Preparing for First Year of Med School

[UCMDwannabe]

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Hello all,

I was wondering if any currently or previously enrolled med students had any advise on how to prepare for your first year of med school. (specifically, any materials to study before classes begin)

I know there must be other threads about this topic, but I cant seem to find them with the general search.

thank you!

 

[nala]

Don't study. At all. You will spend the next 4 years studying. Take this last precious summer to relax, vacation, whatever. If you really want to read something, read a novel. Please don't read anything for school. It's just not worth it.

 

[jonb12997]

(specifically, any materials to study before classes begin)

Two words, Please don't. It's one of your last summers to have free. You're going to be studying way too much next year... Relax, spend time with friends and family, do something you've always wanted to do but never had the time/guts... That would be my advice.

 

[dontstuddy]

I agree with the other posts. You have been accepted into medical school so you should be as care free this summer as you possibly can be. You probably won't get to relax so much for a very long while.

 

[ddmo]

This has been asked by a million people. The consensus is that the best way to prepare is to have as much fun possible during your summer.

 

[WVmed]

I would definately take it easy if I could, but I won't have that luxury completely. I must spend the summer before MS1 working, but showing up 8am-4pm to work mon-fri and then having your brain shut down immediately after is a lot different than sitting through lecture all morning and trying to absorb that material, studying for exams. I consider working for a summer to be "taking it easy" because you always have your weekends 100% free and weeknights can be spent doing your "own thing" (hopefully that isn't watching TV).

My suggestion is to do like one of the other posters said, read a good book.
See as many sunsets as possible I think. One year I made a pact that I would see as many sunsets as possible before my birthday. Quite a few memories are burned into your mind when you do something like that for yourself (not to mention your retina's after quietly staring at the setting sun for 45 straight evenings). In MS1, life will still be life.. Yes you will be in the library or the lab reading a lot, memorizing a lot.. but the Football season will still rumble through, the Christmas season will unwind a bit, and eventually MS1 will be over..

 

[nala]

I would definately take it easy if I could, but I won't have that luxury completely. I must spend the summer before MS1 working, but showing up 8am-4pm to work mon-fri and then having your brain shut down immediately after is a lot different than sitting through lecture all morning and trying to absorb that material, studying for exams. I consider working for a summer to be "taking it easy" because you always have your weekends 100% free and weeknights can be spent doing your "own thing" (hopefully that isn't watching TV).

My suggestion is to do like one of the other posters said, read a good book.
See as many sunsets as possible I think. One year I made a pact that I would see as many sunsets as possible before my birthday. Quite a few memories are burned into your mind when you do something like that for yourself (not to mention your retina's after quietly staring at the setting sun for 45 straight evenings). In MS1, life will still be life.. Yes you will be in the library or the lab reading a lot, memorizing a lot.. but the Football season will still rumble through, the Christmas season will unwind a bit, and eventually MS1 will be over..

This is good advice too.. WVMed, You might want to consider taking a week or so off between work and school. I was working full time before med school as well and I literally worked up until the day before I left for school, and started class 2 days later. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't too much fun either.

 

[Ypo.]

From what I've heard there really is no way to prepare yourself. I mean, really, if you got accepted, obviously the school thought you had done a good job preparing yourself. We've already got the prereqs and the experiences that have exposed us to medicine. I think an important thing is to be fresh and relaxed when you start, because it takes a lot of energy to get through the first year.

Here is what I am doing this summer...in two weeks I'm leaving for Hawaii for a couple of months, where I plan on chilling out. Then I'm going to Costa Rica for a month. I get back 3 days before fall orientation. I've worked 40-60 hours a week in a mental health care job (in a coldweather state) for the past 8 months in order to gain residency status here, and to save up some money. Now I plan on not thinking about medical school for the next three months.