.

 

[MareNostrummm]

For gods sake please dont pre-study. Enjoy you’re freedom. Studying first aid right now would be like reading a kaplan mcat book in high school. Pretty useless. I know you guys are still at a point where learning is great and all, but you’re about to start a whole different kind of grind. I’d give anything to make this pain stop right now. Don’t start the pain sooner.

But if you start the pain now... that means less pain later?

 

[honey0102]

But if you start the pain now... that means less pain later?

I would agree with this.
If you study First Aid, that is high yield material-I know this from experience after taking some med school classes

 

[MareNostrummm]

I would agree with this.
If you study First Aid, that is high yield material-I know this from experience after taking some med school classes

Should I get the hard copy or kindle edition so I can study on my phone?

 

[Ho0v-man]

But if you start the pain now... that means less pain later?

It really won’t. I know it seems like it will. It would be like trying to memorize kaplan review books prior starting college. If you’re like most people, you had to change study methods at the beginning of college bc what worked in HS wasn’t going to cut it, right? You might only remember that vaguely. This fall will be a much bigger adjustment. You’re first semester final exam will make the mcat look like a joke. It would take a lot of time to get any real returns out of what you’re suggesting and you’re never going to have as much freedom as you have right now. I know that feels weird right now bc everything has been about getting in and then once you finally do you’re just supposed sit around and wait.

If you feel like you just have to do something, I’d do sketchy micro. Anybody could learn that stuff with essentially no science background. Much better use of your time.

 

[DO2015CA]

But if you start the pain now... that means less pain later?

Negatory ghost rider. As stated above, FA is a skeleton and essentially a book full of objectives/bullet points. Know all of the book by the time you take step 1. You also have no foundation to build on.

If you don’t feel like getting drunk or chasing girls then do sketchy. Sketchy is the only thing remotely helpful. Watch it but don’t take notes. That way it’ll be familiar during a second pass.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

But if you start the pain now... that means less pain later?

false

 

[Lannister]

Negatory ghost rider. As stated above, FA is a skeleton and essentially a book full of objectives/bullet points. Know all of the book by the time you take step 1. You also have no foundation to build on.

Yeah I was gonna say, you're not going to understand anything in First Aid unless you've already learned the material in class. First Aid is just a list of facts, it's not going to explain things to you.

 

[Lawpy]

Reading through First Aid before medical school starts is probably the least efficient way to "pre-study." It's even a horrible way to study when you are actually IN medical school. If you want to be a gunner, do it right.

- Watch Pathoma chapters 1-3
- Watch any Anatomy related Boards and Beyond videos
- Watch Boards and Beyond Biochemistry videos
- Complete pass through sketchy micro if super ambitious
- Do associated flashcards in Firecracker,Zanki, or whatever other SRS you desire.

* I didn't do any of these things. Got trashed in foreign countries the last two months before starting and did just dandy as an M1.

What about simply getting a subscription for Boards and Beyond videos and watching things related to the prereqs as a refresher for more advanced stuff? I guess biochemistry closely fits that category. iirc Boards/Beyond seems to be the video version of First Aid and personally it's better to watch videos actively than reading a review book.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

But if you start the pain now... that means less pain later?

Lol...... no.

I would agree with this.
If you study First Aid, that is high yield material-I know this from experience after taking some med school classes

“I would agree” lol..... how would you know? Taking some med school classes doesn’t mean you understand med school. First Aid is a review book. That’s it. You can’t review something if you haven’t learned it first.

What about simply getting a subscription for Boards and Beyond videos and watching things related to the prereqs as a refresher for more advanced stuff? I guess biochemistry closely fits that category. iirc Boards/Beyond seems to be the video version of First Aid and personally it's better to watch videos actively than reading a review book.

Boards and Beyond is probably the best way to do it, but it’s still not going to really help. Pre-studying really isn’t helpful at all. The most effective way to “pre-study” is to have taken classes in upper level sciences in stuff that you take as a med student like micro, molecular, Biochem, physiology, etc.

 

[theonlytycrane]

If you all don't memorize FA and have pubs before August you'll be behind.

But really, just chill. Or don't and be that person who raises their hand on the first day of orientation and asks "when should I start studying for step 1?"

The first 6 months are just about surviving anatomy, scoping out some cuties, and adjusting to your routine. After that you can go 100% gunner mode (if you still want to) and have a better idea of how to actually go about this (depending on your curriculum / commitments).

 

[Lawpy]

Boards and Beyond is probably the best way to do it, but it’s still not going to really help. Pre-studying really isn’t helpful at all. The most effective way to “pre-study” is to have taken classes in upper level sciences in stuff that you take as a med student like micro, molecular, Biochem, physiology, etc.

what about for those who took those courses long ago but forgot the information? same goes for forgetting all the stuff studied for the MCAT? I'm not advocating for pre-studying but I'm looking for ways to get a refresher on forgotten concepts before school starts. people usually say that first semester is the most difficult to adjust to since it requires getting used to studying again and finding right ways to study.

so i was thinking getting a Boards and Beyond subscription and familiarizing with Anki should be more than sufficient.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

what about for those who took those courses long ago but forgot the information? same goes for forgetting all the stuff studied for the MCAT? I'm not advocating for pre-studying but I'm looking for ways to get a refresher on forgotten concepts before school starts. people usually say that first semester is the most difficult to adjust to since it requires getting used to studying again and finding right ways to study.

so i was thinking getting a Boards and Beyond subscription and familiarizing with Anki should be more than sufficient.

Honestly you will be surprised at how much you actually remember once things get going. I would 100% familiarize yourself with how to use Anki effectively, but I really wouldn’t watch any videos or study anything. We really aren’t kidding when we say it won’t help.

 

[DO2015CA]

what about for those who took those courses long ago but forgot the information? same goes for forgetting all the stuff studied for the MCAT? I'm not advocating for pre-studying but I'm looking for ways to get a refresher on forgotten concepts before school starts. people usually say that first semester is the most difficult to adjust to since it requires getting used to studying again and finding right ways to study.

so i was thinking getting a Boards and Beyond subscription and familiarizing with Anki should be more than sufficient.

Learning how to use anki will be the best thing you could do to prestudy but that’s it.

An analogy people use to talk about medschool is drinking from a firehose. Would drinking a couple glasses of water prior to starting med school help you drink from the fire hose better? Noooo because you are still going to have to drink. Might as well wait so you don’t fill up before starting the grind.

 

[Melchizedek]

Gunnaz gonna gun

No but seriously for everyone trying to convince people to stop pre-studying, I am fully with you that it’s a naive notion (for multiple reasons that have already been stated). We can say it til we’re blue in the face, but the gunners aren’t gonna hear it or be convinced.

Just come back to this thread in two years when they realize how overzealous and ridiculous they all sound.

 

[787593]

You’ll definitely have time for drinking after every block.

So true

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I'm going to consider learning the basics of Anki in case I want to explore Zanki.

Other than that, I'm getting ~9-10 hours of sleep/night while I still can, hiking as much as possible, reading some books, and hella Netflix/Westworld.

 

[Dr. Scribe]

that's the path to gunnerism. don't join the dark side!

Reading through First Aid before medical school starts is probably the least efficient way to "pre-study." It's even a horrible way to study when you are actually IN medical school. If you want to be a gunner, do it right.

- Watch Pathoma chapters 1-3
- Watch any Anatomy related Boards and Beyond videos
- Watch Boards and Beyond Biochemistry videos
- Complete pass through sketchy micro if super ambitious
- Do associated flashcards in Firecracker,Zanki, or whatever other SRS you desire.

* I didn't do any of these things. Got trashed in foreign countries the last two months before starting and did just dandy as an M1.

Gunnaz gonna gun

No but seriously for everyone trying to convince people to stop pre-studying, I am fully with you that it’s a naive notion (for multiple reasons that have already been stated). We can say it til we’re blue in the face, but the gunners aren’t gonna hear it or be convinced.

Just come back to this thread in two years when they realize how overzealous and ridiculous they all sound.

Guys, working harder and for a longer period of time than one's peers does NOT make one a gunner. Someone isn't a gunner unless he/she goes out of his/her way to hurt someone else's performance.

 

[MareNostrummm]

Guys, working harder and for a longer period of time than one's peers does NOT make one a gunner. Someone isn't a gunner unless he/she goes out of his/her way to hurt someone else's performance.

But if you're tryharding then you make them look bad, so that hurts them mentally and emotionally.

 

[MareNostrummm]

I can't tell if this is a serious post or not..

It's up to interpretation.

 

[NeurologyHopeful2018]

Life becomes green again after step 1

....or becomes green again after match day (if you match)

 

[RTD]

I am taking my first USMLE practice test next week.

 

[GoldPressedLatinum]

Try to stay fit, do all the fun things in my city that I haven’t done yet and continue failing at learning Spanish.

 

[SuaveCardigans]

Try to stay fit, do all the fun things in my city that I haven’t done yet and continue failing at learning Spanish.

look up “slow news in spanish”

definitely my favorite free online resource, and i am already pretty fluent

 

[Melchizedek]

Try to stay fit, do all the fun things in my city that I haven’t done yet and continue failing at learning Spanish.

look up “slow news in spanish”

definitely my favorite free online resource, and i am already pretty fluent

I’ve been using duolingo and it’s pretty good at helping you retain the topics you learn. The only weakness is that you have to be diligent about using the app at least an hour a day. I’ve been traveling this month so I haven’t been sticking to it.

 

[honey0102]

Lol...... no.



“I would agree” lol..... how would you know? Taking some med school classes doesn’t mean you understand med school. First Aid is a review book. That’s it. You can’t review something if you haven’t learned it first.



Boards and Beyond is probably the best way to do it, but it’s still not going to really help. Pre-studying really isn’t helpful at all. The most effective way to “pre-study” is to have taken classes in upper level sciences in stuff that you take as a med student like micro, molecular, Biochem, physiology, etc.

What do you mean? I'm finishing my first year of medical school, and so one half of the pre clinical curriculum...I understand how it works.
I agree, if you haven't learned something you probably don't want to be reviewing it. So things like Cellular Medicine or Neuro for example, in fact most organ systems, are probably best left until school starts.
I specifically am talking about Biochem because it's something most people take in college so reviewing it in FA is more like building on what you know already than starting all over.

 

[honey0102]

Should I get the hard copy or kindle edition so I can study on my phone?

Personally I liked the hard copy better. I liked to sit at a desk and write out biochem pathways

 

[bigindian4891]

For you guys pre-studying, please come back in a year and re-evaluate. You're going to regret "studying" during the time when you could have been getting refreshed for the grind.