Starting med school (finally), what do you wish you knew?

[ArcGurren]

You're reputation is more important than your grades. (Although grades and board scores are important!)
1. Never lie, tell the truth....always.
2. Never speak ill of a resident, attending, or student in mixed company. Medicine is a VERY small community.
3. Never make another student or intern look bad. Revenge will be swift and brutal.
4. You are not special, so don't act like it. Be humble yet confident.

100% agree with these, and everyone knows the kid who tries to screw over the other student for a few points or to get brownie points with an attending. It doesn't work, and nobody likes them. In addition

1. Don't try too hard to make friends with everyone you come across. This isn't a seriously different situation from high school or college... in fact it's more like high school. It's incredibly cliquey and people still love to stratify themselves. Be nice to everyone but don't get upset if people aren't what they seem initially.

2. Don't cram, unless you have a photographic memory. I don't. I tried cramming during my first year and it didn't work. I spent my second year studying a few hours a day, hard and dedicated, and I honored all my classes. It makes the difference.

3. Set goals for yourself but make them realistic.

4. Never make assumptions about others and above all, be NICE. The quiet awkward kid you see in lecture may be the one to help your asses out of a bind during rotations. The popular kid who's the center of attention might be the biggest gunner you ever come across.

5. Show compassion and respect for your patients, whatever their situation. I have had patients where I was frustrated with them because of noncompliance, drugs, or general stupidity. I had a patient who was being bullied at school and as a result had started taking drugs. There's almost always more to the story than what meets the eye, unless they're a legitimate sociopath.

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[ArcGurren]

Is that not what the steps are for, to make sure we are competent? So this is the baseline, not the goal. Every medical student graduate should be competent. Therefore, the goal becomes matching into a decent program, not just being competent.

As for the biomedical ethics part, you are citing personal examples, no need to say anything more about that.

I didn't say that the steps are not there to assess our competence. However above all else my goal in medical school is to be a well rounded, competent doctor. Yes if you work hard and you have personal goals you will match something but the original poster's nasty disdain for primary care set the tone of his argument... namely that people who go into that field are those who didn't do well, etc.

Every person who goes through medical school has had experiences where bioethics have been an issue. Anyone who says otherwise is an outright liar. What exactly were you expecting, a JAMA paper about the frequency of bioethics being an issue in medicine? This is common sense.

 

[2012mdc]

Is this a prevalent paradigm among medical students? If so, I think I might need to keep myself far, far away from my classmates. Not everyone wants a cushy lifestyle or specialty, homie.

matching well doesn't necessarily mean a cushy lifestyle or specialty. try to convince anyone that an IM match at MGH isn't impressive and they'll hit you with

Is that not what the steps are for, to make sure we are competent? So this is the baseline, not the goal. Every medical student graduate should be competent. Therefore, the goal becomes matching into a decent program, not just being competent.

I agree. I think people forget what USMLE stands for or just don't think about it.

Obviously the underlying goal when you start something is to finish it. But you also want to do your best and set up your future career as best as you can = matching well.

Matching well doesn't mean ROAD or an elite institution. Matching well means that you end up in program that you're happy with for whatever reasons you want (prestige, academic vs community, location etc.) and that you have options during the match process and you weren't forced to scramble or settle.

 

[CougarMD]

Sigh.


4. Yeah, no. In 3rd year, dress professionally. In first and second year, you can go to class in scrubs and pajamas.

This makes me happy.

 

[hypnosis3000]

How can you guys say most textbooks are useless? I just started medical school and for class you gotta have a lab dissector so you know what the hell you're dissecting; some type of atlas; and gray's anatomy would likely seem as a must buy because of how complex anatomy is. This is in the first year alone, shouldn't I anticipate more textbooks to buy in future years. I'm not saying all books ought to be bought, but these three books alone will likely already be about $150. Am I wrong in buying these textbooks? I am skeptical in how you can rely only on the professors' ppts?

 

[235009]

I spent so much money on books I never used. I wish I knew then which books are useful for studying for STEP 1. STEP 1 is the thing we should be thinking about from day one. Get stuff like BRS path and First Aid for Step 1 the first day of school. There is a website www.bestresidency.com that outlines which books are the most high yield, save your money on everything else.

i disagree with this. step 1 is so integrative that you can't study for it from day 1. if you start loading up on review books from the beginning you're going to miss out on actually learning the material and instead you'll be trying to memorize what simply amount to outlines. just follow along with the classes you're taking and try to learn the material. don't worry about studying for step 1 in the spring semester of second year.

as for buying books: there is no one size fits all formula. talk to upperclassmen at your school and see what they recommend. there are some classes where you'll definitely need a book or three and there are others where you won't need any.

 

[Shadowmoses]

You dont have to give up your pesonal hobbies...lol

 

[TheMan21]

How can you guys say most textbooks are useless? I just started medical school and for class you gotta have a lab dissector so you know what the hell you're dissecting; some type of atlas; and gray's anatomy would likely seem as a must buy because of how complex anatomy is. This is in the first year alone, shouldn't I anticipate more textbooks to buy in future years. I'm not saying all books ought to be bought, but these three books alone will likely already be about $150. Am I wrong in buying these textbooks? I am skeptical in how you can rely only on the professors' ppts?

Atlases and dissectors are the exception. When people say textbooks are useless they are referring to biochem books and the like. However, I will say that I used my embryology textbook quite a bit. The professor's notes were lacking in detail and had very, very few illustrations. Illustrations are pretty important in embryology to help clarify certain concepts. So my advice to you is to talk to a second year student and ask which books are essential, because you're right, you will need at least a couple.

 

[jbar]

The thing about books is I think it is worth investing in the books that are for the stuff you love. Because you will actually read those books, and refer to them forever. I read "the ICU book" 4th year, cover to cover, best investment of my time. But I love critical care. For those that don't there are other shorter books.

There is nothing wrong with buying books if you learn well from books. Out of the $200,000 you spend on medical school, dropping $400 on books isn't a big deal.

(speaking of which, if there isn't a book fair at your school, organize one. Some books you need to get new, like Step 1 study books you don't want the version from 5 years ago. But pathology, immuno, cell bio, statistics etc. haven't changed in years. And there are plenty of 3rd and 4th years who will sell you those books for $20 rather than $100 new)

On an unrelated note, figure out a work out routine that works. I know you think you are crazy busy, but if you can't make time for working out and a social life as a first year medical student, you aren't going to magically figure it out as a resident. You can't put your life on hold for 8 years till you are an attending. That being said, medical school is all about balence. When I was on surgery I went to bed at 8:45pm, and while my classmates were dying on rounds I felt fine. I had 8 hours of sleep. They had gone out till 1am and then had to round 4 hours later.

On the hard rotations there is getting enough sleep, working out, seeing friends, and studying. On a given night you can do 2 of those things, and every night you have to pick which 2. So make your decisions and accept them, over the course of the week you can work out a few times, see a few friends, do some studying. But not all in one day.

Work hard on all your rotations, but when you find something you like that might be your career go the extra mile. Show up early, stay late. Read as much as you can. You only have one chance to make a good impression.

Help your residents. It's scut if they make you do it, but if you volunteer to do it you help them a lot. And as I resident, I often want to teach, but I can't because I have a full list of things to do. When I finish that list, we can sit around and shoot the breeze or I can bring you in to teach you cool stuff. So the sooner I get done, the sooner I can teach. Or the sooner you can go home.

 

[mrwesticles]

A big one: I wish I had switched advisors as soon as I was dabbling in a new specialty. It's not fun to have developed an advising relationship with someone who was honestly little use when it comes to residency applications.

Also, get good at making study snack!.

 

[mrwesticles]

Oh, another one: Don't show up just to get high grades, show up with the intention of being the best doctor you can be. The grades will follow.

(Especially true for 3rd year)

 

[2012mdc]

Oh, another one: Don't show up just to get high grades, show up with the intention of being the best doctor you can be. The grades will follow.

(Especially true for 3rd year)

This can be true but you can also be burned like that. The grades don't always follow.

A good of friend of mine worked his butt of on IM (sometimes he was there before me and I was on Surgery) and got great evals but didn't get honors because of the shelf.

3rd year is about balance. Sometimes you have to work really hard clinically and other times you need to give off the impression you're working hard clinically while taking care of shelf prep

 

[Substance]

Sigh.

0. No. The goal of medical school is to make you a competent medical professional above all else, in addition to matching. I dislike this mindset very much. Just because one may want to match in, say, Ophthalmology, does not mean you disregard or make light of what you learn in all your rotations. Being a well-rounded doctor is incredibly important.

1. Knowing your biomedical ethics is absolutely important. I've had to deal with more than one case involving child services, and there's definitely been times where confidentiality has been an issue. I've known people to royally F up something because they didn't understand the basics of their bioethics. Also, for the gunners out there, this is something you do need to know for Step 1, so don't make light of it. PBL sessions... this is a matter of opinion as I usually learned more about actual clinical medicine from PBL sessions than I did from listening to some ***** lecture about Tay-sachs Disease.

2 and 3. This is absolutely not true. I know someone who matched Urology and one of their projects was a community health awareness one. It helped open the doors for many other urology-related projects and it was brought up during interviews. Some research is always better than no research. And your general disdain for primary care is nasty and uncalled for, especially from a resident. There is such a thing as highly competitive Medicine or Peds or Med/Peds programs by the way... by comparison there are many ROAD programs, particularly in Anesthesia, which are very easy to match.

4. Yeah, no. In 3rd year, dress professionally. In first and second year, you can go to class in scrubs and pajamas.

5. This I partially agree with, but no, not everyone in your class is a "loser". Many are melodramatic idiots, yes, but there's always people you can find who understand/you get along with.

6. If you don't get AOA it's not the end of the world. I am in the top quintile of my class and not a contender for AOA. I don't really care. Step 1 score on the other hand does make a pretty big difference but getting a relatively lower score will not rule you out of a specialty... it may make it harder but there are other ways to bolster your application (including 3rd year grades, research, LORs, audition rotations, etc.)

Please, see through the horse crap, people who are reading through this thread. I have no desire to go into primary care personally but knocking people who do is pathetic.

Hello Sir,

I think you may have misinterpreted the essence of my post. Please do not be alarmed.

Now for the rebuttal:

0. Being a competent well-rounded doctor is the default. If med schools are worth their reputations, EVERY grad will be competent. But just graduating doesn't mean much - you need a residency too. Whether that means derm at MGH or family med in Arkansas, you need to find a place you'd want to go, and that involves MUCH more than just being a competent, well-rounded doctor.

1. Mandatory sessions are worthless. They're mandatory because they're worthless and nobody in their right mind would show up if they were optional. It is of no concern what the subject matter is.

And PBL sux.

2. and 3. I know someone who won the lottery in residency. I also know a millionaire who got rich selling rocks. Rocks. Lots of anecdotes. But the fact of the matter is that if you want to go into X residency, having research in X field with X well-known mentor will be far more useful than doing research in Y field. Furthermore, with the ease of matching into family medicine well known, those who are vying for a residency in family medicine would do well not having any research whatsoever unless they want to match to a top program(which would probably find research in any discipline, not just family medicine, impressive)

And by the way, I do not have a general disdain for primary care. I personally do not like it, but that's irrelevant. I see its value, but I cannot for the life of me understand how in these economic times with students having so much debt that any would select a field that's so underfunded and poorly paid.

4. You can tell a man by the way he dresses.

5. My point stands.

6. Ironically, you not having AOA will make you have a more difficult time in matching to certain fields and/or certain high-profile programs. Not the end of the world, but it doesn't help. My point about Step I and AOA still stands.

End.

 

[235009]

1. Mandatory sessions are worthless. They're mandatory because they're worthless and nobody in their right mind would show up if they were optional. It is of no concern what the subject matter is.

they're mandatory because most 1st and 2nd year med students don't have the foresight yet to realize that they're important. many still have the pre-med mentality and think that their H in physiology is going to matter more for their career than learning about ethics

4. You can tell a man by the way he dresses.

i agree but don't show up in a suit first and second year ...that's just overkill

 

[NeuroChris]

0. The goal of medical school is to match well, not to graduate. The same way as the goal of your undergrad is to get into medical school, not to graduate.

1. Anything that is "mandatory attendance" is useless- PBL, ethics sessions, special interest group lectures etc. Bring a book or mp3 player to pass the time.
2. Don't be afraid to decline stupid research projects from staff if you are not interested or don't have an idea of what specialty you want to pursue.
3. Don't spend any time focusing on projects or efforts related to primary care even if you're interested. You'll still match to primary care(though why you'd want to is beyond me) without it, but if you want to do ROAD etc it won't help you match. It's wasted time.
4. Look the part - dress professionally, keep your hair trimmed, and walk tall.
5. Don't get wrapped up in class drama. Keep a life outside of your class. Most of your classmates will be total losers anyway.
6. Set goals to make you a strong candidate for the match: High step 1, AOA etc.

 

[2012mdc]

they're mandatory because most 1st and 2nd year med students don't have the foresight yet to realize that they're important. many still have the pre-med mentality and think that their H in physiology is going to matter more for their career than learning about ethics



i agree but don't show up in a suit first and second year ...that's just overkill

Anyone who needs a class to tell them what ethical behavior consists of is probably going to do unethical things regardless. I could see the need for maybe 1-2 classes bc not everything is logical with regards to compliance and confidentialiaty but the classes are way too drawn out and not efficient

 

[FunnyCurrent]

0. The goal of medical school is to match well, not to graduate. The same way as the goal of your undergrad is to get into medical school, not to graduate.

1. Anything that is "mandatory attendance" is useless- PBL, ethics sessions, special interest group lectures etc. Bring a book or mp3 player to pass the time.
2. Don't be afraid to decline stupid research projects from staff if you are not interested or don't have an idea of what specialty you want to pursue.
3. Don't spend any time focusing on projects or efforts related to primary care even if you're interested. You'll still match to primary care(though why you'd want to is beyond me) without it, but if you want to do ROAD etc it won't help you match. It's wasted time.
4. Look the part - dress professionally, keep your hair trimmed, and walk tall.
5. Don't get wrapped up in class drama. Keep a life outside of your class. Most of your classmates will be total losers anyway.
6. Set goals to make you a strong candidate for the match: High step 1, AOA etc.

Amen

 

[Substance]

http://www.nrmp.org/data/programresultsbyspecialty.pdf

As you see here, research is rarely considered as an important factor by PDs for interviewing and ranking candidates in family medicine, whereas in more competitive specialties research is key. Doing family med research is therefore not very helpful for matching.

 

[amakhosidlo]

This really doesn't apply until you get into research over your M1-M2 summer (If that's your bag), but I really, really wish I'd retained some knowledge of biostatistics. Any, really. It makes life much, much easier...

 

[Lbgem]

This really doesn't apply until you get into research over your M1-M2 summer (If that's your bag), but I really, really wish I'd retained some knowledge of biostatistics. Any, really. It makes life much, much easier...

Have you tried the HY Biostats review book? Some people swear by it. Like the puppy btw.

 

[addo]

100% agree with these, and everyone knows the kid who tries to screw over the other student for a few points or to get brownie points with an attending. It doesn't work, and nobody likes them. In addition

1. Don't try too hard to make friends with everyone you come across. This isn't a seriously different situation from high school or college... in fact it's more like high school. It's incredibly cliquey and people still love to stratify themselves. Be nice to everyone but don't get upset if people aren't what they seem initially.

qft

I feel like im in high school again.

 

[mrwesticles]

Work as hard as you possibly can at the beginning. It would only seem easier from there.

Also pick up a copy of First Aid on the early side and study with it for your classes.

 

[ejw5075]

This really doesn't apply until you get into research over your M1-M2 summer (If that's your bag), but I really, really wish I'd retained some knowledge of biostatistics. Any, really. It makes life much, much easier...

Ugh this scares me. How much stat is there in medical school? I couldn't wait to finish that course in undergrad :/

 

[Zuerst]

if you have any other viable career options, jump ship now.

 

[ArcGurren]

qft

I feel like im in high school again.

Yeah, the one thing I think I learned the best in my first 2 years of medical school is that people by their inherent nature are petty, superficial, and manipulative; and that doesn't change when you enter medical school. It bothered me initially that I wasn't making friends with the "popular kids" but then I realized that, just as in high school, it's not worth my extra effort or time to make friends if they aren't willing to reciprocate.

It's generally worth remembering though that if you're in medical school no matter what you're some degree of ****ing nerd. I just choose to be more open about it (see profile pic).

 

[Flapjacks]

Is hardcore rapper a viable option?

 

[HalladayWeekend]

Don't think every test is the end of the world. It can be easy, especially at the beginning, to get too excited (or dejected) about an exam. Medical school is a marathon (as cliche as that may sound). Always try to learn something new every day, learn from your mistakes, and work as hard as you possibly can while staying "happy."