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Plan of Action for Summer
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How do you know you want to do plastic surgery?
If you're serious, start doing research early your first year with the plastics department at your med school. The most important pieces you can start to move now for these small competitive subspecialties are making connections and showing dedication to the field. You can start this early, and it will likely help you. Just keep in mind you'll need to do well in classes too, so it probably makes sense to settle in and make sure you can balance multiple things before you commit to a PI. Burning a bridge will hose you.
If you're serious, start doing research early your first year with the plastics department at your med school. The most important pieces you can start to move now for these small competitive subspecialties are making connections and showing dedication to the field. You can start this early, and it will likely help you. Just keep in mind you'll need to do well in classes too, so it probably makes sense to settle in and make sure you can balance multiple things before you commit to a PI. Burning a bridge will hose you.
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Don't study (and sure as **** don't study for step 1). Don't act like you know you are going to be a plastic surgeon. Do research if you really want to. Please lighten up and have a little fun before school starts.
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No to Step 1 studying (Step 2? 
) - without the framework of M2 year it's next to useless.
If you're set on plastics, have been exposed to the field and are sure it's what you want to target - invest your time in research. And making connections, as stated above.
Edit - I misread. I thought you were completing your M1 year. If you haven't started med school ... I'm not sure what to tell you. Conventional advice is to enjoy the summer, you'll have opportunities to do research and network in medical school, and you'll be less likely to burn out. You can try making contact with faculty at your program, but I'm not sure how seriously they'd take someone who technically hasn't started medical school. If you're dead set on doing something, you can ask around (contact the plastics program coordinator / student rotation coordinator) about open projects, case reports. I suppose it's never too early to make contacts/connections, although my colleagues who matched into plastics (n=5) did nothing productive before medical school.
) - without the framework of M2 year it's next to useless.If you're set on plastics, have been exposed to the field and are sure it's what you want to target - invest your time in research. And making connections, as stated above.
Edit - I misread. I thought you were completing your M1 year. If you haven't started med school ... I'm not sure what to tell you. Conventional advice is to enjoy the summer, you'll have opportunities to do research and network in medical school, and you'll be less likely to burn out. You can try making contact with faculty at your program, but I'm not sure how seriously they'd take someone who technically hasn't started medical school. If you're dead set on doing something, you can ask around (contact the plastics program coordinator / student rotation coordinator) about open projects, case reports. I suppose it's never too early to make contacts/connections, although my colleagues who matched into plastics (n=5) did nothing productive before medical school.
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I wouldn't recommend studying for med school (and definitely not step 1). I get it, you want to use this time in a way that will help you, but trust the members on this board regarding the studying - it's just not a good use of your time.
Research isn't a bad idea, but do something you are interested in. Don't just do it to look good.
Also do fun stuff that you won't get to do in medical school. It's good for the soul. And being able to have fun makes you a good person to be around.
Research isn't a bad idea, but do something you are interested in. Don't just do it to look good.
Also do fun stuff that you won't get to do in medical school. It's good for the soul. And being able to have fun makes you a good person to be around.
Hi. Thanks for the responses thus far. I will definetly relax and have during the summer. I am already relaxing and really, really enjoying my last semester in college! I just wanted to create a solid plan so I am on the right path. I think I have a lot of potential, and in college I kind of fell off my plan and didn't know the proper time to do research, take the MCAT, ask for letters. Hence, I think I kind of underachieved in terms of the med schools I could have gone to. Hence, I was looking for solid advice.
Another side question, for residency how do they view publications? For instance, I think publications specifically about plastic surgeries for a plastic residency would hold considerable weight. How would they value publications that were not surgical (for instance biochemical research papers or global epidemiological papers published in undergrad?). Would those still be considered significant and of value?
In addition, when applying for surgical residencies, what kind of letters are suggested? For instance, for med school my advisor told me 2 science professors, 2 humanities professors, 1 doctor I shadowed/volunteer organization, and then Research PI. For Residency is there some kind of similar format, with number of letters and the typical people the letters should come from?
Also, for the top surgical specialties (plastics, ortho, CT) what kind of Step1 and Step2 scores are needed for an ORM? Also, how are the clinical vs. pre-clinical grades compared? For instance, are clinical grades considered more heavily than pre-clinical grades?
And, did any of you do research while taking classes during the school year? I did so in undergrad, but found it difficult to manage my schedule. However, my hypothesis is to gain considerable progression in surgical research, is for it to be a continuous process. How much time per week can be given during the year to such an activity?
Another side question, for residency how do they view publications? For instance, I think publications specifically about plastic surgeries for a plastic residency would hold considerable weight. How would they value publications that were not surgical (for instance biochemical research papers or global epidemiological papers published in undergrad?). Would those still be considered significant and of value?
In addition, when applying for surgical residencies, what kind of letters are suggested? For instance, for med school my advisor told me 2 science professors, 2 humanities professors, 1 doctor I shadowed/volunteer organization, and then Research PI. For Residency is there some kind of similar format, with number of letters and the typical people the letters should come from?
Also, for the top surgical specialties (plastics, ortho, CT) what kind of Step1 and Step2 scores are needed for an ORM? Also, how are the clinical vs. pre-clinical grades compared? For instance, are clinical grades considered more heavily than pre-clinical grades?
And, did any of you do research while taking classes during the school year? I did so in undergrad, but found it difficult to manage my schedule. However, my hypothesis is to gain considerable progression in surgical research, is for it to be a continuous process. How much time per week can be given during the year to such an activity?
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Things to do pre-M1 summer to prep for med school and a 'top surgical sub-specialty residency':
1. Chill out.
2. Have fun.
......and that's about it.
(You could always make bit of money for fun stuff or debt avoidance, but that doesn't actually help prepare for the academic part of med school.)
Yes, pubs are helpful in the surgical sub-specialty process. Try to make good connections early in med school for research and continue longitudinally. I did research during the school years ranging from 0-20hr/wk (but am not aiming for a super-competitive residency in a name-brand place...).
Check out charting the match - you'll see the current step 1/step 2 scores needed. These will probably increase by the time you apply.
You worry about getting letters at the end of your M3/beginning of M4 year (when you know what you're planning to do...).
1. Chill out.
2. Have fun.
......and that's about it.
(You could always make bit of money for fun stuff or debt avoidance, but that doesn't actually help prepare for the academic part of med school.)
Yes, pubs are helpful in the surgical sub-specialty process. Try to make good connections early in med school for research and continue longitudinally. I did research during the school years ranging from 0-20hr/wk (but am not aiming for a super-competitive residency in a name-brand place...).
Check out charting the match - you'll see the current step 1/step 2 scores needed. These will probably increase by the time you apply.
You worry about getting letters at the end of your M3/beginning of M4 year (when you know what you're planning to do...).
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Watch pathoma videos. They are the #1 step 1 resource and are introductory enough that you can watch them all without medical school knowledge.
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How do you know you won't get burned out?
How do you know you'll want to do plastic surgery?
How do you know you'll have time for research during the academic year?
How do you know any of the content for Step 1... let alone Step 2?
There's literally not a single thing you should do at this point, even if you are certain about the first two questions I posed. Don't want to take the summer off? Fine.. make some extra money by tutoring, etc. Take a class in something you've been interested in but haven't had the time. You don't know what you're getting into.. I'm not sure why you would start thinking ten steps ahead of yourself. Maybe you'll be able to handle all of these things during the year.. maybe you won't. If in December/January of MS1, you realize you have the time and ability to start doing research, you'll still be in an absolutely great position. Much better than committing yourself to something right now, realizing in a few months that you can't handle the workload and then dropping the project and/or doing poorly in class.
Stop thinking ten steps down the line.. medical school is structured in a way where you don't need to do that even for the most competitive residencies.
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As for research time commitment, it absolutely varies. What you'll find out is a large proportion of the research medical students engage in are actually retrospective studies/chart/database studies.. so there's not usually bench work to do, etc. That absolutely cuts down on the time but it's still a serious investment.
Regardless, there's no perfect answer.. whether you'll be able to handle it depends on YOUR abilities at YOUR specific medical school and the demands of YOUR specific project. Take the first few months of medical school and then decide if you can afford ~5-10 hours a week for research. Because research looks great and all.. but mastering the material (in terms of pre-clinical grades and Step 1 scores) is more important.
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Just from the username I could tell what this thread was going to be like. Op did not disappoint
You're likely going to be a mediocre medical student from a mediocre school and you will probably match to a mediocre im program and be a mediocre doctor. Now is as good of a time as any to accept this
You're likely going to be a mediocre medical student from a mediocre school and you will probably match to a mediocre im program and be a mediocre doctor. Now is as good of a time as any to accept this
@dnnash thank you for the link. Plastic surgery looks extremely competitive. Seems like the average Step 1 and Step 2 scores are 260s. Additionally, seems like average number of poster/abstracts/publications is around 13! That's ridiculous! Where do med students have the time to do that much research?
@witzelsucht thanks for the idea about pathoma videos. I had never heard about this. I will look into it, but I don't think I would purchase a subscription until I really sit down to study for Steps during med school.
@Psai. Thanks for the extra motivation.
@Jepstein. thanks for your long and thoughtful answer. I will definetly not go too hard this summer, but I just wanted some structure to make sure I keep forward in a positive direction. I distinctly remember how I did absolutely no work during the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college. It was so hard for me to get back in the rhythm of studying during sophomore year. Hence, I don't want to make the same mistake where in med school the stakes will be much higher. Hence, I think I know what works best for me in terms of relaxing, drinking, having fun, and sticking to a plan.
If anyone else has some solid advice/info like @JJMrK, @dnnash, or @witxelsucht, I would really look forward to your comments!
Much appreciated. 🙂
@witzelsucht thanks for the idea about pathoma videos. I had never heard about this. I will look into it, but I don't think I would purchase a subscription until I really sit down to study for Steps during med school.
@Psai. Thanks for the extra motivation.
@Jepstein. thanks for your long and thoughtful answer. I will definetly not go too hard this summer, but I just wanted some structure to make sure I keep forward in a positive direction. I distinctly remember how I did absolutely no work during the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college. It was so hard for me to get back in the rhythm of studying during sophomore year. Hence, I don't want to make the same mistake where in med school the stakes will be much higher. Hence, I think I know what works best for me in terms of relaxing, drinking, having fun, and sticking to a plan.
If anyone else has some solid advice/info like @JJMrK, @dnnash, or @witxelsucht, I would really look forward to your comments!
Much appreciated. 🙂
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Not even close. If you can't read a chart correctly you will never be future top doctor.
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It's different from transitions within college. Not because it's harder or anything.. it's just a program that's much more structured. There's really less ways to go wrong and it's not like there's many choices for you to make early on. What classes you'll take, etc. is all set for you already.. your job is simple relative to college.
I was in the same boat in terms of I didn't want to do nothing the entire summer.. but I just spent some time tutoring and that was enough to keep me busy and in 'study' zone.
I think pre-studying or starting research would be a mistake though. It's just too tough to really know whether it will be a good use of time or not.
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I tend to differ with the SDN consensus that the summer before med school should be spent playing video games and wanking. The most productive thing that you can do at this point though is to come up with a plan for how to succeed in the first two years of med school (and step one). The growing pains of M1 have a lot to do with the sheer volume of work and the organizational skills required to succeed. Most people will at least initially feel like they're constantly treading water while getting slammed with waves from all directions; truth be told, it's the students who overcome this most quickly who end up succeeding both academically and personally. Here are some questions that you should start considering before you begin in the fall:
- What are your goals in terms of class rank, step score, research, community engagement, and overall foundational knowledge base? What is most important to you?
- What resources will you need to achieve your goals? Keep in mind that class performance does not necessarily equate to step performance which does not necessarily equate to clinical knowledge base.
- Figure out how to get involved in research early on and what you can do to maximize your time investment. Networking.
- What are the highly rated resources for the preclinical years? How do you study best (books, lectures, notes, covering several sources in succession)?
- Are you going to use any step one study materials (Firecracker, anki, studyblue, Kaplan...) longitudinally throughout the first two years?
- What can you do to stay organized? It's very likely that you will have more time intensive obligations in medical school than you've ever had before in your life. At this point in my career I don't think that I'd be able to function without google calendar or gmail.
- Do a bit of tech research and consider updating your laptop, tablet, phone, or even getting a fitbit (has a handy alarm function that wakes up in your lightest sleep phase and lets you feel refreshed after a 5 hour night).
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If you read the sentence before, he/she was referring to plastic surgery residences. Looks like a median Step 1 score of ~250.
Average for Step 1 = 245, Step 2 = 252.
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Quick point on this as I only recently found out about it myself, the number of publications on ERAS is highly inflated as presentations and abstracts both count as "publications". By that metric, people are able to get multiple "publications" out of a single research experience.
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This is great news for me LOL
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I couldn't agree more with this post.
I don't understand how the majority of SDN vehemently advocates doing jack **** before M1 and claims that doing anything med school related is a waste of time, while at the same time comparing medical school to "drinking out of a fire hydrant" in terms of learning the material.
It is absolutely correct that medical school is like drinking out of a fire hose, meaning that time is of utmost importance. The summer before first year, for most, is 2+ months of completely free time - a hell of a lot of free time. In fact some people spend 2 months dedicated to USMLE step 1 study, to give you an idea of how much time 2 months is and what you can do in that time.
Even if you dedicate 2 hours per day to medical school, you'll be much better off. This can be anything ranging from brushing up on some annoying basic sciences (ex - buy first aid and master all the biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology subjects in there), researching Step I resources an dstudy tactics to make a plan, look up medical school resources and study methods, make plans to stay organized, and even start learning the curriculum. For example, if i were to start medical school again, I would read Guyton's physiology (it's like reading a story) cover-to-cover during the summer, memorize the anatomy dissector structures, and maybe read the histology textbook once. Anybody who tells you that pre-studying/pre-preparing is useless because you will lack the proper direction/focus doesnt know what he's talking about. You are a medical student and if you think that you need a professor telling you what you need to know with everything else being a waste, then i dont know what to tell you. You cant go wrong with reading medical textbooks - they have the information you need to know, are very thorough, and present the information in arguably the most efficient way.
That said it obviously isnt impossible to become a plastic surgeon without pre-studying. I'd wager that the vast majority of plastic surgeons dont study before first year. The fact of the matter, though, is that pre-preparing can only help you and make your life easier during what is a very crucial and challenging time in which you have to learn tons and tons of info especially if youre thinking about a competitive specialty like plastic surgery. You can never know too much in medical school or else there would be people getting 290s+ on the Step I.
@Jepstein30 thanks for your reply. I think I will consider looking for shadowing opportunities during the summer. Seems like a good way to not overwork myself by studying material, but also keep me guided in terms of medical specialty interest and general hospital knowledge.
@Jabbed. thanks your advice. I was really looking for something like this, where someone with experience would give me things to consider. Thank you for your time to write this thoughtful post. Additionally, you nailed right on the head that I ****ud in undergrad. I actually did to such as large extent (and in multiple contexts), that I really can't comment about it in detail on an online community. However, I think I have learned from this after many, many unintended consequences. Hence, I want to go fresh to medical school and really dig hard to reach my true potential.
@Jabbed. thanks your advice. I was really looking for something like this, where someone with experience would give me things to consider. Thank you for your time to write this thoughtful post. Additionally, you nailed right on the head that I ****ud in undergrad. I actually did to such as large extent (and in multiple contexts), that I really can't comment about it in detail on an online community. However, I think I have learned from this after many, many unintended consequences. Hence, I want to go fresh to medical school and really dig hard to reach my true potential.
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Before you start medical school, you have no idea what the pace will be like. Your two hours a day for two months will probably cover about a week's work of material in medical school.you definitely won't accomplish a tenth as much as a second year in their dedicated periods time even if you did 16 hours a day. The whole point of first year is to learn how to study. Pre studying is a complete waste of time. Go do something fun
Also, I can tell that you don't know what the hell you're talking about because of your lack of respect for medical school and step 1. It makes me wonder if you are actually a medical student although I suppose you could still be a naive first year. I've never heard of a 290 and I doubt that it exists. I thought about prestudying too when I was accepted and asked my medical school friends about it. They said no. I'm now a third year that did very well on step 1 without doing any of that crap and now I'm telling you no
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lol @ 2 hrs a day for 2+ months covering a week of medical school. How the hell did you arrive at that conclusion. Regardless of whether you've experienced the pace of medical school, the material is the same. Are you telling me that a student capable of getting into medical school can't learn the biochemistry and cellular/molecular biology in first aid in 2 whole months? Guyton has 84 chapters. If you read 1-2 chapters a day you can get through guyton's or the majority of guyton's at 2 hrs/day. I never said you could accomplish as much as a second year studying for boards. You can still prepare/learn though.
We dont know how the step I is graded I'm just going based off of the assumption that 300 is the max....you missed the point of what I was saying though - if you could know "enough" in medical school then people with close to perfect scores (whatever that perfect score actually is) would be more abound.
And, again, I never said that not pre-studying/preparing precludes you from doing well on the boards. I didnt pre-study and i plan on doing well on the boards. The fact of the matter is that the time during summer before first year can help you.
This is the problem with militant advocates of not pre-preparing during the summer before first year - you fail to understand the difference between necessary and unnecessary but helpful. Nobody is saying that it's necessary to study during that summer to get a high score. But here you come with the absurd statement that pre-studying is a complete waste of time just because you are not an official medical student yet. Studying is studying, and I'm sure even you can comprehend that more studying = beneficial.
You also fail to realize that not every medical student is the same. TC has admitted to struggling academically before. It doesnt matter if you and your friends didnt pre-study and still got high step I scores and because of that everyone else should follow suit. There are different ways to achieve the same things - just because a method worked for you doesnt mean it's absolute and everything else is a "complete waste of time"
I thought the same thing the summer before I started med school. I understand your motivation for success (as most here do as well)
However, the BEST advice I can give you is to relax and enjoy your summer. Travel. Do things you've been wanting to do for a long time but haven't done. This is your chance. Trust me (and all the others saying the same thing)
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However, the BEST advice I can give you is to relax and enjoy your summer. Travel. Do things you've been wanting to do for a long time but haven't done. This is your chance. Trust me (and all the others saying the same thing)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Everyone plans on doing well on the boards. Most people end up somewhere around the average.
Do you even know what militant means? Maybe you should have spent your pre-m1 summer pre-studying a dictionary. Except that pre-studying is a complete waste of time. The end
This is your advice. Memorize attachments? Lol
Do you even know what militant means? Maybe you should have spent your pre-m1 summer pre-studying a dictionary. Except that pre-studying is a complete waste of time. The end
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militant
: aggressively active (as in a cause) : combative <militant conservationists> <a militant attitude>
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/militant
Okay. thanks everyone!
if anyone else has something constructive to add, please do so. I would like to officially ask psia and chasm-e-baddoor to stop arguing on this forum. I appreciate both of your advice and your difference of opinions. I think overall this thread was pretty successful; however, I wanted to avoid arguments like these.
Thanks again everyone! 🙂
if anyone else has something constructive to add, please do so. I would like to officially ask psia and chasm-e-baddoor to stop arguing on this forum. I appreciate both of your advice and your difference of opinions. I think overall this thread was pretty successful; however, I wanted to avoid arguments like these.
Thanks again everyone! 🙂
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Oh I see what you did there
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I am not arguing as much as I am explaining why his reasoning is flawed and making sure that these militant anti-pre-study users don't brainwash users such as yourself into thinking that there is nothing you can do to get ahead of the game (which is what this topic is about).
Again, I'm not saying that pre-preparation is necessary. But to claim that it is complete waste of time is just foolish.
@chasm-e-baddoor thanks man! don't worry I know you got my back. 😉
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Lol I was wondering how people got all those "publications" on CTO 2014 graphs. Now it makes perfect sense.
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Well the graphs have the y-axis as "Mean Number of Abstracts, Presentations, and Publications," so it was pretty clear they were combined in aggregate in CTO 2014.
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Yeah, studying before med school is a waste of time.
Go ahead and study insertions and origins... THAT's the way to ace anatomy.
At my med school, I don't think a single exam question actually asked for an insertion or origin.
OOPS!
Studying FA prior to med school would be perhaps even more asinine.
Nothing is actually complex that I've seen -- nothing where you need 3+ passes and months to understand and grasp the concepts.
What you need to do multiple passes for is to pack all these rather simple factoids into your brain and connect the dots between them. Problem is there is a crapton of these simple factoids.
Problem with pre-studying is that, unless you are a memory savant, our brains aren't designed to longitudinally retain these simple factoids outside the medical environment. In other words, "if you don't use it, you lose it."
So, again, go ahead and memorize the intricacies of those lysosomal storage diseases as a pre-med.
And then enjoy relearning them 6 months later because you forgot them.
OOPS!
Go ahead and study insertions and origins... THAT's the way to ace anatomy.
At my med school, I don't think a single exam question actually asked for an insertion or origin.
OOPS!
Studying FA prior to med school would be perhaps even more asinine.
Nothing is actually complex that I've seen -- nothing where you need 3+ passes and months to understand and grasp the concepts.
What you need to do multiple passes for is to pack all these rather simple factoids into your brain and connect the dots between them. Problem is there is a crapton of these simple factoids.
Problem with pre-studying is that, unless you are a memory savant, our brains aren't designed to longitudinally retain these simple factoids outside the medical environment. In other words, "if you don't use it, you lose it."
So, again, go ahead and memorize the intricacies of those lysosomal storage diseases as a pre-med.
And then enjoy relearning them 6 months later because you forgot them.
OOPS!
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If you want to do something useful, use the summer to figure out your priorities and what is important to you. Shadow a few physicians in a variety different fields and settings and see if any specialties pique your interest. Do not pre-study. Not only will you probably not be able to figure out what is really relevant on your own (not everything in medical textbooks are relevant), you won't retain nearly as many random factoids as you think you will. You also will have no idea how 95% of them actually apply to the stuff that really is relevant.
Other than that, enjoy your last real summer. Everyone says they won't burn out until they actually get into med school and start putting in 25 hours a week outside of classes and everything else you need to do. Hearing what it's like and experiencing it firsthand are not even close to the same thing.
Other than that, enjoy your last real summer. Everyone says they won't burn out until they actually get into med school and start putting in 25 hours a week outside of classes and everything else you need to do. Hearing what it's like and experiencing it firsthand are not even close to the same thing.
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I could see some use in prestudying in terms of making connections if u used something like Wikipedia but you'd have to do that for everything. It would take way too long. I would recommend that @futuretopdoctor instead learn good organizational skills, get PDFs of all the review books, learn stress-relaxation techniques, different study methods and techniques, and get involved in plastics research if his true goal is to go into plastics.
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What about learning biostats? I'm not sure where I'd even start but this seems like a useful skill for doing research in med school. Especially if, as someone said above, most students analyze already existing databases, charts, etc.
What do you guys think?
What do you guys think?
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For Step 1, I would understand. For research probably way to intricate when for your final publication you'll send the data to a biostatistician.
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That makes sense, thanks!
If I do get in (interviews in March so...) I plan on getting settled in during the summer. It seems to me like still arranging movers, buying stuff for your new place, figuring out transferring bills and whatever, all while starting medical school, would add a ton of unnecessary stress.
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Getting settled in is a great idea. There's a lot involved.. more than you think would, especially if you're moving to a new place.
I don't think pre-studying is a valid use of time. That doesn't mean you can't get yourself prepared for medical school.. there's a lot of things you'll need to do that you probably won't even have that much time to study. I think shadowing a few things here and there would be useful but obviously not necessary either.
I don't think pre-studying is a valid use of time. That doesn't mean you can't get yourself prepared for medical school.. there's a lot of things you'll need to do that you probably won't even have that much time to study. I think shadowing a few things here and there would be useful but obviously not necessary either.
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This may or may not be true, depending on the project and PI. I think being able to do your own analysis will always be helpful, even if you end up working with a statistician.
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To the OP: I think it's great you want to be productive in the summer before M1. My suggestion, if you want to boost your application, is to take advantage of your free time by doing meaningful extracurriculars. By "meaningful" I mean research and volunteer work in your field of interest. Basically anything that shows you have taken the initiative towards that specific field (in your case plastics).
It's perfectly fine to have a chosen specialty in mind. Prepare your best for it, and if you change your mind halfway through medical school then you still have a rocking application!
It's perfectly fine to have a chosen specialty in mind. Prepare your best for it, and if you change your mind halfway through medical school then you still have a rocking application!
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There are ways to get ahead. you could start with 3 books that are pretty important during medical school and you will probably refer to them from time to time during your entire medical career. they are:
-Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease
-Guyton Medical Physiology
-Harrison's Internal Medicine
Do 2 chapters per day and you'll be ahead of a lot of people. a lot of people.
-Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease
-Guyton Medical Physiology
-Harrison's Internal Medicine
Do 2 chapters per day and you'll be ahead of a lot of people. a lot of people.
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lol
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Lots of good advice above. If I had to say do anything, I would suggest focusing on anatomy since this is what is often a difficult adjustment for people starting med school.
I would say relax, and if you're really serious buy a Netter's atlas and look over the diagrams when you have some free time, while sitting on the pot..(I kid about the latter)
I would say relax, and if you're really serious buy a Netter's atlas and look over the diagrams when you have some free time, while sitting on the pot..(I kid about the latter)
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Connecting the dots is the hardest part, especially when you're trying to do it in real life for your patient
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I don't even...
This is what I would recommend if somebody asked the worst possible way to spend their time before medical school.
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You won't even be 'ahead' of people.. because you'll all be learning the material again at the same pace.
If you're able to simply read through a chapter and remember it to any extent months later.. after hours and hours of other studying between.. then you don't need to have pre-studied in the first place.
If you're able to simply read through a chapter and remember it to any extent months later.. after hours and hours of other studying between.. then you don't need to have pre-studied in the first place.
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You'll be ahead in terms of processing the information beforehand.
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