After doing some Q and A with some “1st years to be” the other day I thought I’d give a brief impression of my 1st year of medical school from the eyes of a non-trad. I hope that my non-trad colleagues can chime in as well on their thoughts.
“How much do you study?”
This was variable with the “system” that I was in, but my typical week was lecture from 8a to 12p, labs (Gross, Clinical Med, OMM) from 1-5. Typically fridays were lab free. For me I study best away from the distractions of home, so I typically stayed on campus in the library from 5-10p Mon-Thurs, and tried to be home by 5 on Fridays unless I felt I was behind or if we had a Monday exam. Weekends I generally studied anywhere from 5-8 hours on Saturday with Sunday off, Monday exam days meant at least 8 hours both sat and sun, and more if I needed it (see Neuro/head/neck block YIKES!)
“Any free time?”
Non exam weeks, meant taking Friday evenings, sat. evenings, and Sunday for R and R and wife time. Lots of Netflix, Redbox friday nights with the wife, BBQ or cocktails with our friends on sat. nights, and sunday I was typically skiing or mountain biking depending on the weather.
Exam weeks were another story, and there were times when 3-4 weeks would string together with exams and suddenly I felt like I had zero free time and was a “ghost” to my wife and friends…this was not typical and really only happened during 4 of the weeks of MSK, all 7 weeks of Neuro/Head/Neck, and finals at the end of both semesters.
“Do you really have to buy all those books?”
This will vary by school I am sure, but for me I only bought a select few and these were the ones I could not have survived 1st year w/o.
Rapid Interpretation of EKG’s, Dale Dubin, MD
Pathologic Basis of Disease, Robbins and Cotran
Physiology, Costanzo (I used this as a reference for EVERY system and the BRS version was great review and used the question bank before exams)
Atlas of Human Anatomy, Netter (You haven’t had real fun in med school till you’ve spent many glassy eye hours with Frank!)
“What suggestions do you have?”
Exercise, Exercise, Exercise! I can not stress how much more focus I had when I was consistent with my workouts. There were weeks when I did not due to “time” and I paid the price in how I felt and how I studied. During the most stressful block of Neuro/Head/Neck we were under even more time crunch with written final exams and patient encounter finals for clinical medicine and omm and I forced myself to stay on my workout schedule (AM before school) and I felt better and performed better in Neuro than I did in other “stressful times” when I skipped the workouts.
Time for Family,
Take advantage of this time when you have it and BE IN THE MOMENT. It is easy to be thinking about what studying you should be doing, or what exam is next. Avoid this during your family time, take advantage of every chance you have with them as there will be times when this time is limited and they deserve your 100% when you do have time for them, and you will be more refreshed when it is time to hit the books.
Sleep!
Get what you need every night. AVOID late night cram sessions, keep up with the work daily so you can sleep before exams. For me 7 hours was great and I slept 11-6.
I could keep going, but I will stop there for now. (Gotta get my 7hours!) Please respond with specific questions, and I (and hopefully some of my non-trad colleagues) will let you know our thoughts of what medical school is really like for an OPMer!
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to come back and fill us in. It was really nice getting a quick glimpse of what’s ahead. I look forward to reading more as you find the time to let us in on your journey.
Good Luck!
This is good stuff! Thanks for the time you took to share.
One thing that I always was curious about, and this is not related to anything academic but…
How does the rest of the medical college respond to us non-traditionals??? (meaning the younger students, faculty, clinical ward people…)
Are we welcomed or looked down upon for taking the spot of somebody younger and with more energy??
Your thoughts…
Julio,
I have experienced zero animosity from my colleagues, instructors or admin. Above that, I feel not only welcome as a member of the c/o 2016 but I have made friends for life with many of my classmates.
I am 35 and the median age of our class was 25 or 26. The most veteran of our class is 51 and I speak to him often and I know he feels the same way as I.
My one word of advice would be to avoid at all cost “playing the age card.” Simply, do not lead others to believe through your actions, or your words that you “know better” or should be treated differently because you are older. This is a quick path to isolation from your classmates and animosity from the docs. You and your 23 y/o colleagues are medical students. All of whom sacrificed, and worked hard to get there. That alone should dictate your experience and the relationships you build. You will be surprised at what amazing stories are behind each and everyone of your colleagues paths to matriculation.
My last piece of advice would be to celebrate what you have to offer as a non-trad to your colleagues. Believe me that there will multiple opportunities for mentoring along the way. I know that I had many failures through my path to medical school, and learned and improved thanks to each and everyone of those opportunities. Many of your classmates have not experienced failure before, and believe me all of us will at sometime or another on this journey. Use your experiences with failure in the past to help motivate your friends to turn every opportunity for improvement into just that, improvement. As I like to say when I am mtn. biking, skiing, and now through medical school…“If you’re not falling, you’re not learning.”
One last thing for today,
I was asked which u/g classes I found the most helpful or what I wish I took before medical school.
1)Biochem 2 (this was a masters level class at my u/g and the only way to take a more advanced biochem)
2)Genetics
By far having a full year of biochem was very useful during our cellular mechanism block.(1st block, essentially all the cell bio, histo, biochem, genetics @ cellular level) This was our first class and many students struggled with the genetics and biochem components. Even if I didn’t remember everything from biochem, having seen it before made it much easier to commit to memory the 2nd time around. I found myself helping my classmates with genetics and biochem which just helped me that much more come test day. Biochem 1 was not nearly enough from u/g as we honestly covered that entire semester in 30 mins. (not kidding) so if your school offers a metabolism biochem or full year of biochem or masters level that you can take as a u/g, I’d recommend taking it if it fits your plan. Cheers!
Let me second that recommendation (biochem). I had NEVER had biochem and REALLY struggled in 1st year with that. Had a 20 year old classmate who was a chem major and a whiz at biochem, who became part of our study group and I would not have passed without him.
When it came to clinical skills, I helped a classmate who was just NOT getting blood pressures–and a bit on injection sites as well. And could be a resource for OB-GYN. Find out who did what in your class and help each other!
I had close buddies in my post-bacc premed program, although I was WAY at the end of the age curve. They included me delightfully. Med school it took a bit longer (200+ students instead of 30), but by mid 1st year we’d started getting to know one another and becoming friends.
Kate
Kate, Celtic—THANK YOU.
Love this–thanks for your insight! As I find myself on the cusp of my MS-1 year, it’s always good to read that others DO actually find time for family.
I know it’s possible. I hear others say it. But every time someone else speaks up and says, “YES! There is life outside of med school. Pace yourself. Stay organized. Keep up. You WILL be able to hug your kids and sleep”… well, it just makes me feel that much better. 
Gross Anatomy in T minus 64 days! Yikes!!
Ditto what olderguy said - Thank You Celtic and Kate. Your advice is very helpful. I’m starting medical school in August so the insight is much appreciated.
Congratulations to all of your acceptances. That is a big step in the journey! Keep up with the work everyday, stick to your schedule, and there is time with family. Do not get me wrong, there have certainly been sacrifices on being able to attend events and gatherings but you will surely not be a ghost to your kids. Take advantage of the time when you have it, as there will be weeks when there is just more to do. Many of my best friends in school have kids and they are not ghost parents.
If you do have a family, I really recommend living as close to campus as possible, as eliminating a 30 min commute, means 1 more hour to spend with the fam a day. Plus, when things are hard, it is easy for the spouse or fam to meet you at campus and have lunch, or dinner. Have done that dozens of times and it is a welcome break.
Cheers!
I’m loving this thread and just want to say Thanks!
I am applying this year for 2014 matriculation and I finally am feeling like I may just make it after all. That being said, I am now also thinking a lot about how it is all going to shake out once I do get to med school and this thread is great for giving me some insights.
I am pleased that so many have found this thread helpful, motivating or at least a nice break from the books. I just returned from a long weekend away for my wife’s sisters wedding (see there is life outside of school) Although I had to come back Monday instead of Tuesday (Missed out on Disney World) so that I could study for a CIS(Clinical Integration Session) and quiz that we had this morning (yup you still have quizzes in med school) Studying on the 3 hour flight there and back combined with Monday meant I had the whole weekend to spending time with family and friends. (took full advantage, no books, no studying, no worries) While away I was asked why I chose where I went to school. Which I thought was a nice question to add for those who are blessed with multiple acceptances this upcoming application season.
- Location, For me, my wife being able to find a job in her field was important so this ruled out many “rural” locations.
- Curriculum, this was a close 2nd, but dive into the schools website and get a true picture of the curriculum. If this is not enough info, email the admissions office, or better yet ask the dean during your interview (our dean LOVES this question) For me I wanted a “systems” based approach, and I wanted to do my own dissection not just work on prosected cadavers. I ultimately picked my school over my other top choice due to a few specifics for the curriculum that I thought would work best for me. 1) Both were systems based, but my current school you hit each system twice. Once in first year, once in 2nd year. In general, first year you focus on the biochemistry, anatomy and physiology of the system, in 2nd year, you review the biochemistry, anatomy and physiology while focusing on pharmacology and pathology of that system. This was different than my other top choice in that you hit each system only once. So if I did neuro first year, I would not have seen anything neuro again until reviewing for the boards. Both schools had an “active learning” curriculum which I also love. We do Interactive sessions every week that you have to be prepared for as you will get “pimped” in front of your classmates and struggle through clinical integration of the material you’ve learned up to that point. Much better than always sitting through nothing but lectures and trust me when I say that struggling not only helps retention but also will help when on rounds with the docs. Lastly, we get more time to solely study for boards at the end of year two. This means we also have a longer school year than most. (short winter break and we don’t take our last final of year one until July 1st. and start back July 25ish for year 2. my friend at another med school has already been done for a week and doesn’t go back until August)
Ultimately, JUST GET IN! I believe that med school will be as good as you make it anywhere. Once you start, you are truly in control of your future success. If you are blessed with choice, than an in depth conversation about curriculum would be great to have with your future program, and pick what you feel will work best for you and your family. Best of Luck, Cheers!