What I wish I knew before I started med school...

[MaximusMeridius]

I'll be starting my first year this summer and was curious to hear from current students. Any advice/thoughts about starting med school? What do you wish you knew going into it?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[heroes31]

Find out what studying strategies work for you and stick with it. If you find you are doing well with how you are studying don't worry if the person sitting next to you says he studies twice as much and spent his whole break studying.
Med school is a lot of work but its definitely doable. Enjoy your last couple months of freedom!!

 

[Bones DO]

Find out what studying strategies work for you and stick with it. If you find you are doing well with how you are studying don't worry if the person sitting next to you says he studies twice as much and spent his whole break studying.
Med school is a lot of work but its definitely doable. Enjoy your last couple months of freedom!!

Quality vs quantity. A lesson I learned the HARD way. Learn it early, and as heroes said, find which method works best for you and save yourself a ton of trouble.

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Quality vs quantity. A lesson I learned the HARD way. Learn it early, and as heroes said, find which method works best for you and save yourself a ton of trouble.

Do you find that many first year students struggle with balancing the two? What was the primary adjustment you had to make between undergrad and med school?

 

[Vancomycin12]

Do you find that many first year students struggle with balancing the two? What was the primary adjustment you had to make between undergrad and med school?

It is definitely a hard balance to adjust to. The amount of info that gets dumped on you starting Day 1 kind of throws you off your game and you freak out trying to figure out what the heck is going to be the best way to attack it/learn it. It definitely took me a few months to get into a groove of how I like to study. It is completely different from what I did in undergrad (cram).

 

[CopToEM]

I hear KISS (keep it simple stupid) cited a lot between friends who are 2nd year students. This idea that in undergrad you must master every minute detail of the information appears to be largely invalid in med school. Grasping the bigger picture (such as from BRS books) is evidently far more beneficial in the end.

Thoughts from current students on that?

 

[Throwsheat313]

I hear KISS (keep it simple stupid) cited a lot between friends who are 2nd year students. This idea that in undergrad you must master every minute detail of the information appears to be largely invalid in med school. Grasping the bigger picture (such as from BRS books) is evidently far more beneficial in the end.

Thoughts from current students on that?

Couldn't agree more with this. If you try to master ever minor detail at first, you'll be very frustrated in the end. Grasp the big picture, get a clear idea of the major themes in your mind as you're studying, and the details will make more sense. There's no concept too hard to master in medical school... It's just the sheer quantity and pace it's thrown at you that makes it difficult.

 

[MtHoodWood]

Challenge everything. The status quo has to go, in medical education as well as in practice.

 

[gators21]

Dont make things more difficult than they have to be. If someone has already done the work, then dont waste time doing it yourself.

This can also be applied here. This question has been brought up every year with great answers. Do a search

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Couldn't agree more with this. If you try to master ever minor detail at first, you'll be very frustrated in the end. Grasp the big picture, get a clear idea of the major themes in your mind as you're studying, and the details will make more sense. There's no concept too hard to master in medical school... It's just the sheer quantity and pace it's thrown at you that makes it difficult.

I hear KISS (keep it simple stupid) cited a lot between friends who are 2nd year students. This idea that in undergrad you must master every minute detail of the information appears to be largely invalid in med school. Grasping the bigger picture (such as from BRS books) is evidently far more beneficial in the end.

Thoughts from current students on that?

These are definitely thoughts echoed by most of the current med students I've talked to. The big difference between med school and undergrad seems to be the necessity to "triage" the information that is given. Thanks for the advice.

This can also be applied here. This question has been brought up every year with great answers. Do a search

I don't think that advice given from current students to incoming classmates should be a static, one time thing. I wanted to hear from students now about how they perceive med school and the challenges associated with transitioning from undergrad. If it's all the same advice that was given 10 years ago, then if nothing else is shows me that good advice is still good advice.

 

[CopToEM]

I don't think that advice given from current students to incoming classmates should be a static, one time thing. I wanted to hear from students now about how they perceive med school and the challenges associated with transitioning from undergrad. If it's all the same advice that was given 10 years ago, then if nothing else is shows me that good advice is still good advice.

Virtually every question that anyone ever wanted to know has been answered in the past decade on here. If people like you stopped posing questions this forum would be dead.

Just like you don't have to search... others don't have to comment or read. Your topic was very clear in defining what this post was about yet he came here and commented anyway. He made that decision on his own.

 

[chicago5950]

Virtually every question that anyone ever wanted to know has been answered in the past decade on here. If people like you stopped posing questions this forum would be dead.

Just like you don't have to search... others don't have to comment or read. Your topic was very clear in defining what this post was about yet he came here and commented anyway. He made that decision on his own.

Burn.

... wait for it.

BURN.

 

[gators21]

Virtually every question that anyone ever wanted to know has been answered in the past decade on here. If people like you stopped posing questions this forum would be dead.

Just like you don't have to search... others don't have to comment or read. Your topic was very clear in defining what this post was about yet he came here and commented anyway. He made that decision on his own.

Guess the whole message of the post was lost.

Let me repeat this again. Dont do unnecessary work. You will save yourself a whole lot of headaches in the long run

Did I ever call him out for making the post? Nope. Was actually giving him the advice that this has been talked about all the time. And that the other posts have great advice. This isnt a topic that is talked about "once every 10 years". It has legitimately been talked about weekly. Does the dynamic of med school prep change weekly? Doubt it.


But ill go ahead and tell you what you want to hear, since you apparently cant/wont take advice from people. Read anatomy before class to get a leg up on everyone, report everyone for any minor inconvenience to you, check out library books the week before your course even though you own the book so that others cant use them, you are special and better than everyone, theres no way you can ever get a C and if you do its all the professor's fault, the administration is out to get you, things are never your fault, and yes you will only have to study like an hour twice a week in order to get As and party all night.

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Guess the whole message of the post was lost.

Let me repeat this again. Dont do unnecessary work. You will save yourself a whole lot of headaches in the long run

Did I ever call him out for making the post? Nope. Was actually giving him the advice that this has been talked about all the time. And that the other posts have great advice. This isnt a topic that is talked about "once every 10 years". It has legitimately been talked about weekly. Does the dynamic of med school prep change weekly? Doubt it.


But ill go ahead and tell you what you want to hear, since you apparently cant/wont take advice from people. Read anatomy before class to get a leg up on everyone, report everyone for any minor inconvenience to you, check out library books the week before your course even though you own the book so that others cant use them, you are special and better than everyone, theres no way you can ever get a C and if you do its all the professor's fault, the administration is out to get you, things are never your fault, and yes you will only have to study like an hour twice a week in order to get As and party all night.

Awesome. Thanks, man.

 

[thecgrblue]

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

 

[LSU Alex]

Guess the whole message of the post was lost.

Let me repeat this again. Dont do unnecessary work. You will save yourself a whole lot of headaches in the long run

Did I ever call him out for making the post? Nope. Was actually giving him the advice that this has been talked about all the time. And that the other posts have great advice. This isnt a topic that is talked about "once every 10 years". It has legitimately been talked about weekly. Does the dynamic of med school prep change weekly? Doubt it.


But ill go ahead and tell you what you want to hear, since you apparently cant/wont take advice from people. Read anatomy before class to get a leg up on everyone, report everyone for any minor inconvenience to you, check out library books the week before your course even though you own the book so that others cant use them, you are special and better than everyone, theres no way you can ever get a C and if you do its all the professor's fault, the administration is out to get you, things are never your fault, and yes you will only have to study like an hour twice a week in order to get As and party all night.

Oh, I see what you did there!!! Funny guy!

No, seriously, I love that whole last paragraph. I've run across 'that guy' before...

 

[willen101383]

Figure out what is going to be high yield. Look at old tests if you have access. I never did this because I was more of the "I am going to study to learn the stuff not to be a top scorer" type....until the last exam....and 40% of the questions were re used...it was my highest score of med school.

Dont study in the library or around other students. Huge waste of time.

As goljan says "mechanisms!" I dont know how many times i was tripped up on exams because I rememberd things like "follicular lymphoma-bcl 2." Then I get to a question on an exam and there would be 2 choices "over expressed bcl 2, or underexpressed bcl 2." Oh crap....learn like "follicular lymphoma overexpresses bcl 2 because bcl 2 is an antiapoptotic protein." Make connections. It will help you see the bigger picture. Boards study is ultimately when you finally start to see the big picture...but the earlier you see it the better. So much of my preclinical education was in isolation...and that is NOT that way to go about doing it.

Make sure you maintain NON MED SCHOOL FRIENDS. They will save your sanity.

Dont go to class. It is the biggest waste of time and I have no idea why anyone would go aside from it being social hour.

Bring a drink to your exams. They are long. Its nice to take a 5 second break to take a sip and let your eyes relax.

Dont ask questions during lecture. If you have a question: www.google.com. Asking questions wastes everyone elses time...and chances are you can EASILY find that answer online.

 

[willen101383]

SLEEP. If you cant get 8 hours of sleep a night during m1/m2 you arent doing it right.

I dont know how many times I would study later in the afternoon, be completely UNABLE to recall something....only to wake up the next morning with things clear as day in my head and totally able to spew off the facts. I didnt do research on this but I am 100% sure that when you go asleep your brain is organizing information in there so that it is more easily called upon when you need it. I am studying for boards right now...this happens to me every single day.

SLEEP....oh this ties into the whole not wasting your time going to class thing.

 

[gators21]

Lets keep this party train going!


You will be the only good looking guy (or girl) in the class in which all the other sex will be extremely hot and you will bang all of them, you can now use words like STAT at every possiblity, your poop now magically smells like roses, your white coat comes with a white horse for you to stare down at all the lowely non-doctors, nurses will have to immediately stop what their doing to do your menial task and if they dont then you are well within your right to bring the wrath of God down on them(which you freely control now), you will work 9-5 m-f with no call or holidays, you will match Derm, the only way to get a letter of recommendation is to repeatedly ask questions during lecture that take 2 seconds to look up, that time you spent shadowing a neurosurgeon for 4 hours makes you a complete authority in neuroanatomy, everyone loves it when you correct their grammar, oh and doors will magically open before you even without the sensors!

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Figure out what is going to be high yield. Look at old tests if you have access. I never did this because I was more of the "I am going to study to learn the stuff not to be a top scorer" type....until the last exam....and 40% of the questions were re used...it was my highest score of med school.

Dont study in the library or around other students. Huge waste of time.

As goljan says "mechanisms!" I dont know how many times i was tripped up on exams because I rememberd things like "follicular lymphoma-bcl 2." Then I get to a question on an exam and there would be 2 choices "over expressed bcl 2, or underexpressed bcl 2." Oh crap....learn like "follicular lymphoma overexpresses bcl 2 because bcl 2 is an antiapoptotic protein." Make connections. It will help you see the bigger picture. Boards study is ultimately when you finally start to see the big picture...but the earlier you see it the better. So much of my preclinical education was in isolation...and that is NOT that way to go about doing it.

Make sure you maintain NON MED SCHOOL FRIENDS. They will save your sanity.

Dont go to class. It is the biggest waste of time and I have no idea why anyone would go aside from it being social hour.

Bring a drink to your exams. They are long. Its nice to take a 5 second break to take a sip and let your eyes relax.

Dont ask questions during lecture. If you have a question: www.google.com. Asking questions wastes everyone elses time...and chances are you can EASILY find that answer online.

SLEEP. If you cant get 8 hours of sleep a night during m1/m2 you arent doing it right.

I dont know how many times I would study later in the afternoon, be completely UNABLE to recall something....only to wake up the next morning with things clear as day in my head and totally able to spew off the facts. I didnt do research on this but I am 100% sure that when you go asleep your brain is organizing information in there so that it is more easily called upon when you need it. I am studying for boards right now...this happens to me every single day.

SLEEP....oh this ties into the whole not wasting your time going to class thing.

Thanks, sounds like great advice. If you don't go to lecture, how do you know what to study?

 

[CopToEM]

Thanks, sounds like great advice. If you don't go to lecture, how do you know what to study?

Online streaming @ 2x speed. Most students don't know how people became doctors without it.

 

[docnotsopc]

I found that reading board review textbooks (like BRS and First Aid) helped a ton with supplementing lecture material. Actually the courses I did the best in I used the following order of studying:
1) would read material in BRS, First Aid, or maybe Robbins. This gave me the big picture and made basic comparisons my school often failed at doing.
2) Would re-read by class notes (after attending class or watching it at 2x speed).
3) repeat 1+ 2
4) Memorize small details from class

Start big --> work your way to the details

Also, dont underestimate WIKIPEDIA and youtube. They are useful (although only 80% reliable)

 

[Morsetlis]

Wikipedia is amazing, but so are good notes...

The only difference is, one of these requires effort to create and access.

 

[heroes31]

Online streaming @ 2x speed. Most students don't know how people became doctors without it.

anyone know how to stream 2X on tegrity with a mac? Not sure if every school uses tegrity but they say you can't run 2x on a mac. wondering if there is a way around that.
(Sorry for changing subject)

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Online streaming @ 2x speed. Most students don't know how people became doctors without it.

You're saying that you watch recorded lectures at 2x speed?

 

[willen101383]

You're saying that you watch recorded lectures at 2x speed?

To be totally honest I only actually watched lectures for M1. For M2 I stopped watching lectures and just read ppts.

Generally how things worked at my school is: you have a master schedule of all the lectures. They record the lectures and put them up online where you web stream them from. Software called tegrity was used...basically you hear the audio and see any PPT slides the lecturer has up.

Also, on blackboard (the online blackboard Im sure you know what that is) all the ppts are posted for the days lectures.

In addition to that stuff, if you wanted to pay you could get "scribe notes" which is basically someone who gets paid work study to sit in each lecture and take notes. I never paid for this...but a lot of people really liked em. My eyes sort of gloss over when I see pages of words....so this wouldnt have worked for me.

 

[willen101383]

anyone know how to stream 2X on tegrity with a mac? Not sure if every school uses tegrity but they say you can't run 2x on a mac. wondering if there is a way around that.
(Sorry for changing subject)

There is def a way one of my buddies figured out how to do it...ill e mail him quick and post back when I find out. You a PCOMer? Or do other schools use teg too?

 

[heroes31]

There is def a way one of my buddies figured out how to do it...ill e mail him quick and post back when I find out. You a PCOMer? Or do other schools use teg too?

No I go to Nova. Bought a mac because my pc broke and was like, where the hell is that speed bar??!! Once you get used to watching in 2x, 1x feels painfully slow! Lol Thanks so much!

 

[painmd87]

Read. Listen. Review. Repeat.

Read the relevant chapter like a novel.
Listen to what the professor picks out during lecture (in class or at home).
Review -- either someone else's notes, BRS/other review, any high-yield notes the professors share.
Repeat. Repeat.

I try to see things worded differently. I pick out key terms/phrases from the text. I eliminate anything that isn't worthwhile or doesn't seem to agree with what the professor (who is writing the test!) mentions. I look at how someone else worded it (a classmate's notes). I pare down based on what is high-yield via BRS/Goljan/FA/whatever. A few days before the test, I've got a list of high-yield buzzwords and must-know mechanisms/pathways/concepts.

Take 200 pages and turn it into 100 lines of high-yield review.

Anytime a professor says, "This is high-yield," there should be a flashing light saying, "THIS WILL BE TESTED."

And the three most important things:
1) Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.
2) Do something else with your life. Preferably something productive. Build a garden. Join a non-school-related rec league. It gives you something else to focus on, something to look forward to when your'e done, and something to distract you when you are at the point that you read something 5 times and don't remember a word of it. (I remodeled my house.)
3) Learn the concepts. Learn the medicine. Screw the grades -- just make sure you pass. Your professors do not write ALL of the COMLEX/USMLE questions. They will write some truly terrible ones. Do not worry about them. Focus on the end-goal.

Oh, and be nice. Please. If you're the type that is overly sarcastic/rude/derogatory because you think it makes you special, you are now in a group of 100-200 people that feels the same way. Actually be special --> be nice.

 

[TallScrubs]

No I go to Nova. Bought a mac because my pc broke and was like, where the hell is that speed bar??!! Once you get used to watching in 2x, 1x feels painfully slow! Lol Thanks so much!

Save it to iTunes...then bam--> 2x speed.

 

[willen101383]

Save it to iTunes...then bam--> 2x speed.

 

[Freesia88]

burn.

... Wait for it.

Burn.

lmao!!

 

[LSU Alex]

Oh, and be nice. Please. If you're the type that is overly sarcastic/rude/derogatory because you think it makes you special, you are now in a group of 100-200 people that feels the same way. Actually be special --> be nice.

This is the most true part of this post. The douchebag per capita figure is greatly elevated amongst the medical school population... don't be a statistic.

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Oh, and be nice. Please. If you're the type that is overly sarcastic/rude/derogatory because you think it makes you special, you are now in a group of 100-200 people that feels the same way. Actually be special --> be nice.

This is the most true part of this post. The douchebag per capita figure is greatly elevated amongst the medical school population... don't be a statistic.

Haha! I've actually been told something similar from a good friend of mine who just graduated. I wonder what contributes to this attitude among med students. Someone should conduct a longitudinal study to shed some light on why jerks become doctors.

 

[heroes31]

Save it to iTunes...then bam--> 2x speed.

Sorry I must be an idiot but when I click the iTunes icon in tegrity i m able to download the audio podcast recording but i don't see the video. The video podcast button doesn't seem to work. Also I still don't know how to do 2X in iTunes. Thanks!

 

[RIdoc11]

Sorry I must be an idiot but when I click the iTunes icon in tegrity i m able to download the audio podcast recording but i don't see the video. The video podcast button doesn't seem to work. Also I still don't know how to do 2X in iTunes. Thanks!

PM me your e-mail... I have a PDF file that has pictures and directions on how to do it.

 

[willen101383]

Haha! I've actually been told something similar from a good friend of mine who just graduated. I wonder what contributes to this attitude among med students. Someone should conduct a longitudinal study to shed some light on why jerks become doctors.

Type As become doctors. Everyone is accomplished and everyone is used to being a top dawg and thinkin their shit dont stink. The worst part of med school is dealing with the other med students.

This comes back to my statement about not asking questions. Everyone knows u are just asking questions to look awesome. There are a few kids in my class who are literally universally hated by everyone because of asking questions constantly to look good...and trying to act like they are some sort of "liason" between the administration and our class. Our administration screwed us and forced us to take a practice boards exam after FIVE fcking finals in a row...so they could develop a barrier exam for future classes. Some kid actually stands up before the exam started and talked down to all of us like "guys now you know that this isnt about us...its for the incoming students and u should take it seriously." Seriously bro who the fuck are you. Dont be that guy. EVER. You dont want your classmates hating you. You want to just fly under the radar and graduate without anyone hating you.

Oh, and if there is no dresscode, dont dress up every day in a shirt and tie because you think you are awesome....because you are not, and everyone thinks you are a douche.

 

[Bacchus]

Sorry I must be an idiot but when I click the iTunes icon in tegrity i m able to download the audio podcast recording but i don't see the video. The video podcast button doesn't seem to work. Also I still don't know how to do 2X in iTunes. Thanks!

There's a double-arrow or something, I believe which lets you download the entire file. I haven't used tegrity for a while, but I believe its in the right lower corner or upper. Don't download the iTunes file but the complete video file.

In iTunes when you load a video I believe under controls it gives you playback options that you can choose a faster speed.

 

[OneTripAcross]

Sadly, as many would like to say, there is no formula to do well in medical school. Find the best way to study for you. It took me a month or two but I've been excelling ever since. But I will tell you my way just to give another option to compare with the ones above. It's simple really, I never do any of the readings assigned because the powerpoints are the "highlights" of the reading. Some mention above to condense the assigned reading to 100 high yeild points, but this is already accomplished via the power points. I go to every class, and take minor notes here and there. I come home and make detailed study sheets of the power points with my added notes (most of my added notes are when they say this is high yield btw), nothing more than outlines of the powerpoint really. I handwrite them, this is greuling but it helps me slow down and really get a feel for if I'm understanding everything. Because if I cant organize it in my notes well then I dont understand it all that well. We generally have 4-6 lectures a day so with class time and studying after I put in 8-12 hrs a day. Weekends I review my notes. The week before the test is different, same as above but I study old stuff til I can't stay awake after. But a non test week I have my nights free, and getting enough sleep isnt even a concern.

As far as douche bag med students are concerned I cant really elaborate. My school doesn't seem to have them so maybe I'm (we're) just lucky.

Best of luck to all the incoming medical students. Your first year will fly by, trust me. Enjoy your final few months of freedom!

 

[musclemilk619]

Type As become doctors. Everyone is accomplished and everyone is used to being a top dawg and thinkin their shit dont stink. The worst part of med school is dealing with the other med students.

This comes back to my statement about not asking questions. Everyone knows u are just asking questions to look awesome. There are a few kids in my class who are literally universally hated by everyone because of asking questions constantly to look good...and trying to act like they are some sort of "liason" between the administration and our class. Our administration screwed us and forced us to take a practice boards exam after FIVE fcking finals in a row...so they could develop a barrier exam for future classes. Some kid actually stands up before the exam started and talked down to all of us like "guys now you know that this isnt about us...its for the incoming students and u should take it seriously." Seriously bro who the fuck are you. Dont be that guy. EVER. You dont want your classmates hating you. You want to just fly under the radar and graduate without anyone hating you.

Oh, and if there is no dresscode, dont dress up every day in a shirt and tie because you think you are awesome....because you are not, and everyone thinks you are a douche.

Lmao if this happens in my class that kid is getting beat up

 

[willen101383]

Lmao if this happens in my class that kid is getting beat up

I showed my distaste for him and his preaching by filling in all the bubbles on my scantron randomly and walking out the door within 5 minutes

 

[Bacchus]

Type As become doctors. Everyone is accomplished and everyone is used to being a top dawg and thinkin their shit dont stink. The worst part of med school is dealing with the other med students.

This comes back to my statement about not asking questions. Everyone knows u are just asking questions to look awesome. There are a few kids in my class who are literally universally hated by everyone because of asking questions constantly to look good...and trying to act like they are some sort of "liason" between the administration and our class. Our administration screwed us and forced us to take a practice boards exam after FIVE fcking finals in a row...so they could develop a barrier exam for future classes. Some kid actually stands up before the exam started and talked down to all of us like "guys now you know that this isnt about us...its for the incoming students and u should take it seriously." Seriously bro who the fuck are you. Dont be that guy. EVER. You dont want your classmates hating you. You want to just fly under the radar and graduate without anyone hating you.

Oh, and if there is no dresscode, dont dress up every day in a shirt and tie because you think you are awesome....because you are not, and everyone thinks you are a douche.

What an idiot. However, I trust FD and Goldie on this and it would be helpful to have. What that student did obviously wasn't right, but, PCOM's pass rate for the boards is abysmal compared to other schools and as such, any improvement measures (the first would be to buy everyone either BBC or DIT and not Northwestern) such as a barrier exam (similar to the LECOM model) or curriculum restructuring (similar to KCUMB) would be good. And besides, you could have taken your score and either FD or Goldie probably would have did a projection for you based on the 3 years worth of data they have.

 

[The kitchen sink]

Type As become doctors. Everyone is accomplished and everyone is used to being a top dawg and thinkin their shit dont stink. The worst part of med school is dealing with the other med students.

This comes back to my statement about not asking questions. Everyone knows u are just asking questions to look awesome. There are a few kids in my class who are literally universally hated by everyone because of asking questions constantly to look good...and trying to act like they are some sort of "liason" between the administration and our class. Our administration screwed us and forced us to take a practice boards exam after FIVE fcking finals in a row...so they could develop a barrier exam for future classes. Some kid actually stands up before the exam started and talked down to all of us like "guys now you know that this isnt about us...its for the incoming students and u should take it seriously." Seriously bro who the fuck are you. Dont be that guy. EVER. You dont want your classmates hating you. You want to just fly under the radar and graduate without anyone hating you.

Oh, and if there is no dresscode, dont dress up every day in a shirt and tie because you think you are awesome....because you are not, and everyone thinks you are a douche.

Yeah, I notice some med school students who basically honor/beast every single unit etc are so full of themselves. But its obvious that some of them have major deficits in maintaing a social life (kids just start hating them after they somehow make every single convo you have with them about school/grades/boards) and they are left with just their books and themselves... i agree sometimes medical school can make you feel one way or another but i think staying humble no matter what is what will make you a respectable doctor/person in the future, in life and beyond. just my 2 cents.

 

[LSU Alex]

Yeah, I notice some med school students who basically honor/beast every single unit etc are so full of themselves. But its obvious that some of them have major deficits in maintaing a social life (kids just start hating them after they somehow make every single convo you have with them about school/grades/boards) and they are left with just their books and themselves... i agree sometimes medical school can make you feel one way or another but i think staying humble no matter what is what will make you a respectable doctor/person in the future, in life and beyond. just my 2 cents.

Exactly! Stay humble...

... and don't talk about the test right after the test. Ain't **** you can do about the answers you turned in; so just move on, and don't be a neurotic spazz. Trust me, your life will be better for it.

 

[willen101383]

What an idiot. However, I trust FD and Goldie on this and it would be helpful to have. What that student did obviously wasn't right, but, PCOM's pass rate for the boards is abysmal compared to other schools and as such, any improvement measures (the first would be to buy everyone either BBC or DIT and not Northwestern) such as a barrier exam (similar to the LECOM model) or curriculum restructuring (similar to KCUMB) would be good. And besides, you could have taken your score and either FD or Goldie probably would have did a projection for you based on the 3 years worth of data they have.

I wasnt the only guy who walked out. It wasnt even the fact that they wanted us to do it. It was that they wanted to do it after 5 finals in a row. It would have been pointless as I didnt even start my studying yet at that point. I (and most others) were in no mood to deal with that crap after a full week of finals. I have major eye issues 2ndary to a retinal detachment surgery and there was no way in hell I was sitting through another exam.

I dont really see why the administration is so surprised our board scores suck. I can sum it up pretty easily "M2T3." M2T3 literally was pointless. Rather than let us start studying for the boards 6 or 7 weeks earlier they force us to take a bunch of ridiculous low yield classes. I dont think I learned a single thing in M2T3. I (and many of my friends) were right on the cusp of having our OMM written scores be in the passing range...so we all studied our asses off to pass that (even though my course grade was like a 90 with all my practical grades)...again making it virtually impossible to start boards prep. It was just jumping through a bunch of BS hoops for 6 weeks...and having a freakin OMM practical during that week was the icing on the cake. I really liked the idea of having an Emed class....and I dont know how things were for your class..but when you tell a bunch of med students" you will be graded solely on participation" it just becomes a clusterfck. Everyone just yelling out answers and such. It was basically verbal diarrhea each session. I like goldstein and think hes a really nice guy but expecting med students to learn pharmacology by putting up overheads of extremely wordy documents is not the way to do it. The important crap is lost in a forest of words. Give us drug names, mechanisms, and a few serious side effects...because nobody can memorize everything on those sheets. Another area PCOM needs to work on is micro. I literally learned NOTHING in micro...and I really think micro is a class that needs to be taught by itself instead of in a systems format. Otherwise things are so spread out its impossible to remember.

I thought SPOM, CMBM, and most of the systems were great. I thought mcdonald was incredible. I had a path professor in grad school who was another area ME and he wasnt nearly as good. In fact, McD was one of the best professors Ive EVER had. I love path, but most people find it boring as hell...and I thought he kept your attention very well. Aside from the OMM dept sucking and making my life miserable for 2 years I thought the education was pretty good...with the exception of M2T3. They need to get rid of that, consolidate the limited tangible information taught in that block into the systems and give people extra time to study for boards. I dont know about you, but it took me a few weeks to even get the ball rolling with regard to boards....more time=better.

I like FD a lot too even though many people dont. I thought her handouts during CMBM were great. She is obviously very gung ho and really cares about her job which I find commendable. She was one of the good ones also.

 

[MaximusMeridius]

Exactly! Stay humble...

... and don't talk about the test right after the test. Ain't **** you can do about the answers you turned in; so just move on, and don't be a neurotic spazz. Trust me, your life will be better for it.

Definitely solid advice, thanks

 

[TallScrubs]

I wasnt the only guy who walked out. It wasnt even the fact that they wanted us to do it. It was that they wanted to do it after 5 finals in a row. It would have been pointless as I didnt even start my studying yet at that point. I (and most others) were in no mood to deal with that crap after a full week of finals. I have major eye issues 2ndary to a retinal detachment surgery and there was no way in hell I was sitting through another exam.

I dont really see why the administration is so surprised our board scores suck. I can sum it up pretty easily "M2T3." M2T3 literally was pointless. Rather than let us start studying for the boards 6 or 7 weeks earlier they force us to take a bunch of ridiculous low yield classes. I dont think I learned a single thing in M2T3. I (and many of my friends) were right on the cusp of having our OMM written scores be in the passing range...so we all studied our asses off to pass that (even though my course grade was like a 90 with all my practical grades)...again making it virtually impossible to start boards prep. It was just jumping through a bunch of BS hoops for 6 weeks...and having a freakin OMM practical during that week was the icing on the cake. I really liked the idea of having an Emed class....and I dont know how things were for your class..but when you tell a bunch of med students" you will be graded solely on participation" it just becomes a clusterfck. Everyone just yelling out answers and such. It was basically verbal diarrhea each session. I like goldstein and think hes a really nice guy but expecting med students to learn pharmacology by putting up overheads of extremely wordy documents is not the way to do it. The important crap is lost in a forest of words. Give us drug names, mechanisms, and a few serious side effects...because nobody can memorize everything on those sheets. Another area PCOM needs to work on is micro. I literally learned NOTHING in micro...and I really think micro is a class that needs to be taught by itself instead of in a systems format. Otherwise things are so spread out its impossible to remember.

I thought SPOM, CMBM, and most of the systems were great. I thought mcdonald was incredible. I had a path professor in grad school who was another area ME and he wasnt nearly as good. In fact, McD was one of the best professors Ive EVER had. I love path, but most people find it boring as hell...and I thought he kept your attention very well. Aside from the OMM dept sucking and making my life miserable for 2 years I thought the education was pretty good...with the exception of M2T3. They need to get rid of that, consolidate the limited tangible information taught in that block into the systems and give people extra time to study for boards. I dont know about you, but it took me a few weeks to even get the ball rolling with regard to boards....more time=better.

I like FD a lot too even though many people dont. I thought her handouts during CMBM were great. She is obviously very gung ho and really cares about her job which I find commendable. She was one of the good ones also.

SPOM and CMBM were great. KFD has her **** together and although she is sometimes a PITA, she will do everything she can to help you. I know M2T3 classes were audited by admins in hopes of removing some of them. Is there any reason why M2 isn't started a month early to finish a month early? I'd be totally fine ending a long summer a month earlier so that I have more time to study for boards.

McD is pretty great--can't be easy to give 10 lectures a week on dry material. He jokes, his test questions are fair--no problems with him. Venditto is the best lecturer I've ever had.

Anyway, CRIBS is close to the dumbest thing I've ever seen, as is EEE. I'd much rather use my time to actually learn renal--which wasn't even really taught--it was verbally diarrhea'd on us in the matter of days.

 

[DOWay]

That I'd gain 20 pounds! Try and do some cardio everyday, despite how hard it is to find time. Before you know it, all that sitting to study and eat will catch up to you!

 

[Fifty 3rds]

Type As become doctors. Everyone is accomplished and everyone is used to being a top dawg and thinkin their shit dont stink. The worst part of med school is dealing with the other med students.

This comes back to my statement about not asking questions. Everyone knows u are just asking questions to look awesome. There are a few kids in my class who are literally universally hated by everyone because of asking questions constantly to look good...and trying to act like they are some sort of "liason" between the administration and our class. Our administration screwed us and forced us to take a practice boards exam after FIVE fcking finals in a row...so they could develop a barrier exam for future classes. Some kid actually stands up before the exam started and talked down to all of us like "guys now you know that this isnt about us...its for the incoming students and u should take it seriously." Seriously bro who the fuck are you. Dont be that guy. EVER. You dont want your classmates hating you. You want to just fly under the radar and graduate without anyone hating you.

Oh, and if there is no dresscode, dont dress up every day in a shirt and tie because you think you are awesome....because you are not, and everyone thinks you are a douche.

Also, don't worry about what other people think. If you have a question that needs to be answered so you understand something, don't put it off. If google doesn't have the answer or you want the professor to spell out what they mean: ASK. Who gives a **** about what some dude in your class thinks. He ain't worth the two-ply, etc.

If dressing professional makes you feel good, somehow helps you focus or has any kind of ancillary benefit, do it. Once again, the guy who cares is the guy who doesn't have enough on his plate and is just a b!tch to the world. He doesn't serve a purpose for your life, so do what you must to stay on top of things.

With that said: If at any time, while you are forming a question in your head or you are completing that oh-so-sexy four in hand knot on your newly acquired Hermes tie, you begin to think "this will make me look smart" or "this will help me stand above the crowd", don't do it. Re-evaluate your motivations, they should only be on succeeding and getting through the process.

Know thyself

 

[Mbeas]

Also, don't worry about what other people think. If you have a question that needs to be answered so you understand something, don't put it off. If google doesn't have the answer or you want the professor to spell out what they mean: ASK. Who gives a **** about what some dude in your class thinks. He ain't worth the two-ply, etc.

If dressing professional makes you feel good, somehow helps you focus or has any kind of ancillary benefit, do it. Once again, the guy who cares is the guy who doesn't have enough on his plate and is just a b!tch to the world. He doesn't serve a purpose for your life, so do what you must to stay on top of things.

With that said: If at any time, while you are forming a question in your head or you are completing that oh-so-sexy four in hand knot on your newly acquired Hermes tie, you begin to think "this will make me look smart" or "this will help me stand above the crowd", don't do it. Re-evaluate your motivations, they should only be on succeeding and getting through the process.

Know thyself

I totally agree with your premise, but I don't think that was willen's point. Obviously, there are always some little turds in every class that ask questions just to look smart and it delays the progress of the entire class. I have absolutely nothing against asking questions if you don't understand something, but don't ask some ******* question just for the hell of it. It's annoying and makes you look like a giant bag of tools. And yes, people actually do this.