Study Tips for the New MD1 Students

New students are already flocking Bonaire with their excitment of studying medicine with dedication. If you’re an MD1 in two to three weeks onward you’re going to ask yourself what did you get yourself into. The amount of studying you have to do is ridiculously crazy. The amount of information you have to retain is so massive. You will have to study like you never studied before in your life. I’m an MD4 now and it’s been over a year since I studied in SJSM and in the following post I will tell you how to conduct your studying habits so you can do well in these medical school exams.

Medical Ethics
Medical ethics is the easiest class in MD1 and it seems like a joke to most people and to me it was. However, you still need to look over the material at least 2 times to do well. In order to do well in that class, pay attention to Dr. D or whoever is teaching. I don’t want to write out any full names of any teachers online, but if you have the Serbian teacher Dr. D, a very smart man by the way, then you should read on. Pay attention to what Dr. D is teaching. Make sure you write down the case studies he presens and discusses in class. He will test you based on those case studies and know the components of what is what. If there are any definitions, understand them, apply them in case studies, and then memorize them hard-core. Read his slides at least twice and you should be fine for his tests, it’s not hard as the other classes.

Gross Anatomy
Anatomy class is demanding, but it’s not impossible to get an A. If you’re good at memorization by picturing things then this class should be a breeze. Anatomy is mostly about memorizing the different bones and muscles of the human body. Also, you have to know the nerves and which muscles they work with. Anatomy tests are based on the lecture in class which is a major part and the practical test which is the minor part. The Board Review Series Anatomy book is the guide for this class. In the back of each chapter do those practice questions; if you can answer all those practice questions then you should not be making anything less than an A. In Anatomy lab, pay attention to what the instructor tells you to study. And keep your ears open to which muscles the instructor mentions and study that hardcore, and also study what the “clinical significance” is of whatever he mentions.

Embryology
Dr. B, the Pharmacology teacher who teaches in MD3, also teaches embryology. In his class don’t even look at the text book. Study from his PowerPoint slides, it has everything you need to get an A in his tests. His tests are straight forward, however all of his questions are clinical based because all the USMLE Step 1 questions are clinical based. The Fall 2010 class is the largest batch of students in SJSM history so he may or may not give a review before the test depending on time, but if he does give a review PAY ATTENTION to him. In his review he will tell which slides to ignore and which slides to study. I can’t stress enough when I tell you DON’T study from the text book; STUDY HIS SLIDES.

Histology
Histology class is the most demanding and the hardest class of MD1. The dean of Basic Sciences, Dr. K, teaches this class and he expects a lot from his students. When I was an MD1 he told me and my class “you’re all MDs, you have to struggle”. Therefore, you can get an idea of what you’re about to go through. For me I spent 80% of my study time for Histology and I did well in my first test because I put so much effort into it. Just like Embryology slides, you need to study from Histology slides. The test comes directly from the slides. Histology class has so much volume of information that you may or may not be able to study everything. The key to studying Histology is repetition. If you read a slide don’t spend 30 minutes on it trying to memorize it, move on to the next slide after reading and understanding it once. Go through an entire set of slides once and then do it over again. The more repetitions you do the more the information will stick to your head, and that’s the key in studying histology; repetition is the key.

Just keep in mind what I wrote above. Don’t deviate from it because I went through MD1 last year and the teachers have no changed so most things have stayed the same. I wrote this post to help the new MD1s and it is your choice to follow it. Good luck and I hope you will enjoy this semester with us as you study and begin your medical career.