What to do as an MS1?

[MedHopeful09]

Apologizes if this has been asked before, but what does an ideal MS1 schedule look like? Should classes be the main focus and should I then try to get a summer research opportunity going? Or should other ECs be incorporated during the year, but being wary of anything that could take away from my academic performance?

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[DocWinter]

Apologizes if this has been asked before, but what does an ideal MS1 schedule look like? Should classes be the main focus and should I then try to get a summer research opportunity going? Or should other ECs be incorporated during the year, but being wary of anything that could take away from my academic performance?

The students who score best on steps/levels are highly correlated with high class rank and GPA. So yes, make class your main focus. All else is fluff compared to steps.

 

[Lannister]

Your classes/step are by far the most important things. Get involved with one or two activities you're passionate about once you feel like you've got the hang of studying. Do research if you like research or want to go into a competitive specialty. But never let non-academic activities get in the way of your studying.

 

[MedHopeful09]

Thanks guys! Glad to hear I won't have to be a busy little bee and can just focus on school.

 

[Goro]

Apologizes if this has been asked before, but what does an ideal MS1 schedule look like? Should classes be the main focus and should I then try to get a summer research opportunity going? Or should other ECs be incorporated during the year, but being wary of anything that could take away from my academic performance?

Academics first and foremost. Many med students have a rough adaption period to med school as they realize that what worked in college won't work in med school, simply due to the sheer volume of material. hence, you will need to find your optimal learning style. Once you master that and the art of time mgt., then you can think about other stuff.

 

[shahkev]

I think it really depends on how comfortable you are with time management during medical school. I would definitely not recommend starting medical school with anything else other than studying on your plate. However, if after 2-3 months you feel comfortable with the material and have taken a couple of tests, you can assess how much time you have to allot to other organizations, research, etc. I personally recommend starting research earlier in medical school so that 3rd and 4th year are much less stressful and you can get publications out in time for applications and get more experience as your progress through training. Time only gets more and more limited as you go further in medical school (minus 4th year during and after interview season!).

 

[Troll-like receptor 4]

I think it really depends on how comfortable you are with time management during medical school. I would definitely not recommend starting medical school with anything else other than studying on your plate. However, if after 2-3 months you feel comfortable with the material and have taken a couple of tests, you can assess how much time you have to allot to other organizations, research, etc. I personally recommend starting research earlier in medical school so that 3rd and 4th year are much less stressful and you can get publications out in time for applications and get more experience as your progress through training. Time only gets more and more limited as you go further in medical school (minus 4th year during and after interview season!).

I agree with this. My plan is to take the first couple of months or so to get used to the workload and form good study habits. I might join a couple of student groups/interest groups, this way my level of commitment is higher than dabbling in multiple groups only to do nothing but attend an occasional meeting.

As far as research is concerned, I might get into a small project or two, but I plan on doing most of my research in the summer. Of course I will make time to travel, because the summer between m2 and m3 will make it harder to do both to an adequate extent.

Work/life balance is a priority for me and my sanity, so while school will be my primary focus, it won't be my only one.

OP, I suggest also finding a hobby to get into that will help take your mind off of school for a little while, especially if it has a social aspect to it. This will also allow you to have a social circle outside of med school, because it can be pretty easy to remain in the"bubble" and have every conversation somehow come back to medicine with your classmates. This happened to me a lot with my premed friends.

 

[Necr0sis713]

Wake up, study, sleep

Repeat.

I hate to make a non-contributory post, but the sad reality is that this happens to be the case. The most important thing to do is maintain a good workout routine. It keeps your mind sharp and gives you the mental endurance for test taking and studies.

 

[neoevolution]

Thanks guys! Glad to hear I won't have to be a busy little bee and can just focus on school.

Way easier to take a gap year for research or add in some fluff ECs later on once you know you can handle it vs. having to fight an uphill battle to overcome poor grades or Step scores. Check out the NRMP PD survey, grades and step scores are the most important things in preclinical years, and research is the easiest to add in with a gap year or during M3/4 once you know what you want to target.

 

[DocWinter]

We just finished orientation and half of my class is already shadowing a couple days a week and signing up for every volunteering opportunity possible. This is not normal, correct?

Half your class thinks those matter at this stage.
It doesn't.
The only leg up you need is studying hard. Put that MS1 eagerness to use and sit down and study

 

[Lannister]

We just finished orientation and half of my class is already shadowing a couple days a week and signing up for every volunteering opportunity possible. This is not normal, correct?

I could see this being normal if your school has a really easy couple of first weeks (like my school does) and people want to take that opportunity to shadow/volunteer before it starts getting tough. But otherwise no, not really normal. Although I have to say I feel like people at my school shadow a TON. I don't really get it, I find it incredibly boring and kind of pointless since we'll be exposed to most of that stuff during third year anyways.

 

[bananafish94]

Apologizes if this has been asked before, but what does an ideal MS1 schedule look like? Should classes be the main focus and should I then try to get a summer research opportunity going? Or should other ECs be incorporated during the year, but being wary of anything that could take away from my academic performance?

I'd say this is pretty much exactly right. Focus a lot on academics and if you want to do research over the summer start talking to PIs around the winter. I do a couple of extracurricular things but they're for my own personal enjoyment/fulfillment as that stuff doesn't matter for residencies. Which is totally fine as long as it doesn't detract from your studies!

 

[ChordaEpiphany]

.

 

[Goro]

An opposing perspective is that in hindsight M1 was not a very important year. Had I started with research right away, maybe my academics would have suffered a bit, but when most med schools are P/F, maybe an 80% instead of a 90% would've been just fine if it meant I could find a good mentor and start making connections early. Most students find out way too late that they want to do something competitive, and then they scramble to put together a research project while juggling step 1 studying or rotations/step 2. I knew a few people who got their research "out of the way" early on, and they were able to put it on the back-burner as they studied for step 1/shelf exams. Then all the work they put in M1 came to fruition as the studies they participated in were published prior to ERAS submission.

Of course if you're going to extend yourself and fail that's bad, but I'd argue for a lot of reasons that M1 is the time to jump in early with research.

There are indeed benefits for a P/F grading system, but there's tons of data that pre-clinical GPA is the best predictor of Board scores. So while one is boning on on the research, the end result might be a mediocre Step I result. The competitive residencies like research, but they like high Step I scores even more. A lot more. Just as an example, see page 87 for ENT. For ALL specialties, it ranks as only 44% of important things.

Maybe it's top of the top residencies that really want it?

http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NRMP-2016-Program-Director-Survey.pdf