What did u do MS1 summer?

I just realized I never posted that I was accepted (yea! jump up and down!) and now I have a question about how to survive financially. What do people do the summer after MS1? I need to be able to earn $, and there will be very few jobs in my rural med school area. Help, please! Thanks, Barb

Not all programs have the MS1 summer off…so the first thing I would determine would be if you get that time off. As for me, my program did not provide an “MS1 summer off”…so I have no useful information for you.

Congrats on the acceptance. Realize that “summer off” may not be all that you think. At my school, the lecture students get exactly eight weeks off. I personally did independent study, so I spend my summer finishing up Med 1, as I was behind.


There are multiple paid research positions available for between med 1 and med 2. They don’t pay a ton of money, but they are out there. I was accepted for two different research positions before I decided I needed to concentrate on school.


There are often opportunities to do tutoring for undergrads, high school students, etc. Some schools offer pre-entry courses that med students can teach/TA. There may be TA opportunities available if your med school is affiliated with an undergraduate institution.

we have 9 weeks off… I’ve spent the summer working on my house, which I will be selling soon as I’ve just discovered… being stressed… etc…


I will pick up some studying on Monday… 3 weeks before school starts…


A lot of people that I know chose to dissect cadavres at the school over the summer… I don’t know if they’re being paid or not… our research program is just getting started as well… so I think there were research assistants being hired… no clue how much they were being paid either… but if there’s any research at your school, that might be an option.


I know quite a few were just shadowing… no working…and others that were working as techs here and there… I guess some required previous experience… so something to think about.


good luck!


Andrea

Nothing

Congratulations Barb! That’s great to hear.


(I volunteered with an AIDS activist group in South Africa. I was fortunate to get some funding from my school to do this; and fortunate to have good financial aid.)


cheers


joe

Same as Dave, no time off we go year round

Greetings,


Old thread, new member, different perspective… WHY NOT?


Well, my M-1 year was back in 2004. I knew the whole deal was going to require a HUGE effort and an absolute discipline as far as time management was concerned. Having never been the brightest light on the tree, I simply traded effort and time for grades. The noon to midnight 5 or 6 days a week worked great on the undergraduate side.


However during my M-1 year there came a point where the clock became the “limiting reactant” the “festivities” (I always use a positive attitude sort of word) began after class at 10 am and went until midnight, 1am or 2am and soon expanded to seven days a week for months at a time, other than e-mail or messenger I was able to SEE my family twice between July 6th and Thanksgiving. Time was the precious commodity I could not stretch.


I already knew I wanted to be a rural family physician, so I never sweated not being able to participate in the “interest groups” or “physicians for national health care” (although I did donate money). I figured if I did not pass in the classroom club membership means NOTHING.


So, when summer came around (WE DO get it off), I was ready for a complete break from academia, I went up and picked up a TRUCK (same company I had a long history with). I pulled a 53’ refrigerated trailer just under 42,000 miles that summer. I covered all of the lower 48 states except Maine and New Hampshire. Whats more, when I turned in my Anatomy final, the professor grabbed my arm, “I heard you were driving a truck over the summer… you know as a childhood dream, I have always wanted to RIDE in one of those…”. NO problem Dr Enders, I will make it happen! There is a picture of Dr George Enders, Professor of Anatomy and Director of the KU Center for Reproductive Biology, SMILING WIDELY and hanging shamelessly out the window of an 2004 FLD Freightliner enjoying himself capitally in our yearbook!


Richard

Haha, that’s great, Richard.


Through your MS-1 and MS-2 years, did your studying habits change much, or were you pretty consistent throughout?

Adam,


My study did not change much at all, all of my stuff (techniques) are “official” “tried and true” techniques for those with ADHD. The problem was there were not enough hours in the day to get it all “straight A” quality.


I have posted elsewhere, since I have ADHD, many of the “recommended” or popular things like study groups are an anathema for me, study groups are a great way to 1. learn gossip, 2. completely waste a precious and irreplaceable hour of study time. Being a social critter, I invariably spend the time socializing, but often baffled if the topics move too quickly.


Often if I am reading and I discover some point or term I can’t remember, I will stop and look it up then continue, if I don’t it is useless to continue because the unanswered questions will crowd attention from the intended subject. This is an incredibly minor issue with independent study but would be a MAJOR source of disruption or frustration for any would be group participants


I did not worry too much, after all I plan on FP (more slots than matches over the last few years)and thus honestly that makes life MUCH more comfortable in this way: unlike everything up to this point I am NO LONGER in some sort of “competition” with my peers, unlike undergrad where someone had to win and someone had to lose.


The days of darn near ALL “A’s” are over, one I realized it, there was no need for all the “dispair”, just a need to HANG IN THERE… I have been plugging along doing fine with “B’s” (actually this REALLY depressed many of the younger set, I think a couple actually QUIT the first month or so because they could not maintain perfect grades? Believe me, in my life I know how to take a lick gracefully).


At the end of the day, I passed Step I with no problems. Since there was not enough time to do BOTH “board study” and “course study” (read: piles of minutia), I simply studied for boards and let the other take care of itself.


Richard

Please see the photo of the occasion I posted in the photo section!


Richard