Bobman,
I recently heard that NYCOM is changing its method of examining first year students. The age old tradition of Monday morning exams is being changed to giving cluster exams every three weeks. This plan was apparently approved by the administration after much deliberation and a large amount of complaints from former first year students about the Monday morning exams. The new method of examining was to take effect with the Class of 2004. So it's hard to say what it is going to be like. You will be one of the "guinea pigs" to test out the new plan. But just like every plan, it will have its faults and the complaints will begin to pour in (again).
IF they don't change it, then you will not have your first exam until the beginning of October (1st Histology exam). After the first histo test you will have ATLEAST one exam every week. Usually they will be on Mondays, but will also have your Osteo Med exams on Thursday and Fridays. So you will have a subject exam on Monday (9 AM to 12 PM), the Osteo Med Practical on Thursday (Between 1 PM and 5 PM, you'll be assigned a time for the practical) and your Osteo Med written test on Friday (8 AM).
I think the hardest exams were in Gross Anatomy, Neuroscience, Medical Pharmacology I and Infectious Diseases. You will see that opinions vary from person to person, but two exams that will always be on everyones lists are the Med Pharm I and Infectious Diseases (ID). Although Dr. Mancini (your prof in med pharm and ID) will provide his COMPREHENSIVE notes, you may want to invest in a Pharm book put out by Lipincott (I believe that it has a red cover). For ID and Microbiology, a book called Microbiology Made Rediculously Simple may be of great help. As a matter of fact, anything marked "rediculously simple" may be of great help. For Gross Anatomy, a photographic atlas of the human body by Yukochi is GREAT. You should also buy Grant's Dissector to KEEP AT HOME. Try to read about the dissection before you come for the gross lab the next day. It will make life a lot simpler and Gross Anatomy much more exciting. For Neuropath, get a good atlas (any one of the two they recommend) and a good textbook (the notes suck!)
IN MY OPINION YOU SHOULD NOT BUY ANY TEXTBOOKS UNLESS YOU NEED THEM REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY REQUIRE. THE NOTES WILL USUALLY BE SUFFICIENT UNLESS MENTIONED OTHERWISE ABOVE.
If you take it one day at a time and one exam at a time, you will be fine. Make sure you don't get lulled into not studying during the beginning of the year when your histo test is four weeks away. A lot of people are still in the vacation mode and end up not studying and eventually flunking the first histo test. DO NOT think that the year is at an end after you finish Gross Anatomy and Neuropath because the fun has not even begun until you get to Med Pharm I and ID at the end of the year. A lot of people are burned out after Gross Anatomy, and slack off only to be rudely awakened when they flunk Med Pharm I and ID. Those are two retakes that you want to avoid like the plague.
Although it is important and fun to participate in the various clubs at NYCOM, just don't get bogged down on all the club activities. Try to get your act together in the first year and then you can join as many clubs as you want in the second year.
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE GONE THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR SUCCESSFULLY, HECK, I'VE GONE THROUGH IT. SO YOU CAN DO IT TOO !!
Good Luck!
[This message has been edited by AMS-007 (edited 07-20-2000).]
