Typical day for an M1

[DocBR]

I'd like to know the typical day (including weekend days) for an MS1. How much do you study outside of class, how often do you go to class, etc?

Thanks,
DocBR

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[spicedmanna]

This is my first week of class, so I can't comment on "typical." However, my days are long. I wake up at 6am and I am at school by 7:20am, or so. Lecture begins at 8am sharp and continues with few breaks until 12pm. We take an hour lunch. Classes/lab resume after lunch, but often not right away. I go to the library and study for a few hours and go to lab or another type of class; this generally takes me to the late afternoon. I get home a little after 5pm. I'm dead tired and realize that there is still a ton of reading I should have done yesterday and now there's more. I'm way behind. I eat something in a daze. I try to read, but my mind is pretty much mush by that time. I may go work out for an hour.

So far the days have been blending together and I feel like I haven't had solid rest since this crazy roller coaster started. I'm pretty much always in class/lab, or studying, or meeting some basic need in my life. There isn't much time for anything else. I do spend some time on SDN, but even then I feel like I need to go read, or something.

 

[ShyRem]

If you're in anatomy right now just wait --- it gets worse.

A lot of your day depends on your school and curriculum. When I first started, I thought anatomy was an impossible amount of material. Then I got past anatomy and started into the blocks of courses with block exams --- and realized what a complete gift anatomy was in terms of it's managability and amount of information. You get to taking three, four, five courses at once and you quickly realize you can't keep up with all the reading if you go to class. You just CAN'T - unless you have chronic insomnia that doesn't affect your cerebral functioning, or unless you just skim the material. Then you begin this great mind game of "what do I really need to concentrate on/learn that will be tested? What's really important? What can I ignore?" And you hope you guess right, and play catch-up in the summer.

Unless, of course, you have a photographic memory, a maid, a cook, and no life whatsoever. Then it's no problem.

 

[DocBR]

bump. Anyone else?

 

[OnMyWayThere]

Best thing I did was stop going to class... all the fatigue went away and I studied when and where I wanted. It is a world of a difference in experience if you choose to go to or skip class (or go to a school that requires attendance which I fully avoided going to)

 

[Founder]

bump. Anyone else?

I work out in the morning, eat breakfast and go to class. I usually go home for lunch and then if there is class or lab, go to those. If there is no class in the afternoon (rare) I come back a little after lunch and study. Since today is Friday I wasn't going to study for all night, so I studied for about a little over 4 hours. Half that time was anatomy. Usually when I study anatomy it is about half my study time. I then eat dinner and take a break for about 90 minutes. Then I study a little bit before bed, stop studying 15 to 30 minutes before bed. Wind down on the computer and go to bed by 11 PM.

It is still early in the year, very early. I shouldn't be studying all night because we haven't really gotten that much material yet. The way I look at it, if I have to study into the wee morning hours, then in a few weeks I would be doomed. I was lucky in my undergraduate classes and I've had a lot of the non-anatomy and non-OPP stuff already.

 

[nlax30]

I'm in an all PBL curriculum, but for these first 10 weeks we have gross anatomy with traditional lectures. We just finished our 3rd week and each day varies since there's been some orientation lectures and various other "info" type sessions thrown in. But for the most part there are anywhere from 1-3 anatomy lectures in the morning (5-10 a week), maybe like 3-4 2hr anatomy labs during the week, and for right now we have 1 clinical exam lecture each week and an OMM (manipulations) lecture and lab each week. For the first 10 weeks I'm pretty much on campus all day, if we get out early I'll usually stay on campus and study 'till about dinner time, come home, eat, and either stay home and read, or go back to spend time in the lab until like 10 or 11pm.

Outside of lecture/lab time a lot of us are trying to get in around 6 hours of study time each day, and at least that much, or more, on the weekends.

 

[Buckeye4life]

I'm up by 6:45, classes start at 8:00, run till 12:00. Hour off for lunch, unless we have anatomy lab and we can be off until either 1:00, 2:30, or 4:00 depending on our lab group. Labs run 60-90 minutes. OPP labs for my pathway is 2 hours on thursday. Weekends consist of more studying, but are manageable as long as I put in a few hours every night during the week. I may be a slight exception in terms of the amount of time I study because I have already taken two classes of anatomy prior to school, so more time can be given to other courses, which don't weigh as heavy credit wise. After 12 weeks, I start an independent study pathway, which is basically closely directed study, in which I am given modules and am only required to be on campus 1-2 days a week for OMM lab and sporadic other required courses. This will allow me to create my own study schedule and not feel exhausted after sitting in class all day and then having to go home and study more on my own. I go to LECOM-Erie.

 

[false]

Best thing I did was stop going to class... all the fatigue went away and I studied when and where I wanted. It is a world of a difference in experience if you choose to go to or skip class (or go to a school that requires attendance which I fully avoided going to)

i read this over and over on here. i probably should try this sometime. I just had my first week, but I was always too tired in lecture to really get much out of it and then when I get home I'm too tired to study (effeciently at least).

 

[Daddydoc]

I'd like to know the typical day (including weekend days) for an MS1. How much do you study outside of class, how often do you go to class, etc?

Thanks,
DocBR

Do you want the typical day at the beginning of first year or end of first year? For me it was like night and day!

 

[Punchap]

Do you want the typical day at the beginning of first year or end of first year? For me it was like night and day!

Do share. Thanks.

 

[mtrose]

Your day will totally depend on you and howyou want to learn. Personally, I only study the day before I have a test, but I am up all night and exhausted the following days. But, I am a procrastinator. I also only go to class about half of the time so that definitely free's up my days. Med school is manageable, just depends on how you want to do it. I have lots of free time during non-test days, but when there are tests my husband isn't even aloud to talk to me. It works for me; you just have to figure out what will work for you. Good luck!

 

[bkpa2med]

I'm up by 6:45, classes start at 8:00, run till 12:00. Hour off for lunch, unless we have anatomy lab and we can be off until either 1:00, 2:30, or 4:00 depending on our lab group. Labs run 60-90 minutes. OPP labs for my pathway is 2 hours on thursday. Weekends consist of more studying, but are manageable as long as I put in a few hours every night during the week. I may be a slight exception in terms of the amount of time I study because I have already taken two classes of anatomy prior to school, so more time can be given to other courses, which don't weigh as heavy credit wise. After 12 weeks, I start an independent study pathway, which is basically closely directed study, in which I am given modules and am only required to be on campus 1-2 days a week for OMM lab and sporadic other required courses. This will allow me to create my own study schedule and not feel exhausted after sitting in class all day and then having to go home and study more on my own. I go to LECOM-Erie.

I'm in a similar situation but an LDP Student. Buckeye is soon going to change to LDP because he wants to be in lecture lol

 

[Buckeye4life]

I'm in a similar situation but an LDP Student. Buckeye is soon going to change to LDP because he wants to be in lecture lol

bkpa is just jealous because he knows that his ischial tuberosities are going to be inflamed after sitting on them for 2 years straight.