You're back to your 1st year of medical school. What would you have done differently?

[mats7]

In order to be the best psychiatrist, landed the best residency, or just... in general, what would you have done differently?

Focused on research more or less?

Practiced a language?

Focused more on Step 1?

Focus on paying off loans?

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[DD214_DOC]

Had more fun

 

[Psychotic]

I would have taken off the summer between MS1 and MS2 instead of succumbing to the pressure to do "research" that ended up being about as far removed from where I am today as possible (I did not decide on psych until 3rd year).

Take both Step 2s before MS4 starts.

Take as many medicine electives as possible.

 

[Dharma]

Run!

 

[hypoman]

I would have taken off the summer between MS1 and MS2 instead of succumbing to the pressure to do "research" that ended up being about as far removed from where I am today as possible (I did not decide on psych until 3rd year).

Take both Step 2s before MS4 starts.

Take as many medicine electives as possible.

Medicine electives? How come? I'm currently a 3rd year wrapping up my 3 months of IM... Came to the realization that I despise medicine and loved my psych rotation a few months ago so I'm going for it. The top program I want requires 4months of IM/FM during PGY-1... I'm a bit nervous about that honestly. Is that why you wish you took more medicine?

 

[el_duderino]

Got drunk more often.

 

[nexus73]

Buy 1st aid for usmle and memorize it by the end of 2nd year.

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

As I sit here going through pictures and trying to get my class yearbook together, I wish I would have taken more pictures in 1st year.
I went to a national conference my second year which was awesome and I highly recommend it. The conference really helped me solidify that psych was for me, while also exposing me to program directors, different specialties in psych (The was a round table specialty session and I had to ask what consult and liaison was), and to fellow med students who were interested in psych

 

[birchswing]

Do any of you regret rushing/not rushing? I recently found out that some medical schools have fraternities, which was a weird thing to find out.

 

[Monocles]

Take as many medicine electives as possible.

Really?? How come?

 

[scudiera]

MS4 here. Take Step 1 a week early and go travel during the week I freed up. Also I'd like to have done another month of EM and been more open on my months of Surgery. I think the EM experience will be helpful going forward and maybe I would have liked surgery if I'd just given it a fair shot. Probably not, but I could have experienced more.

I agree about taking more photos and traveling more. I've done a fair bit and am about to do a lot more, but still, it's rare that you'll ever get the sort of time again to take a monthlong vacation here and there. For everyone reading this who's an MS3 or below, take out a little more in loans for MS4 and use it to go on a few vacations. Try to make at least one of them serious, like 2-3 weeks, 4 if possible. Take a classmate with you.

On that note: it can be hard to make friends in medical school, I'd probably have liked to get to know more of my classmates better because even though I barely knew these folks 4 years ago, looking ahead it's hard to say I'll meet many people in "the real world" who can understand what I just went through like they can. Forget networking. I'm going to spend as much time with them as possible before we all split because I've learned to appreciate them, even the ones who can get on my nerves at times.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Do any of you regret rushing/not rushing? I recently found out that some medical schools have fraternities, which was a weird thing to find out.

Throw out all of your associations with undergrad fraternities.
Medical fraternities are basically coed residential study groups.

 

[ExcaliburPrime1]

Went to law school instead. (Half serious).






Honestly first and second year were pretty good. My biggest "regret" was being too stressed 3rd year and gaining a lot of weight which I'm now struggling to get rid of.

 

[Ceke2002]

What would I have done differently? Not withdrawn from undergrad studies and actually gone on to try and at least have a chance to even be a first year med student post grad. Or to put it another way, not prioritised sticking a needle full of drugs up my arm over and above the pursuit of a life-long dream.

If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for tinkers.

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

being too stressed 3rd year and gaining a lot of weight which I'm now struggling to get rid of.

More like 4th year, "i'm not paying $80 a month for a gym while i'm on aways/i can't get into a gym rhythm while leaving every weekend for interviews/ why hello 30 fluffy pounds...."

Gotta get beach bod ready, because I feel like this might be my last spring/summer where i'll even see a pool party/ beach hangout.

 

[Mad Jack]

Rescind my acceptance before I have multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans and go be a co-owner of my friend's now very successful brewery.

 

[birchswing]

Rescind my acceptance before I have multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans and go be a co-owner of my friend's now very successful brewery.

What is beer but a less bitter benzo.

 

[mats7]

Buy 1st aid for usmle and memorize it by the end of 2nd year.

*takes down notes*

 

[mats7]

What would I have done differently? Not withdrawn from undergrad studies and actually gone on to try and at least have a chance to even be a first year med student post grad. Or to put it another way, not prioritised sticking a needle full of drugs up my arm over and above the pursuit of a life-long dream.

If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for tinkers.

Dang. Did you get over your addiction issues? Hope all is well.

 

[mats7]

On that note: it can be hard to make friends in medical school, I'd probably have liked to get to know more of my classmates better because even though I barely knew these folks 4 years ago, looking ahead it's hard to say I'll meet many people in "the real world" who can understand what I just went through like they can. Forget networking. I'm going to spend as much time with them as possible before we all split because I've learned to appreciate them, even the ones who can get on my nerves at times.

It's so hard making friends! Especially when it's attendance optional due to recorded lectures. I'll try to go out of my comfort zone more. But damn, it has the potential to be awkward when everyone has their own group already! It's only MS1, so still time to meet people!

 

[Ceke2002]

Dang. Did you get over your addiction issues? Hope all is well.

13 years clean as of last December, coming up 14 years this year. I was early into my recovery when I was accepted into an Undergrad course in Nursing and at the time I was concerned with the trigger potential of certain aspects of the coursework plus the possibility of coming into contact with opioid medications, so I opted to defer/drop out rather than risk relapsing (even as small as that risk may have been). Basically I was doing the whole 'change your friends, change who you hang out with, change your lifestyle, change the areas you socialise in, change where you live if you have to' type deal with recovery, and part of that included making an executive decision to not pursue health care related studies (and a post grad in Medicine) at that particular time. And then other stuff happened, some long term mental health issues decided to do an encore appearance just to be complicated and annoy the bleep out of me, eventually I started seeing a really good Psychiatrist who's also a Psychotherapist, he's been my Doctor/Therapist now for 6 years this year, and part of our work together has been helping me to move towards a point of stability where I'm able to return to studies. So far so good, and I'm looking at starting a mid year Undergrad course in Archaeology and then trying for Medicine Post Grad, but that all depends on the current internship placement crisis we've got happening here in Australia and what the future projections are as to whether things are going to worsen or improve in the longer term. If I do make it into med school, my plan is to go on and do a fellowship in Psychiatry with RANZCP once I've completed my degree and RMO/Intern requirements.

By the way, in case you weren't already aware, I'm one of the forum's resident patients. Nice to meet you.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

What is beer but a less bitter benzo.

Depends on the hops content.
I prefer my beers more bitter than my benzos.

 

[el_duderino]

Depends on the hops content.
I prefer my beers more bitter than my benzos.

You people are ruining the beer market.

 

[Shikima]

What would I have done differently? Been an air traffic controller. 6 figures, same stress, no debt and NO MOC!

 

[clausewitz2]

What would I have done differently? Been an air traffic controller. 6 figures, same stress, no debt and NO MOC!

Yeah, but ATC training is much harder than medical school, going by the washout rate of their academy classes. An awful lot of stories out there on the Internet of folks who did 5+ years of air traffic controlling in the military who have flunked out of the FAA academy multiple times.

EDIT: Also, night shifts and psychological testing for the rest of your life.

 

[Shikima]

Yeah, but ATC training is much harder than medical school, going by the washout rate of their academy classes. An awful lot of stories out there on the Internet of folks who did 5+ years of air traffic controlling in the military who have flunked out of the FAA academy multiple times.

EDIT: Also, night shifts and psychological testing for the rest of your life.

How is that different from residency?

 

[clausewitz2]

How is that different from residency?

Residency ends eventually? Overnights and weekends seem to be a perpetual feature of ATC career paths.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

20 years ago, I would have had a long list. Today, probably nothing. Some parts get better and some get worse with responsibility, but nothing I could have done as a MS would change much today.

 

[Psychotic]

Medicine electives? How come? I'm currently a 3rd year wrapping up my 3 months of IM... Came to the realization that I despise medicine and loved my psych rotation a few months ago so I'm going for it. The top program I want requires 4months of IM/FM during PGY-1... I'm a bit nervous about that honestly. Is that why you wish you took more medicine?

You got it. And remember you have to pass Step 3...

 

[Shikima]

Residency ends eventually? Overnights and weekends seem to be a perpetual feature of ATC career paths.

So do some medical specialties. Long hours of call depending on the nature of practice. Insurance companies, lawyers, etc.

Point being, why subject ourselves to this endless rat race when there are other means to earn a living which are equally stressful without the debt. Not saying this is a cake walk, but one must decide with eyes wide open if this is the pathway to take. I cannot say for sure once the pie in the sky ideals have been modified.

 

[FlowRate]

I decided I wouldn't go to med school if it was going to cost me more than X amount. Worked out, but when I hear 300k debt, it makes me think things start being less worth it.

I have no clue what will help once I'm in residency, but my main advice for an MS1 is to stop thinking so far in the future. Your main priorities are learning your current coursework well enough to ace those sections on Step 1. A very strong medical fund of knowledge will help you in your clinical years and, I'd imagine, as a psychiatrist.

 

[WingedOx]

I'm back in my first year again?

Is this one of those dreams where you show up at an exam realizing you forgot to study for any of it and are panicking? Also you're not wearing pants?

 

[WingedOx]

So do some medical specialties. Long hours of call depending on the nature of practice. Insurance companies, lawyers, etc.

Point being, why subject ourselves to this endless rat race when there are other means to earn a living which are equally stressful without the debt. Not saying this is a cake walk, but one must decide with eyes wide open if this is the pathway to take. I cannot say for sure once the pie in the sky ideals have been modified.

Of course by my age I see plenty of people who burned out of I-banking/finance after being an analyst slave or international markets trader or whatever. They burn out with a hell of a lot more money saved though.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Honestly not much. Maybe it's the non-trad thing, but I think I did pretty good at prioritizing academics and the rest of my life. Maybe I could have been more social. I probably could have exercised more -- the medical school years were not my physically healthiest.

 

[notdeadyet]

Honestly not much. Maybe it's the non-trad thing, but I think I did pretty good at prioritizing academics and the rest of my life. Maybe I could have been more social. I probably could have exercised more -- the medical school years were not my physically healthiest.

You're better than me. I definitely prioritized academics above other aspects of my life (particularly social), mostly due to lingering concerns about my crusty mind to soak up information as well as I wanted it to (it did better than I expected, but not as well as I remembered). Ditto on the physical activity thing.

 

[HarryMTieboutMD]

I would have read more about my patients during my third year rather than try to memorize poorly written test prep books for shelf exams (which didn't help anyway btw). As a third year medical student you don't contribute anything to patient care and are just an accessory playing a game to get good evals and ace the shelf. HOWEVER, you don't have to do a lot of BS intern work so whenever you are just sitting there and waiting for your intern or resident to remember you exist and send you home, read uptodate or (better yet) a pub med article about the whatever is going on with the patient you are "following."

 

[clausewitz2]

This is America. Learn some &*#% Spanish.

In all seriousness, I think having good competency in medical Spanish (or some other language that a lot of people in your target geographic area might be L1 speakers of) will save you huge amounts of time dealing with the mishegas of translators and make a lot of interactions less painful. Also prevent you from succumbing nearly as often to the very real but very inappropriate temptation of pressing juvenile family members into service as translators for their elders.

Four years of medical school will keep you busy, but you should have time for a hobby or two. Crank that Rosetta Stone/Duolingo and get some medical Spanish textbooks. Find Spanish speakers and try and take a genuine interest in what they have to say. By the time residency rolls around you should be at handle a fair number of interactions, given how scripted many patient encounters are.

If I spoke Spanish or French or Nepali instead of the much more useless languages I have some proficiency in, I would have had a lot fewer head-desk moments in my clinics to date.

 

[J ROD]

Tried harder. I took classes lightly because I thought I would do better on Steps.

 

[clausewitz2]

Tried harder. I took classes lightly because I thought I would do better on Steps.

See I think this depends on the instructor.

Clinician who writes actual Step 1 questions every year: study hard

Elderly cardiac pathologist who is older than God and believes that three rare congenital anomalies are the most important thing in medicine: maybe read more first aid

 

[J ROD]

Was thinking in terms of gpa. I could have done a little better. Thinking steps only matter.

 

[txpsychres]

God forbid. But I would reconsider the financial burden of a expensive medical school--state school for me. Otherwise, develop more efficent study habits?? Find a reliable group of study partners, kept to one study source, multiple questions. More activities outside of medicine. Learn to play guitar.

 

[thoffen]

You know what? I would have focused more on my own development of empathy, accountability, and professionalism. And I think that would have simultaneously led me to better academic success and life outside academics success.

 

[milesed]

I wouldn't have done anything differently in the first or second year. In my third year, I would have asked lots more questions about everything (especially the business side of each specialty).

 

[hamstergang]

I'm very happy with how things went and how they are now, so I don't know of anything major that I'd change. I found the right balance for myself between studying and living.

 

[sunlioness]

I don't want to go back! You can't make me!

 

[Trismegistus4]

In the OP's thought experiment, do we get to go back to MS1 knowing what we know now? Because if so, all I care about is memorizing the July 2007 Powerball jackpot winning numbers.

 

[DuskPhilosophy]

In the OP's thought experiment, do we get to go back to MS1 knowing what we know now? Because if so, all I care about is memorizing the July 2007 Powerball jackpot winning numbers.

Every time someone mentions January's powerball incident I get this little twinge of anger. Deep down, i'm still upset i didn't win... I had plans for that money.

 

[sunlioness]

I won four bucks!


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[lockian]

I have SO many regrets...

Here's my list.

1. Integrate qbank questions better into my M2 studying. When the time came to study for Step 1 over summer, I was appalled by the amount of stuff that my classes didn't cover and ended up pushing back the start date of M3 by a month so I could make the score I wanted. Also, I would have used Pathoma during M2 as opposed to the summer after, as it was a lifesaver. There was a lot of material I literally didn't understand until Pathoma (or experiences during third year!) explained it to me. (In case you can't tell, I don't feel my M2 courses were good at all, and the med academic office office lied to us. They told us not to pre-study and that "the #1 thing you can do to do well on step 1 is to focus on your termtime grades.")
2. Tried to get an M3 schedule that frontloads medicine and/or FM, because those rotations really do lay the groundwork for doing well in everything else.
3. Not volunteered for the PICU. Biggest. Mistake. Of my life.
4. Not spent so much time M3 year worrying about grades (which are a crapshoot anyway) and just focused on becoming competent.
5. Maybe engaged in the volunteer student/resident run psychiatry clinic on campus.
6. Sought help for my own mental health issues earlier. I finally did at the advice of a mentor in mid-3rd year, and while I still have confidence issues, my performance in just about everything has been so much better.

 

[ara96]

I'm sure we each have regrets and things we would have done differently. At the end of the day, we're human, we make mistakes, will continue to make mistakes and will hopefully, learn from them to not only better ourselves but those around us.