What did you do during summer after OMS-1? Did you just take a break?

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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genessis42

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So I know that this upcoming summer will be our last “free” one because the following summers will have board studying, rotations, etc...

What is one thing you wish you did during that summer? Is it ok to take the summer off?

I’m thinking of pursuing a research position in a medical specialty I might be interested in. I know it’s harder for DOs to go outside of primary care, but I think it’s a good idea to start building a resume in med school while I have time
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If you're interested in a competitive specialty, you should probably do research and try and publish if you can. I wasn't (still am not) interested in anything competitive, so I shadowed a specialty I thought I might be interested in at an academic center with residencies in basically every field to make some connections. I also Zanki'ed. Other than that, I relaxed...you'll need it.
 
Keep up w Zanki.

master all of sketchy micro and the sketchy pharm up to this point.

I didn’t do research. Probably should have but my school gave almost no time between m1-m2

edit: I was done with this crap by 9-10 am everyday tops. Mostly relax.
 
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I sat down and read through first aid and pathoma getting through pulm, msk, cardio, GI, and basic pathology and ran through sketchy micro and pharm.

Looking back... DUMBEST thing I did.

If I could go back, I would honestly hit the gym and do 2 a days, get super ripped, spend time with friends and family, get rest and just get ready physically for second year.

Now I'm about 60 pounds above what I started med school at in terms of weight.

It irks me.

EVERYDAY.

The clothes, the confidence I used to have, the amazing jawline, has all been diminished and replaced by a plump, stretch-mark filled, busting layer of adipose.

Looking back, no score is more important than your physical health and it all ties in to your mental health too.
 
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DennisReynolds said:
I sat down and read through first aid and pathoma getting through pulm, msk, cardio, GI, and basic pathology and ran through sketchy micro and pharm.

Looking back... DUMBEST thing I did.

If I could go back, I would honestly hit the gym and do 2 a days, get super ripped, spend time with friends and family, get rest and just get ready physically for second year.

Now I'm about 60 pounds above what I started med school at in terms of weight.

It irks me.

EVERYDAY.

The clothes, the confidence I used to have, the amazing jawline, has all been diminished and replaced by a plump, stretch-mark filled, busting layer of adipose.

Looking back, no score is more important than your physical health and it all ties in to your mental health too.
Click to expand...
As I am about to engage in yet another day of feasting, I too lament my former physique.
 
I did a 1 month ER externship at a residency program, and then did a 1 month camping trip. 10/10, would do again. I turned down multiple bench research opportunities as it is near impossible to publish something in 2 months. There is no point in slaving away in a lab if you are not going to get anything out of it. Don't feel that you must do research. Even if you become interested in a competitive specialty 3rd year, you should have ample time to do a clinical project if you are motivated, and it will likely be much easier to find mentors willing to help you on a project once they get to work with you in the hospital.

Looking back, I think that experience in the ER was the best thing that I could have done, since I got to see a little bit of every specialty, and get my feet wet seeing sick patients independently. That was still my best 'rotation' of medical school (and I am half way thru 3rd year now). Remember that you are in school to become a physician-- not a PhD. Most of us in the DO world will never do any research after medical school/residency, or never even do any research at all. The best thing you can do outside of doing well in class and getting good board scores is to become clinically strong so that you can impress 3rd and 4th year and end up in a good residency (particularly if you are interested in a specialty that requires away rotations 4th year).

If you are going to do any studying, I would focus on going through sketchy micro and sketchy pharm. Everything else you will forget.
 
I kept up with zanki phys/embryo/micro. Super glad I did because I have found second year to be relatively easier in comparison to first year by a longshot, and I attribute that largely to having a solid base of knowledge. I have been falling behind on zanki this year and it's amazing how quickly I forget all of this stuff when I don't keep up. I only wish I had done zanki throughout M1 instead of cramming it in at the end.
 
I did research and did some light board review of stuff I had already covered. Got multiple publications out of that summer alone. If you think you might want anything competitive, or want to match at competitive programs in non-competitive fields, then you need to do research.
 
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DennisReynolds said:
I sat down and read through first aid and pathoma getting through pulm, msk, cardio, GI, and basic pathology and ran through sketchy micro and pharm.

Looking back... DUMBEST thing I did.

If I could go back, I would honestly hit the gym and do 2 a days, get super ripped, spend time with friends and family, get rest and just get ready physically for second year.

Now I'm about 60 pounds above what I started med school at in terms of weight.

It irks me.

EVERYDAY.

The clothes, the confidence I used to have, the amazing jawline, has all been diminished and replaced by a plump, stretch-mark filled, busting layer of adipose.

Looking back, no score is more important than your physical health and it all ties in to your mental health too.
Click to expand...

Get on the keto train bro. Combine that with intermittent fasting and you're set. I used to think it was dumb and faddish until I read about it and tried to filter through all the true believer keto crap...finally convinced myself to start it when I was 40+ pounds fatter than when I started school. Now I'm back down 35 pounds and my dress clothes I bought for rotations barely fit for good reasons. Started first week of September and just had a pretty good keto Thanksgiving dinner.

It's easy to eat and so satiating that I forget to eat until 5 or 6pm some days. The only diet I've ever been able to stick to. You can even eat fast food if you're diligent.

I'm not planning on continuing keto for much longer since I don't notice any of the mental clarity and energy boost people always rave about, but I'm keeping it in my back pocket for when I inevitably get fat as hell again.
 
austintr said:
Get on the keto train bro. Combine that with intermittent fasting and you're set. I used to think it was dumb and faddish until I read about it and tried to filter through all the true believer keto crap...finally convinced myself to start it when I was 40+ pounds fatter than when I started school. Now I'm back down 35 pounds and my dress clothes I bought for rotations barely fit for good reasons. Started first week of September and just had a pretty good keto Thanksgiving dinner.

It's easy to eat and so satiating that I forget to eat until 5 or 6pm some days. The only diet I've ever been able to stick to. You can even eat fast food if you're diligent.

I'm not planning on continuing keto for much longer since I don't notice any of the mental clarity and energy boost people always rave about, but I'm keeping it in my back pocket for when I inevitably get fat as hell again.
Click to expand...

Do me a favor and send me a meal plan that you are using if you don't mind. Also, you don't feel constipated with all of the meat products and such? Still eating veggies I assume, right?

hit me up bro!
 
I did research and got nice stipend from the school. I didn't wanna just take a break and didn't wanna study either, so I did research in something I actually liked.

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I had a blast doing summer activities. Went on vacation, drank beer, had cook-outs, went to baseball games, saw friends etc
 
austintr said:
Get on the keto train bro. Combine that with intermittent fasting and you're set. I used to think it was dumb and faddish until I read about it and tried to filter through all the true believer keto crap...finally convinced myself to start it when I was 40+ pounds fatter than when I started school. Now I'm back down 35 pounds and my dress clothes I bought for rotations barely fit for good reasons. Started first week of September and just had a pretty good keto Thanksgiving dinner.

It's easy to eat and so satiating that I forget to eat until 5 or 6pm some days. The only diet I've ever been able to stick to. You can even eat fast food if you're diligent.

I'm not planning on continuing keto for much longer since I don't notice any of the mental clarity and energy boost people always rave about, but I'm keeping it in my back pocket for when I inevitably get fat as hell again.
Click to expand...
That keto flu blowwwssss though
 
Cranjis McBasketball said:
That keto flu blowwwssss though
Click to expand...

That's what I've heard from pretty much everyone that's tried it. I didn't notice it much except for just kinda brain fog for maybe 2-3 days. I'll go to my grave thinking I entered ketosis after just a few days by doing simultaneous intermittent fasting the first week. My whole room smelled like ketones every morning after the first weekend, so it was a clinical diagnosis😉
 
Spent half the summer in San Francisco and half in NYC with friends, rent free. They all worked, so I spent all day going out exploring and experiencing the cities.
 
What I did was watch the Sketchy micro and pharm vids. Then started on Pepper decks for those.

Glad I did that. My strongest subjects are micro and pharm when I do boards questions now. And it's only getting better as I continue to build on them via Lol and Zanki decks. Getting ahead in those 2 (big %) subjects allows you that much more time for class/system review for boards bc now ur not in such anxious state tryna mem a bunch of drugs and bugs.

Rec starting going thru TurnUp2OMT deck as well, since it's quite light/easy and keeps you doing something COMLEX related.
 
What kind of research are much of you doing and how long does each project take? Kind of a noob question but I'm a first year and need to do some research.

Also my school gives a very short summer break as well.
 
Norwood-Sano said:
What kind of research are much of you doing and how long does each project take? Kind of a noob question but I'm a first year and need to do some research.

Also my school gives a very short summer break as well.
Click to expand...
I did benched research in something closely related to the specialty I want to go in. My project took the whole summer and it's still not finished. Next summer my PI (also faculty at my school) will get new budding OMS2s to continue with the project, and hopefully we'll get something out of that by the time I have to apply to residency.
 
goneriding said:
I did a 1 month ER externship at a residency program, and then did a 1 month camping trip. 10/10, would do again. I turned down multiple bench research opportunities as it is near impossible to publish something in 2 months. There is no point in slaving away in a lab if you are not going to get anything out of it. Don't feel that you must do research. Even if you become interested in a competitive specialty 3rd year, you should have ample time to do a clinical project if you are motivated, and it will likely be much easier to find mentors willing to help you on a project once they get to work with you in the hospital.

Looking back, I think that experience in the ER was the best thing that I could have done, since I got to see a little bit of every specialty, and get my feet wet seeing sick patients independently. That was still my best 'rotation' of medical school (and I am half way thru 3rd year now). Remember that you are in school to become a physician-- not a PhD. Most of us in the DO world will never do any research after medical school/residency, or never even do any research at all. The best thing you can do outside of doing well in class and getting good board scores is to become clinically strong so that you can impress 3rd and 4th year and end up in a good residency (particularly if you are interested in a specialty that requires away rotations 4th year).

If you are going to do any studying, I would focus on going through sketchy micro and sketchy pharm. Everything else you will forget.
Click to expand...

Where did you find out about the EM externship? Where did you go? I'm thinking about doing the same thing for EM this summer
 
I did nothing. If I were to go back and do it again I would have probably tried to get a research gig at like a mid tier IM spot I am interested in to make connections. NEVER too early for connections and is so important if you want to get your foot in the door at some of these places. Other than that I don't regret not looking at anything school related and ive done well second year so far and don't really feel behind compared to my peers who did do stuff during the summer. If you just follow your classes second year with pathoma, sketchy, FA and qbanks youll be just fine. And no I did not do Zanki like everyone and their brother on here and i don't plan on it. I plan on continuing to do a bajilion practice questions though
 
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Deecee2DO said:
I did nothing. If I were to go back and do it again I would have probably tried to get a research gig at like a mid tier IM spot I am interested in to make connections. NEVER too early for connections and is so important if you want to get your foot in the door at some of these places. Other than that I don't regret not looking at anything school related and ive done well second year so far and don't really feel behind compared to my peers who did do stuff during the summer. If you just follow your classes second year with pathoma, sketchy, FA and qbanks youll be just fine. And no I did not do Zanki like everyone and their brother on here and i don't plan on it. I plan on continuing to do a bajilion practice questions though
Click to expand...

What about if you're going for general surgery? Any advice for research? I wouldn't mind targeting the former AOA programs like PCOM or Genesys.
 
superior_vena_cana said:
What about if you're going for general surgery? Any advice for research? I wouldn't mind targeting the former AOA programs like PCOM or Genesys.
Click to expand...
GS isn't uber competitive but its not easy. I am not qualified really to give advice about that. im still an M2 and have no experience with GS or pursuing it. I'd maybe ask in the GS forums on here. AOA GS isnt THAT competitive though since not a lot of people want to put up with the lifestyle. Sorry I can't be of more help
 
superior_vena_cana said:
What about if you're going for general surgery? Any advice for research? I wouldn't mind targeting the former AOA programs like PCOM or Genesys.
Click to expand...

What are your specific questions?

A quick summary:

Research is always a plus, and will be expected at the traditionally MD programs although less so at the community ones. Even if you have good scores if you are trying to match university GS you absolutely need research. DO programs will like it but it isn’t required.

GS is competitive but it isn’t nearly to the level of the subs. For DO programs a mid-500s score makes you competitive, if you want the bigger DO programs like Doctors, St. Joes, Toledo then closer to 600 the better, if not above it. There are a number of DO programs that give really solid training. Audition is still king though for the majority of these DO programs so even if you don’t have a 600 you aren’t necessarily out of the running.

For MD GS 225-230 will get you some interviews although you really want to be 230+ to make yourself competitive. 225 is ok, 230 is good, 240 is ideal, and 250+ is icing on the cake.
 
did you guys have to relocate to do research say in another state etc?
 
scoopdaboop said:
did you guys have to relocate to do research say in another state etc?
Click to expand...

I did not but I know people that have done so. It just depends on what research availability you have near you. Some people do a paid research fellowship, like the kind you have to apply for and then go to a larger institution to do it. These are competitive though.
 
snowcrawler85 said:
Where did you find out about the EM externship? Where did you go? I'm thinking about doing the same thing for EM this summer
Click to expand...
Google 'summer EM externship' and you should find a few. They are all fairly competitive so apply early!
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I did not but I know people that have done so. It just depends on what research availability you have near you. Some people do a paid research fellowship, like the kind you have to apply for and then go to a larger institution to do it. These are competitive though.
Click to expand...

Is only having research experience adequate or is having publications essential?
 
Bench research in Rheumatology and Ortho at a major academic center, I would suggest doing research even if you can't publish or aren't doing something competitive, it will look better to residency programs that you were doing research in MS1 and that will go a long way as a DO, an ER rotation or rotation in any other specialty is also nice.
 
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