How is medical school compared to undergrad?

[thehockeykid]

I have really wanted to know what medical school would be like. I was wondering what are the classes like how is the learning environment, what are the tests like etc?

 

Apart of me thinks it would be soo cool to be a doctor and save lives for a living and medical school would make that happen.

[ellorie]

I can only speak as a pre-clerk - clerkship is a whole different world.

 

Personally, I think it's easier. When I was in undergrad, I had 5 major courses going on at a time and I had to stress about every single point on every single assignment.

 

In medical school, I can focus on one thing at a time and really be in it for the learning rather than for the mark.

 

We go to lecture for 3 hours every morning - sometimes 4, sometimes 2, but mostly 3. It's lots of different professors with lots of different styles, but they have to give us the "objectives" and they mostly test from them, so the exams are less about random memorization and more about the cases/competency (although there is definitely still a random memorization element).

 

I find that I am also a lot closer to people than I was in undergrad - there's something nice about always being in the same classroom with the same people.

 

And the education is a lot more practical - I really feel like I'm learning something useful. The flipside of that is that I need to actually retain it after the exam, which is a different kind of stress, but I don't mind that so much.

 

The exams are LONG - like 80+ MCQ and 5-6 pages of short answer, but it tends to be case based so it's interesting. Well, a lot of it is interesting. Some of it is pretty boring.

 

The best part is how all the physicians who teach us mostly see us as future colleagues and they really are honest with us and lay it all out. And the other best part is getting to go and shadow physicians basically whenever you want.

 

I am really loving medical school, to be honest with you. It's a LOT of info and at times you just feel like you're drowning in all the material, but for me, it all seems to come together just in time, and after a while you get a sense of what's the most important and what's more of a sidenote.

[Mandibular]

I can only speak as a pre-clerk - clerkship is a whole different world.

 

Personally, I think it's easier. When I was in undergrad, I had 5 major courses going on at a time and I had to stress about every single point on every single assignment.

 

In medical school, I can focus on one thing at a time and really be in it for the learning rather than for the mark.

 

We go to lecture for 3 hours every morning - sometimes 4, sometimes 2, but mostly 3. It's lots of different professors with lots of different styles, but they have to give us the "objectives" and they mostly test from them, so the exams are less about random memorization and more about the cases/competency (although there is definitely still a random memorization element).

 

I find that I am also a lot closer to people than I was in undergrad - there's something nice about always being in the same classroom with the same people.

 

And the education is a lot more practical - I really feel like I'm learning something useful. The flipside of that is that I need to actually retain it after the exam, which is a different kind of stress, but I don't mind that so much.

 

The exams are LONG - like 80+ MCQ and 5-6 pages of short answer, but it tends to be case based so it's interesting. Well, a lot of it is interesting. Some of it is pretty boring.

 

The best part is how all the physicians who teach us mostly see us as future colleagues and they really are honest with us and lay it all out. And the other best part is getting to go and shadow physicians basically whenever you want.

I am really loving medical school, to be honest with you. It's a LOT of info and at times you just feel like you're drowning in all the material, but for me, it all seems to come together just in time, and after a while you get a sense of what's the most important and what's more of a sidenote.

 

 

definitely! they see us in whole different perspective. Your description of preclerkship is pretty accurate.

As for clerkship, it's really not that bad. I'm currently in Gen Surg and its far from being the worst experience of my life. I'm second assistant everyday, do followups early in the morning before the OR. However, clerkship is really "user dependant" : its really what you make of it.

GOLDEN RULES: never be late, no matter what! always be respectful towards ALL staff members, and when you dont know the answer, just be honest cause MDs have had many clerks before you, and they're very keen in spotting bull****ters/ "politician like answers"

 

Btw, med school is super cool, believe me when I say that you can't even imagine what it's like until you start. Just relax and enjoy the ride

Godspeed

[thehockeykid]

is clerkship similar to what is depicted in mainstream medical schools where they test you on different material?

[Mandibular]

attendings do ask questions, but its often the expected, basic stuff. however, if you answer correctly multiple questions in a row, they will test you further, and that's where it gets fun

unless you do/answer something non med student worthy (example: when asked wheres the esophagus is during a gastroscopy, and the clerk points to where the vocal cords are ?!?!?! , that's when you will get your a** handed to you). other than that, no sweats

[thatonekid]

I can only speak as a pre-clerk - clerkship is a whole different world.

 

Personally, I think it's easier. When I was in undergrad, I had 5 major courses going on at a time and I had to stress about every single point on every single assignment.

 

In medical school, I can focus on one thing at a time and really be in it for the learning rather than for the mark.

 

We go to lecture for 3 hours every morning - sometimes 4, sometimes 2, but mostly 3. It's lots of different professors with lots of different styles, but they have to give us the "objectives" and they mostly test from them, so the exams are less about random memorization and more about the cases/competency (although there is definitely still a random memorization element).

 

I find that I am also a lot closer to people than I was in undergrad - there's something nice about always being in the same classroom with the same people.

 

And the education is a lot more practical - I really feel like I'm learning something useful. The flipside of that is that I need to actually retain it after the exam, which is a different kind of stress, but I don't mind that so much.

 

The exams are LONG - like 80+ MCQ and 5-6 pages of short answer, but it tends to be case based so it's interesting. Well, a lot of it is interesting. Some of it is pretty boring.

 

The best part is how all the physicians who teach us mostly see us as future colleagues and they really are honest with us and lay it all out. And the other best part is getting to go and shadow physicians basically whenever you want.

 

I am really loving medical school, to be honest with you. It's a LOT of info and at times you just feel like you're drowning in all the material, but for me, it all seems to come together just in time, and after a while you get a sense of what's the most important and what's more of a sidenote.

I second all of this.

 

The only thing I would add is a further comment about the volume of material, which is where I think med school is "harder" than undergrad. The amount of stuff that you have to learn in a week of med school is likely greater than the amount of stuff you have to learn in a week of undergrad (on average). However, if you stay on top of the material, it's very manageable.

[Real Beef]

I appreciate the insight. I have been rather surprised hearing about what good experience medical school was for some physician friends I have as well as from this forum. I always thought medical school was hell and the only joy was at the end or rather the end of residency but hearing all of this since May 15th that it is actually a rewarding, enjoyable experience albeit with a lot of work (which I dont mind) I am even more looking forward to it.