Congrats to you all. I'm a first year and wanted to share some things that I wish someone would have shared with me before I started here:
1. The orientation week is useless. It literally serves no purpose other than to waste your last precious week of summer and for admins to pop in and out of steele and tell you how wonderful you all are. There is also a disproportionate amount of OPP that week. Please don't take this to indicate that OPP is in anyway significant during the rest of the year. Believe me, it'll be the least of your worries.
2. Do not sleep with anyone in the class during that week. Wait at least until after the first biochem test.
3. The first biochem test isn't real.
4. Put your ****in hand down. Nobody cares. BELIEVE me nobody cares. If you have a burning question, that's what the breaks are for. You'll just annoy people (including the professor)
5. Unless you're really into the cutting, anatomy lab is essentially a waste of time. Show up, make sure you're seen, and then get the hell out of there. You're wasting precious study time.
6. You will HEMORRHAGE money during club week. It's unavoidable.
7. A surprising number of people in your class are douches. Do not be discouraged. Buried somewhere in steele auditorium are likely some of the coolest people you'll ever meet.
8. Do not be afraid to skip class. I can't tell you how many precious precious hours I wasted in class. I probably would have been much more successful and a lot less stressed if I stopped going to class early on. Study time>class time.
9. Keep your mouth shut. No one cares how smart you are. No one cares how many whatever degrees you have. PhD in something? That's nice. Again, no one cares. Remember-we all ended up in the same place. The people that talk the most about how much "medicine" they know are prime examples of #7.
10. Finally--surround yourself with good, (sane) people early on. Figure out who the #7s are, and get away from them. quickly. There will be times when that balcony in your apartment will start to look pretty good. Don't give in. You're IN MED SCHOOL. That's pretty freakin awesome.
Congrats again, and enjoy what's left of your pre-med school life. It'll never be the same again. 🙂
Wow...why are you in my class and med school if you're so angry? I'm also an M1 at NSU and here's my take on what this person stated.
1) For the most part I really enjoyed Orientation week. It was long, and exhausting, sure... but I was really excited to be there and get started. I think you might have brought your own misery on yourself. There were only a few times where I felt like the pace should have been picked up... but I really enjoyed a lot of the OPP and History of medicine talks. This was what I was looking forward to for years now. Also: OPP is one of my favorite classes. The professors are fantastic. They were warm, open, and receptive--ESPECIALLY during the first week: And it was our first chance to learn REAL medicine. I loved it.
2)I agree.
3)Biochem at NSU isn't the strongest of the courses offered. If you try really hard to get the material out of it, though, that you need to--It'll make the independent studying for boards that you will be doing easier.
4)Kinda true. Though during the first week I would say be as social as you can... Meeting different people and finding who you get along with is really important to forming study groups, friends, and relationships.
5) I really really enjoyed anatomy lab. Sure it smells bad and cutting through fat is as annoying as it is gross... I thought it was unbelievably fascinating. Ever cut somebody's heart out? Ever separate all the muscles of somebody's forearm? Who can say that they've done things like that. If you are there to learn, that's what you'll do. If you're there for social hour, then I can see why it would waste your time.
6) Yeah... Club week is very expensive and that was shocking. The M1's currently are working on a way to inform you of what exactly the club offers and what it is you'll be getting from them. We'll also let you know what's important and what isn't for these materials.
7) There are douches everywhere. I wouldn't say a surprising number of NSU students are... but they do exist.
8) Going to class is a good way to get the material needed to be successful. If you have friends to that for you: That will work out fine: assuming you are motivated to do study on your own. Attendance is required, however, so if you need to go, bringing study material and sitting in the back is always a good option.
9) Talking to other people is good... but yeah, don't brag about the degrees you have.
10) Agreed.
To the poster: You made it sound like NSU COM is terrible... I am enjoying my experience here so far. There are things I would change, sure, but I feel like I'm learning a lot and getting well trained. I think you are giving the entering class a bad first impression of the school and a bad mindset to enter with. Know that it will be hard work, you won't agree with everything, but you're a professional and have been chosen among MANY students to be a part of this educational program. Respect your peers, your professors, and continue forward with integrity: You'll have a great time.