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Starting medical school is exciting. I remember it like it was 5 months ago…
Okay, for real though. Starting medical school is exciting and nerve-racking and there is a lot going through your mind. You probably have a lot of questions and maybe I can answer some of them. Maybe questions like: What do I do to prepare? How do I study? What should I use to take notes? What extracurriculars should I do? How do I get into residency?
If you haven’t started medical school yet, take a minute to breathe. I’m going to go more into the last three in future posts, so let’s just start with the first one for now.
What should I do to prepare before starting medical school? First, I’ll begin with the technical.
Make sure you have the supplies you need.
Whether you’ve taken some time off or you’re starting right after undergrad, you’ll need to make sure you have the right supplies before you start. A good laptop, tablet, or a combination of the two is essential. Personally, I have a MacBook Pro and an iPad. Others have Surface Pros. It doesn’t matter exactly which you chose, as long as it’s reliable and you’re comfortable with it. I bought myself a new laptop right before starting school, since my old one showed signs of being on its last leg. Good thing I did, I let my little brother have that other one and it died within a month. Good it didn’t have all my notes on it for a month of medical school. Anyway, other supplies you’ll want to think about are the basics, a good bag (I use a backpack), pencils, pens, notebook or loose-leaf paper, and a good planner (here is the bullet journal
In terms of studying, in general, I say don’t.
Medical school with provide you with all of the resources you need to prepare yourself once you start classes. The only thing I would say to do is preview your first lectures, but not until the day before classes start. I’d take orientation as your time to prepare for starting medical school. Get into the habit of waking up at a set time and having structure to your day if you’ve been in summer mode for a while.
Before orientation, enjoy yourself!
Medical school is a long road and this will be your second to last free summer, so you definitely want to take some time for yourself. Since I’m in the MD-PhD program, I chose to do a summer lab rotation before starting medical school. This took up 8 weeks of my summer, but I planned it out so that I would still be able to take 10 days to go on my annual Maine vacation before orientation started. I came back the night before orientation (someone else in my class actually returned from vacation the day of) and I felt that it helped me clear my mind and get started on the right foot. At least take a little time for yourself to refresh.
Starting medical school can be intimidating, but it’s completely manageable if you set yourself up right from the beginning. Get into some good habits and give yourself the time off you need, but prepare yourself with the right supplies as well.
Do you have anything to add? Let me know below!
