In Retrospect ...

General Med Student Discussion
1

I know the start of medical school is months away. But I am, and always will be, a planner. (And maybe a little OCD. )


So, a question for current or former medical students:


What is ONE thing you really wished you had (but didn’t) when you started medical school?


Thanks in advance!

  • Lorien
2

One thing that others did that I think would have been a good idea is getting board review books and following along with them in 1st year classes. I think it could have been of some value for board prep this year.


As far as other things that jumped to the top of my head that are things I had to fix.


1st One of the things I struggled with during the first semester was using too many sources. You just don’t have the time like in UG to use 2 anatomy atlases and a text and class note. So you have to winnow down everything to what works best for you. Also as everyone has said be ready to adapt quickly and overcome quickly. Failed the test in BioChem on Friday, be ready to improve because the next one is probably no more than 10 days away. You have to develop a thick skin with this stuff.


Secondly, know where to get help before classes start and get help before you need it. Also use every bit of help you can get. IF they offer counseling services and you are feeling the slightest bit draggy go talk to someone. I’ll be honest you are going to hit low points and having someone to talk to outside of the “suck” is great. They also allow you to gain perspective on medschool My first semester I was completely out of balance and if I hadn’t had that outside voice I don’t know if I would have recognized it.


Finally if your school has a note taking service invest in it. At my school its like $200 for the year and you get basically a dictation of the class. It allows me to follow the lecturer during lecture without having to furriosly scribble down everything he says and I am able to go back to the transcript and fill in my slides.


Sorry for the long post but that was what came to me instantly. If I think of more later I’ll try to provide.

3

Thanks! Very good thoughts and suggestions.

4

LOTS and LOTS of 3 ring binders!!


Kate

5

Terra


I think so far I have done most of the right things and have little to regret. I am lucky that our professors provides very complete syllabi (as free PDFs) of their course, so these are class notes that are like books and that contain all the info (and they are written by professor). They put a hell of a lot of effort into these and they are of exceptional quality. I wished they were not so heavy though (but this is Med School). I had decided to invest in a tablet rather than to carry around all the material (about 500 of pages to digest per month), but at least I don’t have to use other sources if I don’t want to. I bought a good tablet that I thought had the power (on paper), and in retrospect I would have wanted a more powerful one but then it becomes a money issue. Mine still works well, but it’s never enough.


Aside from that the only thing I would recommend is to enjoy your last summer as much and as thoroughly as you can. I can’t stress that enough.


Enjoy the last of your pre-med months…

6
  • redo-it-all Said:
Terra

I bought a good tablet that I thought had the power (on paper), and in retrospect I would have wanted a more powerful one but then it becomes a money issue. Mine still works well, but it's never enough.



I'm curious, would 128GB be enough? Right now I use my tablet extensively and thanks to the suggestion by Lorien to get the PDF app, its easy to annotate my PDF's too!
7

I wish I was better prepared. My medical school is trying to compress the first two years of medical school so some stuff got moved from 2nd year to 1st year. They want us done with classes by Feb of next year so we have more clinical experience before we take Step 1.


In retrospect, I would have enjoyed my summer but also spend around 10 hours a week reviewing pathology and biochemistry. For me, those are my weakest subjects.

8
  • pathdr2b Said:


I'm curious, would 128GB be enough? Right now I use my tablet extensively and thanks to the suggestion by Lorien to get the PDF app, its easy to annotate my PDF's too!



Path, the issue is not the space. It is more the speed and quality of wireless antenna (that was quite poor on mine, so I had to open it and solder a new one in). Tablets are usually quite slow, even in the 400-500 range (I own two of those). Perhaps the only thing that really works is the ipad (but I hate macs so, everything else is not very fast/powerful). The ARM processors in android tablets are great for power economy but not for speed unfortunately. The intel type processor on the other hand are great for speed, but are very bad for power economy, so you can't have it all.

If you are satisfied with the speed/internet quality for your internet, then you will be fine. A 32GB tablet should be enough but 64GB would probably carry you all over med school. I am using about 10 GB so far on mine. And I make frequent back up and keep only what I need.
9

Ditto to all of the above… BRS books (grid/board review series) books are fantastic resources, and I find them to be a great way to review material before exams, but especially before the shelf exam you take at the end of each course. These are NBME board type tests that are essentially cumulative finals…with hundreds and hundreds of pages of notes in each course, it’s simply not realistic to review notes before the finals. The BRS books aren’t expensive, and they really condense the info down to material that is highly board testable. Just get them…you won’t be sorry!!


Also agree on the “don’t get caught up in too many resources” advice. It can be overwhelming…


Buy an app called “visible body” and use it in gross lab. You will really like it, I think, and it helps you see connections you may not readily notice otherwise. Your lab partners will thank you for the 3D clarity.


Preserve your spirit. Carve out time for your craft stuff or to enjoy a non med school book. You DO have time for you…take it.


HAVE. FUN. :). My nontrad classmates seem to get this better than the 23 year olds… This is a gift. Relax. You’ll learn more that way.