Summer between M1 and M2

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taeyeonlover

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Other than research, traveling, and just relaxing, how do people usually spend the summer between M1 and M2 year?
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M&L said:
A video game , new hobby .
An elective procedure that takes a bit of recovery (eye surgery , dental work ).
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Do people ever study? Like do a light review things they learned during first year or pre study for second year?
 
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Similar question, if I were to not do that much this summer (also M1), is that going to look very bad when it comes to applying to residency, assuming I check all of the other boxes throughout med school? I’m currently interested in a non-competitive specialty but am interested in some of the top programs.
 
Kirby Smart said:
Similar question, if I were to not do that much this summer (also M1), is that going to look very bad when it comes to applying to residency, assuming I check all of the other boxes throughout med school? I’m currently interested in a non-competitive specialty but am interested in some of the top programs.
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Residency programs don't care what you did over M1 summer. They look at your complete med school profile in it's entirity. If one was interested in competitive specialities/institution (such as top tier IM or peds), the summer is a good time to dive into research projects and make connections as you don't have the pressure of classes, lectures and labs weighing on you.
 
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Kirby Smart said:
Similar question, if I were to not do that much this summer (also M1), is that going to look very bad when it comes to applying to residency, assuming I check all of the other boxes throughout med school? I’m currently interested in a non-competitive specialty but am interested in some of the top programs.
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Of course it won’t look bad!!!!!
Just do what feels right .
What I did : it was covid so I did a social medicine focused research project from home (my idea). And I reviewed a few blocks from M1 year that I felt I needed to put more work in and I did all the anki for them (and have been doing upkeep ). I wanted to review it solid so that I won’t have to review them during step 1 dedicated much . I knew that second year material is hard (heart, lungs, kidneys, endo), so I will be busy with those.
I did all that for only about 4 -5 hours a day, and had fun got your rest .
 
I prestudied for M2 and also kept up with all M1 Anki material
 
Kirby Smart said:
Was the pre-studying worth it? Sounds so inefficient to me haha. Or did you already have access to M2 course materials?
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Just depends on how you look at it. Third party resources just blow every school lecture out of the water. Premade decks like Zanki allow you to go at your own pace.

Personally, I never pre-studied; I just went at an aggressive pace, running my own curriculum. It's been worth it for me because I'm in total control of my learning, not dependent on my school whatsoever.
 
taeyeonlover said:
Other than research, traveling, and just relaxing, how do people usually spend the summer between M1 and M2 year?
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I'd go all-in on something rather than being half-pregnant across multiple things.

That is, either do an entire Qbank, or go to the Mekong delta for a few months.

--

My advice is to travel. Then when schools starts back up, ignore all SoM requirements and do Qbank 12 hours a day.
 
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Depends on what your goals are...best bet honestly is to take a chill pill and recharge for the next year. I technically shadowed for four weeks in a specialty that I want and I ended up getting a research publication out of it bc my mentor recommended a case report. It was super chill, and I partied on the weekends w/ friends. Did not pre-study at all. I know what specialty I want though so it was obvious for me.

If I had no clue whatsoever what I wanted to do, I would have just traveled carefree for the entire summer. Last chance you'll have that much free time until maybe 4th year (depending on your curriculum) or until you're retired
 
given that step is P/F now I wouldn't worry about catching up on Anki specifically. I would just go ham on research
 
Dryad8212 said:
Unfortunately, clinical and basic medicine can now be pushed to the side for groundbreaking research from medical students whose goal is to become a clinical physician.
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What's your confidence interval on that statement?
 
I did research and took a 2 week vacation. Didn't pre-study - eff that.
 
Dryad8212 said:
Unfortunately, clinical and basic medicine can now be pushed to the side for groundbreaking research from medical students whose goal is to become a clinical physician.
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This is hilarious, lol. I'm under no illusions as to whether doing well on step actually makes you a better doctor, but I also don't believe the research med students do is worth a lick 9 times out of 10.

Personally, I prefer studying crazy hard for a scored step over doing 10,000 more chart reviews, but that's just me.
 
slowthai said:
This is hilarious, lol. I'm under no illusions as to whether doing well on step actually makes you a better doctor, but I also don't believe the research med students do is worth a lick 9 times out of 10.

Personally, I prefer studying crazy hard for a scored step over doing 10,000 more chart reviews, but that's just me.
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pretty sure that post was in jest
 
taeyeonlover said:
Other than research, traveling, and just relaxing, how do people usually spend the summer between M1 and M2 year?
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I went to France (Strasbourg) to continue learning French, during my break in preclinical years. went from A2 to B1!

Used a winter break in my clinical years to have a surgery and recover.

Couldn't travel last year, so I used my PGY1 break to level characters in World of Warcraft and get my Druid geared to raid with my guild and friends.


Do yourself a favor and use the time on something that doesn't involve medicine. You will eat, sleep and breathe medicine soon enough. Live your life.
 
Continued research stuff ... but added in plenty of FUN time by:

* Hiking outdoors (and seeing lots of beautiful scenery).

* Trying new recipes at home (delicious to eat, such as home-made ice cream).

* Donated volunteer time to an amazing pet adoption group (and made some awesome friends outside of medicine with this group, and they're still my good friends).

* Watched some movies that I had never seen in my life (that everyone else had already seen).

* Started to jot down a few ideas on a "bucket list" that I dreamed about doing after school was done (it was intriguing to think about things that seemed important to me at that time - especially since I was still in school and the world is filled with exciting stuff that seemed interesting to me). Actually, a few of my classmates did the same thing - just for fun.

Whatever you decide to do ... have a great summer between M1 and M2!
 
slowthai said:
This is hilarious, lol. I'm under no illusions as to whether doing well on step actually makes you a better doctor, but I also don't believe the research med students do is worth a lick 9 times out of 10.

Personally, I prefer studying crazy hard for a scored step over doing 10,000 more chart reviews, but that's just me.
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Learning the steps of glycolysis has no correlation in determining whether you will be a Competent physician. But....remembering the information in a timed manner under high stress and using your critical skills in figuring out a solution to a clinical question does.

As such doing well on steps correlates to success in becoming a competent physician.
 
Dryad8212 said:
Learning the steps of glycolysis has no correlation in determining whether you will be a Competent physician. But....remembering the information in a timed manner under high stress and using your critical skills in figuring out a solution to a clinical question does.

As such doing well on steps correlates to success in becoming a competent physician.
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Hmm. Debatable. I reckon that the best proxy that we have for future clinical performance is sub-i performance. The steps are just there to make sure you've got the minimum knowledge base for competency. Then you build on it (in a specialty-specific manner) through residency and attendinghood.

They always say patients aren't multiple choice questions, or whatever the saying is
 
slowthai said:
Hmm. Debatable. I reckon that the best proxy that we have for future clinical performance is sub-i performance. The steps are just there to make sure you've got the minimum knowledge base for competency. Then you build on it (in a specialty-specific manner) through residency and attendinghood.

They always say patients aren't multiple choice questions, or whatever the saying is
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slowthai said:
Hmm. Debatable. I reckon that the best proxy that we have for future clinical performance is sub-i performance. The steps are just there to make sure you've got the minimum knowledge base for competency. Then you build on it (in a specialty-specific manner) through residency and attendinghood.

They always say patients aren't multiple choice questions, or whatever the saying is
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Sure lets have our radiologist have the minimum knowledge for competency so he can miss a tumor or get it confused with something else.
 
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