What's MS1 like compared to studying for the MCAT?

[computerdorkdan]

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So, I'm doing ~6 hrs/day of MCAT studying. I do my flashcards before bed and when I wake up. It's all I think about lately (test in July).

I got to wondering this morning, for those of you who've finished a year or two of med school; how does studying in med school relate to studying for your MCAT? With the MCAT I feel like there's so much information to learn I have no idea how I'll learn it all. I wonder if that's how I'll (hopefully) feel next year?

 

[CCLCMer]

So, I'm doing ~6 hrs/day of MCAT studying. I do my flashcards before bed and when I wake up. It's all I think about lately (test in July).

I got to wondering this morning, for those of you who've finished a year or two of med school; how does studying in med school relate to studying for your MCAT? With the MCAT I feel like there's so much information to learn I have no idea how I'll learn it all. I wonder if that's how I'll (hopefully) feel next year?

I'm sorry but I think you are going to still feel that way next year and maybe even worse. The amount of info on the MCAT is much smaller than the amount of info you get thrown at you in med school. Classes like immuno or micro that might take a whole semester in undergrad get done in a few weeks in med school. It's kind of insane, and no one can keep up with all of it. You just have to learn as much as you can and then move on. The good thing though is that you adjust and learn to cope with it better. The first year feels hard when you're an M1, but then as an M2 you look back and laugh at how much easier first year was. As an M3, I laugh at the M2s talking about how hard second year is. I've had interns tell me to enjoy third year while I can, because intern year will be much harder. And so on. But somehow, when the time comes, you can do it even though you weren't always sure you could. The other good thing is that you see everything more than once. I took neuro phys as an M1, neuro path as an M2, reviewed neuro for Step 1, and did a neurology rotation as an M3. So after four times, some of this stuff is finally starting to sink in! (Neuro wasn't ever my greatest subject.)

Try to take things one step at a time and don't worry about medical school right now. Almost everyone who starts med school graduates. So if you get in, you'll probably be ok even though you won't always feel ok. Good luck with the MCAT studying.

 

[searun]

A better comparison would be MCAT vs. Step 1 after your second year of med school. I am studying for Step 1 now. I take the test next week. I have been studying 12 hours per day, 7 days per week, for five straight weeks. Much more intense than MCAT preparation. Much more to learn.

 

[Law2Doc]

So, I'm doing ~6 hrs/day of MCAT studying. I do my flashcards before bed and when I wake up. It's all I think about lately (test in July).

I got to wondering this morning, for those of you who've finished a year or two of med school; how does studying in med school relate to studying for your MCAT? With the MCAT I feel like there's so much information to learn I have no idea how I'll learn it all. I wonder if that's how I'll (hopefully) feel next year?

You will study harder in med school than you ever did in college. The MCAT seems hard compared to what came before. The same will be true for many steps along the way on this road. What you think is hard now, becomes a joke when you look back. That's just the way it works.

 

[URHere]

I really think that this will vary from person to person. If you compare the MCAT to Step 1, sure, Step 1 requires more studying because there is much more material, but med school in general isn't nearly so clear cut.

I know people who study 6+ hours each day, and I know people who don't. Personally, I studied more in undergrad when I had 6 classes at any given time than I do in medical school when I only have 2 courses to juggle. No one can answer your question except for you. If you need to study a lot to retain information, you'll probably study a lot in medical school. If a once over of the material is enough, then you probably won't.

 

[Law2Doc]

... If a once over of the material is enough, then you probably won't.

More people than not will NOT fall into this category. So I think it's fair to say, if you are the average med student, you will be studying A LOT. If you are one of a very very very very small subset of med students for whom once through the material (and we are talking about a LOT more material than undergrad) is enough then sure, maybe that's true. But if you are reading this post, I'd say there's a 99% chance this isn't going to be you and you should brace yourself accordingly.

You see a lot of this on SDN -- people for whom things come easy posting as if that's the norm. It won't be. Most people in med school have to really work for it. Assume you are in this latter category until you get to med school and if it turns out to not be true, adjust your approach accordingly. But most won't have to make this adjustment. Most of the people who do well really work hard to do well. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either an exception to the rule, or is full of ...

 

[Secondary Gain]

It depends how well you want to do first year. 6 hours a day of lectures + studying would probably be about average, maybe a little below average.

How efficient your study technique is makes a big difference too. Finding an efficient study technique is one of the best things you can do MSI, potentially more important than the grades you get, since it will come in handy during Step I studying and MS3 when the stakes are higher.

 

[njbmd]

So, I'm doing ~6 hrs/day of MCAT studying. I do my flashcards before bed and when I wake up. It's all I think about lately (test in July).

I got to wondering this morning, for those of you who've finished a year or two of med school; how does studying in med school relate to studying for your MCAT? With the MCAT I feel like there's so much information to learn I have no idea how I'll learn it all. I wonder if that's how I'll (hopefully) feel next year?

Just a reminder, the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) asks you to take the knowledge mastered in your pre-med courses and apply it to solving problems. You can memorize a couple of million flash cards and not be able to apply the knowledge because you haven't had much experience with problem-solving. Regurgitation of facts doesn't work well for MCAT but doing plenty of practice problems and knowing how to apply knowledge to problem solving will. In short, you don't have to "learn it all" but you have to be able to learn enough to figure things out.

 

[Law2Doc]

... 6 hours a day of lectures + studying would probably be about average, maybe a little below average. ...

Actually, it would be pretty significantly below average at most schools I'm familiar with. Most people who attend lectures do another handful of hours on top and the grand total is well over six hours/day. Those who don't attend lecture spend most of the time they would have been in lecture in the library and still do a handful of hours on top of that adding up to well over six hours/day. In college you could get by on a mere 6 hours (eg 10-4) of work and do well. Not so much in med school unless you are the exception. And if you are the exception (which I assume you are if you think this isn't a low figure, then you really shouldn't be giving advice to premeds, who are going to show up and get destroyed if they play this game). In general, the tried and true system for most med students is repetition, repetition, repetition. None of this once through the material garbage. Here's what many of us have found works -- You preread the lecture material the night before, you attend lecture (or read the lecture materials individually), you review what was covered in lecture that night, and then on the weekend, you review again, and do a once over through the material once again before the exam. So we are talking FIVE times through the material before the exam. And that's a lot of work compared to what most of us did in college, where a "once over through the material" or night before cramming actually worked fine.

Everybody is unique, and they have to find what works for them. But you are kidding yourself if you think that the AVERAGE med student doesn't have to work really hard -- substantially harder than in college, and a lot more than a mere 5-6 hours/day to get by. I agree that becoming efficient will be important during first year. Most people spend much of the year tweaking things until they have a system that works for them. But being more efficient isn't going to get you down to a handful of hours a day. It will shave a couple of hours off of a very full day.

 

[Excelsius]

Actually, it would be pretty significantly below average at most schools I'm familiar with. Most people who attend lectures do another handful of hours on top and the grand total is well over six hours/day. Those who don't attend lecture spend most of the time they would have been in lecture in the library and still do a handful of hours on top of that adding up to well over six hours/day. In college you could get by on a mere 6 hours (eg 10-4) of work and do well. Not so much in med school unless you are the exception. And if you are the exception (which I assume you are if you think this isn't a low figure, then you really shouldn't be giving advice to premeds, who are going to show up and get destroyed if they play this game). In general, the tried and true system for most med students is repetition, repetition, repetition. None of this once through the material garbage. Here's what many of us have found works -- You preread the lecture material the night before, you attend lecture (or read the lecture materials individually), you review what was covered in lecture that night, and then on the weekend, you review again, and do a once over through the material once again before the exam. So we are talking FIVE times through the material before the exam. And that's a lot of work compared to what most of us did in college, where a "once over through the material" or night before cramming actually worked fine.

Everybody is unique, and they have to find what works for them. But you are kidding yourself if you think that the AVERAGE med student doesn't have to work really hard -- substantially harder than in college, and a lot more than a mere 5-6 hours/day to get by. I agree that becoming efficient will be important during first year. Most people spend much of the year tweaking things until they have a system that works for them. But being more efficient isn't going to get you down to a handful of hours a day. It will shave a couple of hours off of a very full day.

How much condensing is possible in medschool? What I do now is read everything just once, but as I read, I type my own notes. Then I just memorize my notes and that's it. Of course, this assumes that you understand everything you read, which I don't think is the issue. The issue is memorizing all the concepts and facts, and for that I have not found that reading the book more than once does anything. You need to spend the time memorizing the condensed material, like you would a poem.

 

[chiz2kul]

The good thing though is that you adjust and learn to cope with it better. The first year feels hard when you're an M1, but then as an M2 you look back and laugh at how much easier first year was. As an M3, I laugh at the M2s talking about how hard second year is. I've had interns tell me to enjoy third year while I can, because intern year will be much harder. And so on.

Hahaha thats great

 

[Instatewaiter]

How much condensing is possible in medschool? What I do now is read everything just once, but as I read, I type my own notes. Then I just memorize my notes and that's it. Of course, this assumes that you understand everything you read, which I don't think is the issue. The issue is memorizing all the concepts and facts, and for that I have not found that reading the book more than once does anything. You need to spend the time memorizing the condensed material, like you would a poem.

That is what I did for med school and it worked out well. I would read, make a note set for the day and review it a few times before the test. I am too passive of a reader to get much out of just reading. Plus the condensing let me go through the material more times.

Overall, med school is a tough transition but once you get the hang of it it's not too bad. Studying for the MCAT was bad but the amt of material pales in comparison to what you have in med school. Again though, it's not that bad.

Med school is very directed so to me it seemed like there was less of that "wild card" feeling where you are not sure what you will get with each MCAT problem. You know what you need to know. It's just a ton of info.

 

[Secondary Gain]

Actually, it would be pretty significantly below average at most schools I'm familiar with. Most people who attend lectures do another handful of hours on top and the grand total is well over six hours/day. Those who don't attend lecture spend most of the time they would have been in lecture in the library and still do a handful of hours on top of that adding up to well over six hours/day. In college you could get by on a mere 6 hours (eg 10-4) of work and do well. Not so much in med school unless you are the exception. And if you are the exception (which I assume you are if you think this isn't a low figure, then you really shouldn't be giving advice to premeds, who are going to show up and get destroyed if they play this game). In general, the tried and true system for most med students is repetition, repetition, repetition. None of this once through the material garbage. Here's what many of us have found works -- You preread the lecture material the night before, you attend lecture (or read the lecture materials individually), you review what was covered in lecture that night, and then on the weekend, you review again, and do a once over through the material once again before the exam. So we are talking FIVE times through the material before the exam. And that's a lot of work compared to what most of us did in college, where a "once over through the material" or night before cramming actually worked fine.

Everybody is unique, and they have to find what works for them. But you are kidding yourself if you think that the AVERAGE med student doesn't have to work really hard -- substantially harder than in college, and a lot more than a mere 5-6 hours/day to get by. I agree that becoming efficient will be important during first year. Most people spend much of the year tweaking things until they have a system that works for them. But being more efficient isn't going to get you down to a handful of hours a day. It will shave a couple of hours off of a very full day.

I meant 6 hours a day of actual studying, not counting meals and breaks and stuff. Plus I was assuming not going to lecture (forgot that there were people who actually went). I was also assuming studying on weekends. Be interested to know if other people think this is low... I might just have lazy friends.

 

[MossPoh]

6 hours sounds about right to me. Sadly, I'm required to go to lectures. It makes for a long day.

 

[stickshift]

MCAT is a joke compared to med school or step 1. On the MCAT you can reason your way through the answers. In med school and step 1, you have to know your s*** cold and know the little details and nuances.

 

[travelingdoc]

what I don't understand is why everyone keeps asking what is the bare minimum required for med school or for MS1 and beyond....like a few people said, it's varies for the individual, and it will vary for each class, too. Some people that were bio majors *might* pick up cell bio, development, genetics faster than others. The biochemists will love biochem, and so on. It's really a matter of putting in the required time to not only do well, but learn the material as best as possible in a manner that suits your academic needs. I feel like 'averages' for this type of question is pretty useless.

What I said might be the ideal, but everyone should find their niche during first year so that when boards roll around, you're in your groove and you know what works for you. (best advice i've been given whenever we are starting anything new that will be for an extended period of time...)

 

[Aladdin]

I'm sorry but I think you are going to still feel that way next year and maybe even worse. The amount of info on the MCAT is much smaller than the amount of info you get thrown at you in med school. Classes like immuno or micro that might take a whole semester in undergrad get done in a few weeks in med school. It's kind of insane, and no one can keep up with all of it. You just have to learn as much as you can and then move on. The good thing though is that you adjust and learn to cope with it better. The first year feels hard when you're an M1, but then as an M2 you look back and laugh at how much easier first year was. As an M3, I laugh at the M2s talking about how hard second year is. I've had interns tell me to enjoy third year while I can, because intern year will be much harder. And so on. But somehow, when the time comes, you can do it even though you weren't always sure you could. The other good thing is that you see everything more than once. I took neuro phys as an M1, neuro path as an M2, reviewed neuro for Step 1, and did a neurology rotation as an M3. So after four times, some of this stuff is finally starting to sink in! (Neuro wasn't ever my greatest subject.)

Try to take things one step at a time and don't worry about medical school right now. Almost everyone who starts med school graduates. So if you get in, you'll probably be ok even though you won't always feel ok. Good luck with the MCAT studying.

While that's true, part of the MCAT that was so frustrating for me was the breadth of material. At least in medical school (most schools now) have "blocks" where they only learn 1, 2 or maybe 3 subjects at a time.

 

[Eeyore2014]

i was studying for the MCAT while my bf was studying for Step 1.... no comparison whatsoever. it's an ungodly amount of information to memorize. i looked at ONE page of whatever he was on that day and it was ridiculous.

buuut baby steps. 🙂 beast this test first, then worry about med school! good luck!!

 

[engineeredout]

Actually, it would be pretty significantly below average at most schools I'm familiar with. Most people who attend lectures do another handful of hours on top and the grand total is well over six hours/day.

I think he meant 6 hours per day of lectures, and then X hours of studying on top of the 6.

 

[MossPoh]

I wrote this huge thing and evidently it didn't submit.

Anyway, the MCAT is a lot more hype than anything else. When you're in med school you're in. While you may be competing for a competitive residency, at the end of it all, you will still be a doctor. The studying is different. I didn't view the MCAT as my job. I view this as my job. My mind has shifted over completely. Whenever I take a break I feel guilty for not studying and this is only one week into it with two friggin courses. One of the courses isn't that rigorous either. I have a hard time imagining how much yield I'd get out of studying anatomy alone for 6+ hours a day. Some of this stuff just needs to sink in. With the MCAT I didn't really feel like I needed to have things memorized. I just felt like I needed to know how to take the test and control my timing. I highly doubt I could walk into the USMLE today and derive the answers.

M1 certainly isn't easy, but it seems much less painful studying for my goal rather than for entry into the school that gets me to my goal. Even within anatomy there is stuff I despise and stuff that I enjoy. For whatever reason, I love the shoulder, yet the back kind of bores me.

In undergrad I rarely needed to study more than 2 hours for a test, excluding a couple of science courses. I would take 21 credit hours and be in lecture or group meetings all day, but when I was done I was done. I'd go home, have beers with friends, play video games..whatever. Now, I only have a couple of hours of lectures a day but there is the assumption that I have already at least studied a few hours before even sitting down and then the details get fleshed out and I leave to go study more. If someone even told me to review lectures days before in undergrad I would've laughed. The day before my first lecture ever, I spent about 4 hours reading and reviewing the stuff for the next day. I still felt screwed sitting in lecture.

There is lots of pressure with the MCAT but it isn't because of the difficulty or material. It is because of all of your peers you are competing against.

 

[unsung]

How much condensing is possible in medschool? What I do now is read everything just once, but as I read, I type my own notes. Then I just memorize my notes and that's it. Of course, this assumes that you understand everything you read, which I don't think is the issue. The issue is memorizing all the concepts and facts, and for that I have not found that reading the book more than once does anything. You need to spend the time memorizing the condensed material, like you would a poem.

Hmm. This is pretty much my system for learning anything and everything. 😉 I never got anything out of reading a textbook more than 1x, either. Some folks I know actually re-read the material a zillion times to study for a test. But if I try to do that, I just zone out and it does nothing for me. Otoh, once I type out my own notes/version of what's important, and condense the material, memorizing my own notes is a cinch. So all in all, the most time consuming part is simply the typing out my own notes portion. I suppose everyone's different in what works for them.

How's the Supermemo working out, btw? I'm finding it pretty helpful for learning some history I'm reading. Always used to pass through my mind before, whereas this go around I find I'm actually retaining the info.

 

[Law2Doc]

How much condensing is possible in medschool? What I do now is read everything just once, but as I read, I type my own notes. Then I just memorize my notes and that's it. Of course, this assumes that you understand everything you read, which I don't think is the issue. The issue is memorizing all the concepts and facts, and for that I have not found that reading the book more than once does anything. You need to spend the time memorizing the condensed material, like you would a poem.

If you condense an ocean into a large lake, you still need to get through a large lake. I agree with you that condensing is important, but still suggest that in the multiple passes through the material in some format that it takes to actually memorize, it's going to take a ton of time. The material isn't "hard", there's just a ton of it. "Drinking water from a firehose" is the apt analogy you most often hear. So sure, you take the note-set, the lecture notes, whatever texts/board review books you are consulting, etc and condense them into whatever format you like, but it still leaves you with a voluminous mess far in excess of anything most ever will see in undergrad. So instead of "a poem" you are memorizing, it ends up trying to memorize "War and Peace" once you get done with your condensing efforts. You'll see.

 

[Law2Doc]

I think he meant 6 hours per day of lectures, and then X hours of studying on top of the 6.

If that's what he meant, I wouldn't dispute that, assuming X isn't too small a number. But that isn't the plain meaning of the sentence he wrote. And certainly not what the person who said he studies from 8-1 M-F wrote. Those are simply bad advice and horribly misleading to premeds trying to get a handle on what's to come. But I digress.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hmm. This is pretty much my system for learning anything and everything. 😉 I never got anything out of reading a textbook more than 1x, either. Some folks I know actually re-read the material a zillion times to study for a test. But if I try to do that, I just zone out and it does nothing for me. Otoh, once I type out my own notes/version of what's important, and condense the material, memorizing my own notes is a cinch. So all in all, the most time consuming part is simply the typing out my own notes portion. I suppose everyone's different in what works for them.

How's the Supermemo working out, btw? I'm finding it pretty helpful for learning some history I'm reading. Always used to pass through my mind before, whereas this go around I find I'm actually retaining the info.

Just a word of caution -- speaking as someone who typed out notes in undergrad and law school -- you will likely end up scrapping that system in med school because the material is simply too vast, and typing it up takes too long. The tests are very detail oriented, so trying to summaraze too much wont work -- the devil is in those details you'd like to pare down.

 

[greg1184]

I think he meant 6 hours per day of lectures, and then X hours of studying on top of the 6.

6 hours of lecture every day? That is definitely tough. At my school I usually have 3 hours of lecture a day (9-12). Sometimes I have 2-3 lectures in the afternoon. But most of the time, the afternoon is either off or has some kind of activity like a small group session, clinical correlate or a session with my community preceptor.


Still, to the OP, the MCAT is nothing like med school. Material in med school is condensed into 6-8 week module (depending on your curriculum). It ends up piling up really fast, and by the time the test comes you have around 50 lectures to study for a relatively small test (80-100 questions). It is particularly fun studying 50-100 slide powerpoints for only 2 questions on the test per lecture. I find myself having to start studying around 2 weeks before the test (more or less).

However, I PREFER studying the material in med school over the garbage I had to study for the MCAT.

Generally you get used to the routine of your individual curriculum and develop a study routine that works for you so you can get the most out of school. I personally go to lectures every day, but there are people who don't.

 

[bodonid]

I'm just going to put out my 5 cents like I always do...

Medical school isn't hard if you aren't a slacker. Screw the MCAT, I studied more senior year college than I did M1. I studied 12 hours a day easy for the MCAT, and I probably do three hours a day now. The people that study eight hours a day do so because they don't study at all until the week before a test. Or else they are really stupid. Flame on!

 

[Excelsius]

Hmm. This is pretty much my system for learning anything and everything. 😉 I never got anything out of reading a textbook more than 1x, either. Some folks I know actually re-read the material a zillion times to study for a test. But if I try to do that, I just zone out and it does nothing for me. Otoh, once I type out my own notes/version of what's important, and condense the material, memorizing my own notes is a cinch. So all in all, the most time consuming part is simply the typing out my own notes portion. I suppose everyone's different in what works for them.

How's the Supermemo working out, btw? I'm finding it pretty helpful for learning some history I'm reading. Always used to pass through my mind before, whereas this go around I find I'm actually retaining the info.

Hey, you're using Supermemo too? I haven't customized it for myself yet, but one of the SDNers here helped me out a lot by sending the latest version of the program to try and a huge database on several subjects that he had created. I have given it a cursory review, but I intend to peruse the functions once my finals are over. There is a comprehensive guide on their website that goes through all the functions and I am going to go through it.

One of the great things about this program is that these days everything is digital. So for example, when I finished my courses in neuroscience or genetics, I kept all of the PowerPoint presentations in my PC. These contain a lot of pictures and diagrams from the books which I can easily scan into Supermemo according to the MCAT topics listed on their website. I'm excited about it. Once I get to a more advanced level, I'll PM you and maybe we can share some information. I don't know who else uses it here since a lot premeds dismissed the program in that thread (a couple of people did that because they didn't want to argue with those who simply didn't know how to use the program).

 

[Excelsius]

If you condense an ocean into a large lake, you still need to get through a large lake. I agree with you that condensing is important, but still suggest that in the multiple passes through the material in some format that it takes to actually memorize, it's going to take a ton of time. The material isn't "hard", there's just a ton of it. "Drinking water from a firehose" is the apt analogy you most often hear. So sure, you take the note-set, the lecture notes, whatever texts/board review books you are consulting, etc and condense them into whatever format you like, but it still leaves you with a voluminous mess far in excess of anything most ever will see in undergrad. So instead of "a poem" you are memorizing, it ends up trying to memorize "War and Peace" once you get done with your condensing efforts. You'll see.

Thanks. One of the courses I took was taught by a book used in medschool and it was the largest book I had ever seen for a single course (over 1200 pages and large size). Nevertheless, I still found that taking my own notes for this particular course, which was neuroscience, was very helpful because I still max out at two passes. I think that one very important issue we are overlooking is that when you write your own notes, you are not merely condensing the information, but you are interpreting it into succinct blocks of data that is tailored to your needs. Nevertheless, this was just one class. If you used to do this before medschool and are not doing it anymore, maybe not all subjects follow this rule. I won't find out until I try this myself. How many courses do you take each term in medschool and how long does a single term last? Is it like a regular semester, quarter, or something else? I sure hope you guys don't have any quizzes because I can't bear them.

 

[Law2Doc]

Thanks. One of the courses I took was taught by a book used in medschool and it was the largest book I had ever seen for a single course (over 1200 pages and large size). Nevertheless, I still found that taking my own notes for this particular course, which was neuroscience, was very helpful because I still max out at two passes. I think that one very important issue we are overlooking is that when you write your own notes, you are not merely condensing the information, but you are interpreting it into succinct blocks of data that is tailored to your needs. Nevertheless, this was just one class. If you used to do this before medschool and are not doing it anymore, maybe not all subjects follow this rule. I won't find out until I try this myself. How many courses do you take each term in medschool and how long does a single term last? Is it like a regular semester, quarter, or something else? I sure hope you guys don't have any quizzes because I can't bear them.

My point is that when you need to know all the details, there is only so far you can condense, so you aren't going to shorten in much. And many people find they need to do 4-5 passes through the material to retain enough of it when dealing with that quantity. If you can do it in two, then great, but I wouldn't plan on that pattern holding. Med school schedules vary -- some are doing several classes at once others just one at a time. The volume is such that it feels like you are taking a half dozen undergrad courses regardless. Med schools rarely use semester/quarter systems -- they tend to have their own. Not many quizzes (but there are some), usually just exams every month or so at many places (once the material volume hits critical mass). There are also a variety of presentations you need to do, and maybe one or two essays for the ethics stuff.

 

[engineeredout]

6 hours of lecture every day? That is definitely tough. At my school I usually have 3 hours of lecture a day (9-12). Sometimes I have 2-3 lectures in the afternoon. But most of the time, the afternoon is either off or has some kind of activity like a small group session, clinical correlate or a session with my community preceptor.

We got our MS1 schedule and though it varies from day to day, its on average lecture from 8-12, and then starting at 1 theres either labs or more lectures.

 

[Nilf]

You will study harder in med school than you ever did in college. The MCAT seems hard compared to what came before. The same will be true for many steps along the way on this road. What you think is hard now, becomes a joke when you look back. That's just the way it works.

This is 100% accurate.

 

[VoiceofReason]

I'm just going to put out my 5 cents like I always do...

Medical school isn't hard if you aren't a slacker. Screw the MCAT, I studied more senior year college than I did M1. I studied 12 hours a day easy for the MCAT, and I probably do three hours a day now. The people that study eight hours a day do so because they don't study at all until the week before a test. Or else they are really stupid. Flame on!

while I'm definitely studying more now than i did in college, i have to agree that there is something messed up with spending more than 3-4 hours total on work in a normal day in pre-clinicals. Sometimes I only spend two and I still consistently beat the average. Now, I don't go to lecture and most of my studying is therefore, in my opinion, more efficient, so that may have something to do with it.

 

[Beta Cell]

More people than not will NOT fall into this category. So I think it's fair to say, if you are the average med student, you will be studying A LOT. If you are one of a very very very very small subset of med students for whom once through the material (and we are talking about a LOT more material than undergrad) is enough then sure, maybe that's true. But if you are reading this post, I'd say there's a 99% chance this isn't going to be you and you should brace yourself accordingly.

You see a lot of this on SDN -- people for whom things come easy posting as if that's the norm. It won't be. Most people in med school have to really work for it. Assume you are in this latter category until you get to med school and if it turns out to not be true, adjust your approach accordingly. But most won't have to make this adjustment. Most of the people who do well really work hard to do well. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either an exception to the rule, or is full of ...

That sounds like incredibly sound advice and will be my approach if I'm ever accepted to medical school.

 

[dienekes88]

Thanks. One of the courses I took was taught by a book used in medschool and it was the largest book I had ever seen for a single course (over 1200 pages and large size). Nevertheless, I still found that taking my own notes for this particular course, which was neuroscience, was very helpful because I still max out at two passes.

Principles of Neural Science?

How much condensing is possible in medschool? What I do now is read everything just once, but as I read, I type my own notes. Then I just memorize my notes and that's it. Of course, this assumes that you understand everything you read, which I don't think is the issue. The issue is memorizing all the concepts and facts, and for that I have not found that reading the book more than once does anything. You need to spend the time memorizing the condensed material, like you would a poem.

A friend of mine who just graduated this year did that with his lecture notes and some textbook stuff. His notes are legendary.

And many people find they need to do 4-5 passes through the material to retain enough of it when dealing with that quantity.

Guilty as charged.

Any professor who tells you "know the big picture" is lying. The big picture consists of many smaller pictures that your professor expects you to know.

Anyway, repetition is the means for transferring information to long term storage in the ol' noggin. It's part of the reason why you need to sleep to retain stuff.

 

[Excelsius]

Principles of Neural Science?

A friend of mine who just graduated this year did that with his lecture notes and some textbook stuff. His notes are legendary.

...

Yep. After a year, it is still a great reference source, even though the neurophysiology book by Hammond looks very promising in terms of the latest updates, so I'm giving that a shot now.

The great thing about typing notes is that the information is always readily accessible. If I forget something, all I have to do is open the .doc file, do Ctrl+F, and I can review the precise piece I had forgotten. Also, this is true not just for textbooks. If you are reading anything, be it a textbook or a philosophy book, you are not going to retain much if you don't write down every important point. These days many "popular" books are at least 50% fluff and you find out really quickly that taking your own notes can really undress the book to its bare skeleton. In one case a book I was reading ended up taking less than half a page of notes! And this from a 200 + page book.

The exception are audio books and novels. Though with novels you can accumulate a crazy collection of pretty deep quotes. Dostoevsky anyone?

 

[dienekes88]

Well, my friend's notes were also voluminous and detailed. They were legendary because they were comprehensive and organized.

There's no way you can condense med school the way you're thinking. You may be able to fit the main idea onto one sheet of paper, but... you still have to know all the details.

That was one of L2D's points.

Preview of "the skeleton" of medical school.

"The human body is miraculous."

 

[unsung]

Well, my friend's notes were also voluminous and detailed. They were legendary because they were comprehensive and organized.

There's no way you can condense med school the way you're thinking. You may be able to fit the main idea onto one sheet of paper, but... you still have to know all the details.

That was one of L2D's points.

Preview of "the skeleton" of medical school.

"The human body is miraculous."

Yeah, I appreciate what you guys are saying. Thanks for the advice.