Yep, that's usually how it works.
I don't know how else I'm supposed to interpret "in order to get honors I would have to study like 8-10 hrs a day, everyday."
This is the same mentality my buddies adopted during first year while I decided to buckle down. Now as fourth years, they are not competitive applicants and have many regrets. I am a very competitive applicant with zero regrets.
Doing well in medical school has little to do with genetics for most people. Sure, every school has someone with a photographic memory who probably aces everything with little effort. But for the majority of people that do well, they do well because they work hard for it, not because they have some kind of genetic advantage.
I don't know about your buddies... Don't you know about something they call trade-off? Some people can keep that intensity for 3 years; I found out I that I can't after I did it... Good for you if you can!
It's not complaining, it's just accepting defeat and acknowledging that it's not worth the sacrifice. I know that if I study 8-10 hours a day my relationship would fall apart, I would have 0 time to pursue other interests, and my mental state would deteriorate.
I think its a combination of genetics, effort, tactics. There is a saturation point for me where studying more just doesn't do any good. The genetics part is just how much info can your brain hold and for how long until you start to forget. I recognized that when taking the MCAT some people study 8 hrs a day and get 28, some study 8 hrs a day and get 38+. Of course the people who study 8hrs a day and get 38+MCAT scores just think everybody who doesn't score that high is just being lazy and doesn't study lot.
Exactly. There are some people who give it their absolute ALL to get an MCAT score good enough for a medical school acceptance. Others get the score they need with minimal effort. This may not indicate a gap in overall intelligence, but it shows an ability to retain information and do well on multiple choice tests. There's just no way someone can believe that everyone in medical school is capable of the same results when we are all given a very limited amount of time to learn massive amounts of info to regurgitate on exams. I'm sure there are plenty of hard working students who would have no problem putting in the necessary effort to get all A's, if only they had the time to do it.
My goal is to be a non-competitive applicant with zero regrets.
What I think is sad is when people think studying 8 hours in 1 day is somehow difficult. Do you know how you'll be studying for boards? A lot longer than 8 hours a day that's for sure.
That's a stupid philosophy. Esp. as you have no idea what will be on boards.
I totally get where you're coming from. I thought I was pretty special heading in to school, and at this point I'm worried about even passing.
Are you actually studying though? I mean really 8-10 hours and you're actually going thru material? Not on your iPhone, not on Facebook/SDN/Twitter, etc. I mean actually listening to lectures, writing and drawing things out, etc. for all 8 to 10 hours?
Stay scared--that's the secret. I made the lowest grades in my circle of friends very early on, but after suffering through the first couple of blocks, I sat down one day and asked myself, "Are these people really that much smarter than me?" Answer: for the most part, no. I figured out what worked best for me (i.e., not group study + zero distractions) and started to honor exams consistently after that. A buddy of mine worked his ass off, and his highest grade for the entire two years was in the upper 80's. Keep trying. You never know.
We're all cogs in the wheel, man. COGS IN THE WHEEL! Very valuable, good-looking cogs though.
Oh man, sorry to hear that, does your school have people you can reach out to? I ask the second years for advice all the time they usually know how to study for 1st year classes and can help you tweak your study habits. You've been in school for about a month now right and have had 6 exams?
Yes, indeed. We all are little cogs in the wheel of CorpMed. 30 years from now, we will all have hospital insignias branded into our skin telling people which hospital system we belong to. I like your avatar name bc 1) the actual story behind it and 2) it reminds me of the song Summer Girls by LFO with the song lyric, "boogaloo shrimp".
That's one of the things I've been working on lately, is making sure that 8-10 hours is actually good study time and it's getting better. I try and avoid SDN/facebook during the day. While I do struggle with focusing while watching lectures, I'm able to snap back fairly quickly and rewind to where I was. So essentially yes, I feel like that time is spent actively trying to study.
Does your school record lectures? Many times going to class is useless when you can watch the same lecture at home and write down everything. There is also an app that can lock certain frequently used websites while you are studying, I forget the name but you can Google it.
Biochem, anatomy, clinical medicine, behavioral medicine (will be done on Friday), OMM, and some ethics class that's only met once so far.
Yeah I've talked to various second years, as well as the schools support center which was very helpful. Most of the advice I get from upperclassmen tends to be vague, like "find something that works for you," or just that their habits vary by class.
What is it with DO schools giving exams every week? I'm noticing a pattern. It's absolutely nuts.
I only watch the lecture recordings. I knew very early on going to class wouldn't work since my attention is bad I have to rewind when I space out.
Yes, so this is what I did. I would print out that day's lecture and then literally write down everything that wasn't on the slide - annotating it like you said. You have the ability to watch it up to 2x speed so this really isn't a problem as profs take pauses, breaths, ummms, etc. Don't "study" at that time, just get the **** down. Then you can commit it to memory, by reading and studying it, or what you kids do these days - Firecracker, Anki, whatever.
I appreciate the advice. Oddly enough biochem is the class I'm struggling the least in. I really enjoy studying it, and both of those tests have been good to me so far. While I've failed tests in other classes, anatomy is the class that's kicking the crap out of me. Too much information, and almost no organization coming from the professors, so I feel like I have to sort through a river of crap to even find out what I'm supposed to be studying.
I am starting anatomy in two weeks. Your struggle with anatomy will make me more 'vigilant' about it ... Do you have any specific advice/books etc... for Anatomy @DermViser ?
I would say first you need a really good atlas. My school had all multiple choice exams, but I know some schools do practicals where a structure is pinned and you have to identify it. For dissections - Rohen's Atlas works really well when you're not in the lab.
yes, like derm viser suggested I use grays anatomy review as well.
