Rog, I completely agree with Zdoc....there are several strategies I would suggest to deal with the transition...
first lets look at why there is a transition.
In my mind the transition is because in first year the courses appear as separate discrete entities which most students from undergrad have a tendency to study from test to test slipping a couple of weeks behind in the courses they are ignoring....
This is a common strategy I see with almost all of the approximately 500 health science firsts years that I have tutored in the last four years (including dental, optometry, PA and OT/PT) oh yeah, forgot pharmacy.
When second year arrives, ALL the material is in BLOCK fashion so ALL the material from the previous four/five weeks is pertinent, so if you adopt the common strategy of most first years ie Cramming each subject individually, second year seems as if it is more volume intensive.
An alternative strategy is as follows.
In year One, Get a syllabus sometime within the next couple of weeks from a first year if you can.
Study about a half an hour a day three or four days a week on the FIRST THREE WEEKS OF MATERIAL in both BIOCHEMISTRY AND ANATOMY.and histology just learn basic cell types and function dont worry about lab stuff at this point..learning these three weeks of info is easy since its basically
the back muscles with blood supply and innervation. and first part of biochem is basic Molarity, water chemistry and simple organic molecules.
Buy a program like HUMAN ANATOMY which has actual pictures, a tutorial and self testing capabilities and on CD is about 100$, your friends will love you, and I'm not suggesting anything illegal...but....you could probably resell it and recoup your cost anyway...DONT TRY TO LEARN MORE THAN THE FIRST THREE WEEKS MATERIAL BUT LEARN IT FAIRLY WELL. And DONT BUY EXPENSIVE TEXTS...check out what you need from the library on day one and return it day 14...or thereabouts...practice drawing from memory the orgins and insertions of the muscles and connect the nerves to the muscles learn the major blood vessels that go to the arms and legs from the aorta and back from the the vena cava..theres only 20 of these and they are really just a matter of ARTERIES are named for where they ARE (radial artery lies on the radial bone, brachial artery is beside the brachialis muscle etc..abdominal aorta is in the head..just kidding...dont fret about it, make it fun and treat it like a game that you arent getting tested on it...drink often but dont drive and always wear condoms.
Then when first year arrives, go to the lab
EARLY in the first couple of weeks and Really absorb the material...get to know where the KEY muscle or bone is in your visual frame of reference--example the medial border of the scapula from superior angle to inferior angle divides the upper outer back into arm rotators..and scapula movers..the 4 movers are medial, superior or inferior to the scapula, while the 4 rotators are purely lateral...then in week two tutor your lab group and show them where everything is...this will cement the information...train yourself early to look for the KEYSTONE muscle or bone or tuberosity (bump) that defines a particular region..dont overdo it and dont go too far ahead either...
....ease yourself into the mindset that you are going to stay two to three days ahead of the instructor at all times...then go to class for CLARIFICATION or teaching tips since you now should consider the instructor a colleague,.....spend lots of time EARLY with Dr. Dribin and learn histology early when there isnt an upcoming test to worry about...
then TEACH it to your friends.
Now, ease into the idea that you are going to keep up with ALL classes ALL at the same time...since you have already jumped a little ahead you have the cushion to be able to do this...dont tutor anyone you dont enjoy being around and dont study with people that are scatterbrained or unfocused.
This way you will study LESS and be MORE efficient, dont be aloof but dont rush to join a group just because you need friends..go to a strip bar and have pretend friends....Once you are firmly entrenched in the method of staying ahead and learning the material for the materials sake and not because some whank is testing you on it, you will have little difficulty transitioning to the BLOCK method of testing that occurs in second year and second year can actually be much easier since you are learning a lot of APPLIED information with a lot of instructors tending to be redundant vis a vis other instructors. You also will be training yourself to be an instructor which is an artform that the medical profession needs to teach but so often this gets neglected....i can only speak for nova..are there other schools where teaching people to teach is taught?
good luck, and if you visit within the next couple of weeks, look me up and I'll be happy to answer any other questions....dont hesitate to email. john
