Hopefully others will comment and add to this.
Things to do before med school:
1. Buy and watch "AcKlands DVD Atlas of the human body. This is a 6 DVD set, probably 15+ hours long. I know this seems to violate my "dont study" advice -but Im not saying to memorize the tape, just watch it once. Its not much of time commitment, so if nothing sticks, you haven't lost much. the goal is to gain a general idea of the type and quantity of things covered in each body section. Kind of like skimming /pre-reading a book-you will gain a good big picture understanding, a framework that well help your learn in class. Its kind of expensive ($150), but worth having. I'vs watched each tape multiple times (while taking anatomy) and have found it a great study aide.
2. Buy Issersons guide to Getting a residency. The first couple of chapters teach about the usmle and give a general idea of what matters in school. The rest is just something the browse at your leisure. Mostly its a chapter on every major medical specialty, what they really do, what the patients are like, training requirements, options, and competitiveness. Ex: who performs cochlear (sp?) implant surgery, what fellowships are open to family practice, how long does it take to become a hand surgeon, what fields have sport medicine fellowships, what fields let your mix office practice with surgery, what hours do they work... This wont help with classes, except maybe makingbyou sound more informed when talking to mentors and professors. Mostly it is just good info, fun to browse, and makes you better informed.
3. If you've ever had motivation or time management issues, now is probably a good time to learn time management and practice it. Steven Covey books & daily planners, or any system. If you are a disorganized person, begin the habit of organizing your life. Small things: regularly spend 30 min Sunday night reviewing the past week and planning the next. Developing habits, not reading about them, is the point.
4. there are several learning styles / study shills books written specifically for medical school. You will gain at least a few good ideas from each. they probably wont offer a great return on time invested-but may he useful (and are still better than trying to study biochem.) Some examples: "Study skills and test taking strategies For medical students" , "Study without Stress: Medical sciences" -there are a couple of others. the first includes a learning styles assessment: are you really a better visual ,audio, or kinetic learner? For most people, this stuff didn't matter in undergrad, premeds could succeed rather easily with any method (including craming); in medical school the volume makes efficiency and method important.
5. Do things that put time in a "savings bank" for next year. If you are diciplinedyou will have free time in school. At certain times (test blocks) time can become a valuable and rare commodity. Some ideas on putting time away for your future:
Earn money so you don't have to waste time pinching pennies when school starts. $ so you get a more reliable car, closer housing, buy books instead of borrow, splurge on a maid/laundry occasionally, order out more... Get a faster computer (this can be relevant -if it bogs down with multiple big files, this could cost you many hours over a year.)
If money is not limiting, figure out what is: buy gifts for those with birthdays 1st semester now (you will be in the doghouse it she doesn't like that gift you spent 5min picking at the CVS between school home!), get a tivo (so tv is limited to shows you must see). Become a better computer, power point, adobe, school library user (I think youd have to talk to current students and find out what is needed and compare to your skills.) Learn to cook some new "Quick-but-healthy meals" and snacks. Think about all the non academic/non entertainment type things you did last fall and figure out how to save time on them next year. Its all pretty personal, but a little effort can matter.
6. Work on a realistic exercise schedule now. Even if you have a good exercise habit, beware of unrealistic schedules. Some people get used to "big" exercise schedules: 4x workouts, daily run, and sports/aerobic work. It may be as hard to trim this down to 2-3X per week 45*min sessions as it is to start from scratch. Just make sure you have a routine that scales - when time is tight, get the basics done in 2 sessions per week, scale up when you want/have time.
7. Girlfriend tips-you might develop some traditions. spend a day doing something she likes together -like all day looking at special Xmas decorations, antiques, whatever, then go to a restraunt you don't usually frequent (one of mine is cheesecake factory after xmas decoration shopping). Make it a restaurant you never frequent, so it becomes associated with the day /the memory. It can be a fancy place just for desert, or whatever. Next year you wont have time for the long day, but you can meet for desert & she will enjoy it nearly as much as before. Spend a day at the museum and picnic in the park-next year just do the picnic lunch.
Ok-those are my Ideas. The point isn't todo them all, but choose what works for you. It will fulfill the premed OCD need to prepare, actually accomplishes something, and most are entertaining. Let me know if they help.
Good luck!
