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That's really interesting! My brother is also attending med school, so it's interesting to see what types of things he's learning.
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I remember when I was in my first year of Medical School. Everything was new and fascinating. Just try to keep that open mindedness you have now. Most ppl lose it when they reach the last 2 years. It's sad because I still find many things fascinating, I hope you will too when you reach last year.
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would u recommend me trying doing LSD? i read about it not being that bad
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Hey hey where do you go to medical school? It's quite interesting that you do mini-rotations quite early! The foramen ovale is quite interesting isn't it? The embryology and the development of the heart are pretty neat too.
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I'm at Loma Linda University, in California. I'm really happy with my choice so far; there's absolutely no competitive atmosphere between students. From what I've heard from other medical schools, that's often not the case.
We had our first anatomy lab today, which was a very interesting and humbling experience.
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Hey, nice read! Maybe you can tell us a little bit about which subjects you have in your first semester. I'm also in medical school (in Germany) and I'm interested in the differences between medical school in the US and Germany. While your first experiences sound awesome I have to say that my first semester at medical school was rather dull with a lot of basic subjects and nearly zero clinical relevance (chemistry, physics, terminology and stuff like that).
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On August 23 2011 14:11 OscarN wrote:
would u recommend me trying doing LSD? i read about it not being that bad
IMO not the best place to ask this if you are serious. If the OP doesn't have any self experience or haven't "studied" it before going to med school, someone who has been in med school for a week doesn't know the answer to this.
But anyway, great read. What i read from your "story" on the "How did you figure out it" -thread, i hope you'll enjoy med school!
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On August 31 2011 23:38 SkyTheUnknown wrote:
Hey, nice read! Maybe you can tell us a little bit about which subjects you have in your first semester. I'm also in medical school (in Germany) and I'm interested in the differences between medical school in the US and Germany. While your first experiences sound awesome I have to say that my first semester at medical school was rather dull with a lot of basic subjects and nearly zero clinical relevance (chemistry, physics, terminology and stuff like that).
First quarter was (exam week starts on Tuesday):
gross anatomy
+ Show Spoiler +This quarter we did all of the muscles/bones/nerves/vessels in the shoulder, neck, and thorax. I think it continues next quarter with the internal organs, and then gets back to the limbs in the winter.
histology
+ Show Spoiler +similar to gross anatomy, but looking at types of cells. This quarter covered all the different types of cells and connective tissue, and next quarter we'll focus more on samples from different organs.
cell structure and function
+ Show Spoiler +The first week of class included a semester's worth of cell biology/physiology. What all the organelles do and basic mechanisms of communication between them. A little lighter than what a cell phys class in undergrad contains, but compressed into five hours of someone talking really, really fast.
physiology
+ Show Spoiler +basic cell, nerve, and muscle physiology. Ion channels, membrane potentials, action potentials (and their analogues in the different types of muscle), and classic diseases that result from disruptions in the above.
physical diagnosis
+ Show Spoiler +All we got this quarter in PDX was how to take a history and basic examination of the skin, nails, and breasts. Much more next quarter. This is actually one of the most difficult classes for me to study for, since I don't have much to tie what I'm learning to yet. It's like trying to sort the first ten puzzle pieces of a 1000 piece puzzle.
evidence based medicine
+ Show Spoiler +This is basically a class about how to read and interpret medical research. Included a primer on study design (which types of studies are good for answering what types of questions), and how to find and evaluate studies on their ability to answer questions you or your patients may have.
medical biochemistry
+ Show Spoiler +not much this quarter, especially for me given my background. Basic pH regulation and nutrition so far, not much else.
Students entering medical school here (as you probably know) already have a college degree that includes general chemistry, physics, biology, calculus/statistics, and often biochemistry, so ours starts out a little more interesting than yours might, unless you're into basic science for its own sake. We still take some basic science, but it's pretty much all applicable somewhere in medicine. No more photosynthesis, fractional distillation, or rotational inertia.
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i really wish i had gone to medical school, it's so epic!
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omg biochemist! havent talked to you in a long time, hope you still remember me lol. Nice to hear that you are in medical school! and especially in california med school! congratulations! Anyways I wish you luck and hope you become top of your class =)
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Geez so intense. I would be stressed out of my mind.
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Question: Is med school the tedious 4 years of rote memorization that I've always imagined it to be?
I was originally going to complete a pre-med curriculum in addition to my bioengineering major, but then I took my introductory biology class and realized how much I hated just having to pound through books and shove information into my head without much real thought. Is med school much different from that?
(I'm not bashing here; I understand that there can be a joy in just straight-up learning and appreciating how cool life is. I'm just curious. )
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On September 17 2011 14:09 matjlav wrote:Question: Is med school the tedious 4 years of rote memorization that I've always imagined it to be? I was originally going to complete a pre-med curriculum in addition to my bioengineering major, but then I took my introductory biology class and realized how much I hated just having to pound through books and shove information into my head without much real thought. Is med school much different from that? (I'm not bashing here; I understand that there can be a joy in just straight-up learning and appreciating how cool life is. I'm just curious. )
There's plenty of both. You're not going to get through pharmacology without rote, mindless memorization. You also get used to shoving the information in, and your brain literally adapts to get significantly better at doing it. By the end of second year you're learning and retaining stuff dozens of times faster than you were in undergrad, and it begins to seem normal.
It's really only 2 years of rote memorization though; the third year consists of you living in the hospital learning how to apply that two years of knowledge to solving problems with real patients. The last year is a vacation by comparison, and you have a ton of flexibility and very little stress.
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On September 17 2011 14:09 matjlav wrote:Question: Is med school the tedious 4 years of rote memorization that I've always imagined it to be? I was originally going to complete a pre-med curriculum in addition to my bioengineering major, but then I took my introductory biology class and realized how much I hated just having to pound through books and shove information into my head without much real thought. Is med school much different from that? (I'm not bashing here; I understand that there can be a joy in just straight-up learning and appreciating how cool life is. I'm just curious. )
does it matter? you can't earn a decent living and have a safe job outside of medicine (and maybe a few other careers, tenured professor?)
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On September 17 2011 14:53 yourwhiteshadow wrote:Show nested quote +On September 17 2011 14:09 matjlav wrote:Question: Is med school the tedious 4 years of rote memorization that I've always imagined it to be? I was originally going to complete a pre-med curriculum in addition to my bioengineering major, but then I took my introductory biology class and realized how much I hated just having to pound through books and shove information into my head without much real thought. Is med school much different from that? (I'm not bashing here; I understand that there can be a joy in just straight-up learning and appreciating how cool life is. I'm just curious. ) does it matter? you can't earn a decent living and have a safe job outside of medicine (and maybe a few other careers, tenured professor?)
If all you want is money and job security, do dentistry. Medicine will steal your soul if you don't enjoy it. It might do it anyway.
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My brother is currently on his second year; apparently he's studying a fuckton, but I'm not really surprised.. How is the workload for a 1st year med student?
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Most highly-successful first-years spend 3-4 hours studying a day, on top of 3-6 hours in lecture+lab. Some people can get away with less; some people put in even more (and a lot of those burn out).
Second year is significantly harder, but by then we've learned some skills and know how to keep up. So second years will spend a little more time studying, but tend to do it a lot more efficiently.
I might sit down for four hours but only get two of actual productive work in.
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EPT
