Med School - week one?!

General Themes

Here, I just wanted to coordinate my general wandering thoughts on some over-arching themes that came up at the beginning of medical school. I've noted that typically most students mention a variation of the following:

1. Work-life balance, mastering the material while staying sane

2. Figure out how to focus/narrow your interests

In terms of work-life balance, I am a BIG fan of work-life balance. However, in medicine, the workload tends to “ebb and flow” and taking advantage of the slower/easier units and getting your friends/family/support time in whenever you can.

General tips:

• There will always be another page to read, another paper to study, another topic to tackle. However, think about what makes the most sense for optimal “absorption” of materials. It doesn’t matter if you study 10 hours but really are only retaining 10% of the material because it’s an ineffective way of studying or you’re too distracted from whatever life events are going on

• Figure out what is most helpful for YOUR study style/technique. What your roommate’s study patterns are can differ from yours. Stay self-reflective and evaluate what truly works for you. Still take notes? Great. Need to create study guides? Cool. Only read the chapter? As long as it is effective for you, don’t cave into the peer pressure of what works for others

• Don’t fall behind! Set a relative, realistic, and loose schedule and STICK to it. Incorporate your must-haves (i.e. food, breaks, exercise, family time, etc)

• Pick 1 or 2 “must-haves” that you want to do for YOURSELF (exercise? Phone call with support person? Dinner in-person with fam?) and stick to it. Make time for it. Build and create good work-life habits starting from day 1 of your medical career

• On the flip side, optimize your efficiency. Have a long car ride? Listen to a podcast or lecture while in the car. Eating lunch? Flip through flash cards. Want to crowd source? Ask the students who went through the MaSMS program (master of science in medical sciences) – I am positive they have tons of helpful tips to increase study efficiency. Google it. However, make sure you know yourself and know what works best for you. Try out a bunch of different methods until you find what works for you

Focus/Narrowing Your Interests:

• Don’t. Med School is four years. You are just four days in.

• You don’t have to narrow down until the AUGUST going into your FOURTH year 😊 so take your time to try out things!

• Please be self-reflective: think about the “big picture” as you go through – WHY do you like something? WHY don’t you like something? How is that applicable to the different fields?

  • Ex: I get bored extremely easily. I like to think about a problem, have a solution, and move on. Next topic. This would make primary care with chronic diseases, tiny details and medication tweaks, and incremental long-term outcomes excessively mind-numbing for me. My best friend from medical school absolutely loves details. Hates making big decisions. Great at perseverating on different detailed care plans. He is an internist.

• Don’t feel pressures to commit to anything big in the first 6 months. Go ahead and sign up for interest groups if you want, but please be selective and guarded with your time. It is *the most* valuable resource you have. Knowing and understanding the material is more important for your future career (i.e. as a physician understanding pathophysiology to take care of patients) rather than doing 16 student interest groups

The emphasis should be on your education and your learning. And fun. This should be enjoyable!