What did I put myself up against?

[junkct]

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So I'm entering med school in the fall and I was just wondering what I'm up against (I have only a few friends in med school, all at the same school, so I haven't gotten a very broad view of what med school is like). So I have the following questions for any current med students. If you're comfortable putting your med school, that would be awesome, but of course we all know how important anonymity is on the web =)

How many hours do you study per day? On the weekends?
What are the differences between undergrad and med school (as far as studying tactics and volume of material go)?
How much time do you have for leisure?
On average, how many hours of sleep per night?
In general, what is your weekly routine?

And... how, in your opinion, is the best way to study during med school (i.e. what's your study "routine"?)

Thanks a lot!

 

[junkct]

I posted this in the pre-allo thread already, but it's directed toward current med students and I figured I'd get a better sample size by posting here. If this isn't the proper question to be asking here, I apologize to the mod in advance....

So I'm entering med school in the fall and I was just wondering what I'm up against (I have only a few friends in med school, all at the same school, so I haven't gotten a very broad view of what med school is like). So I have the following questions for any current med students. If you're comfortable putting your med school, that would be awesome, but of course we all know how important anonymity is on the web =)

How many hours do you study per day? On the weekends?
What are the differences between undergrad and med school (as far as studying tactics and volume of material go)?
How much time do you have for leisure?
On average, how many hours of sleep per night?
In general, what is your weekly routine?

And... how, in your opinion, is the best way to study during med school (i.e. what's your study "routine"?)

Thanks a lot!

 

[Doctor D]

If you enter first year expecting the worst you will be alright. I studied about 8ish hours per day and did fine. Of course you can't study 8 hours straight or else you would retain nothing so you need to break up your study time every 30 minutes or so at the least. I found that studying smart instead of hard was the key to success. Meaning if I am reading Robbins Pathology and retaining nothing with a 😕 look on my face it probably wasn't a good idea to keep trudging and instead to try an alternative like Rapid Review Path (many people will say you shouldn't learn from review books but i disagree). I was able to sleep a good 8 hours a day without sacrificing study time. Some people sleep less to get more study time and in my opinion their grades suffer. You need to sleep, end of story. I could only take 1 or 2 days off per month doing nothing and still feel confident I was getting through the material so even on weekends you will be studying. You don't have to be smart to be in med school you just have to be dedicated to the point where you keep going while the smarter guy burns out. So it really is more of a psychological game sometimes. Doing things like exercising and having friends outside of school will go leaps and bounds towards your grades. Some good review books that you should have include Medical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple and Goljan Rapid Review Pathology. Good luck.

 

[echolalia16]

If you enter first year expecting the worst you will be alright. I studied about 8ish hours per day and did fine. Of course you can't study 8 hours straight or else you would retain nothing so you need to break up your study time every 30 minutes or so at the least. I found that studying smart instead of hard was the key to success. Meaning if I am reading Robbins Pathology and retaining nothing with a 😕 look on my face it probably wasn't a good idea to keep trudging and instead to try an alternative like Rapid Review Path (many people will say you shouldn't learn from review books but i disagree). I was able to sleep a good 8 hours a day without sacrificing study time. Some people sleep less to get more study time and in my opinion their grades suffer. You need to sleep, end of story. I could only take 1 or 2 days off per month doing nothing and still feel confident I was getting through the material so even on weekends you will be studying. You don't have to be smart to be in med school you just have to be dedicated to the point where you keep going while the smarter guy burns out. So it really is more of a psychological game sometimes. Doing things like exercising and having friends outside of school will go leaps and bounds towards your grades. Some good review books that you should have include Medical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple and Goljan Rapid Review Pathology. Good luck.

Did you have any free time? You mentioned having friends outside of school and exercising as key to keeping sane/good grades, but I can't imagine with 8 hours dedicated to studying + class + 8 hours of sleep each day that you were able to do these things regularly. Granted, I don't know how long med-classes go for, but it still doesn't add up for me.

 

[drizzt3117]

Did you have any free time? You mentioned having friends outside of school and exercising as key to keeping sane/good grades, but I can't imagine with 8 hours dedicated to studying + class + 8 hours of sleep each day that you were able to do these things regularly. Granted, I don't know how long med-classes go for, but it still doesn't add up for me.

It's all about scheduling. My schedule during board studying: get up 8 am, study till 7 pm, gym for an hour, go home, shower, study till 2 am, rinse, repeat. Even during a crazy busy time you can exercise if you want. Hanging out with friends? Not so much during boards, during school you have weekends.

 

[mTOR]

You don't have to be smart to be in med school you just have to be dedicated

Exactly. 👍


That's really what it comes down to. That and time maintenance. Minimize social stressors and keeping your focus is essential. (e.g., start seeking in-town f-buddy replacements if that long distance relationship with your high maintenance girlfriend starts going sour and phone-time begins eating up your critically precious study time!)

 

[drizzt3117]

You're going to get a lot of variation based on what year people are in and the grading policy of the school. I probably studies only 2-3 hours a day in p/f first year, 5-7 during graded 2nd year. How much you study isn't necessarily correlated with how well you do.

 

[shreypete]

Um...not really. You do have to be smart, and you probably are smart if you made it this far. The trick is to stay in and that as you mentioned, requires dedication, and hardwork. An excellent student is one who not only takes into account his class grades/studying for boards etc. but also studies for the sake of gaining knowledge and becoming a competent doctor in the future (even though in reality, you won't get to do that until you're in residency) and one who can recover from a bad hangover/burn out as early as possible. You schedule of "rinse, repeat" is definitely effective as long as you can follow it.

I unfortunately, have a hard time sticking to the same schedule everyday so I do have a habit of making checklists every morning but I study at different times of the day (not the same time everyday.) To each his own. You will eventually find out the right technique that works for you.