Prep for months/summer before M1: Any advice?

[olderbrooklyndoc]

Hey fellow nontrads,

Like many on this forum, I'm a nontrad who's been out of full time school for nearly a decade and just got accepted to medical school! I'm over the moon. However, I know that this is in some ways the calm before the storm, as the next several years will be both exciting AND stressful with all I'll be managing professionally and personally. With that in mind, I want to make sure I'm entering this next phase in my journey as prepared (mentally and academically) as I can be. I recently found out that some schools (like SUNY Upstate) offer nongraded summer courses to accepted students M1 year that ease the adjustment to med school (and are geared toward making anatomy easier for smart, though out of practice, nontrads). I also have a friend who's in a special master's program who was already taking histology and anatomy classes with medical students and have really enjoyed watching some of his lectures (yep, I'm pretty nerdy ...)

So, I wanted to throw this question out there: Is there anything you wish you had done before you entered medical school to prepare academically? Any free online courses (not necessarily for credit) or resources that a matriculating student could take? Any books you'd wish you had read (these can be med related/biochem related/bioethics-related/or even just general study skills/life habits related)? In terms of my background, I have a heavy humanities and education background and have only taken the science pre reqs, but I love science and medicine and am curious to keep some medically-related active learning up in over the next few months even if I'm not formally enrolled in any classes.

Thanks in advance!

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[Crayola227]

Spanish language

Travel

I have a post somewhere that is my intern megapost, but with links to posts on self care and what stuff to buy

 

[backside_attack]

Last summer I was in the "relax, travel, enjoy time before school!" pre-MS1 camp. Now with some experience, I'd say this: familiarize yourself with biochem if you aren't strong in it. It's my biggest regret.

 

[olderbrooklyndoc]

Spanish language

Travel

I have a post somewhere that is my intern megapost, but with links to posts on self care and what stuff to buy

Thanks so much! I'll definitely search for the mega post!

 

[olderbrooklyndoc]

Last summer I was in the "relax, travel, enjoy time before school!" pre-MS1 camp. Now with some experience, I'd say this: familiarize yourself with biochem if you aren't strong in it. It's my biggest regret.

Thanks, that's great to hear from someone with experience!

 

[Meridian32]

In retrospect, the only thing I wish I had done is read more books about the humanistic side of medicine. I am a second year resident and "The Emperor of all Maladies" by Siddhartha Mukherjee and "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande have been on my reading list for years. :-( The next time you will have any meaningful free time to do things like read books is the second half of fourth year, so if you have any books you want to read (or any other projects you want to do), this is the time.

Some books I have read during med school/residency that I highly recommend are "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi, "Intern" by Sandeep Jauhar and "On Call" by Emily Transue.

I spent some time self-studying anatomy during the summer before med school, but in retrospect, it was not helpful. You will learn everything you need to learn during med school itself. The information flow rate is very high and it will seem like drinking through a firehose, but self-studying will not alleviate that in any meaningful way. And, big picture, the material in the first two years of med school falls into two categories - subjects like biochem that you need to learn for Step 1 (you have two years to do this) and can then forget about, and subjects like anatomy, organ systems, etc. that are important to being a good doctor, but that you will definitely learn throughout the course of med school/residency because of how many times you'll be exposed to the material.

Congrats and enjoy this special time!

 

[Unico]

Things I wish I had done before MS 1:
- become familiar with resource texts (BRS, highyield, etc.) to see which one I was going to lean on throughout the year. BRS is good for first year classes.
- check out online resources like picmonic (my favorite, but I'm a highly visual learner), sketchy micro, osmosis, firecracker (good for readers), and memorang (which is fantastic for automatically creating flash cards from tables... true hidden gem... you WILL be memorizing *so many* tables).
- spend as much time as possible with family and friends.
- make sure your computer works and is dependable. Most lectures are now in PDF form and even tests are done on your personal computer. Having a dependable and well functioning (and possible backup computer) can help save you from possible headaches. If I was starting school today I'd get a Surface Pro, but if your current machine is a workhorse then that's all you need (my MacBook Air has been going strong for 3 years and I won't replace it until it completely dies).
- if you have a family, start figuring out who has responsibilities over what: childcare, babies waking in the middle of the night, shopping, cooking, laundry, etc ad nauseam. It helps thwart needless fights and helps each person to feel like they're handling their share in the family. When you're wanting to study for 12 hours a day, make sure you have the time carved out ahead of time with your significant other so they know what to expect

You're in, they believe in you, believe in yourself. Good luck


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[Unico]

One last thing, from one "working" person to another: it will get hard and you can loose sight of the forest for the trees. Hopefully for you it won't be as hard as it was for me. Regardless, It gets better.

Those first two years are a grind. It is drinking from a fire hose, and it doesn't stop. Medicine is not like medical school, but you do have to fight like hell for 2 years before it gets better. I hope you remember this when it gets tough -- just keep going and soon it will be over. Sometimes it feels like you'll be studying for the rest of your life and all you want is some autonomy and some work -- keep studying. Work will come soon enough

That's something I wish someone had told me because it is different for non-trads who are used to being "grown ups." It gets better, just grind now.

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[operaman]

I generally advise people not to pre-study anything because it is absolutely the biggest waste of time. That said, if you have any glaring weak areas, you might benefit from going over some bigger picture concepts in that area, but nothing more.

Maybe this is the best example: I'm a smart non-trad who graduated from medical school not that long ago, and if I had to re-do M1 starting tomorrow, I think I would have to study nearly as much as I did the first time. I was looking at a friend's M1 lecture materials recently and rather than immediate recognition, it felt more like deja vu.

Not even going through medical school would prepare you for medical school.

Enjoy your free time.

 

[shouldigomd]

Enjoy your life and read some good books about whatever. It is so nice as a 4th year to have more time and be able to read for pleasure again and learn about things non medical like a normal person. Most people have to put that on hold for 3 years as there is always some test to study for. Not to say you don't have free time but its tough to use that free time to read when you read all day long haha... at least for me.