AlohaKid & other future colleagues:
I posted this last year about this time, and I thought it might be useful again...AlohaKid, check out #2 particularly.
1) It's ok to be a little nervous about starting, but remember that you're entering a wonderful field, and many, many others before you have entered and completed med school successfully. You will too.
2) DO NOT try to pre-study. Almost every current and former med student will tell you it's a COMPLETE WASTE OF THE LAST REAL FREE TIME you'll have for a while, so just have fun. It would take you a month on your own to cover what you'll cover in a few days once you start, and you won't learn it as well. It sounds crazy, but after a while it actually gets to be normal, sort of.
3) In my opinion, you need a computer in med school, but you don't have to have a laptop. It may depend on the school, but you don't even have to have your own computer really; it's whatever saves you the most time. Either way, you still have to cover the same material, and that $2000 or so will be real nice to keep in your pocket once your income goes to nil and your expenses go WAY up @ school.
4)What I wish I would have known: DO NOT BUY: a) most textbooks. You need a Netter and a dissector for Gross, Robbins for Pathology, and board review books for most of the rest. It's easy to spend a couple grand a year on textbooks that you don't have time to read. b) you may not need to buy the $600 or so in medical equipment they try to sell you the first month; you're not setting up your own clinic. *** NOTE: Your best bet here is to wait until you are at school and ask the 2d & 3d year students; also, you can usually find discounts once you're in school that aren't available to you before, so don't pre-buy.
5) If you wanted to do something, pick up the phone or drop a polite note to a doctor near you who practices a kind of medicine you're interested in. Tell them you start med school in the fall, you're interested in what they do, and you'd like to observe their practice at their convenience. You might get turned down, but if you do this a few times you'll also get to see some cool stuff. They don't expect you to know anything, so you can just go in there with big eyes and learn whatever you can. I was surprised at the opportunities this got me once I was in that it was IMPOSSIBLE to get as a pre-med. They know you're not an idiot if you got in, I think, and you are maybe less desperate!
6) Be excited! Don't believe pre-meds about ANYTHING relating to med school. They haven't a clue, just as I didn't. It's hard work, but it's also challenging, FUN, fascinating...You'll work hard, but you have time for the things that are important to you as well. You can have a family life, you can have hobbies, you just have to pick what's really important to you and focus on just that. You'll learn how much time you really wasted before...and believe me, it's a lot, I don't care how old you are! You're entering a pretty supportive profession; there's a great sense of professional concern for your progress and well-being, even from the docs and professors that smack you around sometimes. You are in the BEST place...all the joy that comes with knowing you've gotten through the cut, you've made the team, but without any of the work or responsibility yet. ENJOY IT; tell everyone you meet that you're going to be a doctor, because you are.
Congratulations, and best wishes for next year.
