If you’re about to begin or are in the beginning stages of med school, you’re probably wondering how to survive your pre-clinical years of medical school. Well, first, congratulations. Getting into medical school is a great feat! Surviving medical school is the next goal. Your pre-clinical years are vastly different from your clinical years, and knowing that ahead of time may save you some of the surprise.
If you’re anything like me, then you’re just trying to survive your pre-clinical years of medical school to get to the clinical years. You’re in medicine to work with patients, not to sit in a room and study. Therefore, it can be a grind to get through all of the exams and coursework about subjects that aren’t inherently interesting. However, as someone who is in their fourth year of medical school, here is my advice on how to survive your pre-clinical years of medical school.
Find out which resources work best for you
My biggest mistake in my first year was not trusting outside resources. I hadn’t found them helpful in an undergrad setting and thought that the lecture material was the best source. Notecards were also my jam when I was an undergrad, so I figured I would bring the same style to medical school.
Both were the wrong approaches.
Outside resources are either great primary resources if your lecture material is not very good, or great supplements if you have great lecture material. Either way, learning the same information in various formats is very helpful. Also, all medical resources reflect what’s on the boards, so you’ll rarely find inconsistencies that can be confusing. At the end of the day, your exams may be written from your lecture material, so prioritize that. But use other sources that you find helpful.
Potential sources:
- Sketchy – uses graphical videos to help with memory and association
- Boards and Beyond – video resource with high yield information presented by a physician
- UWorld – gold standard question bank
- OnlineMedEd – uses the PACE method to provide a comprehensive overview
- AMBOSS – massive medical library with Qbank and clinician mode
- MedBullets – culmination of bullet points and notes about various diseases and conditions
- Kaplan – major resource with notes and question banks
- TrueLearn – question bank, very help for osteopathic students
- Dirty Medicine – free video resource on YouTube
- JJ Medicine – free video resources on YouTube
- Emma Holliday – free video resource on YouTube
- Ninja Nerd – free video resource on YouTube
Learn what type of learner you are
Everyone is different in how they absorb information. Learning the type of learner that you are will be key for how to survive your pre-clinical years of medical school. I have classmates who like notecards, who can listen to a lecture once and know the lesson, who need to use several different faculties (me). Finding out how you best absorb information is vital for your success. Below is an outline of the different types of learners.
Visual
Visual learners are able to best absorb information by watching. This means that they can watch videos, lectures, demonstrations, etc. and get all of the information they need. These types of learners may best learn from materials like notecards, YouTube videos, and attending class.
Audio
Audio learners best absorb information that they hear. This means that they don’t necessarily have to watch something with intense focus because they are really focused on what’s being said. The best resources for these individuals may be podcasts or lectures/videos playing in the background.
Reading/Writing
Reading/writing learners best learn by reading the material and then writing it out or reproducing it. The best learning resources for these individuals are textbooks or lecture slides and whiteboards or notebooks. When I was in my pre-clinical years, I would constantly reread the lecture slides and then copy it on either a notecard, big sheet of paper, or a whiteboard. This constant repetition helped me connect ideas between slides and memorize small facts that could be used on exams.
Kinesthetic
Kinesthetic learners are tactile or hands on. This means that they best learn through actually doing something, not just watching or hearing about it. The best resources for these individuals are other people or materials on which they can demonstrate. If the class is anatomy, then being in the anatomy lab is the best option for these learners. If they are learning information, then having them teach others is the best way for them to retain the information.
Some people are a mix of two or more of these learners. You may come into medical school already knowing which type of learner you are. You may also come into med school and have to change the type of learner you were because the amount of information is much more extensive and time consuming. The only way you will find out is trial and error, so find different ways to learn information and see what the results are. Whichever method is most successful, continue fine tuning it throughout the first two years.
Set a routine
The workload in medical school is so vast, that having an organized way to get through everything while also taking care of yourself is going to be most for how to survive your pre-clinical years in medical school. Less organized individuals are able to survive, but those who I know with a meticulous schedule are disciplined, consistent, and capable of getting everything done that they want.
The key with creating a schedule is to first decide the frequency with which you want to create a schedule. Do you want to set one each Sunday night? Do you want to start your morning out with planning the day? These are decisions that you have to make based on what’s easiest for you. Next, decide what is the best medium for you to manage this schedule. Do you like planners or are you more of an online calendar type person? Find the modality that is going to be easiest for you that won’t get lost in the craziness of each day.
Once you’ve decided these basic parameters of creating a schedule, then the next step is laying out all that you have to accomplish within that time period. I normally write out a to-do list so I know what my goals and expectations are for the week. Once those are all laid out, then I insert them into timeblocks.
You can decide if your schedule is going to be organized into specific times or if you are just going to have a general flow that you work through each day. I like time blocks because they give me a sense of created pressure to get work done, but sometimes, a general flow takes off the pressure and allows me to just work through each task methodically.
Be okay with your routine falling apart
Having a schedule is great, but when it falls apart, it can’t be the end of the world. At the end of the day, life happens. That hour-by-hour perfect schedule that you had can be decimated by anything – illness, family matter, unexpected social event, traffic, or fatigue. I can’t tell you the number of schedules I’ve had thrown off by an hour-long phone call with my mom or a friend. This stuff happens, so it’s important for your schedule to be flexible in order to survive your pre-clinical years of medical school.
This can be in the form of a “catch up day” where you don’t schedule much of anything. Maybe Sundays are the days where you don’t schedule much work so any of the work you have left over can be accomplished that day. Another way to make your schedule flexible is to overestimate the amount of time you’ll need for each task. This way, you have chances to run ahead and run behind, if need-be.
The most important part of having a schedule is to make sure that it doesn’t run you to the point where it’s stressful. It’s okay for it to add just a bit of pressure to keep you focused, but it shouldn’t be something where you feel so overwhelmed by it, that you have no time to enjoy yourself. In your schedule should be wellness tasks like sleeping, eating, working out, or even breaks. Incorporating them into your schedule helps to ensure that you give yourself time each day to devote to the things that you enjoy while also giving you something to look forward to in between study sessions.
Build a strong support system
Medical school has been one of the most isolating experiences that I’ve had thus far. The only thing that made it bearable was my strong support system. My friends and family back home understood the stressors that I was under and never made me feel guilty for not being as attentive or present as I had been before starting medical school . However, when I was in need of anything – a fun night out, a shoulder to cry on, a warm body to be in the same room – they were available.
Even while in medical school, I managed to develop great friendships that provided me companionship during a trying time. I was able to be there for them in the same way, and that bond is something that no one else on the outside will ever understand.
Don’t let the stress of medical school keep you from interacting with others. Community is one of the best protections against burnout, depression, anxiety, and other negative consequences that come with isolation.
Set aside time for yourself
Medical school is a drain – it will simply drain the life out of you if you let it. In the middle of all the studying, research, extracurriculars, and other CV-builders you are doing, you have to make time for yourself. You cannot pour from an empty cup and medical school will empty your cup in a heartbeat. Make yourself a priority where you do something that doesn’t benefit anyoen more than it benefits you.
In medical school I had a massage membership where I would get a massage once a month. It was the best money I ever spent. If you like playing tennis or pickleball, make a date to do that and don’t stand yourself up. Find things you enjoy doing and try to do them once a week. Again, this gives you time to recharge and something to look forward to. The guilt associated with taking this time for yourself is normal, but misplaced. You always need time to pour into yourself and often I found that I was more productive after taking this time.
Find something positive to look forward to
After each exam, I always had something fun planned. The point of this was to, one, put a bit of pressure on me to study because I wouldn’t have time to study for a re-test, and, two, was to give me a “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow, so to speak. This would be a trip, a date or hangout, a hair appointment, something that I had been looking forward to and would serve as a treat for all of my hard work.
What is your pot of gold? Find something that means a lot to you and can serve as motivation to get through whatever block or semester you are in. Traveling as a medical student is feasible, even if it’s just a weekend getaway to a nearby city. Maybe you can arrange a visit with a friend or a loved one for the weekend following an exam. The options are endless, but rewarding yourself is important.
Engage in academic activities that you enjoy
The competitiveness of residency is daunting, and makes everyone feel as if they need to be doing everything, anything, all at once. However, the main thing that residencies look for is follow through and commitment. Having a variety of fleeting activities and projects just to fill your CV looks just as shallow as it was.
Engage in academic activities that you enjoy in order to survive your pre-clinical years. Any research, clubs/organizations, volunteer, etc. that you engage in need to be things that you like. They are taking up your time and, therefore, should not be a waste. If you have to drag yourself out of bed to participate or it’s not something that you feel particularly passionate about, then you should probably not engage in it.
When residencies ask you about those activities, there needs to be some sort of reasoning behind why you wanted to pursue that and what you got out of it. It’s hard to have good answers to these questions when you were just doing it to make your resume look good.
Don’t fear the faculty
The faculty can be scary, mostly because of all of the letters behind their names. However, they are going to be the best resources at your school. In fact, the more intimidating they are, in my experience, the more knowledgeable and helpful they are in a one-on-one setting. Those are the professors that push you to get to another level because they see something in you that you may not see in yourself.
All of the faculty are there to help, and booking one-on-ones with them is a great way to better understand the information and also build genuine connections that could come in handy later (i.e. when you need a recommendation letter). But, if you are going to go to the faculty for assistance, make sure you are doing your due diligence: go to class, do the assignments/readings, come to the sessions with specific questions. The faculty don’t have a lot of time, and they don’t like for their time to be wasted. Therefore, making sure to use the faculty, but also coming prepared will ensure that you get the best out of that time with them.
Ask for help before it’s too late
Most medical students have been extremely smart a majority of their lives and rarely needed help in undergrad or high school. Therefore, they often struggle to ask for help and try to bully their way through any struggles. This is rarely admirable or successful. There is no shame in asking for help, and in fact, is probably the most important tip for how to survive pre-clinical years in medical school.
Each school is equipped with professionals whose jobs are to assist students with academic planning, finding resources, and connecting students with the assistance or support that they require. Get familiar with those individuals early so you can develop a relationship with them. The better they know you, the better they can help direct you. In addition to faculty and staff, you can reach out to your family members, a therapist, friends, and other medical students. All of these individuals can offer you something, even if it’s just an ear to listen.
As medical students, it’s important for us to remove the stigma associated with asking for help. This means supporting classmates who are obviously struggling and refraining from passing judgement towards those who are at a different level.
Key Takeaways
Medical school can be a very fulfilling experience, but can also try your confidence, patients, integrity, and motivation. Getting to call yourself a doctor is great, but you have to survive your pre-clinical years to get there. I hope these tips help, and if you have any additional, please leave them below in the comments.