What is Medical School actually like?

[WedgeDawg]

Even harder than Neurosurgery?

Probably comparable

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[AggieDoc45]

So as you can see so far everyone has their own opinion. now for mine...
I was terrified for medical school, people made it seem like hell. For some people it is. But my medical school experience has been great so far, honestly. People will say things like "Omggzzz it's like learning all of biochem in one week!!" That's mostly an exaggeration lol. It is fast paced but manageable. I will say I've learned more this semester than I think I ever had in all of biochemistry, bio1/2, anatomy&physio combined literally.

What I've realized is medical school is directly correlated to how hard you work. There have been times I've slacked off for about a week. Going to sleep early and spending my days watching TV just cuz I wanted to. And my grade showed it - but I didn't fail any exam or get the sense I wasn't going to pass the class. Before I came to med school, everyone made it seem you will study your behind off and barely pass. That has not been the case for me and I had a 3.5 GPA in undergrad. If I study my butt off, I'm making an A.

One thing I'm thrilled about is my comprehension has gone way up. The professor will say one line in class and it will stick in my head. I just understand things quicker.

I couldn't have said it better, this post is exactly what my experience has been like.

 

[oOKawaiiOo]

ProTip: You shouldn't sleep during exams. I'd recommend sleeping before or after instead.

So noted.

If you're only getting 0-3 hours during exam period, you probably will be falling asleep during the exam. I honestly can't imagine having any level of functionality in an academic setting with that little amount of sleep.

I always had 4-5 of sleep per night since undergrad. Not uncommon for me to go a night with little sleep. You just have to condition yourself. Also, if you're driven to get top grades, you might lose sleep to study a lil bit more.

You're doing it wrong.

Yeah, but it worked out in the end. I passed every single class. There is a lot of people in my class who didn't.

What kind of grades are you getting?

 

[el_duderino]

Yeah, but it worked out in the end. I passed every single class. There is a lot of people in my class who didn't.

What kind of grades are you getting?

Man, I got married during 2nd year and my wife and I moved to a new apartment in the middle of my surgery rotation. There's more to life than passing classes.

 

[HockeyPsyGuy]

In my school (years 1&2) we had 2 exams every 2nd Monday. Each exam was like an undergrad final. Just like constantly studying for finals during finals week with intermittent school-wide Monday night blackouts. Years 3&4 were like being the clueless person in the middle of an emergency evacuation that has no idea why everyone is running around.

 

[yungspleen]

For your own sake, I hope you are joking. You must find outlets.

I volunteer about 6-8 hours a week in the community, I have two officer positions, play a round of golf every Tuesday (9 holes), and work on a research project. I still find time for friends, time to try new and interesting things, and 7-8 hours of sleep per night (most nights). All this and I can manage to stay at a solid level of success in class. By no means close to being the best, but I do more than get by.

I'm not saying this for self-promotion, but I really think it's imperative that you kiddos coming in over the next few years have a sense that this is very do-able without completely throwing your personal life away. Now, this may not be completely the case for me third year, but the model works for me now.

1. What specialty are you trying to get into
2. Most of your outlets sound like things to pad you residency app.

 

[AlteredScale]

Do all schools have P/F system or there many schools out there with different system of grading?

I go to a DO program that is your typical A/B/C with +/- and a GPA. Courses are graded up to an 85% so if the class average is 75% you'll get a 10% bump from wherever your are. Normal class ranking.

Pro: nothing
Con: Realizing your are 1 pt away from the next grade cutoff. Stressing over a B because it can kill your GPA if it's a large credit class (anatomy or neuro) which then effects your ranking.

A Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail system seems like a such better system, relieves a lot of stress and worry about getting a B+ or A-.

Man, I got married during 2nd year and my wife and I moved to a new apartment in the middle of my surgery rotation. There's more to life than passing classes.

Married during 2nd year!? That's insane. Props to you.

 

[WedgeDawg]

1. What specialty are you trying to get into
2. Most of your outlets sound like things to pad you residency app.

Of everything listed, only the research is likely to help his residency app, and if its something you're actually invested in, is time and effort well spent and something you can be proud of. No one volunteers in med school because they think it'll look good for residency. They do it because they legitimately want to. A lot of these volunteer positions for med students are highly competitive and applicants are vetted before being offered a spot. It's something you really have to be self-motivated to do. Officer positions don't mean **** for residency apps, and neither does playing golf. You're not really in a position to be judging here.

 

[HockeyPsyGuy]

I go to a DO program that is your typical A/B/C with +/- and a GPA. Courses are graded up to an 85% so if the class average is 75% you'll get a 10% bump from wherever your are. Normal class ranking.

A Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail system seems like a such better system, relieves a lot of stress and worry about getting a B+ or A-.
.

My school has h/hp/p/f and the stress wasn't much different, in my opinion. Still worried about gradations, although I guess there are less of them, but in the END, our raw scores on exams were still recorded and that's how our class rank was determined, regardless of the h's and p's on our transcript. In my experience, class rank > transcript

 

[AlteredScale]

My school has h/hp/p/f and the stress wasn't much different, in my opinion. Still worried about gradations, although I guess there are less of them, but in the END, our raw scores on exams were still recorded and that's how our class rank was determined, regardless of the h's and p's on our transcript. In my experience, class rank > transcript

I think our school determines class rank based on GPA scores in a semester as supposed to raw scores. I'm not too certain which one is better.

 

[HockeyPsyGuy]

I think our school determines class rank based on GPA scores in a semester as supposed to raw scores. I'm not too certain which one is better.

Pretty sure it's the same thing?

 

[deleted421268]

I go to a DO program that is your typical A/B/C with +/- and a GPA. Courses are graded up to an 85% so if the class average is 75% you'll get a 10% bump from wherever your are. Normal class ranking.

Pro: nothing
Con: Realizing your are 1 pt away from the next grade cutoff. Stressing over a B because it can kill your GPA if it's a large credit class (anatomy or neuro) which then effects your ranking.

A Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail system seems like a such better system, relieves a lot of stress and worry about getting a B+ or A-.

So you guys don't have any failing grades like say someone got a 55 or say a 30 or something in a class what would they receive based on your system? I understand how the p/f system works.

 

[AlteredScale]

So you guys don't have any failing grades like say someone got a 55 or say a 30 or something in a class what would they receive based on your system? I understand how the p/f system works.

Depends on how far they are beyond the class average. So the class avg is 82% and someones specific avg is 65% for that course. That 3% jump to 85% after the curve wouldn't get them past a 70% and they'd fail the class.


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[deleted421268]

I also hear you guys have withdraw grade ''W'' or such. How that play out?

 

[libertyyne]

This is what I imagine Medical School is really like.

 

[deleted421268]

How are other schools like law school, pharmacy school, PT school, PA school, and even grad level studies like master programs compared to med schools. Do they all only have summer break after first year only too and none after that?

 

[deleted421268]

Also for you guys exams for each subject, how many questions on exam? All multiple choice?

 

[WedgeDawg]

How are other schools like law school, pharmacy school, PT school, PA school, and even grad level studies like master programs compared to med schools. Do they all only have summer break after first year only too and none after that?

Varies

Also for you guys exams for each subject, how many questions on exam? All multiple choice?

Varies

 

[freak7]

Varies



Varies

I love how we're brought up to become these big decision-making data-interpreting monsters and then once we're at the gates of the be-all end-all evidence-based pathway, ~90 of the answers are just "it depends". It's the ultimate irony that tickles me the most.

 

[xffan624]

Also for you guys exams for each subject, how many questions on exam? All multiple choice?

I love how we're brought up to become these big decision-making data-interpreting monsters and then once we're at the gates of the be-all end-all evidence-based pathway, ~90 of the answers are just "it depends". It's the ultimate irony that tickles me the most.

Schools have different tests and different curriculum. Some are not even subject based, but a more block based system (ie learning the entire cardiovascular system, GI system, neuro instead of taking physiology as a separate subject). I would hazard to guess that the majority are multiple choice, but I'm sure there are some exceptions. Some schools use the standardized NBME exams. I'm an MS4 so I honestly don't remember how many questions were on each test. It varied slightly per test, but they also increased the number of questions and decreased the time on each test in MS2 to help prepare you for the boards and the time limits you'll face.

3rd year is usually more standardized as most schools have you to take the shelf exams which are national exams, but that's not universal and even the rotations in 3rd year vary.

 

[deleted421268]

Are all tests in med school timed? Only allowed certain time to finish? And what about withdrawals in med school? What happens if student withdrawals from class? How many they allowed? Do they retake class withdrawn from?

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

Are all tests in med school timed? Only allowed certain time to finish?

Not trying to offend, but are you just trolling to keep this thread going? According to your profile you've been here 5+ years and you're asking if tests are timed?

 

[Lannister]

Not trying to offend, but are you just trolling to keep this thread going? According to your profile you've been here 5+ years and you're asking if tests are timed?

View attachment 212346

They're either a troll or a complete idiot.

 

[HybridEarth]

M1 feels like having college classes every day of the week to me. Tests are easier but there are tons more questions so stamina comes more into play. If you're used to having a busy worklife in and out of the classroom during undergrad, you should be able to hit the ground running in med school.


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[AlteredScale]

M1 feels like having college classes every day of the week to me. Tests are easier but there are tons more questions so stamina comes more into play. If you're used to having a busy worklife in and out of the classroom during undergrad, you should be able to hit the ground running in med school.


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Definitely agree. I've seen those who have had to handle school and work or school with some very time consuming ECs like research handle the work load well because they know how to schedule and manage their time well.


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[Username555]

Just finished first semester of M1 so I can offer a little insight. Socially, it is somewhat like high school. Everyone pretty much knows everyone else, everyone in your class will be in the same classes as you, people eat lunch in a cafe type area in between morning and afternoon classes, etc.

As far as academics go, it just comes down to time management and discipline. I don't agree with people who say "med school is hard." Med school itself is inherently not hard. What is hard is having enough self discipline and the time management skills to do well. The content presented is not too difficult for anyone to understand or get a grasp on. Knowing the content forwards, backwards, inside out, inside out and backwards, and pretty much every other way you would need to know it in order to answer questions about it is the difficult part.

Honestly, it just comes down to putting in the time. No one is "not capable of handling the demands of med school." If you're willing to put in the time to understand everything that is presented to you, and the time to memorize the details that make up the big concepts, that's all there is to it.