Start early?

[osteohack10]

Hey all -
Just looking for some perspective from current medical students. Do you think a program such as the anatomy crash course at DCOM in the 3 weeks before orientation will help ease into the curriculum a little more? My concern with starting school is that I have never taken any sort of anatomy (well… not since high school and in an effort to not age myself we'll just say it's been a while) and I've been out of grad school for about a year now and have just been working. I'm wondering if a program like MGA bootcamp would help to get me back into the study mode/get my feet wet with good material or if I would benefit more from just enjoying the last couple weeks before medical school.

Thanks for your help!

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[Petypet]

no, enjoy your time off

 

[RadsonRads]

I was in your same shoes and knew nothing prior to starting school. You will be fine. It definitely takes some adjustment, but it all comes together after freaking out for a few wks.


MS4

 

[DocWinter]

All you would be doing is spending money and time to prepare for only anatomy, which is just 1/3, roughly, of your 1st semester. And then have to learn it over again in different ways by suggest people. Get rested instead

 

[costales]

Go fishing, or do something special with your family.

 

[wjs010]

No. Don't start early

 

[IslandStyle808]

Hey all -
Just looking for some perspective from current medical students. Do you think a program such as the anatomy crash course at DCOM in the 3 weeks before orientation will help ease into the curriculum a little more? My concern with starting school is that I have never taken any sort of anatomy (well… not since high school and in an effort to not age myself we'll just say it's been a while) and I've been out of grad school for about a year now and have just been working. I'm wondering if a program like MGA bootcamp would help to get me back into the study mode/get my feet wet with good material or if I would benefit more from just enjoying the last couple weeks before medical school.

Thanks for your help!

There has been many threads about DCOM's anatomy course. I suggest you look at them. Most of the benefits are marginal. One medical student told me it did help, but mostly to understand the exam format of DCOM's exams. Some have commented on SDN that students that did the crash course were slightly burnt out by around winter break.

 

[001100010010011]

There's like a 3-4wk period where your anatomy course will help but then everyone will catch up and you'll ask yourself why you did an early course.

Additionally, when you start clinicals, you'll see that what anatomists think is important and what attendings ask you is very different. In most cases, you'll just brush up on relevant anatomy when a case comes up or you're on a specialty rotation.

Also, when it comes to "getting an early start" to things in medical school, I've found that the advice usually is "yes, if you feel like you'd like to do it or need it, but it isn't really necessary."

 

[Dr. Zombie]

I feel that those that start the semester/quarter in a really good position, it carries them positively throughout the rest of the semester. We don't know what the OP may or may not struggle with.

To the OP, if you have the money and willingness to immerse yourself in some anatomy before the semester starts, go for it because having 3-4 weeks of a head-start is a huge asset once you start your curriculum in full force and need time to adjust.

 

[NightFury]

I don't really think it mattered too much how much experience/knowledge people had going into medical school. Being a liberal arts major with pretty much the bare minimum for basic sciences prior to starting, I don't think classes were noticeably more difficult for me than for those who were science majors with tons of physiology, biology, anatomy experience. It certainly didn't make a difference in terms of grades/board scores. However, would it have been easier/would I have done better if I could now start fresh and try it the other way? Who knows! I think you know yourself better than anyone on here does. If you have difficulty adjusting or have trouble with time management/ stress management, it might help ease your anxiety going in and could be beneficial.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

I bet this thread reaches over 100 posts all saying "dont study".

 

[oingoboingo]

I think the benefit you would get from this is negligible and if you do it, you will hate yourself by winter break.

 

[Mad Jack]

Having been so far out of anatomy when I began med school, I struggled in anatomy during the first couple of blocks. Knowing what I know now, I would have gone back and taken a summer anatomy course if it were offered by my school, as anatomy is by far the most likely course to end up failing students and lead to them repeating a year. Every student repeating a year at my school right now for academic reasons except one is doing so because of anatomy. That being said, we've got a fairly brutal anatomy course, and I can't comment as to the quality and depth of this particular anatomy crash course, so I'd take the opinions of those from the school over mine.

My advice, for what it matters, is to take the course. A successful start can substantially reduce your level of subsequent stress in medical school.

 

[dntke1518]

Just my two cents after a long SDN hiatus, don't study or take any prep courses. It will put you marginally ahead at best. It all goes down hill from here as far as any free time. Enjoy it.

 

[Kevin Baker]

I'll take the contrarian viewpoint. In general I'm all for the don't pre study mantra quoted on SDN. But these kinds of courses a few weeks before school allow you to move in and get settled early, while getting used to a low pressure kind of studying. It can help if you've been out of the study game awhile, and more importantly, make anatomy a tad easier, giving you more time to adjust to the speed of med school, let you see the professors testing style, maybe learn a few future exam questions, and as a bonus you make some new friends early.

That particular bootcamp sounds pretty intense, and you do want to start school relaxed and ready to go, but if it's for no credit and you don't take it super intensely (though they say it is intense and to take it intensely), I think you can get all the benefits of moving in, getting adjusted, and getting a negligible head start without the cons of early burnout.

 

[MiaMia14]

The anatomy course wasn't around when I was a first year at DCOM but I may have done it if it was around. I tend to get bored easily and was pulling my hair out before school started. I was a Spanish major and admittedly had a reaaaally hard time transitioning to medical school. It's really hard when you don't even know what the word "innervate" means and by the time you look it up the professor is already on another topic.

I don't know how much it costs. That definitely would have been the kicker. Like others said, it would only put you "marginally" ahead everyone else, but if that marginal help means the difference between failing and not failing then it's worth it. It depends on how hard you think you'll struggle and what your background is. I honestly think just having had an introduction to medical language would have been a HUGE help when I started. It's hard to understand the concepts in a lecture if you don't understand the words the professors are using to explain the concepts. Obviously I overcame it and ended up doing fine in school...but I really dug my gpa into a hole with that C my first year in anatomy.

 

[Th2]

I spent a year and about 50k on a true SMP (6-7 first year med school courses) to help get me into medical school. Now that I am in (at a different school), I can say it has prepared me well. Barring your willingness to do that, however, I'd say what they're saying: enjoy the freedom you have now.

 

[shibby1111]

Hey all -
Just looking for some perspective from current medical students. Do you think a program such as the anatomy crash course at DCOM in the 3 weeks before orientation will help ease into the curriculum a little more? My concern with starting school is that I have never taken any sort of anatomy (well… not since high school and in an effort to not age myself we'll just say it's been a while) and I've been out of grad school for about a year now and have just been working. I'm wondering if a program like MGA bootcamp would help to get me back into the study mode/get my feet wet with good material or if I would benefit more from just enjoying the last couple weeks before medical school.

Thanks for your help!

There is nothing you can do to prepare. There is no similarity between highschool/college anatomy and medical anatomy - different things are focused on. Plus, it would be like preparing to be dropped into a NASCAR by warming up using a playstation game. it would be just as silly as preparing for Navy Seal bootcamp by doing a tough mudder on a saturday afternoon...its dumb and you'll wish you had spent the time doing somehting else.

 

[Mehd School]

DCOM student here. That course is nearly $1000, and there are pros and cons.

It covers all of anatomy in three weeks. Think about that. The regular course lasts 16 weeks, and trust me when I say the pace is fast enough. I know numerous people that are landing A's in anatomy without bootcamp and without having previous anatomy experience. I had what I considered a good anatomy background coming in, but we were all on the same standing come week 2 or 3.

The biggest con, in my opinion, is the potential to get burnt out early. We've been in school for 14 weeks, and it's strange because that both feels like one month / one year of constant schooling all at the same time. What I'm trying to say is time goes by fast, but you also feel like it goes on forever. That probably won't make sense until you're living it. I can't imagine adding an additional intense month to that.

But I know a few people that did it and it no doubt gives you a slight advantage. You just need to weigh if that slight advantage is worth a grand and 3 weeks of precious, precious free time. I definitely don't regret my decision not doing the program (didn't have the money anyway).

 

[hallowmann]

...We've been in school for 14 weeks, and it's strange because that both feels like one month / one year of constant schooling all at the same time. What I'm trying to say is time goes by fast, but you also feel like it goes on forever. That probably won't make sense until you're living it...

This. Exactly this. <1.5 yrs, but it feels like I've been doing it for like 5 yrs, but at the same time like I just started. I keep wanting to use the, "but we're only 1st years" excuse, but then I see the first years doing anatomy, and am like woah, that was sooo long ago.

 

[osteohack10]

Thanks everybody for the great perspectives! A lot to think about, but it sounds like most people either are glad they took the rest time or wish they would have. Very, very appreciated!