Serious about Pre-studying for Med School

Started by Dr.Starchild
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WedgeDawg said:
Learn how to manage your time well so that you can maintain adequate work life balance

Learn how to exercise, eat well, and maintain mental health

Learn what form of studying works best for YOU (generally done early in med school through trial and error)

Have a general idea of what your goals might be so you can explore them early on in med school and then, if you want, get involved in that department

Pass your classes

^^^ that is how you do well in the preclinical years
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Anybooks reccomended ?
I cant seem to locate any specialty specific guides on: How to match in IM or prep for Step I. Or even an overview on how pds choose applicants. Learning about he process might be helpful now comsidering w work load in medical school.
 
LittleEngineCould said:
Maybe they weren't petty enough to still remember a promise they made on an online forum to some anonymous guy with a Mexican wearing a sombrero as an avatar [which you, for the purpose of this comment, had since the beginning]?

Lucky for you, I just so happen to be petty enough.
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That guy Burt Reynolds in "Smokey and the Bandit". To be fair, that's even before my time.
 
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libertyyne said:
Anybooks reccomended ?
I cant seem to locate any specialty specific guides on: How to match in IM or prep for Step I. Or even an overview on how pds choose applicants. Learning about he process might be helpful now comsidering w work load in medical school.
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How to match in IM: go to medical school

I don't know what school you're going to, but step 1 prep is different based on your schedule. At my school, we take step 1 post clinical year so no one studies for it before then - I'm almost done with my preclinical time and I've basically been focused on doing well in my classes so that when I study for step 1 in 2018, hopefully nothing will come as a surprise. For schools that take step 1 earlier, it will be different. The best resources for you will be 3rd and 4th year students at your particular school. There is no one size fits all approach.

As for your other questions, there are tons of stuff you can find by searching through the allo forum as well as the specialty specific residency forums. Don't make threads there, but go back several pages and see what you can find. I've done this for the specialty I am interested in and have found a lot of useful info.
 
WedgeDawg said:
How to match in IM: go to medical school

I don't know what school you're going to, but step 1 prep is different based on your schedule. At my school, we take step 1 post clinical year so no one studies for it before then - I'm almost done with my preclinical time and I've basically been focused on doing well in my classes so that when I study for step 1 in 2018, hopefully nothing will come as a surprise. For schools that take step 1 earlier, it will be different. The best resources for you will be 3rd and 4th year students at your particular school. There is no one size fits all approach.

As for your other questions, there are tons of stuff you can find by searching through the allo forum as well as the specialty specific residency forums. Don't make threads there, but go back several pages and see what you can find. I've done this for the specialty I am interested in and have found a lot of useful info.
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Thanks Dawg! Good to know, I would hate to find out there is a LizzyM for residency matching that I had no idea about prior to year 4.
 
libertyyne said:
Anybooks reccomended ?
I cant seem to locate any specialty specific guides on: How to match in IM or prep for Step I. Or even an overview on how pds choose applicants. Learning about he process might be helpful now comsidering w work load in medical school.
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I'd echo @WedgeDawg that your best bet is going to be upperclassmen as far as the specifics of how to succeed in your particular program.

For step 1 prep, there are are threads for each year in the step 1 forum where people post their study schedules and subsequent scores. One thing I did at the beginning of M1 was read the past couple years' threads to get an idea of what resources people used and how they incorporated them into med school.

Being competitive for residency is honestly a lot more straightforward than being competitive for med school. Nobody expects you to have started a nonprofit or logged a thousand volunteer hours. Get good grades, do well on step 1 (and step 2, as necessary), be successful on rotations as an M3/M4, get good letters, try to do some research if you have time/interest.
 
mcloaf said:
Being competitive for residency is honestly a lot more straightforward than being competitive for med school. Nobody expects you to have started a nonprofit or logged a thousand volunteer hours. Get good grades, do well on step 1 (and step 2, as necessary), be successful on rotations as an M3/M4, get good letters, try to do some research if you have time/interest.
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This quote gives me hope
 
gyngyn said:
Learn to speak Spanish, to cook and personal finance.
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Yes. Spanish for health care professionals if you must. Latin for Doctors.

Or instead try reading the great classics and medical classics like anything by Atul Gawande. The House of God. Stiff.

Read Aequanimitas or anything by William Osler.

All of Ben Carson's books. When Breath becomes Air.
 
precisiongraphic said:
Yes. Spanish for health care professionals if you must. Latin for Doctors.

Or instead try reading the great classics and medical classics like anything by Atul Gawande. The House of God. Stiff.

Read Aequanimitas or anything by William Osler.

All of Ben Carson's books. When Breath becomes Air.
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You had me until Atul Gawande. You lost me at Ben Carson.
 
ScottTenorman54 said:
Take that free time and go get yourself a job. Make some money. Having a nice pot of cash going into school will be a lot more useful than a few extra months of Lippincott's.
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Although I agree in spirit, because idle hands and such, However I would venture to say, Spend your free time , enjoy life, it is the last time you may be able to. The money you will make will probably cover interest for your loans for a month.
 
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I'm currently working a full-time gig and reading First Aid helps me fantasize that I'm a student again.

On the bright side though I have dental insurance for the first time in my life. Finally went to get a checkup and the hygenist was just like LOL when they saw my teeth.
 
This is a terrible idea. Enjoy your time off. Do something not related to academia. Work a part time job, volunteer, start a hobby, if you can't travel the world travel the US instead, read self-improvement books, follow a new subreddit, and don't follow the advice of premeds.

Medical school hits you fast. Cherish your boredom.
 
If I could do it again, I most definitely would not pre-study. If someone insisted, as in they either pre-study or drink acid, I'd recommend watching the Acland videos because anatomy is an enormous time sink.
 
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mcloaf said:
Being competitive for residency is honestly a lot more straightforward than being competitive for med school. Nobody expects you to have started a nonprofit or logged a thousand volunteer hours. Get good grades, do well on step 1 (and step 2, as necessary), be successful on rotations as an M3/M4, get good letters, try to do some research if you have time/interest.
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You forgot "go to a good medical school." I guess that's more important for getting into a good residency than it is for getting into residency in general. The amount of incest going on in the matching process is unreal.
 
aldol16 said:
You forgot "go to a good medical school." I guess that's more important for getting into a good residency than it is for getting into residency in general. The amount of incest going on in the matching process is unreal.
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I was trying to confine my advice to what you should focus on once you start medical school. Going to a better known/respected school can only help you, but that can of worms can fill many threads (and has) and seems like a distraction from this discussion.
 
mcloaf said:
I was trying to confine my advice to what you should focus on once you start medical school. Going to a better known/respected school can only help you, but that can of worms can fill many threads (and has) and seems like a distraction from this discussion.
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Yeah, it probably is but it's something that can't be ignored. Especially when you have schools keeping 50% of its medical students for residencies.
 
I really appreciate the advice guys.

So far I've resolved to:
  1. find a study technique that works for me
  2. develop and maintain a good routine for maintaining my physical and mental health: eating healthy, working out, making time for enjoyable activities
  3. develop effective time management skills that will allow me to balance current work, family, and study obligations with enjoyable activities
  4. explore what kind of specialties I am interested in, and what kind of paths I should take
  5. learn Spanish, or at least learn a couple of relevant phrases
  6. read the work of great physicians like Atul Gawande, William Osler, and Samuel Shlem to get a deeper insight into what this field is about
Thanks a lot guys!

Btw
mcloaf said:
As I am passionate about becoming a neonatologist because of helping the neonates, I will also like to know the salary." f
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That's gold right there lol, I love it.
 
iqe2010 said:
The second I find out I'm accepted into a program I'm drinking like a fish until maybe a week before class starts..hell maybe the day before it starts.

..Or maybe I won't stop.
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I plan to stop studying until 3 weeks out, so I can chill for a little and then not get burnt out when I start med school.
 
aldol16 said:
Yeah, it probably is but it's something that can't be ignored. Especially when you have schools keeping 50% of its medical students for residencies.
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That ship sailed for me a while back.
aldol16 said:
Yeah, it probably is but it's something that can't be ignored. Especially when you have schools keeping 50% of its medical students for residencies.
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Assuming I get multiple acceptances, what should I look for to determine " good" medical school.
 
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I'm not going to dissuade you from pre studying but I will give some suggestions. I'm also just a mere applicant so take this with a grain of salt.

It's much easier to learn something if you've seen it once before. It might be even better if you've seen the entire preclinical curriculum so you know how things connect. I wouldn't try to read all of those books because reading is a bit slow and easily contributes to burnout. On the other hand, videos can be watched quickly and don't ware me down the same way. If you can get your hands on a full set of preclinical lectures or something similar I would say watch those as your pre study. At 1.5-2x speed you could probably get through it all with the schedule you outlined. You could even watch them on a phone/tablet while you ride a stationary bike at the gym.

If you find a set of videos please lmk because I want to watch some after I get through my interviews.
 
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Doggo said:
LOLZ I never realized I've been spelling it wrong my whole life. So glad spelling wasn't on the SATs or MCAT or I woulda been toast. I blame the Great Gatsby
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They are almost homonyms: pneumonics and mnemonic both have a silent first letter. Pneu is pronounced like "new" whereas mne is pronounced like "neh".
 
LizzyM said:
They are almost homonyms: pneumonics and mnemonic both have a silent first letter. Pneu is pronounced like "new" whereas mne is pronounced like "neh".
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Good to know. I've had to say the word pneumothorax a lot more often than mnemonic so I'm a lot more used to that kind of spelling/pronunciation haha *nervously tries to hide the fact that I thought they were pronounced the same exact way #GrowingUpWithImmigrantParents*
 
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Umyo said:
I feel like Doggo and Dr.Starchild are the same person...


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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Yeah the sad/awesome (depending on how you look at it -- I subscribe to the faction that deems it awesome) reality of life is that no one is a special snowflake and there are probably thousands of people living out basically the same life/personality as you.

I don't doubt that I'm probably virtually identically to scores of people on this site.
 
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Naive question regarding pre studying: would one find it more beneficial to familiarize oneself with things such as medical terminology, anatomy and maybe courses like biochem (as mentioned above) if one has not taken it before?

I very much agree with using the time for personal development and honing in on one's study skills. I am just curious if anyone has pre "studied" related coursework and has actually benefitted. It seems intuitive to try and "get ahead" while free time exists, however I can't help but find it hard to follow this logic. Burnout is real-therefore it seems counterintuitive for one to create a detailed study schedule the year prior to matriculating.
 
toriz said:
Naive question regarding pre studying: would one find it more beneficial to familiarize oneself with things such as medical terminology, anatomy and maybe courses like biochem (as mentioned above) if one has not taken it before?

I very much agree with using the time for personal development and honing in on one's study skills. I am just curious if anyone has pre "studied" related coursework and has actually benefitted. It seems intuitive to try and "get ahead" while free time exists, however I can't help but find it hard to follow this logic. Burnout is real-therefore it seems counterintuitive for one to create a detailed study schedule the year prior to matriculating.
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It's hard to answer questions like this because everyone has such different learning styles. For me personally I learned molecular/micro bio, physics, and stats before taking the official college courses and got through the classes with minimal effort during the actual semester so I'm inferring that prestudying topics I am already interested in will be beneficial for me. Still kicking myself for not doing the same thing for orgo.

Effective learning styles vary so much from person to person though so what works for other people may not work for you and vice versa.
 
toriz said:
Naive question regarding pre studying: would one find it more beneficial to familiarize oneself with things such as medical terminology, anatomy and maybe courses like biochem (as mentioned above) if one has not taken it before?

I very much agree with using the time for personal development and honing in on one's study skills. I am just curious if anyone has pre "studied" related coursework and has actually benefitted. It seems intuitive to try and "get ahead" while free time exists, however I can't help but find it hard to follow this logic. Burnout is real-therefore it seems counterintuitive for one to create a detailed study schedule the year prior to matriculating.
Click to expand...

Here is how I view it: Burnout is a real thing, and that's why I plan to abstain from studying for 3-4 weeks before matriculation. However, if I were to spend the year just having "fun", then all of the mental abilities, knowledge gained, and skills learned will slowly atrophy. And my greatest fear is that by the time classes start I will have become so acclimated to a relaxed life style that med school will hit me twice as hard as the traditional applicants, and I may not be as ready for it as I am now.

But if I do start preparing now, I will already have developed study methods that work for me, I will have a familiarity with a lot of the material, and I will not be hit as hard by the ammount of time I now have to study because it will be more of a big step up from an activity Im already doing instead of an entirely new task I have to take on.

Thoughts?....
 
@libertyyne I like to listen to Kaplan Step I videos with professor Raymon or Doctor Kartik Rangaraj as white noise, background music. I usually do this when I'm working out or have a lot of documents to work on and need to listen to someone talking to feel relaxed. This way you feel intellectually stimulated without actually being invested.

You can find a lot of these videos on Youtube as part of promotional materials and the wonderful horrible students who kindly amorally video captured their lectures during their online seminars. YMMV. I always have background noise or a documentary running when I have extensive paperwork or just down time in general. So, it's just a thing for me.
 
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Dude. Learn something - anything - else besides the same exact material you're gonna pay and devote years of your life to learn. You seem to not need a job to get by, so you have all this free time to learn something to make you an interesting person, not some premed automaton who shows up day one in med school spouting medical facts. Learn to code, learn another language, play an instrument, take up a new sport, read a book that doesn't involve medicine. You're given this gift of free time to do whatever you want and you're gonna spend a solid % of each day PRE STUDYING MED SCHOOL??? this site. jesus.
 
albastrudiavol said:
Dude. Learn something - anything - else besides the same exact material you're gonna pay and devote years of your life to learn. You seem to not need a job to get by, so you have all this free time to learn something to make you an interesting person, not some premed automaton who shows up day one in med school spouting medical facts. Learn to code, learn another language, play an instrument, take up a new sport, read a book that doesn't involve medicine. You're given this gift of free time to do whatever you want and you're gonna spend a solid % of each day PRE STUDYING MED SCHOOL??? this site. jesus.
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I'm learning to bake 🙂
 
Dr.Starchild said:
Here is how I view it: Burnout is a real thing, and that's why I plan to abstain from studying for 3-4 weeks before matriculation. However, if I were to spend the year just having "fun", then all of the mental abilities, knowledge gained, and skills learned will slowly atrophy. And my greatest fear is that by the time classes start I will have become so acclimated to a relaxed life style that med school will hit me twice as hard as the traditional applicants, and I may not be as ready for it as I am now.

But if I do start preparing now, I will already have developed study methods that work for me, I will have a familiarity with a lot of the material, and I will not be hit as hard by the ammount of time I now have to study because it will be more of a big step up from an activity Im already doing instead of an entirely new task I have to take on.

Thoughts?....
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Holy **** I think we might be the same person Dr. Starchild.

I had a super chill last year of college. By the second semester my earliest class was at 3PM. Fast forward to the next August when I started my first real full time job, the first month was TORTURE because I wasn't used to having to wake up early and do work for so many hours each day with no naps.

Prior to that last year, I had my day packed with activities from 5AM-9PM everyday and I never felt tired (More than 4 hours of sleep to me felt excessive). I'm currently trying to buildup my discipline to that point. It's like training a muscle I think.
 
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