Now that we've started as MS1s...

[spumoni620]

I've recognized a few things:

1. My brain can hold an incredible amount of information. And sometimes, not enough. I wish it could hold more, though.

2. When you're used to doing well in college, it's hard to retrain your mind to shoot for something less than a perfect score. but if you want to preserve your sanity and well-being, it's necessary to learn how - and go into tests realizing you can't, and will never, learn everything.

3. My class is cool, awesome, and all that - but what does "class-bonding" really mean? still trying to find out here...

4. If one doesn't go to lectures, it's very easy to 1) become socially isolated and 2) waste time sleeping in, doing laundry, watching tv, etc.

5. However, going to lecture when you have no idea what info is about to be presented is as essentially as useful as sleeping in (perhaps less, because you at least get an extra hour's sleep...). i still have to find a good strategy...

6. Thank GOD for STREAMING VIDEO LECTURES. best invention since sliced bread.

7. it's scary how many times i've thought in the past few weeks whether i made the right decision in coming here and to medical school in general...but surprise, it seems like i'm not the only one.
7a) hanging around classmates who are constantly negative about medical school is a BAD THING. stay away, stay far, far away unless you want to be plagued by doubt, depression, and mental anguish.

8. my classmates are DAMN smart. i've never been surrounded by so many smart people at once. (deep breath).

9. Following (8), i have to consciously accept my limits, my level of intelligence, suck it up and try to do my best.

10. it's easy to get buried in academics, but to stay grounded and well, it's key to make family, non-medschool friends, hobbies, and volunteering an equally essential part of life. still working on this one.

11. i miss the carefree days of mind-numbing work, surfing sdn aimlessly, having multiple pm's to reply to every day, and my ol' sdn "buddies". but life goes on. maybe one day this new life will become second nature (but not right now...)

12. I'm still glad i'm in medical school, and at this point it's still an adventure more than torture .

other thoughts? oops, i didn't even get to anatomy yet....maybe later - the study break has ended...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DW]

you've got a good perspective on it

don't sweat "class bonding" too much. you're going to meet some people in your class you love, some you hate. you can't control how well your class meshes. if you guys party all the time together, thats wonderful...if not, who cares?

doing chores during lecture is not a waste of time!

 

[susannaQ]

7a) hanging around classmates who are constantly negative about medical school is a BAD THING. stay away, stay far, far away unless you want to be plagued by doubt, depression, and mental anguish.

I'm not in school yet but this is SO, SO true for any situation and all people. Now I know when Im trying to get something done or go in a new direction or just stay sane, that if I see one of these people coming towards me, to run away screaming for they will not stop plaguing you until you are dragged as far down as they are and until they can keep you there.

 

[dankev]

13. No amount of soap or scrubbing can completely eradicate the smell of cadaver. I stink. Most of the time.

 

[Swiper]

All wise words, as usual. My first anatomy lab is tomorrow, I might add to the list after that.

As an aside, I was getting worried about your lack of smilies until I saw the one at the end of your post. Glad you could sneak that one in.

 

[care bear]

13. No amount of soap or scrubbing can completely eradicate the smell of cadaver. I stink. Most of the time.

fresh lemons work wonders for just about any smell. they are also great natural exfoliants, due to the citric acid! rub half a lemon across your face and your skin will glow beautifully. i just stocked up at the harris teeter.

like swiper, my 1st lab is tommorrow.
going to the grocery store was a nice distraction from pages and pages of embyro terms.

 

[TexasRose]

Spumoni, Swiper, glad to see you guys are still alive.

I like your thoughts, Spu, especially since I have had some of the very same thoughts about my classwork, etc. It freaked me out on the first couple of days when it seemed like everyone already knew stuff I was clueless about. Luckily, I realized that many of those people happened to have gotten their degrees in the intro subjects! (unlike me and my BA) Things are already evening out though, in the 3rd week.

Keep on keepin' on!

 

[ddmo]

14. Beware of appearances... many of the people who make it look like they know it all, don't. And those who don't say a thing, just might.

 

[felipe5]

going to the grocery store was a nice distraction from pages and pages of embyro terms.

oh yes, there's nothing that titilates the soul like sitting down and learning the language of embryology .......anybody using Langman's Medical Embryology with the pimp-@ss animation CD? its sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet

 

[DW]

hehe, simbryo was the bomb!!! I'm not sure those animations helped me any, but the music was awesome

 

[Swiper]

7a) hanging around classmates who are constantly negative about medical school is a BAD THING. stay away, stay far, far away unless you want to be plagued by doubt, depression, and mental anguish.

I've been fortunate not to have met these folks yet. Of course, it's only been a week of orientation and 2 days of classes.

12. I'm still glad i'm in medical school, and at this point it's still an adventure more than torture .

I'm still at this excited stage.


15. Realize that these two years are only a small chunk of your life, they'll actually pass relatively quickly. At the same time, enjoy them since they'll most likely be your last two years as full-time students in the classroom.

(hi Rosie!)

 

[lisa13579]

Hi Spu, TR and Swiper! (and everyone else I don't know)

I have NO time for SDN anymore, but...

I LOVE my school!!! It's amazing how SO many of my classmates have commented on how they are incredibly glad they picked Drexel. I couldn't imagine a more supportive environment where everyone from the dean to the professors to your classmates are there to help you. My first week of classes was a week and a half ago and my fellow first years have already sent out about 10 emails with charts they made, pneumonics, or links to helpful websites.



Gross lab smell is seeping into my hands I think, but it so facinating. I thought it would take some adjusting for me, but I'm right in there cutting away. It's great.

 

[DadofDr2B]

I've recognized a few things:

1. My brain can hold an incredible amount of information. And sometimes, not enough. I wish it could hold more, though.

2. When you're used to doing well in college, it's hard to retrain your mind to shoot for something less than a perfect score. but if you want to preserve your sanity and well-being, it's necessary to learn how - and go into tests realizing you can't, and will never, learn everything.

3. My class is cool, awesome, and all that - but what does "class-bonding" really mean? still trying to find out here...

4. If one doesn't go to lectures, it's very easy to 1) become socially isolated and 2) waste time sleeping in, doing laundry, watching tv, etc.

5. However, going to lecture when you have no idea what info is about to be presented is as essentially as useful as sleeping in (perhaps less, because you at least get an extra hour's sleep...). i still have to find a good strategy...

6. Thank GOD for STREAMING VIDEO LECTURES. best invention since sliced bread.

7. it's scary how many times i've thought in the past few weeks whether i made the right decision in coming here and to medical school in general...but surprise, it seems like i'm not the only one.
7a) hanging around classmates who are constantly negative about medical school is a BAD THING. stay away, stay far, far away unless you want to be plagued by doubt, depression, and mental anguish.

8. my classmates are DAMN smart. i've never been surrounded by so many smart people at once. (deep breath).

9. Following (8), i have to consciously accept my limits, my level of intelligence, suck it up and try to do my best.

10. it's easy to get buried in academics, but to stay grounded and well, it's key to make family, non-medschool friends, hobbies, and volunteering an equally essential part of life. still working on this one.

11. i miss the carefree days of mind-numbing work, surfing sdn aimlessly, having multiple pm's to reply to every day, and my ol' sdn "buddies". but life goes on. maybe one day this new life will become second nature (but not right now...)

12. I'm still glad i'm in medical school, and at this point it's still an adventure more than torture .

other thoughts? oops, i didn't even get to anatomy yet....maybe later - the study break has ended...

#3. Bonding will occur. Groups that are put in similar situations and experience stress at high levels have special feeling for each other. Marine training and medical school/residency seem to equate and lead to the bonding. This bonding may not fully develop until you are out of medical school but it will be there. How could you not feel for those suffering and learning in the same class with you? You recognize all of the special people in your class already and they know a little about you because you are together as a select group. Your pride may not show on the outside but inside your association with these "smart" classmates will probably be more important to your life than the professors at Med school. You are lucky but also cursed with the expectation of great things. Good luck.

 

[koma]

#3. Bonding will occur. Groups that are put in similar situations and experience stress at high levels have special feeling for each other. Marine training and medical school/residency seem to equate and lead to the bonding. This bonding may not fully develop until you are out of medical school but it will be there. How could you not feel for those suffering and learning in the same class with you? You recognize all of the special people in your class already and they know a little about you because you are together as a select group. Your pride may not show on the outside but inside your association with these "smart" classmates will probably be more important to your life than the professors at Med school. You are lucky but also cursed with the expectation of great things. Good luck.

I have a different theory why bonding occurs. Med schools filter their applicants through such a fine sieve with so many levels, that by the time they select 100 out of 5000 or so you get a very homogenous crowd. Now that you have a bunch of people that have similar moral codes, similar priorities (study first, then exercise), background, motivation (study first!), interests (usually medicine and sports, or medicine and music), and behavior patterns, of course they will bond! I noticed that when administration stresses how diverse your class is, it usually means it's anything BUT diverse. Especially when they back their enthusiasm with statistics on how many different majors there are, and how many different schools your class came from. (Maybe this is true more for private schools, but probably for all to some extent.)

(PS I still remember my cornell interview when the dean of admissions went around our group asking where everyone was from. It went something like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, harvard, harvard, yale, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Yale etc etc etc. When we were done he joyously pronounced "Just look at all the diversity in this room!")

 

[dtreese]

Holy shlt, I'm a med student.
I DO belong here, whether I believe it or not.
This sure beats the hell out of working.
It's nice to do something interesting.
Seeing love handles from the inside out will make you rethink ordering that pizza.
When you still order that pizza, you won't eat it when you smell the formalin on your hands as you hold a slice up.
People are miracle meat.
Histology is Greek for "the study of pink and purple blobs."

 

[Elysium]

This time commitment is absolutely staggering. I don't think about anything besides school, studying, not having enough time, or other things pertaining to school. The deep bond that has already been formed with my classmates is astounding. I feel like we're all going through boot camp together. I have already found a group of 15 people that I'll probably know the rest of my life. I now know why my dad had medical school reunions every summer I was growing up. There's just SO much to do, and so much of it seems utterly pointless. Like, why in the hell do I need to know the TCA cycle in detail? How in the hell is that going to help me with my patients? It's just not and it kinda feels like hazing. A lot of this feels like hazing to some degree, but that's neither here nor there.

I don't have the same starry eyed kind of wonder that a lot of other posters do and sometimes that worries me. I just see this as a means to an end. I really am bored senseless by biochem and embryo (BOY do I HATE embryo). Occasionally we have our Introduction to Clinical Medicine class or some clinical correlates that are interesting. The rest of the time I just want to scream. I don't want to have a masters in Anatomy. I don't want to have graduate level knowledge of Biochem. I just want to pass the boards and finally see something (clinically). People who are all gung ho in anatomy are friggin' annoying. They act like they're surgeons already and I want to stab them with the scapel and tell them to chill the hell out.

That said, my boyfriend is currently in his surgery rotation and is hating life in a major way. Getting up at 4:30am, staying until 8pm, call every 5 days. He's perpetually exhausted. All we do is bitch about medical school. We used to talk about politics, literature, movies, history. All that is gone now. I feel like my life is over in a way, that there's a total giving over to the medical lifestyle. I should have seen this coming, growing up around it, but it's different when you're doing it first hand. It's hard to belive it's really happening. Yet, in a strange way, being here feels right.

It'll be interesting to see how things change as the year progresses. Good luck to everyone!

 

[Megalofyia]

Don't forget that regardless of how you feel about med school. There is someone out there who would give their right arm to be where you are. You are really lucky.

 

[lane]

at UTHSCSA we had a whole month of "class-bonding" aka CIC in july





aka going out and getting ****housed with everyone knowing it was the last month we'll be able to do that for the next 8+ years

 

[velo]

It's nice to do something interesting.
People are miracle meat.
Histology is Greek for "the study of pink and purple blobs."

 

[WARi0FL]

16) I have realized that some people are, and always will be overachievers. It is the second day of class, and there is already a group of 5-10 students spending all day in the med student lounge studying the 5 muscles we learned in day 1!

 

[Brickhouse]

Spu I'm rooting for ya!! I start classes next week and I am sure I'll have many of the same thoughts! Don't you feel cool though?

 

[chameleonknight]

Brick, do tell about your sig.

Med school is like evolution; you'll be surprised how quickly you'll adapt.

Or go extinct. (j/k) You'll be fine. Enjoy DC.

 

[JohnnieBlue]

Don't forget that regardless of how you feel about med school. There is someone out there who would give their right arm to be where you are. You are really lucky.

And eat your dinner young man! There are children in Africa who are starving!!!