Tips for First Year Medical Students

[OneStrongBro]

First of all, Congratulations on your acceptance to medical school. It is a phenomenal achievement. I have compiled some first year tips that you might find helpful. The other medical students are free to add advice as well. Let's help out fellow SDNers

1. Find your best learning style I cannot stress this enough. If you don't learn as much during lecture, don't go to all of the lectures. You are using up valuable time.

2. First, try what has gotten you into medical school, it might work. If this means preview a lecture, go to lecture, and review a lecture. Then do it. If you crammed as an undergrad, then you need new study habits.

3. Buy Study guides for your classes. I used BRS Anatomy, Neuro, Physio, Behavioral Science, and Biochem. I bought all ten BRS books in the series for around $60. The BRS books help guide you on important concepts during the class, and will allow you to annotate them for Step 1. One of the biggest mistakes students make is buying BRS books JUST before Board study. You should be familiar with the books beforehand. By the time, Step 1 rolls around, you are familiar with the BRS books and have annotated important stuff for the exam.

4. Buy books from Ebay, Half.com, or Amazon's used stores. You can find some real deals from these places. For review books, buy an older edition, because the material is the exact same. It is wiser to pay $5.00 for an older edition than $30.00 for a "newer" edition. June is the best time to BUY REVIEW books because M3s have just taken Step 1 and it becomes a buyer's market.
For course textbooks, by the CURRENT EDITION. Email the professors to see what textbooks they will be using during the summer before medical school, and find the SAME edition on ebay. This is how I saved money on used copies of Netter, Rohen, and Ross Histology for half the price.

5. Have a hobby. Even if this is sleep, clubbing, shopping, or PS2. It is a good idea to have another avenue where you don't have to think about medical school. This will drive you insane.

6. I strongly recommend exercising. Exercising will increase you mental clarity and acuity. Plus, it will give you more endurance.

7. Go to professors for clarification of lecture topics. They usually see this as an initiative to learn, and will give you "hints" on what will be on the exam. Also, by establishing a relationship with a professor before the exam, you will have political "pull" to successfully challenge an exam question and have it overturned.

8. Help out your fellow medical students. If you have a resource, help them. Your class will be your future colleagues. By building bridges, they will remember you later and help you out. Furthermore, they will be more likely to consult patients your way as a physician.

9. Maintain humility and study hard. Keep in mind 30000+ students are denied acceptance to medical school each year. It is a privilege to study medicine, and ultimately become a physician. It is your responsibility to learn as much as you can while in medical school to increase your knowledge pool for your future patients.

10. Visit SDN Allopathic forum while in medical school. SDners have helped me with great links for neuroanatomy, wav and mpegs of anatomy dissections and physical examinations etc. Someone is always available on the Allopathic side, to help out with concepts and/or study links.

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[Celestron2000]

Sounds like good advice to me, thanks.

 

[danimastani]

Amazing advice.
Thanks a bunch.

 

[voltron77]

Thanks for the advice OneStrongBro!!! Good luck to all the upcoming first year medical students!

 

[Datrix]

Great advice. This will definitely help the transition to med school.

 

[soroki219]

thanks a lot... i even printed it out!

 

[Eyecon82]

thanks for the info.....will definetly heed your advice

 

[OneStrongBro]

Thanks guys for the kind words. Have a nice summer. If you have any questions feel free to PM me anytime.

thanks for the info.....will definetly heed your advice

 

[kito]

Thanks guys for the kind words. Have a nice summer. If you have any questions feel free to PM me anytime.

You're the best OSB. Your posts are always helpful to us young guns.

 

[njbmd]

Hey Peeps!
I would add a couple of things:
1. Don't buy your books until you get to school. You may have a second-year peer advisor who is willing to unload books and tests. This happened for me and I saved hundreds.

2. If you have a roommate and it's not working for you, get out of the situation as quickly as possible. You don't need any more stress in your life. Keep things simple: Eat, sleep, study, play when you can.

3. Don't complain. If you see a problem, offer several ways to fix it and keep moving forward. Don't whine about the curriculum, administration etc. Whining and complaining won't get the problems fixed and it just makes you feel badly longer.

4. I second, helping your fellow classmates. They are your future colleagues and you may have to send one of your patients to them. Help them and expect nothing in return.

5. Support each other at all times. If you see someone getting isolated, make it a point to just ask if things are going OK and if they need something like notes, childcare etc. One of the students at my school committed suicide and it was awful for everyone. Some people get overwhelmed quickly and have difficulty coping. Encourage everyone to speak up if things are getting rough.

6. If you have mandatory class attendance, sit in the back and quietly study something else, if you don't want to attend class.

7. First year will fly by quickly and second year flies even faster. No matter what they do to you, they can't stop the clock. Keep positive and do things as a class. Have a cookout or pot-luck if you can. Have ethnic weeks and learn about other cultures. It's all good.

Like OneStrongBro said, "It is a priviledge to attend medical school." Enjoy it!

njbmd

 

[Keberson]

good advice
i agree

 

[Keberson]

especially the part about studying medicine being a privledge...a privledge I may never get

 

[kimm70]

Hi everyone-

I haven't posted in almost a year--due to the demands of first year! I would just like to add my two cents. At my school the second years were full of advice "you don't have to study that much", "don't buy the books", "I had the most free time since I was in high school".....you get the idea. I foolishly believed some of these things the first block and got a swift kick in the rear on an early test or two (or three!)

So, the best advice I can give is to do what works for you. You got this far for a reason. Listen to what others have to say, but realize that there is no magic bullet. You have to put the time in and you may have to learn to study differently--I know I did, coming from a non-science background. Also, try different things, my study habits and learning-style continued to evolve all year long and I suspect will continue to change next year based on the material. You may like to study in groups or you may not. You may like to study in groups for pharm or micro to quiz each other, but may find other subjects easier on your own. Trust yourself and do what works for you.

Just to reiterate from previous posts--learn to work together!! Hopefully you will be at a school that encourages class unity and discourages cut-throat competition between classmates. Some of the best study tools I have used this year have been charts and spreadsheets sent out by fellow students to the entire class. We often divide the lectures up and people work on SuperMemo flash cards for Palm. It is a great study tool and only possible because a lot of people work together to make it happen. Help each other out--medicine is about learning and strong relationships will help you in this regard. During orientation, our administration encouraged team-work and I am really thankful they did. I think it has made first year manageable--and, believe it or not--a lot of fun.

Good luck!! You are in for one incredible journey!!

 

[mikedc813]

great advice ...isn't SDN a great place? i wish i found out about it sooner than i did

 

[hoping2004]

thanks so much onestrongbro!

 

[Alexander99]

At UCSD, from the current med students I've talked to, I heard it's rarely necessary to go out and buy a textbook. I heard for the most part, lecture notes are perfectly adequate. The trick will be hooking up with a year 2 student so they can tell you precisely which few books you should have.

 

[kimm70]

It really depends on the quality of the syllabus. I tend to like to have a text book to go to when things are unclear (as they often are.) I was surprised how bad some of the syllabi were, while others were decent. I struggle to think of more than a few really good syllabi I had all last year. If you want additional information, there is always the library reserve desk. I don't study in the medical library that much, so I find reserve materials are a little more inconvenient. Also, I am kind of a book-junkie, so I prefer to buy the books, but that is just me. I tend to like to read things more than once, so for me, buying the book makes sense. It completely depends on the individual, though. I have classmates who only read the syllabus and do really well.

 

[Alexander99]

I just hated it when I'd buy a book for well over $100 as an undergrad only to read a few pages of it. Then you get $20 for it and you feel even worse.

Besides, I could use the financial aid money allotted for books for food instead. I eat a lot so I'm not sure the allotment for food will cover me.

 

[acidbreeze]

I just hated it when I'd buy a book for well over $100 as an undergrad only to read a few pages of it. Then you get $20 for it and you feel even worse.
QUOTE]

word, I'm gonna go postal on my campus bookstore soon