sdf

[coffeebythelake]

---

Members don't see this ad.

df

 

[DReject]

I'm nervous too!

What works for YOU is different than what works for others. If you find lectures helpful and important, then attend. I know I will.

When classes start, you'll find what's right for you.

Enjoy your summer!

 

[Tiger26]

Here's a little analogy i use if you've ever play sports. At each level (freshman, JV, varsity, college) it's a pretty radical jump at first. Everything's faster and it seems like you're just trying to stay afloat, but eventually you figure out how to do it.

Med school's no different. Yes there is a lot of material and it seems impossible, but you'll figure out a way that works for you. For example, the easiest of our 3 classes would be the more difficult than the hardest one i took in undergrad, no question. however, it's all relative, so that was the class i had to relegate to studying the night before (kinda sucks at the time).

Don't worry, just work your a$$ off and don't be happy just to be here. The ones that were content with just getting in and treated the year like a big party are repeating 1st year from what i've heard.

 

[Ashers]

I'm not sure about my fellow cohort in the class of 2011, but I feel quite nervous and uncertain waiting for the start of medical school.

- I always went to class in undergrad and learned under instruction, but I hear from some students that medical school lectures are a waste of time. Any comments?

- There is so much stuff to memorize. How much of the material that was learned in MS1 do you actually remember in MS2, MS3, and later years?

- Any other tips or suggestions from the more experienced medical students?

Don't worry about it.

I, for one, recommend going to class, but that's how I learn. My learning style and becoming increasingly anxious any time I ditched made it so I always went unless I had a really good excuse (school/emergency related) or if I wanted to go snowboarding (once on a schoold day M1 and M2 year). Don't worry if others don't go to class, if you like it, go. I did ditch more often in undergrad though.

Stuff you learn M1 year will stick with you. Maybe not all details, but it's not like you'll hear something in path and be like "what the crap?" all the time (sometimes yes, but most of the time, histo, phys come back -- neuro didn't for me, but I never learned it to begin with).

Study a lot but also have fun. I've made of some of my best friends in med school. We hang out and stuff when we can now that we're on rotations, but friends helped keep me sane.

 

[rachmoninov3]

Add me to the nervous soon to be M1s !

The other day I was looking through my new Robbins Pathophys for something that has been bugging me my entire nursing career....why the low platelet count with DIC? (older editions in our med lib. said this was the 'paradox of DIC'.) When I finally realised that it was b/c the platelets were already in thrombi, waiting to become emboli, hence the positive d-dimer (as this edition said so clearly)...I felt so elated! Finally I understood it...then five minutes later I realized that there must be people in my class who just look at the lab values and see it as second nature.

Yeah, I know we all learn differently, but such a stupid mistake, thinking that DIC is a rapid proocess like anaphalaxis. I feel so il-prepared compared to the 160 IQ geniuses that I'm imaging as my new classmates!

That's when I really started to get nervous about starting school 10 days from now...As has been echoed here, I'm trying to take the advice of STFU.

 

[sebsvenmdc]

well, the good news is that most kids won't have IQs of 160! in fact some kids will have IQs of 120. some people do learn ridiculously quickly, but that is not the norm. for example, my roommate at college scared the crap out of me. he aced everything. in fact i was surprised that he didn't get like a 43 on the mcat (instead he was a little shy of 40.) also, he made around 260 on the step 1. personally, that was very encouraging! if he had made 215, i would seriously contemplate the probability of me getting a passing score! so be encouraged! there are normal, hard-working, and smart but not insanely intelligent kids like me going to med school. 🙂

 

[nabs86]

I'm scared too! I worry that I won't be able to handle the workload, but I decided that I'll go to class for the first few weeks. I always went to class in undergrad because that's how I learn best, but if I find it totally useless I'll start skipping. I think we'll get into the swing of things after a while. Good luck and enjoy your summer!

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

- I always went to class in undergrad and learned under instruction, but I hear from some students that medical school lectures are a waste of time. Any comments?

It's a personal decision. The thought of getting up into the morning at 8:00 and going into the school to skip lecture and self study like some classmates did seemed abhorrent too me. I went to most lectures, and stayed even if I was getting nothing out of them.

You WILL have bad lecturers. There's no way around it. So going to class or not doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" phenomenon. Sometimes you can attend lectures for one class but not another, or maybe only miss those of certain lecturers. You'll figure it out for yourself.


- There is so much stuff to memorize. How much of the material that was learned in MS1 do you actually remember in MS2, MS3, and later years?

I think it varies from subject to subject. The big stuff from the big classes, anatomy, physio, micro stick with you and you build on that knowledge next year in your second year classes. Some classes you have your first year (Biochemistry, Genetics, Neuro) may introduce material you may not ever see again, so retaining some of it is useful. However, there's going to be a lot of "low yield" details (like the branches of the thyrocervical trunk, or the names of the pathogenicity islands in salmonella) that you're going to quickly forget and never feel bad about.

- Any other tips or suggestions from the more experienced medical students?

Do your own thing. That's all you can do. Study really hard (maybe too hard) for the first tests and reevaluate yourself afterward. Try not to care about the guy who in anatomy lab can spout off every branch of the brachial plexus the first day, don't be offput by the guy bragging in the student lounge about how the group he did research with in undergrand is probably going to end up curing breast cancer in the next five years. Some people's personalities see med school as this big competition where they have to work their hardest to be seen as the "smart one" or "the one with the bright future". Just do your own thing, don't compare how much you're studying to others if you know the material, and try to make some good friends who feel the same way you do.

 

[Hassler]

Here's a little analogy i use if you've ever play sports. At each level (freshman, JV, varsity, college) it's a pretty radical jump at first. Everything's faster and it seems like you're just trying to stay afloat, but eventually you figure out how to do it.

Med school's no different. Yes there is a lot of material and it seems impossible, but you'll figure out a way that works for you. For example, the easiest of our 3 classes would be the more difficult than the hardest one i took in undergrad, no question. however, it's all relative, so that was the class i had to relegate to studying the night before (kinda sucks at the time).

Don't worry, just work your a$$ off and don't be happy just to be here. The ones that were content with just getting in and treated the year like a big party are repeating 1st year from what i've heard.

That definitely varies depending on what your undergraduate major is though. I was a bioengineering major and my junior year in college was definitely tougher than my first year of med school. I'm not saying med school is easy though (it's not!). I agree with most of what you're saying.

 

[dcarinci]

That definitely varies depending on what your undergraduate major is though. I was a bioengineering major and my junior year in college was definitely tougher than my first year of med school. I'm not saying med school is easy though (it's not!). I agree with most of what you're saying.

As a former biomedical engineering major I am glad to hear this b/c that crap was hard, especially junior year for me as well.

 

[Blanket]

This is normal....i posted similar posts last year before starting school.

But don't worry (i know you are not gonna believe me). It is gonna be ok. You have so many people on your side that you are gonna have more support than you can make use of. As per your classmates, who cares, i am sure there will be some you get along with and others you can't stand. That's how its gonna be.

My advice for after school starts....take it easy first couple of weeks. Focus on your study techniques for each class during this weeks(instead of content). I personally took a while to figure out the best ways to study but once i did its been smooth sailing since then.

 

[njbmd]

I'm not sure about my fellow cohort in the class of 2011, but I feel quite nervous and uncertain waiting for the start of medical school.

- I always went to class in undergrad and learned under instruction, but I hear from some students that medical school lectures are a waste of time. Any comments?

- There is so much stuff to memorize. How much of the material that was learned in MS1 do you actually remember in MS2, MS3, and later years?

- Any other tips or suggestions from the more experienced medical students?

Do a search on this forum as there are tons of threads that discuss the very questions that you ask.

What's the worst that can happen to you? You start off a little "rocky" and adjust and do fine. Nothing to be worried about as far more folks finish and start their careers than are not successful.

Relax and enjoy the rest of your summer. Go into first year with the attitude that you are going on a fun adventure with much to learn. No, you don't remember every little factoid from year to year but you remember the important things and you can review and recall quite easily if you learned the material in the first place.

If you find that any of the following are true:

• You are so miserable that you can't get your work done.
• You are not able to eat or sleep because of anxiety.
• You get woefully behind because of illness (yours or someone in your family).

Seek the help of one of your Deans or a counselor. Medical students fail when something (major) interferes with the time that it takes to master the material. If you seek help early, you can get back on track. Just don't sit there and attempt to "gut it out".

What got you into medical school will get you thorough with minor adjustments so don't worry unless you have one of the above problems. If you do find that one of the above is your situation, get help early and often.

At the end of first year, you will be surprised at how well you will be able to adjust so hit the beach, catch up on your telly-watching or just relax with your mates because you won't have much time for those things as often once school starts. Enjoy your year!

 

[OMMnerd]

I'm not sure about my fellow cohort in the class of 2011, but I feel quite nervous and uncertain waiting for the start of medical school.

- I always went to class in undergrad and learned under instruction, but I hear from some students that medical school lectures are a waste of time. Any comments?

- There is so much stuff to memorize. How much of the material that was learned in MS1 do you actually remember in MS2, MS3, and later years?

- Any other tips or suggestions from the more experienced medical students?

There's no doubt that you will forget a lot of what you've learned as an M1!! The good news is, however, that the better you learn it the first time, the quicker it will come back to you when you look at it again in M2, M3 etc...

 

[Law2Doc]

but I hear from some students that medical school lectures are a waste of time. Any comments?

First rule of med school is to ignore what others are doing and decide for yourself what works for you. Some people will find things are a waste of time, others will find them critical to doing well. Both groups are correct... for them.

 

[Blade28]

As a former biomedical engineering major I am glad to hear this b/c that crap was hard, especially junior year for me as well.

Another bioengineering major (during my college days) here - I'm pleasantly surprised to see others! Some of the upper-level bioengineering classes were definitely tougher, conceptually - but volume-wise, med school takes the cake. The classic analogy is of trying to drink water from a fire hydrant - you can only consume so much!

 

[-Goose-]

I'm scared too! I worry that I won't be able to handle the workload, but I decided that I'll go to class for the first few weeks. I always went to class in undergrad because that's how I learn best, but if I find it totally useless I'll start skipping. I think we'll get into the swing of things after a while. Good luck and enjoy your summer!

Don't let non-class goers convince you that it is better for you not to attend lecture.

I have always been a class-goer and med school hasn't changed that, unless the teacher is absolutely awful (only happened a handful of times). It absolutely helped me to attend lecture.

The skinny: its a personal decision. Find out what works best for you and stick with it.

-Goose

 

[enlightenedhick]

I'm not sure about my fellow cohort in the class of 2011, but I feel quite nervous and uncertain waiting for the start of medical school.

- I always went to class in undergrad and learned under instruction, but I hear from some students that medical school lectures are a waste of time. Any comments?

- There is so much stuff to memorize. How much of the material that was learned in MS1 do you actually remember in MS2, MS3, and later years?

- Any other tips or suggestions from the more experienced medical students?

Though you learn nothing in lecture, you must attend to make notes. Studying notes later and the PowerPoint lists from each slide will make you pass tests.

Godspeed!