My experience is that first year is definitely way more material, way harder material, and the courses move way faster...
But I like it a lot more, too...
I'm working much harder than I ever did last year...But even though I didn't find last year especially hard, per se, I hated it. I don't know what to say about the cause and effect of that --- do I like this year better because I'm working harder and am more up to date, am I working harder because I like this year more, is there a third variable somewhere making me both work harder and like it more? Is it actually more material, or does it just seem that way because I'm actually, you know, reading it as we go along and not just wasting ridiculous amounts of time every day and learning everything via cramming? I have no idea...
But I know last year I really had a lot of adjusting to do, and definitely began to question what on earth I was doing in medical school anyways. I really started feeling like I had made a mistake and it just wasn't for me. I realized how little I actually knew about the field of medicine and what doctors actually do, and the new stuff I was learning about it I simply didn't like -- I got so sick of histo and biochem, and memorizing what seemed like basically random chemicals and proteins named by a couple apparently random letters.
And don't get me wrong, memorizing that kind of stuff doesn't end...
But I don't know...for some reason, the stuff has changed or I've changed, and I'm into it now...It sucks and it's hard sometimes, but it's also very cool to be learning clinical stuff, bugs and drugs and diseases and the thought process real doctors are actually going through as they see real patients, not dead people or microscope slides. Pathophys has been by far my favorite class of med school so far. I dunno, maybe I'm getting back in touch with the inner nerd I lost somewhere around high school, who knows...
But I can say that for me at least, first year and second year are vastly different...Don't worry about studying ahead, just do well at what you're doing at the time. If you have time enough free time now to study for second year, my suggestion would be don't do it anyway...If you really want more studying, work harder on the classes you're in. If you're honoring everything and still have time to study ahead for second year then, I dunno, go on a date or something.