When do I get more knowledgable?

[perilou]

So, throughout first year, I never was too concerned about my lack of knowledge. I'd hear upperclassmen talking and not really worry too much if I couldn't follow their conversation.

But, I expected by now I'd start to know more. I can't believe that in 6 months 2nd year will be over, and I'll have to take Step 1. I still feel like I don't know anything. I pass my tests, do well enough... but after a month that information isn't always there anymore. I worry that when it comes time to start reviewing for Step 1, it won't be review as much as it will be learning things over again.

Anyone else feel the same way? Anyone have some sage advice?

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[DoctaJay]

Hey man, I'm alot like you. I forget things very quickly after learning it. For me, doing the UWorld questions in tutor mode along with reading FA has made me feel more secure in what I have learned. Doing the questions in UWorld and reading the info in FA as I learn it in class really has helped me reinforce the content.

 

[webaholic]

It's very easy to forget if things are just stored as short term memory.
From my personal experience, I think my greatest downfall was not going over my notes or revisiting things I had "crammed" in.
It's taking me a lot longer now to study for my Step I.
If you have 6 months before your second year is over, my advice would be to master what you're doing this semester, and on the weekends try to make time to go back to your previous course work and look it over.
As you get closer to your test day you really want to be reviewing the material and practicing on as many questions possible;
Not sitting down and re-learning the material.
I know if I had the chance to do it all over again that's what I'd do.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Now you know why the process of becoming an attending takes 7+ years. If you don't use this stuff, you lose it. However, things tend to be learned/stored much more easily the second, third, and fourth time around.

For instance, I thought I didn't remember much from my OB/gyn rotation. We have this thing back at the school we do for a month (instead of having a vacation mind you) and we did some patient simulations in OB/gyn. Needless to say, most of it came back pretty quickly and I did fairly well.

Understand the general concepts and get them down. Fill in the details as you go.

 

[GMDMD]

Don't sweat it too much. If you're doing well in your classes, trust that your brain is retaining a basic understanding of the material. It'll surprise you how fast some of the material will come back to you.

Unless you didn't learn the material well the first time around, I wouldn't advise spending your weekends relearning material again. You might regret spending your last few hours of weekend free time on stuff you will forget again within a few weeks (you won't forget it completely but after ~8w you return to a baseline familiarity). Just go hardcore during your dedicated study time and you should be okay.

 

[Monica Lewinsky]

As important as the stuff during the first 2 years is, its still just supposed to be the foundation on which you build more advanced knowledge. Were you proficient at arithmetic in the 2nd grade? Probably not, but I'm sure you ended up being pretty good at it.

 

[Knicks]

In a sort of follow-up question to the OP, by what stage of our medical schooling should we be able to answer questions that family and friends ask us, ("since we're in medical school")?

ie: "Hey man, good thing I ran into you; I've had this pain right here (points to an area, pick one in your head), it's been bothering me for 2 days, what do you think it is?"


EDIT: spelling error, wrote "head" instead of "had".

 

[NPEMTIV]

In a sort of follow-up question to the OP, by what stage of our medical schooling should we be able to answer questions that family and friends ask us, ("since we're in medical school")?

ie: "Hey man, good thing I ran into you; I've head this pain right here (points to an area, pick one in your head), it's been bothering me for 2 days, what do you think it is?"

I heard a graduation speech from a medical school once where this issue was addressed directly....according to him after year four:

His Quote:
"In fact the moment we announced we were thinking about applying to medical school we were inundated with questions from friends and family about various ailments. No question to complex. No medical question to obscure...some of my favorites include: does cracking your knuckles give you arthritis? What is this thing on my leg? and It hurts when I do this?" After four years of studying here are the answers: No. I don't know. And don't do that."

So the day is coming.

 

[Knicks]

^^ That speaker wasn't being sarcastic, right? (serious question).

If he wasn't being sarcastic, PROPS to him!

(btw, who was this speaker? a professor? a doctor? the dean? etc?)

 

[NPEMTIV]

^^ That speaker wasn't being sarcastic, right? (serious question).

If he wasn't being sarcastic, PROPS to him!

(btw, who was this speaker? a professor? a doctor? the dean? etc?)

He was extremely sarcastic. It's on youtube. Here's the speech:

[YOUTUBE]WhWJRCGb77Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Knicks]

LoL, thanks but I'm not gonna watch an 8 minute speech.

Anyway, so it looks like my question hasn't been [seriously] addressed.

 

[NPEMTIV]

LoL, thanks but I'm not gonna watch an 8 minute speech.

Anyway, so it looks like my question hasn't been [seriously] addressed.

I wouldn't expect you to. In all seriousness most people I've talked to have said that you'll start to become confident in your abilities after a few months of internship. Medical school (for the most part) is designed primarily to teach you the science behind the medicine and internship/residency is when you'll actually take that knowledge and learn how to apply it. That being said during your third and fourth year I would imagine you'll start to get a feel for things.