There is no extra time. This again, speaks to a need for methods that are more effective and efficient. But I think another huge issue students face is finding the right intervention at the right time.
So let me illustrate that here, using a somewhat elaborate metaphor. So just humor me. So we have our med student, his boat represents his study methods, if the methods are good, they keep them afloat. The river here, pushing them along, represents being enrolled in classes. This is a critical real-world variable that has to be factored in. The river never stops just like the pressure of being in med school never lets up.
So in scenario one, there are no leaks in his boat. He just keeps going down the river. Good for him. This accounts for a large percent of med students. In scenario two, the boat here, it springs a few leaks. This definitely happens to a lot of med students, but these leaks can be fixed midstream still in the river, still in classes, maybe you fix the leak yourself. Maybe you figure out how to stop within the confines of the speed, volume, density equation.
Maybe you find the right resource, the right tip, the right advice. But in scenario three, sometimes the boat has too many leaks. And when this happens, the boat sinks. And then we have scenario four. Yes you have a lot of leaks. There are too many leaks to fix mid-stream, but instead of sinking, we pull the boat out of the river and fix it on dry land.
Meaning we rebuild the whole process while not enrolled in classes. So this is what happens between semesters or on a leave or something like that. Another reason med school can be so hard is an over reliance on outside variables. These might include finding the right study group or study partner. World-class professor, great curriculum. If you have these and they work, great. But ultimately we have to have the tools to succeed autonomously. Number 10 is the trap of familiarity.
Old study methods reinforce familiarity, which in other academic arenas might be exactly what is needed, but at this level, how does robust familiarity treat you on test day? Another big pitfall is the illusion of productivity, which includes things like rearranging your notes, converting PowerPoint to Word, searching for the best review videos, maybe watching videos or passively rereading your notes.
Number 12 is the challenge of lecture. Some students feel crushed by the lecture experience. A common extreme description would be: I go to a lecture all morning or all day. I try to hang on in each one, but eventually I get lost and distracted. For others it might be less extreme, but inefficient nonetheless. Why can some people sit there and absorb so much information in lecture and really be ahead, whereas others are sitting there and they actually come out behind?
My theory on this is that there are two types of learners. So we have the dual-track and the single-track brain. The first track subconsciously builds the framework to decipher and house incoming information. Whereas the second track starts placing the details in their proper place within the framework as learning happens.
These people benefit from lecture. They benefit from bottom up learning like Anki decks. The single track learner however, only has one track and they have to choose. Are they going to build the organizational hierarchy or are they gonna deal with detail as well? You have a plan, stick with it. The application is just half the story.
You also need to ace the CASPer test , learn how to answer the most common medical school interview questions and practice with our sample MMI questions. Like most type A personalities that enter medicine, we want straight black and white answers. Yes, medical school is hard, and every other synonym you can think of for hard.
The volume of information and detail you have to recall is intense. The subject matter is complex. The way you are tested will sometimes seem unfair and the standards you have to reach will feel unattainable.
There is so much to know in such a compressed amount of time. Realizing how much you still have yet to learn is a humbling and important lesson. Be prepared for the roughest years of your life until residency. You will have sleepless nights and you will be wishing you had more time to get everything done. It is incredibly tiresome and daunting.
You will have bad days and be pushed to your limits. You will spend hours on a concept trying to understand it and apply it. Developing you into a pragmatic thinker is the goal of medical school. It is teaching you an insane amount of information so when you are presented with a problem you will be able to logically go through the steps to get to the right answer. You are not expected to just memorize and regurgitate information.
You have to learn to apply it and reason through your explanation. We Can Help! For every anxiety-filled moment of studying, there is a reward. Medical school was unlike anything I had ever experienced. There were many things that I did not anticipate before my first day. I could have never guessed how much I would grow as a person. The patients you meet will impact you in many ways, and stay with you for the rest of your life.
Empathy will have an entirely new meaning by the time you graduate. If you are lucky, your classmates will become a second family. You will see medicine through a different light and have a new appreciation for the field. You will remember why you got into this discipline and all the worries you had about the demands of medical school will go by the wayside.
Your passion for medicine will outweigh how hard you perceived it to be. Below are just a few concepts that impacted me the most during my time in school. They were tough lessons, but lessons well learned. They may seem simple and maybe you think you have them mastered. I thought the same thing before I started medical school. I quickly learned that the way I studied wasn't going to cut it, so I made some adjustments.
Here are my best tips on how to survive medical school. I hope they help you as much as they helped me. Figure out how to study and figure that out early.
Learning to adapt to medical school studying takes time. Definitely figure it out as soon as you can. I started group studying, which I could not stand in undergrad. Working in a group made me have to explain things out loud and get better at pronouncing medical jargon. Being able to understand the material and explain it to a classmate I found to be the best way for me, personally.
Don't be afraid of trying new study techniques. You will never know unless you try. Take notes and if you write something down you must read it later. I repeat if you take a note that means its important and you have to read it later. Taking notes just to appear busy or absent mind-idly jotting things down will not be to your benefit unless you take the time to understand what you have written. A common mistake I saw with classmates would be writing everything down, highlighting it in every color of the rainbow, and still not being able to articulate what it was they were supposed to have learned.
If it is important enough to write down it is important enough to read and commit to memory. Manage your time. Med school is something you could compare with a marathon that keeps going and going. Saying goodbye to unstructured free time is a big issue, and even maintaining simple good habits like exercise and proper diet for brain health can be tough.
A similar issue that many med school students and doctors speak out about is time management. Many med school students have a great deal of work to do just to stay on top of things. One poster on studentdoctor.
Another common issue is social isolation. Free time often becomes a thing of the past when you start med school, so relationships can suffer. Medical students also have to deal with a lot of change and uncertainty. Often, going to med school involves moving to a new city. Then, just a few years later, residencies mean moving again and again, and again.
The board exams to become a certified medical doctor are universally regarded as one of the most difficult parts of medical school.
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