What did you love the most in your first year

[malaika]

What are the highlights of your first year? What did you enjoy, appreciate or love the most in your first year. What did you find most surprising?

I see threads of people complaining but what they hated and how much work it is etc. etc. stress of overwhelming flow of info etc. But this is not that. This is about what you LOVED about it. If there's a single thing you enjoy(ed) the most about getting into medical school, what is it?

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[dyspareunia]

I love when people in Walmart bow and kneel when I walk by in my white coat.

 

[Cytarabine]

Physiology was mostly interesting. It was cool to see how the msk system actually functioned in anatomy (i frankly had no idea as a premed, thought some tendons were bones even). Learning basic h&p stuff was exciting. Met a lot of great people

 

[VisionaryTics]

Bourbon

 

[notbobtrustme]

that it's over

 

[JoshSt]

The last day.

 

[DrEnderW]

I thought anatomy lab was insanely interesting. It was really cool to see how your fingers really move under your skin and things like that.

It felt more like I was embarking on a medical career as opposed to things like biochem, physio, molec bio, etc that I had a solid taste of in undergrad.

But similar to what @notbobtrustme said... the best part is that it's a couple months from being over.

 

[buccsmf1]

that it's over

ding ding ding. MS1-MS2 were the worst 2 years of my life. MS3 is better, and MS4 is awesome.

 

[Frazier]

ding ding ding. MS1-MS2 were the worst 2 years of my life. MS3 is better, and MS4 is awesome.

Thank you for giving me the gift of hope.

 

[Arkangeloid]

I'll love the day when it ends.

But it was kind of cool when the school got us into an exclusive nightclub (that a guy like me would never get into in a million years). Even though I despise those wretched hives of harlots and house music, it was worth it to go just so I could say I went.

 

[colbgw02]

Threads like this so make me want to answer "your mom", but I can't.
















Oh crap.

 

[Arkangeloid]

When this year ends:

 

[BurghStudent]

The learning curve is steep. I wish someone would have told me the first two years of medical school are basically regurgitating information, but I guess in our times, how else are we supposed to learn so much information? I can't wait for systems, where we actually have to think.

Still, I loved anatomy. It was just so awesome to use my hands instead of memorize another lecture. It's a bit premature, but anatomy has me convinced that surgery is the only life for me.

 

[Arkangeloid]

The learning curve is steep. I wish someone would have told me the first two years of medical school are basically regurgitating information, but I guess in our times, how else are we supposed to learn so much information? I can't wait for systems, where we actually have to think.

Still, I loved anatomy. It was just so awesome to use my hands instead of memorize another lecture. It's a bit premature, but anatomy has me convinced that surgery is the only life for me.

Depending on the system, you still won't be doing any thinking (cough NEUROLOGY cough).

We had Anatomy first at our school. Probably contributed to what makes it one of the most hated classes. Honestly, I received some form of PTSD from that thing, if my symptoms are anything to go by.

 

[Frazier]

Depending on the system, you still won't be doing any thinking (cough NEUROLOGY cough).

We had Anatomy first at our school. Probably contributed to what makes it one of the most hated classes. Honestly, I received some form of PTSD from that thing, if my symptoms are anything to go by.

Different strokes.

Anatomy is my fav so far by a long shot.

 

[SurgeDO]

i absolutely loved anatomy. took prosection first year and dissection second year.

 

[BurghStudent]

Depending on the system, you still won't be doing any thinking (cough NEUROLOGY cough).

We had Anatomy first at our school. Probably contributed to what makes it one of the most hated classes. Honestly, I received some form of PTSD from that thing, if my symptoms are anything to go by.

That's rough. Our curriculum is as integrated as it gets, with anatomy most of first year. It made it more bearable.

Interestingly, neurology is the first and only system we cover in first year, and I kind of like the deductive reasoning. It can get repetitive though.

 

[Arkangeloid]

That's rough. Our curriculum is as integrated as it gets, with anatomy most of first year. It made it more bearable.

Interestingly, neurology is the first and only system we cover in first year, and I kind of like the deductive reasoning. It can get repetitive though.

The MD/MPH program at my school has integrated Anatomy. It doesn't seem to bother them nearly as much as it bothered me.

I wouldn't want to do their program, though. For one reason: MANDATORY 8AM CLASSES M/W/F. I wouldn't come to morning classes even if doing so gave me a chance to perform a sex act of my choice with Megan Fox. Ye, I'm not a morning person, and the SDNers at my school will know that I guzzle Monsters and Redbulls just to be able to function at any time before noon.

A lot of people tell me that excessive energy drink use is bad for you. If that's the case, residency is going to take years off my life expectancy. Still, I suppose it's better than smoking, which some of my fellow medical students have picked up.

 

[Kahreek]

first day was my highlight .
I was like "hmm I am little overwhelmed, it must be because it is first day, it will sure get better"
hum right
Traditional curriculum with anatomy, biochem, molec bio, biostatistics/biophysics made a damn lousy start.

 

[coffeesnob]

disclaimer: only 3/4 of MS1 done.

I loved the orientation week. back then i was so excited to start med school. things went down from there. now I can't wait to get out of it. well i just want to fast forward to MS4.

 

[Cytarabine]

ITT, everyone saying the exact opposite of what the OP was looking for. I think first and second year were horrible, but you can find something genuinely positive to say about it

 

[scarletgirl777]

Not worrrying about getting an A. Not having to go to lecture. Not having the stressful final exam period of college where you'd take 5 tests at once. Having way more time for fun. Generally an improvement all round from being a premed. Stay motivated and keep studying for that MCAT!

 

[BANGO]

.

 

[Arkangeloid]

I enjoy that it's pass/fail...that's about it. Met a few awesome people..and quite a few not so awesome people.

Definitely. There are a lot of great and friendly people that you'll meet in medical school. At least in the 1st and 2nd years.

Maybe they become angry and disappointed and pessimistic as med school and residency go on. Would certainly explain a lot about the physicians I've met.

 

[malaika]

ITT, everyone saying the exact opposite of what the OP was looking for. I think first and second year were horrible, but you can find something genuinely positive to say about it

Xactly

 

[coffeesnob]

ITT, everyone saying the exact opposite of what the OP was looking for. I think first and second year were horrible, but you can find something genuinely positive to say about it

If the question was "what did you hate the least in your first year," I would have said something else. I tolerated some moments of pathology and histology pretty well. I actually like the random moments when things click in my head.

 

[coffeesnob]

first day was my highlight .
I was like "hmm I am little overwhelmed, it must be because it is first day, it will sure get better"
hum right
Traditional curriculum with anatomy, biochem, molec bio, biostatistics/biophysics made a damn lousy start.

wow you guys started with anatomy? oh my.

Not worrrying about getting an A. Not having to go to lecture. Not having the stressful final exam period of college where you'd take 5 tests at once. Having way more time for fun. Generally an improvement all round from being a premed. Stay motivated and keep studying for that MCAT!

you guys don't have finals week? Our last week of the block usually has 4-5 tests.

 

[username456789]

wow you guys started with anatomy? oh my.

Many/most schools do.

 

[Bryan O’Blivion]

In all seriousness, I actually liked the material. Embryology was fascinating, and actually pretty useful down the line in a radiology course trying to understand anatomic variations. Anatomy is difficult, but it is kind of like learning your way around a new city, and if you can learn to reason three dimensionally, not that bad. All of the detail in micro was tedious to memorize, but actually pretty important clinically. Medical biochem is unfortunately dependent on no small amount of memorization, as they don't have time to teach it from a kinetics and free energy perspective where it makes the most sense. Still an enjoyable topic.

I actually liked some of the "extraneous" details the PhD professors threw in to the micro course such as capsid geometry and the process of viral self assembly. That is profoundly interesting, if you choose to think about it.

I always find people's perspectives weird on this site. M1-M2 were the worst years of your life? Seriously? They were probably some of the easiest of mine. All I did was show up to class, and read a lot of interesting books, learning about things I wanted to learn about, and getting introduced to new ideas.

Feel put upon if you want, but honestly, it's kind of a fun time if you don't make it hard on yourself.

 

[Neuroguy887]

Yeah idk how you got into med school if you thought M1 and M2 were so tough and terrible. You probably were just too type A and stressed yourself out non-stop about not knowing every little detail. M1 and M2 were amazing. Could learn at my own pace, almost no required class so could wake up whenever I wanted. Easy to take a 3 or 4 day weekend to go somewhere.

 

[madchemist89]

If you enjoy M1 or M2, you aren't working hard enough.

 

[Bryan O’Blivion]

If you enjoy M1 or M2, you aren't working hard enough.

While I admire the implied drive and work ethic in your spirited response, I don't think there is a lot to be gained by making yourself miserable. In all actuality, I think it is kind of counterproductive. The key is to enjoy working hard, and get satisfaction from it. If you don't like what you are doing, you will naturally gravitate to doing as little as you feel is possible. If you find what you are doing interesting, and make an effort to figure out why you are learning this detail, it gets more enjoyable. Medicine is a big picture. Learning all of those details makes everything fit into place, and helps you understand what is going on with a patient's pathology, and what you can do to alter its course. Ultimately, that can be pretty fascinating. Seek understanding rather than rote memorization. Meh. Just some advice. Take it or leave it.

 

[punkedoutriffs]

While I admire the implied drive and work ethic in your spirited response, I don't think there is a lot to be gained by making yourself miserable. In all actuality, I think it is kind of counterproductive. The key is to enjoy working hard, and get satisfaction from it. If you don't like what you are doing, you will naturally gravitate to doing as little as you feel is possible. If you find what you are doing interesting, and make an effort to figure out why you are learning this detail, it gets more enjoyable. Medicine is a big picture. Learning all of those details makes everything fit into place, and helps you understand what is going on with a patient's pathology, and what you can do to alter its course. Ultimately, that can be pretty fascinating. Seek understanding rather than rote memorization. Meh. Just some advice. Take it or leave it.

In general, I agree that this attitude is how education should be approached. That is also why I hate how medical schools write their tests. You are provided with a greater incentive to memorize/word associate than to truly "understand." As a former English major and all around big picture kind of guy, it's not ideal.

 

[mcloaf]

If you enjoy M1 or M2, you aren't working hard enough.

lolno. Depending on how your school is set up, M1 only has to suck as much as you make it suck. By and large I'm having a pretty good time and am doing well in classes. It's basically college except I don't have to go to class, the material is more relevant to my interests, and research projects grow on trees ready to be plucked. None of this is to say that there aren't crappy days spent studying things I don't care about, but overall it's been positive for sure.

In answer to the OP: anatomy dissections.

 

[oingoboingo]

I liked pretty much everything about first year. Second year though... yikes.

 

[witzelsucht]

I loved physio first year. It was nice to take a course where I felt that if I just learned the material well I could stop studying and remember it forever.

I loved Pathoma second year. That's pretty much it. Also getting a UW question right that I didn't know the answer to but reasoned my way through it.

 

[cs24]

The overall freedom that comes with streamed/podcasted lectures. People want to complain about the volume of material and time spent studying, but you still have the time/flexibility to do almost anything you want outside of school because hours spent studying can be done when/wherever you want them. To me, this beats the crap out of being required to be in a certain building from 8am-6pm for a job.

 

[DermViser]

The learning curve is steep. I wish someone would have told me the first two years of medical school are basically regurgitating information, but I guess in our times, how else are we supposed to learn so much information? I can't wait for systems, where we actually have to think.

Still, I loved anatomy. It was just so awesome to use my hands instead of memorize another lecture. It's a bit premature, but anatomy has me convinced that surgery is the only life for me.

Medical school in the first 2 years is regurgitation of information bc it's taught by PhDs who could care less about the education of their students, as you'll be making more money than they do AND bc they're not clinicians.
Real practice of medicine is not regurgitation of information. Recall of information won't even get you half way to where you need to be.

I knew tons of friends who wanted to become "surgeons" due to their great rote memorizing ability in gross anatomy. The rotation where you're exposed to the rigorous lifestyle of surgeons , pretty much made them give up that dream.

 

[evilbooyaa]

What'd I like most about MS1?

Post-exam drinking.

Damnit, I missed my window of making joke responses and now everyone is all srs and stuff.

 

[DermViser]

I liked pretty much everything about first year. Second year though... yikes.

Yeah, it gets more intense (and more subjective) as you progress.

 

[ChEMD]

Honestly, I've enjoyed pretty much all of first year. The only times I've gotten stressed or frustrated have been because I procrastinated too much (damn you embryology...). I feel like it's really only rote memorization if you wait too long to the point where you don't have time to look up and understand the underlying mechanisms. If you're truly interested in medicine and the science behind it, you will enjoy taking the time to dig a little bit deeper to gain further understanding. If you're solely concerned about grades because you think most of the stuff in 1st year doesn't matter for clinical medicine, then you will be doing a lot more memorization and probably find it much less enjoyable.

 

[Anastomoses]

Honestly, I've enjoyed pretty much all of first year. The only times I've gotten stressed or frustrated have been because I procrastinated too much (damn you embryology...). I feel like it's really only rote memorization if you wait too long to the point where you don't have time to look up and understand the underlying mechanisms. If you're truly interested in medicine and the science behind it, you will enjoy taking the time to dig a little bit deeper to gain further understanding. If you're solely concerned about grades because you think most of the stuff in 1st year doesn't matter for clinical medicine, then you will be doing a lot more memorization and probably find it much less enjoyable.

I know! Embryo sucks so bad and you put it off and then you actually read it because you sooooo have to and it's like...oh wait, this is kinda interesting - **** I only have 3 days. I messed that up too.

 

[GangaMaster]

The free time I had. God why did I think M2 would have been better?

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

I'm breezing through first year and it scares me.

 

[malaika]

The overall freedom that comes with streamed/podcasted lectures. People want to complain about the volume of material and time spent studying, but you still have the time/flexibility to do almost anything you want outside of school because hours spent studying can be done when/wherever you want them. To me, this beats the crap out of being required to be in a certain building from 8am-6pm for a job.

Yup!

If you enjoy M1 or M2, you aren't working hard enough.

You can work hard and enjoy the work at the same time. No?

The free time I had. God why did I think M2 would have been better?

Can you please explain?

 

[notbobtrustme]

The free time I had. God why did I think M2 would have been better?

really? I found M2 to be the opposite, I have way more free time because the material is much more focused. Micro is pretty easy since it's all flowcharts based on the 40 or so bugs we gotta know. It also overlaps a ton with pathology, so that's two birds with one stone. Pathoma is amazing; he can explain the pathology better in an hour than our lecturers can in 4 so I ditched those losers and use Pathoma solely. Pharm is pretty much just physiology with random drug names, of which you only really gotta know the suffix to get 90% of the way there. Sure, there are the odd side effects, but for the most part, they follow the mechanism of action (except for the neuro drugs, **** the neuro drugs).

 

[Arkangeloid]

In general, I agree that this attitude is how education should be approached. That is also why I hate how medical schools write their tests. You are provided with a greater incentive to memorize/word associate than to truly "understand." As a former English major and all around big picture kind of guy, it's not ideal.

In Neuro, we went over how multiple choice exams test "primed" memory as opposed to declarative memory, and how different parts of the brain govern both of them. Since medicine is about multiple choice exams, it requires a very specific type of approach. As time as gone on and my scores have gone up, I've found myself trying to understand as little as possible, just memorizing associations.

 

[GangaMaster]

really? I found M2 to be the opposite, I have way more free time because the material is much more focused. Micro is pretty easy since it's all flowcharts based on the 40 or so bugs we gotta know. It also overlaps a ton with pathology, so that's two birds with one stone. Pathoma is amazing; he can explain the pathology better in an hour than our lecturers can in 4 so I ditched those losers and use Pathoma solely. Pharm is pretty much just physiology with random drug names, of which you only really gotta know the suffix to get 90% of the way there. Sure, there are the odd side effects, but for the most part, they follow the mechanism of action (except for the neuro drugs, **** the neuro drugs).

Path has mandatory classes, you fail if you miss a certain amount of hours from class or labs. Labs are 5 times a week for 2 hours. Path tests from Robbins and Pathoma covers maybe 40% of what we are tested on. Micro isn't even the concern for me.

ICM is twice a week for 2 hours if you miss more than 3 days then you fail class, same with its accompanying lectures once a week.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Path has mandatory classes, you fail if you miss a certain amount of hours from class or labs. Labs are 5 times a week for 2 hours. Path tests from Robbins and Pathoma covers maybe 40% of what we are tested on. Micro isn't even the concern for me.

ICM is twice a week for 2 hours if you miss more than 3 days then you fail class, same with its accompanying lectures once a week.

**** that sounds awful. we have optional classes, no labs and minimal small groups, so **** has been wide open for us.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Path has mandatory classes, you fail if you miss a certain amount of hours from class or labs. Labs are 5 times a week for 2 hours. Path tests from Robbins and Pathoma covers maybe 40% of what we are tested on. Micro isn't even the concern for me.

ICM is twice a week for 2 hours if you miss more than 3 days then you fail class, same with its accompanying lectures once a week.

This is why mandatory attendance (especially for lectures) is the worst thing, EVAR.