Second Year Students

[ACSurgeon]

Since I couldn't find anything on this topic using the search function, here it goes: How did you (second year students and beyond) approach second year compared to first year? I realize that second year is more demanding, and I wonder if you just did more of what worked during first year, or if you had to find a new approach all together. Thanks.

P.S. MS2's that have NOT taken STEP1 yet are asked to refrain from answering this question, as I can only imagine how bitter you are about studying for the darn thing! . Just kidding. Everyone is welcome to chip in.

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[Ashers]

I did not change my study methods. They worked M1 year after I figured them out, so I studied exactly the same, but in a different location, so I saw more people. I had less free time, but I did still manage to maintain sanity by some social things and exercise.

It's M3 year where things really change.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I did not change my study methods. They worked M1 year after I figured them out, so I studied exactly the same, but in a different location, so I saw more people. I had less free time, but I did still manage to maintain sanity by some social things and exercise.

It's M3 year where things really change.

I knew that would be the case for sure, but I wasn't sure if M2 was such a huge change with path and pharm. Thanks!

 

[Ashers]

I knew that would be the case for sure, but I wasn't sure if M2 was such a huge change with path and pharm. Thanks!

Pharm was my favorite class. Oh, I did everything the same for pharm, except I acquired premade notecards specific for my school's class. They basically condensed all the notes which I recopied anyway. They were more portable than my binder. It was the only class in which I used notecards.

 

[opb]

My study strategy didn't change much from M1 year to M2 year. I think the biggest difference is the amount of information that you'll learn... there's a lot of diseases out there and a lot of bugs and drugs, too. However, if you stick to what worked well in M1 year there's no reason it won't work in M2 year. My biggest piece of advice is to stay caught up with all your classes as best as you can (unless you're the type of person who does best with stressful cramming).

The only thing I did differently was use flashcards for pharmacology, as I found that those worked best in helping me remember all the pharm details and what not.

Good luck.

 

[The Angriest Bird]

Quote: "2nd year is better than 1st year."

Comment: "False and True."

False:
The information load is 1.5x or double. You are required to know more trivia/details. Exams can become more frequent, depending on your school. Outside-classroom activities are most likely going to increase, such as patient interviews and small group stuffs, and they will take your study time. Some study Step 1 during 2nd year. Many don't and still do well on Step 1, but I think it's a good idea if you've got the motivation. And most importantly, your classmates will get better in terms of studying, which makes beating-the-curve harder.

True:
You are just better at "suffering." Put it in a positive way, you are more attuned to the life of a medical student. You are much better at developing a mneumonic. You are much better at memorizing a list of any five things. Your way of studying is becoming almost perfectly robust, and you follow it pretty well.

Your real-life transition to medical school will be complete. Your significant other will now understand why you can't watch TV with her/him every night. You will most likely give up some hobby. Your room will look more like a library than a college dorm, if you study at home.

Stuffs are more clinical and realistic. It's more interesting sometimes but not always. Step 1 is always on the horizon, but try not to worry about it too much because you will cram the **** out of it anyway.

Summary:
The tunnel is getting darker but you now have a better flashlight. Memorization will be the "force" that keeps your galaxy together.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Quote: "2nd year is better than 1st year."

Comment: "False and True."

False:
The information load is 1.5x or double. You are required to know more trivia/details. Exams can become more frequent, depending on your school. Outside-classroom activities are most likely going to increase, such as patient interviews and small group stuffs, and they will take your study time. Some study Step 1 during 2nd year. Many don't and still do well on Step 1, but I think it's a good idea if you've got the motivation. And most importantly, your classmates will get better in terms of studying, which makes beating-the-curve harder.

True:
You are just better at "suffering." Put it in a positive way, you are more attuned to the life of a medical student. You are much better at developing a mneumonic. You are much better at memorizing a list of any five things. Your way of studying is becoming almost perfectly robust, and you follow it pretty well.

Your real-life transition to medical school will be complete. Your significant other will now understand why you can't watch TV with her/him every night. You will most likely give up some hobby. Your room will look more like a library than a college dorm, if you study at home.

Stuffs are more clinical and realistic. It's more interesting sometimes but not always. Step 1 is always on the horizon, but try not to worry about it too much because you will cram the **** out of it anyway.

Summary:
The tunnel is getting darker but you now have a better flashlight. Memorization will be the "force" that keeps your galaxy together.

Very deep man...

 

[DwyaneWade]

The consensus in my class was that 2nd year was much easier.

My friends and I were much more relaxed, but as Good Yeast says it is because you have a good idea how things are structured and you know how much you need to study to get a certain grade. The material is definitely more but at least in my case, the material was much more clinically relevant because we did an organ systems based approach.

I think most people were glad to be rid of the basic sciences.

 

[Law2Doc]

Since I couldn't find anything on this topic using the search function, here it goes: How did you (second year students and beyond) approach second year compared to first year? I realize that second year is more demanding, and I wonder if you just did more of what worked during first year, or if you had to find a new approach all together. Thanks.

P.S. MS2's that have NOT taken STEP1 yet are asked to refrain from answering this question, as I can only imagine how bitter you are about studying for the darn thing! . Just kidding. Everyone is welcome to chip in.

Second year is more information than first year. However it is "easier" in that you don't have as much of a learning curve in figuring out how to study, and the info is more interesting because it is more clinical. But toward the end the stress level tends to increase because you have Step 1 looming.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Once again, this depends on your school. My school really ramps up the difficulty in the second year, while friends at other schools consider it on par or easier than first year.

Personally, my second year I did study more due to increased courseload, but the school changed how testing was done so it was much easier to stay on top of a large amount of material in a focused subject area vs. first year where you may have had small amounts of stuf to learn in 9-10 subjects.

 

[vtucci]

I thought MS2 was way easier than MS1 and did correspondingly much better in MS2. The reason I preferred MS2 was that the material was clinically relevant and interesting. That being said, many of my classmates felt it was harder because there was more information presented in a shorter period of time. IMHO, M3 was even better than the preclinical years but harder for an entirely different reason (sleep deprivation).