Med school more boring than expected?

[unsung]

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Well, it's not like I expected it to be this tremendous intellectual journey. I knew going in there would be a lot of rote memorization.

Nevertheless, I have to say I never imagined MSI to be quite THIS dry and odious. I thought Gross Anatomy was bad. Now that we're done with that block and into some other blocks, I'm reminiscing about the good old days of anatomy.

I mean, despite all the hype beforehand (and angst during), I actually kind of enjoyed head & neck (extremities was a total nightmare). Now on to the hard science stuff... right? Except there's barely any thinking involved. The material is dull as ____.

The ONLY class I'm maybe looking forward to is physiology.... and I won't get to take that until a long long time later.

Another thing I did not anticipate before starting med school was how BIG of a difference a systems-based approach vs regional-based approach would make in terms of my personal learning and level of satisfaction. Our anatomy was region based and that made things endlessly and needlessly confusing/complicated. I think if our curriculum were organized by system, I would get so much more out of it. I'm such a relationships kind of learner, and everything about the way I'm being taught is contrary to the way I learn.

I know some of you are going to wonder how clinically relevant our curriculum has (with the thought that more clinical correlations = more interest). And the odd thing about that (quite reasonable) thought is... we actually have a fair amount of clinical stuff embedded into our curriculum. The problem with that is, it goes totally over my head. I mean, with the amount of knowledge that I have, I don't feel that I'm able to appreciate the material being presented at this point in time. (It's more of a "show and tell" kind of thing, rather than something we're supposed to actually take in fully.) Consequently, I just feel like speculating on those clinical cases is a pure waste of time. I end up frustrated and wishing I could be spending the time studying stuff I'm actually really expected to master at the present time. (I know I'm in the minority on this point though... as many of my classmates appear to enjoy speculating and putting their 2 cents in on these cases, despite lacking any of the necessary background knowledge to give educated guesses... lol)

Just wondering if anyone can relate, I guess. I honestly don't mean to sound whiny. Again, I know med school is supposed to be about memorization, supposed to have lots of dry info, etc.

...I guess I just did not expect things to be quite THIS miserable. What makes it worse is that others appear to be ENJOYING this crap.

And the question that follows is of course... when does it get better? Does it get better? Is it a matter of my curriculum or my learning style? Can I adjust my style? (I guess I have to.)

 

[MSSM2013]

it's not just a lot of memorization, it's ALL memorization, except the examines, which takes thinking.

 

[DrYoda]

Yep, class and the material are boring. That's why you gotta cram as much entertainment into your free time as possible.

 

[RySerr21]

i'm havin fun!

 

[ZagDoc]

Just hold out for MS3 and beyond. The book learning is dull, but the clinical experience is the real juicy stuff.

 

[bad virus]

Just hold out for MS3 and beyond. The book learning is dull, but the clinical experience is the real juicy stuff.

Really? Thanks, I will keep that as the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[bad virus]

Snip

Wow, I totally feel you and thanks for doing my bitching for me . . .

 

[xanthomondo]

OP I think everyone feels that way.

I think even MS2>>>>>>>>MS1. Unfortunately without that dull basic science background it would be impossible to build on. Its something that sucks but needs to be done.

I can't comment on your regional based curriculum, though. Hopefully when you review/ your second time around studying it (for the boards, or whatever) you can organize it in a way that's best for you and you can get a lot of that.

 

[Bonesaw45]

I don't know how much I agree with MS2>>>>>>MS1. How many more damned tumors that aren't that different but aren't that alike am I going to have to learn, same thing with the bacteria. If the devil is in the details the first two years of med school is hell, because the details are all over the damn place.

 

[YouAreAwesome]

Stop going to lectures. That's helped me out a lot.

 

[ZagDoc]

I don't know how much I agree with MS2>>>>>>MS1. How many more damned tumors that aren't that different but aren't that alike am I going to have to learn, same thing with the bacteria. If the devil is in the details the first two years of med school is hell, because the details are all over the damn place.

The problem with the first two years of med school is they lack context. Sure, there's "clinical vignettes" or whatever.

But when the difference between those "damned tumors that aren't that different but aren't that alike" means the difference between telling a patient they have a 90% chance of seeing their grandchild graduate high school versus a palliative care referral and a realistic discussion on chemotherapy, the differences sink in in a hurry. When the difference between bacteria means the patient discharges on oral antibiotics versus carrying around an IV antibiotics pack for a month, the differences sink in. That's how you'll learn everything from here on out. I know I didn't know workup and management of a PE until I had a patient die of one.

But yeah, the first two years are supposed to give you the foundation to get to that point. Third year and beyond are supposed to be focused on learning clinical management... you don't have room for that until you learn the basic sciences.

 

[funkydrmonkey]

What keeps me motivated is thinking that if I learn/memorize this then I will not miss a diagnosis and will actually be able to figure out what the patient has, and I will be a competent doctor... either that or I have been watching too much House/ Grey's...😳

 

[unsung]

Well, thanks guys, I do feel better. I think I was just shell-shocked after anatomy. It was kind of a zero transition deal into the hard sciences...

Yes, it's boring, but on the up side, I certainly have a lot more "free" time now that anatomy is over to study at my leisure. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use that time (and where attending lectures fits into that 😉). We shall see.

Lippincott's does rock. You guys are awesome and wise for suggesting it. Again, I guess I really won't know how things go until after that first slew of tests... but I'm feeling optimistic at the moment. I think it was just sitting in hours of lecture all of a sudden that sank me down like an anchor.

Studying by myself is actually something I can handle... I hope it won't come back to haunt me, however.

 

[deleted263296]

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[Dnestr]

Stop going to lectures. That's helped me out a lot.

/agree 100%. My grades went up as soon as I stopped going to class.

 

[NRAI2001]

I hated anatomy..and most of MS1 (besides physio and bits of neuro).

MS2 is much better IMHO... not easy, but very interesting (yes even micro)

 

[Ableton]

MS1 is a snoozefest. MS2 is purgatory that may or may not be intellectually stimulating.

 

[engineeredout]

Thus far I'm way happier than I would have been if I was working as an engineer right now. Way poorer, but definitely happier.

 

[ILikeFood]

Who cares? Show me the hoop and I'll jump through it.

 

[xanthomondo]

I think my basic science years are extremely dull and I hate them mainly because of poor teaching. I'm holding out for something better. Actually, I just think it's pharmacology, the worst of all subjects, overshadowing everything else. Anything positive pales in comparison to how boring and tedious pharmacology is.

Pharm is actually one of my favorite classes. It is a ton of memorization, but when patients list their meds and you can actually know what they're taking, what conditions they probably have, etc it's pretty cool.

Rather than just memorization like what IL-1 does, IL-2, etc.

 

[deleted263296]

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