undergrad study habits correlate to med-school success?

[anomalous738232]

i'm not sure if i should have asked this in the allo thread... but oh well.

so my question is my thread topic. to elaborate, I am wondering what kind of student does well in med-school? for example, i've read in the allo threads that a lot of med-students found u-grad to be relatively easy... of course it's easy when put into perspective with med school, but before all that, were you sitting in o-chem thinking, "this is a breeze!" ? i ask because I am not one of those naturally gifted students who can absorb information like a sponge. i've done well thus far, but I put in a lot of effort... i study 5 days a week, ~ 3-4 hrs on weekdays, and most of my entire sunday. and when i say 4 hrs, i mean 4 hrs of efficient studying. if i have to put in this much effort in u-grad, will i die in med-school? my concerns continue to progress every year, as i see my fellow peers who do just as well as I, if not better, with minimal effort. are students lying when they claim they never study? what about those who study substantially- no way in hell are they going to make it in med school? what do you think?

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[yowhatup]

med school is ezier in the way that u need to get only a 70 in each class and it is the USMLE that is 100000x more important than grades

in undergrad everyone is trying to get an A in class, cause a 70 is like a 2.0 GPA and that will never get u into med school...

so yea getting a 70 in a med school class is easier than gettin an A in physics in undergrad in my opinion.. however if u are an overachiever and will try to get honors in a med school class.. now that is 100000xx harder than getting an A in undergrad physics

 

[Law2Doc]

med school is ezier in the way that u need to get only a 70 in each class ...
so yea getting a 70 in a med school class is easier than gettin an A in physics in undergrad in my opinion..

I sure hope you are joking. This is just wrong, and represents a fundamental lack of conceptual understanding of percentages. The percentage itself is meaningless -- it's the "of what" that matters. What matters is not the percentage but what it is pegged to. Getting a 90% in a college physics test is sometimes easier than getting a 70% on a med school test. And in med school that's only to pass. It's like comparing a small hill to a mountain. You can have climbed 90% of a small hill and not be anywhere close to 70% of the elevation of the mountain. That's really the comparison here.
A passing score has to be keyed to something. They could say you needed a 40%, a 50%, a 70%, or a 90% to pass and have it mean the exact same thing in terms of knowledge -- it's all dependent on the test, the volume of material you have to know, and how hard it is. You will find in med school that some of the same people who aced everything in college are at times struggling to just stay above passing in med school. Happens to a bunch of folks every year. At some med schools it's not uncommon for a sizable percentage (eg 20% or so) of matriculants, folks who aced undergrad, to actually fail a test somewhere along the line in med school. I would put away your notions of "easier" until you get here.

 

[Law2Doc]

if i have to put in this much effort in u-grad, will i die in med-school?

You won't die, you will adapt. That may mean many many hours in the library, it may mean learning how to be more efficient. You will have fewer hours of free time in med school than college, and yes, for some people it's awfully hard to get up to med school speed. But nobody dies from it, and very few people quit. A lot whine, and a lot get pale from lack of sunlight. But if a school accepts you, you have the ability to survive it, and pretty much everyone does emerge more or less intact.

 

[ButImLETired]

I sure hope you are joking. This is just wrong, and represents a fundamental lack of conceptual understanding of percentages. The percentage itself is meaningless -- it's the "of what" that matters. What matters is not the percentage but what it is pegged to. Getting a 90% in a college physics test is sometimes easier than getting a 70% on a med school test. And in med school that's only to pass. It's like comparing a small hill to a mountain. You can have climbed 90% of a small hill and not be anywhere close to 70% of the elevation of the mountain. That's really the comparison here.
A passing score has to be keyed to something. They could say you needed a 40%, a 50%, a 70%, or a 90% to pass and have it mean the exact same thing in terms of knowledge -- it's all dependent on the test, the volume of material you have to know, and how hard it is. You will find in med school that some of the same people who aced everything in college are at times struggling to just stay above passing in med school. Happens to a bunch of folks every year. At some med schools it's not uncommon for a sizable percentage (eg 20% or so) of matriculants, folks who aced undergrad, to actually fail a test somewhere along the line in med school. I would put away your notions of "easier" until you get here.

Hey Law2Doc, I have a question in the same vein.
Do you find that there are some undergrad schools that prepare their students "better" than others, regardless of GPA's? I have a good friend in med school who says he's amazed at how many people who used to have great GPA's are really lost, while others who had not been as strong in their undergrads simply seem to be more used to how the material is presented and therefore just do better. What do you think?
Do you feel that the way you are being tested is different from how you were tested in college? Do your classmates feel the same way you do? I'm just curious as to whether there really is a genuine difference not just in volume of material, but how the material is presented and then tested. And I wonder if the way you were tested in college has any bearing on how "ready" you are for med school and how you'll do in the long run. Thoughts?

 

[MilkmanAl]

if a school accepts you, you have the ability to survive it, and pretty much everyone does emerge more or less intact.

...but quite possibly at the cost of your personality and personal life.

 

[Dr Roboto]

will i die in med-school?

I don't know why but that really made me laugh out loud. Perhaps I'm underestimating the gravity of the situation I'll be in soon.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey Law2Doc, I have a question in the same vein.
Do you find that there are some undergrad schools that prepare their students "better" than others, regardless of GPA's? I have a good friend in med school who says he's amazed at how many people who used to have great GPA's are really lost, while others who had not been as strong in their undergrads simply seem to be more used to how the material is presented and therefore just do better. What do you think?
Do you feel that the way you are being tested is different from how you were tested in college? Do your classmates feel the same way you do? I'm just curious as to whether there really is a genuine difference not just in volume of material, but how the material is presented and then tested. And I wonder if the way you were tested in college has any bearing on how "ready" you are for med school and how you'll do in the long run. Thoughts?

I kind of doubt there are undergrad schools that prepare students better for med school. And definitely has nothing to do with how you were tested in college. You are going down the wrong path if you try to link college skills to med school or if you look at med school as a continuation of college in any way shape or form. There are individual students at various schools who probably learn better study skills on their own, or who have better memorization skills, but it would be a stretch to say this is school related. It seemed to me the dudes who used to do well in college without studying were the ones who got hardest hit in med school, because study skills are where the prize is in med school. So I guess folks who really pushed themselves in college probably were better off. But it's all about adapting to the higher workload and learning to study more effectively and efficiently. It's simply a different animal than college, so the armaments you use to defeat one don't apply to the other all that much. You will learn what you need to do by trial and error once you get to med school. Everyone does.

Truth of the matter is most people who get into med school were folks who got their fair share of A's in college, yet half of these folks will find themselves in the bottom half of the class. It takes some getting used to for some.

 

[mdgator]

1. I didn't know very many people who "never studied" for class like orgo and biochem. You should definitely be studying several hours per week for classes like these. The amount of studying you described sounds about right.
2. You will get better at studying as you take more challenging courseloads. Your efficiency will drastically increase by the middle of the first few weeks of med school. Don't worry about it. If you have what it takes to earn the grades and MCAT score, you can develop what it takes to succeed in med school.
3. Yes, med school is MUCH more work than undergrad. And no, I would not say making an A in physics is harder work than passing anatomy. I studied 6-10 hours per week for my A in physics, and a few more the weekend before a test. I study at least 30 or 40 hours per week for anatomy. I'm shooting for an A, but I think I'd study nearly as many hours even just to pass. Studying in med school is more than a full time job. (I should note that most med students probably don't study 30 or 40 hours per week just for anatomy, but FSU covers anatomy in 10 weeks, whereas most schools stretch it out over an entire semester...so it's pretty intense.)

 

[anomalous738232]

You won't die, you will adapt. That may mean many many hours in the library, it may mean learning how to be more efficient. You will have fewer hours of free time in med school than college, and yes, for some people it's awfully hard to get up to med school speed. But nobody dies from it, and very few people quit. A lot whine, and a lot get pale from lack of sunlight. But if a school accepts you, you have the ability to survive it, and pretty much everyone does emerge more or less intact.

thanks for the helpful insight.... you always have very thoughtful comments/posts (not intentionally being a creeper). i always seem to forget the whole "you can adapt to any situation- no matter how hard it is" idea. i guess i'll just worry about it if and when the time comes

 

[anomalous738232]

...but quite possibly at the cost of your personality and personal life.

i've seen and heard this many times before. do all med-students feel that med-school is the be-all-end-all to their lives? does anyone actually enjoy it?

 

[mdgator]

i've seen and heard this many times before. do all med-students feel that med-school is the be-all-end-all to their lives? does anyone actually enjoy it?

Only 10 weeks into med school, but so far, I love it. I've met some really great people, seen things most people never dream of seeing, and my medical knowledge has already increased exponentially.

I study 10+hours a day, and there are certainly stressful days, but for the most part, it doesn't really seem like work. You work hard, study around friends if you can so you don't go absolutely crazy from spending all that time alone, and make sure you allow some time to do things you enjoy when you can. Unlike undergrad (for most people), med school classes are full of awesome, practical knowledge that you will actually use as a practicing physician. That actually makes studying enjoyable.

*I reserve the right to change my mind after all my hair turns gray from studying so much.

 

[MilkmanAl]

10 hours is a sh*tload. I don't plan on exceeding 4-ish, but we'll see. Assuming I go to class, which gets out between 3-4 and leave an hour+ for dinner, that puts me finishing up around 9 every day.

 

[GATORochoCINCO]

Only 10 weeks into med school, but so far, I love it. I've met some really great people, seen things most people never dream of seeing, and my medical knowledge has already increased exponentially.

I study 10+hours a day, and there are certainly stressful days, but for the most part, it doesn't really seem like work. You work hard, study around friends if you can so you don't go absolutely crazy from spending all that time alone, and make sure you allow some time to do things you enjoy when you can. Unlike undergrad (for most people), med school classes are full of awesome, practical knowledge that you will actually use as a practicing physician. That actually makes studying enjoyable.

*I reserve the right to change my mind after all my hair turns gray from studying so much.

As a rule, I spend one night a week sleeping in an academic building in college staying up until approx. 3:30 Am and being woken by the security guard (Phil, who has become my buddy) around 6:30 AM to make sure I know what needs to be known. Do you think they can reserve me a cadaver tank in medical school?