What are some essential skills one should develop before entering medical school? Also, are mental breakdowns common during medical school?

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Prince_Avocado

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Hello everyone! I recently got accepted into medical school and I'm really excited for what is to come! I want to be as productive as possible with the time I have left before I start medical school next year. Are they any skills this community would recommend that I should develop before starting medical school? Also, I am talking to a couple colleagues that are in medical school and they highly recommended for me to take a couple of stress relief classes so that I would not have a mental breakdown in the middle of the school year. They were telling me that I should focus on acquiring a positive mental state above anything else. From their observations, a student is more likely to leave medical school due to mental health rather than failing a class. Is this actually true?

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Good grief. I think they are messing with you. Med school will challenge the character of all but the elite students. My wife being an example. She went to class to socialize. Re read her notes, thumbed through the book, and got mostly A's. Most med students cant do that. You will have to self reflect, alter your study habits, manage stress and be good to yourself, all at the same time. If you are smart enough to get in, you are plenty smart enough to stay in. I am a believer that GRIT is the most important quality a med student can have. Dont listen to other students. Run your own race. Remember, everyone in your class is 2 standard deviations from the mean with respect to academic skills. No shame in being in the middle of that pack. Good luck and best wished!
 
I personally wouldn’t take those stress relief classes unless you are currently struggling with mental health. Like the above poster said, if you’re smart enough to get in, you’re smart enough to stay in. If you’re wanting to improve on something, there’s always room for improvement on time management and study skills, as efficiency is the name of the game in medical school success. Also, regardless of what anyone tells you, do not pre study medical school. Enjoy your time off now before you’re drinking from the fire hose. Congratulations on the acceptance, you got this!
 
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Good grief. I think they are messing with you. Med school will challenge the character of all but the elite students. My wife being an example. She went to class to socialize. Re read her notes, thumbed through the book, and got mostly A's. Most med students cant do that. You will have to self reflect, alter your study habits, manage stress and be good to yourself, all at the same time. If you are smart enough to get in, you are plenty smart enough to stay in. I am a believer that GRIT is the most important quality a med student can have. Dont listen to other students. Run your own race. Remember, everyone in your class is 2 standard deviations from the mean with respect to academic skills. No shame in being in the middle of that pack. Good luck and best wished!
Thank you very much for the encouraging words!
 
I personally wouldn’t take those stress relief classes unless you are currently struggling with mental health. Like the above poster said, if you’re smart enough to get in, you’re smart enough to stay in. If you’re wanting to improve on something, there’s always room for improvement on time management and study skills, as efficiency is the name of the game in medical school success. Also, regardless of what anyone tells you, do not pre study medical school. Enjoy your time off now before you’re drinking from the fire hose. Congratulations on the acceptance, you got this!
I've never had issues with mental health, so it's not something I am really too concerned about. Thank you very much for your advice!
 
Build good exercise, healthy eating, maintaining a schedule day in and day out, and stress relief habits. That’s the stuff that will actually have very real benefit come your first semester.
That makes sense, thank you for the advice!
 
Hello everyone! I recently got accepted into medical school and I'm really excited for what is to come! I want to be as productive as possible with the time I have left before I start medical school next year. Are they any skills this community would recommend that I should develop before starting medical school? Also, I am talking to a couple colleagues that are in medical school and they highly recommended for me to take a couple of stress relief classes so that I would not have a mental breakdown in the middle of the school year. They were telling me that I should focus on acquiring a positive mental state above anything else. From their observations, a student is more likely to leave medical school due to mental health rather than failing a class. Is this actually true?

I doubt they are messing with you, but they are likely trying to steer you away from doing academic prep or trying to pre-study. If you feel like you must do something, trying to boost your coping skills or learning stress relief technicians won't hurt you, while pre-studying can sometimes have more of a detrimental effect than a positive one. Enjoy the time you have before medical school and spend time with people you care about.

Set things up as easy as you can for when class starts. Get your financial aid figured. Make sure you secure housing, utilities, etc. at least a couple of weeks before the semester starts - don't try to move across country on Friday before school starts on Monday. Maybe find a doctor/pharmacy/counselor/dentist/eye doctor in the area so you don't have to do the research on that when you need it. But enjoy yourself - you don't need to prepare for eight months.

I don't think poor mental health is the main reason for dropping out, but it is sometimes a contributing factor, especially when it isn't acknowledged. Anxiety, depression, and other mental illness often first manifest during periods of high stress (ex, medical school), and some people also struggle with homesickness or social isolation after moving to a new area for medical school. If your school has free counseling available, make an appointment and meet a counselor, even if just to talk through some of your worries about medical school. It makes it a lot easier to go when you do need it, later. And if you find yourself needing help, go talk to a counselor - it's not impossible to bounce back from failing a test, or even a class, but if the underlying reason for failure is mental illness, you need to seek help for it.
 
I doubt they are messing with you, but they are likely trying to steer you away from doing academic prep or trying to pre-study. If you feel like you must do something, trying to boost your coping skills or learning stress relief technicians won't hurt you, while pre-studying can sometimes have more of a detrimental effect than a positive one. Enjoy the time you have before medical school and spend time with people you care about.

Set things up as easy as you can for when class starts. Get your financial aid figured. Make sure you secure housing, utilities, etc. at least a couple of weeks before the semester starts - don't try to move across country on Friday before school starts on Monday. Maybe find a doctor/pharmacy/counselor/dentist/eye doctor in the area so you don't have to do the research on that when you need it. But enjoy yourself - you don't need to prepare for eight months.

I don't think poor mental health is the main reason for dropping out, but it is sometimes a contributing factor, especially when it isn't acknowledged. Anxiety, depression, and other mental illness often first manifest during periods of high stress (ex, medical school), and some people also struggle with homesickness or social isolation after moving to a new area for medical school. If your school has free counseling available, make an appointment and meet a counselor, even if just to talk through some of your worries about medical school. It makes it a lot easier to go when you do need it, later. And if you find yourself needing help, go talk to a counselor - it's not impossible to bounce back from failing a test, or even a class, but if the underlying reason for failure is mental illness, you need to seek help for it.
Got it! Thank you very much!
 
I was talking to an M3 or M4 recently and he said, if you wanna just get in the spirit of med school, teach yourself to suture. He said that once they get around to teaching you, you really don't have time to practice and you need to know how to do it well and quickly.
 
I was talking to an M3 or M4 recently and he said, if you wanna just get in the spirit of med school, teach yourself to suture. He said that once they get around to teaching you, you really don't have time to practice and you need to know how to do it well and quickly.
That makes sense, thank you!
 
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