Who thinks it Easy??

[GTA]

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I read/hear lots of people saying they are at the end of their rope, and they are about to quite, or that they hate med school, or that they study 18 hours a day....

How about some of you who are doing fine, having no real problems, studying reasonable amounts of time, and loving med school give us the other side of the coin......

Please?!? Someone?! anyone? oh no...I'm gonna die 🙂

 

[ColoMD]

Well, it's not exactly "easy", but it isn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

You do not need to study all the time, and you do not need to sacrifice your entire life outside of medical school to be successful. And while some people do actually study *all* the time, you don't have to if you don't want to.

You just need to find out what works for you and what you are willing to put into it. I you take it a little easier on yourself, you might not get honors in all your courses. Is that okay? Sure. Do you have to honor all your courses? Well, that's up to you. But sometimes spending some more time with your spouse/family/friends/etc. is just a better use of your time.

 

[felipe5]

i agree w/ ColoMD......It is quite do-able, albeit quite challenging. Because of that, I wouldn't call it "easy" by any means. You'll be fine

 

[leorl]

I think people would agree with me when I say medicine itself isn't hard, the material in each subject isn't hard to comprehend and understand. What makes it hard is that all the material has to be integrated, and as you can imagine...there's a TON of crap that you Have to Know and Remember! But really, if I didn't have anything outside medicine in my life, I'd crack up. So no, i don't get the best grades...but I have a ton of meaninful extracurriculars that keep my life balanced and sane. It's all about finding a balance which can be hard at first because medical studying is different from any other kind of studying

 

[thackl]

Well, it's not exactly "easy", but it isn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

You do not need to study all the time, and you do not need to sacrifice your entire life outside of medical school to be successful. And while some people do actually study *all* the time, you don't have to if you don't want to.

You just need to find out what works for you and what you are willing to put into it. I you take it a little easier on yourself, you might not get honors in all your courses. Is that okay? Sure. Do you have to honor all your courses? Well, that's up to you. But sometimes spending some more time with your spouse/family/friends/etc. is just a better use of your time.

Great post 🙂 'Easy' is definitely the wrong word, but it doesn't have to be impossibly difficult either. Honoring everything is not my goal, to much stress 👎 However, I stated in a diff post that a confident but relaxed attitude is worth about 10pts on a test. I really believe this and it showed on the last round. My wife and I spent 10hrs car shopping the day before head/neck test. Could I have gotten a few more right had I studied all day? Definitely. Is a 95% good enough? More than enough! Will I study less this block? Probably not..... I'm comfortable with the current level of effort/ballance and I'm sure high yield will bite me in the ass sooner of later, but overall the expirience will be good.

 

[velo]

How about some of you who are doing fine, having no real problems, studying reasonable amounts of time, and loving med school give us the other side of the coin......

I'd say this describes me, but I also wouldn't call it "easy" by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Quixotic]

It just depends on how you take in information. I am only an M1 right now but have had plenty of free time to volunteer at clinics, begin a research project, take representative roles in several student medicine clubs and enjoy my life. My goal is to honor everything because I don't know what I want to do yet and certainly don't want to limit my options. I'm not really gunning for the top of the class, just top 15%. If you want to be number one, you may have to put in a bit more work. There is plenty of time to have fun in the evenings and weekends. I believe that if you enjoy learning and medicine you will be fine. There are always those who study every night and day, but remember, there are also those who know how to balance the enjoyment of life with school, which pays off in the end. Being number one and being number 30 won't make that much of a difference if you are well rounded and do well on the boards.

Q

 

[prlester]

what about just passing. the curriculum at my school is all over the place. i dont know what to do.

also, is biochem and physio easier than histo, anatomy. we dont have lab in the former, here but do in the latter.

 

[wrigliarows]

...

 

[ColoMD]

So by quite do-able do you mean that you are studying a normal amount of time and getting A's or are you studying a normal amount of time and getting C's and B's?

What you'll find out is that many/most med schools don't use the A/B/C/D/F scheme, but a P/F or an Honors/P/F grading scheme. If you are just on a P/F scale, there is no advantage on paper to getting a 95% in the class or an 80%.

 

[prlester]

we have a full spectrum of grades for our tests. i study 3-4 hours a day. things aren't working out. iam failing

what is an efficient way to study.

 

[peehdee]

several things:

if you're had a lot of the basic science courses, it will be easier for obvious reasons (like biochem, physio, pharm, micro, immuno, etc). on the other hand if you've never had these courses (outside of the required premed courses) it will be a little bit harder. i can't imagine learning electron transport and all the biochemical pathways for the FIRST time in med school. that's gotta suck.
also, those people who have excellent memories will do well. or at least it will come to them easier.

simple rules: if you wanna honor good luck and study all the time. if you wanna just 'pass', have fun and enjoy life. You'll NEVER be at your present age, don't let it pass you by. remember in the end you'll mostly likely know just about the same amount of information as the next person who beat you by like 10%. ask any oldtimer who used to get good grades and someone who just passed questions about biochem, i bet you, they'll remember just about the same amount of information. in the end how you lead your life is what determines how good of a physician you'll be.

🙂

 

[thackl]

So by quite do-able do you mean that you are studying a normal amount of time and getting A's or are you studying a normal amount of time and getting C's and B's?

For me its A's and a B right now (the B is close to an A). Going high yield though, leaves me open to failure on a sensing type test full of minute details (though I tend to pile those on at the very end anyway). As long as it works out to High Passes and Honors, I won't worry too much about it. A lot of this also comes down to Meyers-Briggs typing. Sensing-feeling types are likely the ones busting their asses to barely pass. Intuitive-Thinking types are likely the ones on here boasting about the wonderful grades they get without studying ad-nausum. We were all typed and the sensing's were told to get down to student affairs to work on developing their intuitive sides. Most did not and are now complaining about effort/grades not working out.

Here's the good news😀 It all goes out the window 3-4th yrs and for many, the trend will actually reverse.

 

[Stinger86]

As ironic as it sounds, I'd say the most difficult thing about medical school is dealing with the people.


... and I'm not really talking about the patients

 

[OTheHorror]

It just depends on how you take in information. I am only an M1 right now but have had plenty of free time to volunteer at clinics, begin a research project, take representative roles in several student medicine clubs and enjoy my life.

Q

Is that how everyone spends their free time?

I must be in the wrong business.

 

[roja]

Is that how everyone spends their free time?

I must be in the wrong business.

I loved medical school. Again, its not easy, but I didn't kill myself. You definately study more than undergrad (at least I did) but its all about figuring out where you want to be in classes. My school actually used the classic a/b/c/f.

I studied alot around exam time. But other than that, I treated med school kind of like ajob: an 9-4 kind of thing, either studying or in class (depended on my mood) that stepped up around exams. I did fine (top third of my class). I didn't spend my time volunteering.. I spent it with friends, hiking, eating, drinking, goign to the pool, etc. Its all about how you deal.

 

[Discobolus]

For me its A's and a B right now (the B is close to an A). Going high yield though, leaves me open to failure on a sensing type test full of minute details (though I tend to pile those on at the very end anyway). As long as it works out to High Passes and Honors, I won't worry too much about it. A lot of this also comes down to Meyers-Briggs typing. Sensing-feeling types are likely the ones busting their asses to barely pass. Intuitive-Thinking types are likely the ones on here boasting about the wonderful grades they get without studying ad-nausum. We were all typed and the sensing's were told to get down to student affairs to work on developing their intuitive sides. Most did not and are now complaining about effort/grades not working out.

Here's the good news😀 It all goes out the window 3-4th yrs and for many, the trend will actually reverse.

You are really on to something with the sensing vs. intuitive type. I'm definitely an intuitive and I'm doing quite well without really killing myself. I'm getting to the point now that I can study for about 2 days for a test and distill out the important stuff to keep for long term memory and that is the stuff they usually test on. Of course there are always those off the wall questions that test minutiae. With those it is hit or miss, sometimes you remember the minutae, sometimes you figure it out based on context, and sometimes you just put C.

Anyway, I think all M1s should do a Meyers-Briggs personality profile and figure out where they are as far as sensing versus intuitive types. This will go a long ways in determing the best way for you to study. Whatever your type I'm a huge believer in doing practice questions to develop intuitive abilities and it's also active learning.

 

[eatapita]

I read/hear lots of people saying they are at the end of their rope, and they are about to quite, or that they hate med school, or that they study 18 hours a day....

How about some of you who are doing fine, having no real problems, studying reasonable amounts of time, and loving med school give us the other side of the coin......

Please?!? Someone?! anyone? oh no...I'm gonna die 🙂

I'm doing fine. I'm in my second year. Once you get into the routine of studying, it's not so bad. Just expect to study on weekends and evenings. I still have life. I watch movies and eat out and go on mini vacations after blocks. Granted, I can't watch a movie every weekend, but enough to keep me happy.

I was very worried I wouldn't be able to see my family much, but actually I see more of my family now than I did before I entered medical school. (Mainly cause I skip class and homeschool a lot, hahaha) Most of the time you get home by 5pm, so it's just like working a 9-5 job, but you study when you get home too.

I'm not so sure about 3rd year though.

 

[thackl]

We just started pevis today 😱 I may be taking my hat out of this ring 😕

 

[babyruth]

The first two years are all about memorization with a little bit of application. Good thing I was always good with that childhoos game, "Memory."

I think you also need to find out what kind of a learner you are (i.e. visual, mnenomics, etc.). I'm pretty visual and I like to be 'entertained,' so I usually go to class because it helps me to remember better. I was pleasantly surprised with my ranking last year, but because of that I have started to slack off.

Sometimes its a competition with myself to see how bad I can procrastinate and still do well on a test. Trying to get out of this habit. They always say not to leapfrog from test to test; do that too... To make it even worse, I'm getting my Master's degree at the same time. Am I a masochist or what?

 

[macdown]

At the risk of sounding cocky, I'm going to say thus far half way into my second year it has not been hard. I wouldn't say easy, but not hard. It take a lot of work, but its not hard.

 

[lattimer13]

At the risk of sounding cocky, I'm going to say thus far half way into my second year it has not been hard. I wouldn't say easy, but not hard. It take a lot of work, but its not hard.

ditto...but that's mostly if you just want to be content in knowing the basics of the material to gracefully pass the class...if you want to honor, you gotta know all the minutia that will separate you from the rest of the class in terms of grades...and that's where the difficulty and time comes in.

 

[macdown]

ditto...but that's mostly if you just want to be content in knowing the basics of the material to gracefully pass the class...if you want to honor, you gotta know all the minutia that will separate you from the rest of the class in terms of grades...and that's where the difficulty and time comes in.

For the record I haven't scored lower than 91% this year and my class average for last year was 90.5%.

 

[NubianPrincess]

Hmm Creighton eh?

 

[ridirkulous]

Getting adjusted to med school has been the toughest part for me. It is difficult to get used to the work load, schedule etc. Plus if you go far from home, it can make you pretty homesick. I am finding myself constantly irritable and moody. I imagine this will pass, but I haven't been having a lot of fun.

 

[kappasigMD41]

I read/hear lots of people saying they are at the end of their rope, and they are about to quite, or that they hate med school, or that they study 18 hours a day....

How about some of you who are doing fine, having no real problems, studying reasonable amounts of time, and loving med school give us the other side of the coin......

Please?!? Someone?! anyone? oh no...I'm gonna die 🙂

I don't think it is easy. Passing is very doable for most all people who are accepted into MS. However, I think it is very difficult to honor/AOA. Could I AOA if I wanted to? Probably. Am I willing to put in exponentially more studying of minutiae in order to accomplish this? No. I enjoy my life outside of school too much. I like being able to play golf or see friends when I want. I look at MS as a means to an end, and I am confident that I will graduate in at least the middle of my class and go on to bigger and better things.

 

[GTA]

I don't think it is easy. Passing is very doable for most all people who are accepted into MS. However, I think it is very difficult to honor/AOA. Could I AOA if I wanted to? Probably. Am I willing to put in exponentially more studying of minutiae in order to accomplish this? No. I enjoy my life outside of school too much. I like being able to play golf or see friends when I want. I look at MS as a means to an end, and I am confident that I will graduate in at least the middle of my class and go on to bigger and better things.

Thanks for the balance, guys....keep it coming...

 

[babyruth]

I sleep too much and have gained weight; eat terrible food. I have no motivation to work out. I'm sure others will tell you the opposite as well. Most people have some sort of sleep and nutritional change.

 

[kappasigMD41]

I sleep too much and have gained weight; eat terrible food. I have no motivation to work out. I'm sure others will tell you the opposite as well. Most people have some sort of sleep and nutritional change.

This is true. I've gained about 15 lbs over the last year and a half, and it ain't exactly spread evenly around my body. Yes dear friends, I now have a gut.

 

[Doc Ivy]

This is true. I've gained about 15 lbs over the last year and a half, and it ain't exactly spread evenly around my body. Yes dear friends, I now have a gut.

Stress=Cortisol=truncal obesity

 

[GoodMonkey]

Is that how everyone spends their free time?

I must be in the wrong business.

definitely not. i think lots of people do, but *certainly* not me.

 

[phoenixsupra]

Medschool is as "easy" as it is for you to study when there's something else you'd rather be doing. If it's easy for you then there probably isn't much else you'd rather do. I love medicine and find the material fascinating. But I don't think the level of minutia required to get an A is usefull and theres a ton of other things I'd rather do than TEMPORARILY memorizing a laundry list of alpha numeric sequences for obscure gene translocations for example. This includes a ton of actual in depth medical learning in areas I think are important and of course maintaining a HEALTHY balanced life. So my grades are ok but not fantastic. Probably middle of the class and I'm fine with that. Yes, I think the level of pointless minutia that we are fed is not easy to integrate with a full life. And what's more if there was less of it I think I could actually learn more useful medicine. If you havn't much going on in your life don't be surprized if you find medschool easy. 🙂

 

[missmod]

it's "easy" when i'm studying something that interests me, and mirroring what everyone has said, that does include how sprained ankles occur or what happens when you get carpal tunnel syndrome. it does NOT include every single insertion and attachment of every single muscle in the upper limb and the names of each of those little bumps and dents in the bone.

that being said... we had a speaker here at our school during our orientation about "how to make it through medical school and stay sane." there was one part of the talk that really hit me... ever since we were in high school, we've heard this said to us: work hard in high school and you may have to sacrifice a lot, but you will be able to have a good time at a good college. and then 4 years later... "work hard in college and you may have to sacrifice, but it will pay off in medical school." and 4 years after that... a lot of us are in med school and are saying the same thing to ourselves "if i work hard now, i will get that cushy residency so i don't have to work hard later." but the thing is... it never ends. at this point in my life, i've decided that i will work as hard as i need to without torturing myself and denying myself time to hang out w/ my boyfriend, family, and friends. med school becomes a bit "easier" when you keep that in mind.

 

[Tekena1]

someone posted earlier that not getting honors will cause limitations come residency selection time. How does this affect you all that are currently medical students? I suspect most of you if not all are trying to do your best. For M4s that are reading this any regrets? I was once told to just pass and all will be good. That does not seem to be the case when trying to be a certain doc. How do you all feel about this, grades dictating what kind of doc you will be.

 

[sacrament]

You know what, most days I would say "Eh, it's not bad at all. It's fine." But tonight I'm still up at 2:50 AM (and I need to be out of bed at 5:30 AM) in the middle of my internal medicine rotation, finishing up the seventh page of my millionth write-up on yet another boring goddamn chronic disease compounded by five other boring chronic diseases, I have five browser windows open (Medline, MDConsult, Micromedex, Harrison's online, and SDN) and I'm tired. I'm cranky and tired and if I see another COPDer tomorrow I'm going stuff his cigarettes up his ass. So sometimes it isn't easy, sometimes it's such a gigantic pain in the ass I want to strangle somebody with my stethoscope.

 

[Elysium]

You know what, most days I would say "Eh, it's not bad at all. It's fine." But tonight I'm still up at 2:50 AM (and I need to be out of bed at 5:30 AM) in the middle of my internal medicine rotation, finishing up the seventh page of my millionth write-up on yet another boring goddamn chronic disease compounded by five other boring chronic diseases, I have five browser windows open (Medline, MDConsult, Micromedex, Harrion's online, and SDN) and I'm tired. I'm cranky and tired and if I see another COPDer tomorrow I'm going stuff his cigarettes up his ass. So sometimes it isn't easy, sometimes it's such a gigantic pain in the ass I want to strangle somebody with my stethoscope.

So all that horsesh1t about things getting better in third and fourth year isn't true?

Haha. Of course it doesn't. It's just misery in a different form.

Sweet!

 

[Philo Beddo]

is the white coat. There is no greater aphrodesiac. Studies prove it, check it out:

www.hippocritis.com (scroll to middle)

Philo Beddo

 

[8744]

it's "easy" when i'm studying something that interests me...

You've nailed it. Medical school is only hard because, let's face it, most of what you learn in first year is dreadfully boring. My apologies to any of you who are really into the TCA Cycle but I guess most of us view first year as a hurdle to overcome. Consequently, on any given day I can think of three-hundred things I'd rather be doing than studying. That's where self-discipline is important.

The funny thing is that once I start studying I am usually all right for three or four hours. (And four hours was always my max. I just can't study more than that in a day. I have tried, of course, but my mind wanders and my efficiency goes way down.) It is getting up the motivation to go to the library which is difficult for me.

I suggest that you get into a routine and stick to it. Go to the library every day after class at a set time and leave at a set time. On Saturday, get up at seven, put in some study time, and then have the discipline to put down the books and do something else.

Also, if you look at medical school as a job rather than an incredibly exclusionary cult, things will be easier. It is not a cult. It is not neccessary to sacrifice your life to its service. I put in more hours as a Civil Engineer than I did as a first and second year medical student. You have to go to work. You do not have to go to class. Think about it.

 

[8744]

You know what, most days I would say "Eh, it's not bad at all. It's fine." But tonight I'm still up at 2:50 AM (and I need to be out of bed at 5:30 AM) in the middle of my internal medicine rotation, finishing up the seventh page of my millionth write-up on yet another boring goddamn chronic disease compounded by five other boring chronic diseases, I have five browser windows open (Medline, MDConsult, Micromedex, Harrion's online, and SDN) and I'm tired. I'm cranky and tired and if I see another COPDer tomorrow I'm going stuff his cigarettes up his ass. So sometimes it isn't easy, sometimes it's such a gigantic pain in the ass I want to strangle somebody with my stethoscope.

Dude, third year totally sucks compared to first and second year. During first and second year you can roll out of bed and show up to lecture wearing your pyjamas and nobody cares. Hell, at most schools lecture attendence is not even mandatory.

During third year you have to show up, often at an ungodly hour, and stay until you are let go which can be late in the afternoon or early evening on most days. You have to take call on some rotations which blows. You can't actually do anything (I mean other than the normal stuff you do during the day) except follow the resident around so why bother?

Also, you are no longer surrounded by several hundred of your fellow ignorami as you are in first and second year. You can no longer just slouch down and blend in. During rounds, your unsuitability for the medical profession will be exposed time and time again under the withering personal cross-examination of your attending.

Fourth year is pretty cool, however, because believe it or not you do learn a lot in third year. Sometimes you will surprise yourself. Also, except for the first three or for months of fourth year where you presumably want to get good letters for the match, you can really slack off as a fourth year. I have not done anything meaningful since my Emergency Medicine rotation in October. I have had the last six weeks off. In two weeks I am doing an MICU rotation and then a Cardiology rotation but I am a masochist (actually, I am weak in cardiology and want to redress this before I become an intern). After that I have a month of vacation and then an easy month of outpatient, community psychiatry before graduation.

 

[thackl]

Last semester, I was in the 'it's hard but not so bad camp'. I worked consistently (you know, the whole marathon thing), had free time and kept great ballance. Every thing worked out great and I should be really encouraged right now....... but, not the case. I'm walking around like a zombie, can't focus, don't want to study.


What's up with this 2nd semester funk? I'm falling dreadfully behind and everything seems so hard (which I know it isn't yet). This sucks 👎
Neuro is really bothering me too.

 

[Elysium]

Yeah, a lot of my classmates are having trouble trying to remotivate themselves after last semester. It seems like you gradually adjust to the pace of med school, then you have the Christmas break, then you have to readjust to the pace again. Also, at my school, second semester is harder than first, with a lot more neuro, head and neck, and micro. It's a constant grind.

Though, I know it's all painful, just in different ways.

 

[thackl]

Yeah, a lot of my classmates are having trouble trying to remotivate themselves after last semester. It seems like you gradually adjust to the pace of med school, then you have the Christmas break, then you have to readjust to the pace again. Also, at my school, second semester is harder than first, with a lot more neuro, head and neck, and micro. It's a constant grind.

Though, I know it's all painful, just in different ways.

I'm sure it's normal and I'm sure it will pass (as will I). For now, I just force myself into the chair a few unproductive hours a day.

 

[MeowMix]

someone posted earlier that not getting honors will cause limitations come residency selection time. How does this affect you all that are currently medical students?

I'm heading for ob or FP, where honors is not necessary. Thank goodness.

I have a balanced life - I eat well, exercise regularly, see my friends outside med school, have a great boyfriend, take off a full day per week to ski/bike/hike etc.. I've lost weight since med school started and I'm in better shape.

But my test scores suck compared to the rest of my class.

 

[thackl]

I'm heading for ob or FP, where honors is not necessary. Thank goodness.

I have a balanced life - I eat well, exercise regularly, see my friends outside med school, have a great boyfriend, take off a full day per week to ski/bike/hike etc.. I've lost weight since med school started and I'm in better shape.

But my test scores suck compared to the rest of my class.

That's a pretty nice place to be. I feel bad for the ones who work neurotically and still und up on the left side of the bell curve. I don't know what I want yet, but I'm still not willing to run myself ragged...... I'll second the exercise thing 👍