What is medical schools like

[deleted421268]

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I will be applying to lot of DO schools and was curious as to what med school is actually like? How many hours a day do you study? What is major difference between undergrad level studies and medical school? When do students have time to study for board exams like do you buy prep books from Kaplan like with Mcat to prep for that exam? How do you prepare for exams during med school like class exams? Do professors give study guides? Isn’t there a lesser emphasis on trying to get an A as compared to just pass because schools have pass fail.

 

[Sardonix]

Search feature is your friend.

 

[Lardy Boy]

Plenty of YouTube videos on this!

 

[deleted421268]

Plenty of YouTube videos on this!

Okay but want to receive input from some DO medical students on here also

 

[scoopdaboop]

Okay but want to receive input from some DO medical students on here also

med school is same thing as MD with added lab and how much lab time you have to devote weekly is dependent on school (hint: pick schools with less devoted lab time), board prep is basically study for usmle like allopathic students, take it, then cram the osteopathic manipulative medicine in a few days then take COMLEX. ask people at specific schools for their weekly schedules etc.

 

[deleted996361]

I will be applying to lot of DO schools and was curious as to what med school is actually like? How many hours a day do you study? What is major difference between undergrad level studies and medical school? When do students have time to study for board exams like do you buy prep books from Kaplan like with Mcat to prep for that exam? How do you prepare for exams during med school like class exams? Do professors give study guides? Isn’t there a lesser emphasis on trying to get an A as compared to just pass because schools have pass fail.

Hi! I'm a current 3rd year DO in NYC.

It depends on what school you go to for specifics, but expect to study 2983742 times more than you did in undergrad. Step 1 is nothing like the MCAT, UFAPS is what to use for prep (U world, First Aid, Pathoma, Sketchy). You use First aid, pathoma, and sketchy throughout your class preparation all of second year, so by the time you get to boards studying you are very familiar with the material.

Again, it depends what class/teachers you have for prep, but at my school we got practice questions and lecture slides to go off of that worked just fine. And during my second year, I had my First Aid book by my side and followed along with that.

A's during your first two years really don't matter. As long as you're not failing anything, you're good. All that matters is BOARDS, but there's obviously a correlation between people getting A's/understanding the material the first 2 years, and people failing/not understanding the material. Keeping up in school the first 2 years is crucial to boards prep... not just the dedicated boards studying the few months beforehand.

 

[deleted421268]

Hi! I'm a current 3rd year DO in NYC.

It depends on what school you go to for specifics, but expect to study 2983742 times more than you did in undergrad. Step 1 is nothing like the MCAT, UFAPS is what to use for prep (U world, First Aid, Pathoma, Sketchy). You use First aid, pathoma, and sketchy throughout your class preparation all of second year, so by the time you get to boards studying you are very familiar with the material.

Again, it depends what class/teachers you have for prep, but at my school we got practice questions and lecture slides to go off of that worked just fine. And during my second year, I had my First Aid book by my side and followed along with that.

A's during your first two years really don't matter. As long as you're not failing anything, you're good. All that matters is BOARDS, but there's obviously a correlation between people getting A's/understanding the material the first 2 years, and people failing/not understanding the material. Keeping up in school the first 2 years is crucial to boards prep... not just the dedicated boards studying the few months beforehand.

How many hours a day you study? Do med school professors provide you with study guides for exams?

 

[Goro]

I will be applying to lot of DO schools and was curious as to what med school is actually like?
You've been on SDN seven years and you haven't gotten a sense of this yet???? I worry about you, Fuarky.
Drinking from a fire hose while running after the fire truck
Read this too:
Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition by Walter Hartwig
ISBN-13: 978-1607140627
ISBN-10: 1607140624


How many hours a day do you study?
Totally student dependent.

What is major difference between undergrad level studies and medical school?
Med school is more about volume and learning how to apply. Plus a fair amount of brute memorization

When do students have time to study for board exams like do you buy prep books from Kaplan like with Mcat to prep for that exam?
Depending upon the school, you get dedicated Board study time starting somewhere in the second year. My kids get a solid month. Others get six weeks. As mentioned above, the UFAP system is near required for prep. I also have a high opinion of BnB.

How do you prepare for exams during med school like class exams?
Generally like you did in college, but on steroids. Repetition drives learning.

Do professors give study guides?
Depends. But you can't count on this and will need to be 100% responsible and proactive for your education. My PPT files are enough.

Isn’t there a lesser emphasis on trying to get an A as compared to just pass because schools have pass fail.
With P/F, there's no need to kill yourself to get an A. But you should always strive to do your best, right?

 

[deleted996361]

I will be applying to lot of DO schools and was curious as to what med school is actually like?
You've been on SDN seven years and you haven't gotten a sense of this yet???? I worry about you, Fuarky.
Drinking from a fire hose while running after the fire truck
Read this too:
Med School Rx: Getting In, Getting Through, and Getting On with Doctoring Original Edition by Walter Hartwig
ISBN-13: 978-1607140627
ISBN-10: 1607140624


How many hours a day do you study?
Totally student dependent.

What is major difference between undergrad level studies and medical school?
Med school is more about volume and learning how to apply. Plus a fair amount of brute memorization

When do students have time to study for board exams like do you buy prep books from Kaplan like with Mcat to prep for that exam?
Depending upon the school, you get dedicated Board study time starting somewhere in the second year. My kids get a solid month. Others get six weeks. As mentioned above, the UFAP system is near required for prep. I also have a high opinion of BnB.

How do you prepare for exams during med school like class exams?
Generally like you did in college, but on steroids. Repetition drives learning.

Do professors give study guides?
Depends. But you can't count on this and will need to be 100% responsible and proactive for your education. My PPT files are enough.

Isn’t there a lesser emphasis on trying to get an A as compared to just pass because schools have pass fail.
With P/F, there's no need to kill yourself to get an A. But you should always strive to do your best, right?

i agree with this, you can't depend on professors' study guides to get you through. this is nothing like high school or college where the study guide gives you all the answers. and even if it does, youll get an [undeserved] A in the class, but you're not going to learn it properly for boards. so much of medical school is self motivation and pushing yourself to PROPERLY learn the material.
i truly think one of the biggest parts of board prep is properly learning the material the first time around, the first 2 years of medical school. and if you're properly learning the material, you're most likely going to do well in the class lol

 

[The Creeper]

Perspective: I slept ~6 hours a night, the remainder of the time was spent in class, lab, or independent/group study time (relistending to class recordings at 1.5-2x speed reviewing my PPT annotations and cross referencing with other sources). I took 1-2 days off on weekends depending on how close testing day was. A few months before boards I added devoted board study into those weekend days. It took me about 2 testing cycles to learn how to study in medical school, there was a bit of trial and error. I thought of it as a spectrum from grade school to medical school in terms of faculty hand holding, we were lectured in the classroom in medical school and it was up to us to determine how in depth our comprehension had to go (one of the first baby steps in turning into an independent decision maker with people's lives). In the end, I graduated top 25% of class and made it to my #1 residency and #1 fellowship. It is for sure stressful and anxiety provoking, but totally doable.

Also, with board study you will see upperclassmen with study materials and pearls will be passed down/around.

 

[chemdoctor]

Perspective: I slept ~6 hours a night, the remainder of the time was spent in class, lab, or independent/group study time (relistending to class recordings at 1.5-2x speed reviewing my PPT annotations and cross referencing with other sources). I took 1-2 days off on weekends depending on how close testing day was. A few months before boards I added devoted board study into those weekend days. It took me about 2 testing cycles to learn how to study in medical school, there was a bit of trial and error. I thought of it as a spectrum from grade school to medical school in terms of faculty hand holding, we were lectured in the classroom in medical school and it was up to us to determine how in depth our comprehension had to go (one of the first baby steps in turning into an independent decision maker with people's lives). In the end, I graduated top 25% of class and made it to my #1 residency and #1 fellowship. It is for sure stressful and anxiety provoking, but totally doable.

Also, with board study you will see upperclassmen with study materials and pearls will be passed down/around.

Congrats man! Cool pic btw haha