Med 1's: ex PreMed101 users

[keith_015]

Guess getting into med school ends your postings. JK. I was wondering how the new class is doing. You guys should share your experiences and how things have been going so far! Wish I could be there...stupid waitlists!

[moose]

hey guys,

 

School's going pretty smooth thus far. Class started Aug 27 and that was our first full week. Aug 31st we had a "ho down" at the Hitch and Post. This was interesting as I'd never been to a place quite like it. We had a long weekend with labour day. In class, we have learned some basic biochemistry which is review from undergrad for most students. There is also some really interesting population health stuff going on. It basically deals with levels of prevention, population dynamics, stats, etc. We have a few lectures on the history of medicine which is always entertaining along with lectures on ethics. We had Friday Sept 7 off with assigned study and we actually showed up to Brodie to study. This week was also short with Thursday and Friday being off. (This was the last of chillin short weeks). We started some basic embryology this week and we almost finished our first case in Problem Solving, which is similar in nature to Mac's entire program. That's about it so far, hopefully someone else will post soon.

 

moose

[trynit]

You know, that's so true. I hardly ever check out this site anymore now that I'm in school. It seems like there are more people on here asking questions on HOW to get in instead of talking about what is actually happening in school. IMO, this would be a great site for current student as we're all 'anon' and can be more free with what we say (compared, of course, with Facebook)

 

School is turning out to be a whole lot harder that I thought it would be. No more studying right before exams - that would be impossible with the volume of work they throw at us. I hadn't been in school for awhile, so the biochem (which was review for others) was practically like new for me. I remembered a lot of the anatomy and physiology from undergrad which is coming in handy now. Overall its been really interesting so far, but we've just been doing basic science stuff (biochem, genetics, basic anatomy) and public health. But like I said, there is a lot of material. I'm looking forward to after Christmas when we start to learn the body systems in more detail.

 

To everyone who is planning to reapply from last year(s) - keep trying. You'll be so happy once your in. The effort and persistence will be worth it! Trust me. Med school is pretty cool.

[TurboDC]

Ice Bowl???? Come on guys....

 

It's been pretty good so far I guess (I'll find out after the midterm). Depending what your student history has been it's either a huge review session or you are pretty overwhelmed. We just started doing work in the Gross Lab which is amazing but beyond that there hasn't been anything really exciting (lectures, tutorials, histology labs etc.). Trying to enjoy my free time while I can, because I heard it's pretty much non existent once you hit block three.

[Jag]

i thought i would just add my two cents here, mainly because i'm bored, but also for the benefit of the premed, med1 and med2 lurkers on the boards who want to know what is in store for them:

 

Med1:

 

Block 1 pre-midterm: A really exciting time, you get to meet new people, settle in to a new school, etc. As stated, for many it is just a huge boring review, for some it is new. In either case everyone is scared because they have no idea how a medicine exam is like, so naturally they freak out and study far more than needed. Needless to say most study way too much and pass with flying colors.

 

Block 1 post-midterm: After finding out how easy the exams are and what little it takes to pass, most students settle their nerves a bit. There are slight brushings with some clinically relevant stuff, but only enough to make you want some more, not enough to learn anything from. Also you feel some degree of liberation, your classmates are no longer enemies that you must climb over to get into medicine like undergrad was. Everyone wants to help eachother out and make sure everyone is successful. Everyone passes this exam easily.

 

Block 2: Probably the worst block of them all. Not because its hard, it is actually the easiest. The material in it is terrrrrrrible and touchy feely and just makes you feel like you are wasting your time. I personally think they should just spread this material amongst the two years as needed rather than waste an entire block on it. Its the best time to take extended holidays, do early exposures, or just stay home and sleep all day. Everyone passes this exam easily.

 

Block 3: An amazing block and my personal favorite. You begin learning about cadiology and respirology and all the stuff you have been waiting for all along. You learn some clinical skills, do a lot of work in dissection, visit some patients in the hospital. Feels like real medicine and feels really good. Of course the material is now much difficult and people start freaking out and studying like crazy. The block is very long, so you still have lots of free time... just probably not as much as you were used to in the first half of med1. Most everyone passes, but by now you start seeing some borderline fails due to the difficulty and volume of material.

 

Med1 Impression: The first half of it really sucks. Block 3 is absolutely amazing. You make lots of new friendships and some good memories

 

Med2

Block 4: Nephrology, endocrine, and obs/gyne. By now you have figured out a good studying method from med1 that works for you, and you streamline your studying to suit yourself to save you a LOT of time. There is lots of free time in the schedule for some reason, and you realize going to classes at this point is really useless. You somehow get the feeling that med school is far easier than everyone makes it out to be, because at this point you have more free time than you ever had probably since high school. For the exam, the people who were borderline failing might actually fail, or remain borderline failing.

 

Block 5: A huuuuuuuge slap in the face. The volume of material is absolutely enormous and seems inhumane. This is the medicine you thought of, thousands of hours of memorization of every nerve, muscle, bone, brain and brainstem bits, and everything inbetween that you could possibly imagine. This block definately takes a toll, and the failure rate is reflected in this by going through the roof.

 

Block 6: gastro, opthalmology, and something else. Still burnt out from block 5, even though you had a spring break, you have to write an OSCE exam, which is a summary of all the clinical skills you have learned in the first two years of medicine, and you are required to pass in order to pass preclerkship. The first half of block 6 is spent studying for this and punting block 6. Then as soon as the OSCE is done, you have to cram in block 6. You basically feel drunk and emotionally blunted all the time from the block 5 exam, followed by the osce, followed by the block 6 exam in such close proximity. You are not even worried about the block 6 exam anymore as you are too tired and fed up to care. Failure rate remains the same as block 5 even though block 6 exam is pretty easy, mostly due to everyone being burnt out.

 

Med2 impression: A LOT of material, and a constant feeling of disappointment in yourself as you can't retain all this stuff you are memorizing for more than a few weeks. The material is awesome though, and super interesting. By the end you feel as you have acomplished a hell of a lot... you have an array of clinical skills at your disposal and you start integrating all the stuff you learned in the first couple of years into some complicated patients. Tons of good memories too, my most fond memories of all time are from med2.

[Jag]

lol, the pass mark set at 60% and there is an over abundance of practice questions piled up from previous years.... on top of the fact that some of the multiple choice options are always so blatantly wrong that it is comical. Once you get over the fact that you won't be getting 80's and 90's like in undergrad anymore, its actually much more relaxing

[trynit]

i thought i would just add my two cents here, mainly because i'm bored, but also for the benefit of the premed, med1 and med2 lurkers on the boards who want to know what is in store for them:

 

Med1:

 

Block 1 pre-midterm: A really exciting time, you get to meet new people, settle in to a new school, etc. As stated, for many it is just a huge boring review, for some it is new. In either case everyone is scared because they have no idea how a medicine exam is like, so naturally they freak out and study far more than needed. Needless to say most study way too much and pass with flying colors.

 

Block 1 post-midterm: After finding out how easy the exams are and what little it takes to pass, most students settle their nerves a bit. There are slight brushings with some clinically relevant stuff, but only enough to make you want some more, not enough to learn anything from. Also you feel some degree of liberation, your classmates are no longer enemies that you must climb over to get into medicine like undergrad was. Everyone wants to help eachother out and make sure everyone is successful. Everyone passes this exam easily.

 

Block 2: Probably the worst block of them all. Not because its hard, it is actually the easiest. The material in it is terrrrrrrible and touchy feely and just makes you feel like you are wasting your time. I personally think they should just spread this material amongst the two years as needed rather than waste an entire block on it. Its the best time to take extended holidays, do early exposures, or just stay home and sleep all day. Everyone passes this exam easily.

 

Block 3: An amazing block and my personal favorite. You begin learning about cadiology and respirology and all the stuff you have been waiting for all along. You learn some clinical skills, do a lot of work in dissection, visit some patients in the hospital. Feels like real medicine and feels really good. Of course the material is now much difficult and people start freaking out and studying like crazy. The block is very long, so you still have lots of free time... just probably not as much as you were used to in the first half of med1. Most everyone passes, but by now you start seeing some borderline fails due to the difficulty and volume of material.

 

Med1 Impression: The first half of it really sucks. Block 3 is absolutely amazing. You make lots of new friendships and some good memories

 

Med2

Block 4: Nephrology, endocrine, and obs/gyne. By now you have figured out a good studying method from med1 that works for you, and you streamline your studying to suit yourself to save you a LOT of time. There is lots of free time in the schedule for some reason, and you realize going to classes at this point is really useless. You somehow get the feeling that med school is far easier than everyone makes it out to be, because at this point you have more free time than you ever had probably since high school. For the exam, the people who were borderline failing might actually fail, or remain borderline failing.

 

Block 5: A huuuuuuuge slap in the face. The volume of material is absolutely enormous and seems inhumane. This is the medicine you thought of, thousands of hours of memorization of every nerve, muscle, bone, brain and brainstem bits, and everything inbetween that you could possibly imagine. This block definately takes a toll, and the failure rate is reflected in this by going through the roof.

 

Block 6: gastro, opthalmology, and something else. Still burnt out from block 5, even though you had a spring break, you have to write an OSCE exam, which is a summary of all the clinical skills you have learned in the first two years of medicine, and you are required to pass in order to pass preclerkship. The first half of block 6 is spent studying for this and punting block 6. Then as soon as the OSCE is done, you have to cram in block 6. You basically feel drunk and emotionally blunted all the time from the block 5 exam, followed by the osce, followed by the block 6 exam in such close proximity. You are not even worried about the block 6 exam anymore as you are too tired and fed up to care. Failure rate remains the same as block 5 even though block 6 exam is pretty easy, mostly due to everyone being burnt out.

 

Med2 impression: A LOT of material, and a constant feeling of disappointment in yourself as you can't retain all this stuff you are memorizing for more than a few weeks. The material is awesome though, and super interesting. By the end you feel as you have acomplished a hell of a lot... you have an array of clinical skills at your disposal and you start integrating all the stuff you learned in the first couple of years into some complicated patients. Tons of good memories too, my most fond memories of all time are from med2.

 

Thanks for the awesome post, Jag. I think you're right. I'm going to stop studying and go to a movie tonight. I want to learn, but I don't need to get 95%s anymore