If you plan on having a career as a physician, it is important that you take up a pre-med course for your undergraduate studies and apply for medical school once you finish college. Your first year in medical school will perhaps be one of the most difficult, given that you will need to dedicate long hours listening to lectures and even longer hours studying your notes. This guide is aimed at helping you get a clearer picture of what medical school is and what you can expect during your first two semesters.
Popular media misconceptions
Before attending your first year in medical school, it will help you a lot if you take time to look into the popular misconceptions surrounding medical school, so you can build reasonable expectations about your studies and the medical profession as well.
– You need to have a strong science background.
– There is only one teaching method adopted by different schools.
– Medical school is easy.
– You can’t attend medical school if you’re short on funds.
The reality
First off, you don’t necessarily need a strong science background in order to get accepted into medical school. Although students who plan on taking up medicine after their undergraduate education are encouraged to take up a pre-med or any science-related course, having a strong science background does not necessarily ensure your success in medical school. There are more than a few things you need, beyond having a strong background in science.
Moreover, different medical schools have different teaching methods. A single method adopted by any specific medical school may not necessarily be used by another medical school. Medical school is nothing like what you may have experienced in college. The teaching methods are different, and the courses you will be taking for your medical studies are more specialized. Simply put, medical school is difficult. You will be required to listen to 50-minute lectures, read 500 pages due for an exam the following day, and spend long and grueling hours studying if you want to get high grades.
With various medical school scholarships and grants being offered, you can still pursue your medical studies even though you may not have enough funds to start with. Many of these grants are offered for research projects, community-based medicine, and even made available to minorities.
What to expect
During the first two years of medical school, most of your studies will be spent in classrooms and in laboratories. Huge volumes of reading materials, books, and the like are to be expected during your first year and second year. Although the subjects in first year and second year will vary from one medical school to another, as a freshman, you can expect to tackle subjects on Gross Anatomy, Molecular Biology, Human Genetics, Physiology, Pharmacology, and Physical Diagnosis, among many others.
How to prepare for your first year
– Expect to study everyday, even during weekends. If you think that medical school is anything like college, wherein you can study at your own pace and skip class if you don’t fancy your professor, it’s very possible that you’re pursuing the wrong profession. Medical students spend long hours poring over notes, reading huge volumes of books, and trying to catch up on lectures.
– Learn to organize your notes. In medical school, you will be presented with a lot of information, most of which will be coming from volumes of medical books. It is important for you to be able to transcribe this information into easy-to-read formats, so you can easily digest them during study time. Some students are known to make voice recordings of their notes as well, so that they can listen to them too, whenever possible.
– Never underestimate the benefits of a study group. If studying on your own gets stale over time and you need some form of interaction from others, a study group will be most beneficial for you. However, make sure that you form a study group with people who have the same study ethics as you to achieve greater efficiency during your study sessions.
– Know which study material to focus on, so you can maximize on your time. You can do this by understanding what a certain topic is all about and which possible questions will be most relevant during examinations. It is best to remember that you will do a lot of reading during your first and second years in medical school, and since it will be impossible to memorize every single information contained in your books, it is crucial to know which parts you need to focus on. This will help make the most of the study time available to you, when you’re not listening to hour-long lectures or catching up on lost sleep.
What the rest of your years in school will bring
During the third and fourth year of medical school, however, you will no longer be confined to studying inside classrooms and laboratories. You will be taught hands-on patient care during this time, and these years will be considered as the “clinical years” in your medical studies. Hospital rotations will take place during the third year, and these hospital departments will include internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry, and obstetrics or gynecology. During your fourth year in medical school, you will also need to attend hospital rotations, although during this period, you will be encouraged to choose rotations in departments that suit your planned specialization.
Medical school is a serious commitment, and only those who have the innate desire to serve in the medical community are likely to make it through the first four grueling years of medical training. Medical school is expensive as well, and if you are not able to obtain any funding, you should expect to pay for all your tuition and other fees. Your first year in medical school, however, will be one of the toughest years during the course of your studies. Your freshman year will necessitate the right preparation, so you can progress through the rest of your medical school years without major difficulties.
Photo Credits: ernstl, John Jay Glenn, Effe effe