Lessons from the toils of a 1st semester moving to 2nd semester

Lessons from the toils of a 1st semester moving to 2nd semester:

My first semester in medical school can be described with one word: rough. I wasn't adequately prepared for the quantity of material. I knew that there was a lot more material to assimilate versus undergraduate and graduate school, however what I had in mind was short of the actual quantity, and then some. The volume to be learned put my studying out of sync. Actually, I changed the way i studied, changed it some more, changed it some more again, revamped my studying technique and then changed it, and then modified it and modified it and modified it till the very end of the semester. I will keep tweaking the way I study to optimize my studying technique because there's always room for improvement. Medical school is more fun this way; I would be bored if I simply figured everything out without any hardwork. That said here's what I learned in 1st semester.

1st semesters lessons:
1) Histology is not an easy class: I put this first because if you play around with this subject you can easily fail. It is taught by two good professors. They do the best they can to make the material easy to understand/assimilate. The material isn't difficult because it is hard to comprehend rather it is just dense and volumous. Do not procrastinate because the material looks familiar/easy, do not put it off. Start studying right away. Study everyday.
2) Do not listen to upperclassmen when they say a class is easy. Maybe it was easy for them. Study hard for every class everyday... everyday!
3) Anatomy notes are good... if you can decipher the diagrams. I took the time to decipher the notes, while most people didn't. Thats fine since there are different ways to study... from the BRS, from the notes, from tutors notes etc. Regardless of how you study FINE TUNE YOUR KNOWLEDGE. I put this in caps for a reason. If you want to do well in the "written anatomy" section tuning what you've learned is vital.
4) Pick one or two comprehensive resources and stick with them. In every class there many books and videos to study from. Different books / videos work well for different people. Every upper semester you speak with will have varying opinions as to which is the most useful and which they used to pass their classes. Your job as a first semester is to figure out which one u like and stick to it. If you don't, you will be overwhelmed and waste a lot of time.
5) FINE TUNE YOUR ANATOMY KNOWLEDGE: This is critical so it gets a bullet of its own. There are three ways to tune your knowledge of anatomy.
a) BRS questions
b) University of Michigan questions (found on angel)
c) Tutoring slides (from you anatomy TAs)
I have listed the above in order of importance with the most important at the top (a). The way to use the BRS questions, is to get a note book and write down the questions and then write the answer to the question... In addition to the answer other relations between other structures are pointed out. write these down. Then study these answers and relationships together with your other material. (remember this is fine tuning and is not sufficient on its own.)
6) The way to study anatomy: a) learn position of structures, b) know your insertions, attachments, innervations, and blood vessels. c) Then and this is very important know the relationships between different structures. This will help you do well in the written section of your anatomy block. An example of a relationship is that the bladder is right above your pubic symphysis so a gun shot to right above the border of the pubic symphis would strike what structure( the bladder.) Another example is the external laryngeal nerve runs with the superior lthyroid artery so if one of them is cut what other structure is most likely to be cut... Duh... the other structure running with it. This is how your anatomy questions are structured so know relationships
7) Use your TA's. Ask them for questions... Ask them what they remember about past exams. Ask them what's important. Ask not just one TA but numerous. (they all remember different things) Whatever you're told do not take it in passively... write it down in the same note book and study it...
8) Make a plan on how you'll study.
9) Stick to your plan. do not put off what you learn. If u miss a day, just skip it and keep up with the rest of the material.
10) Study everyday! (except sunday or one day...)

I said first semester was rough but I can say looking back that I liked it. It was enlightening and brought out the best in me. I put myself to the test and came out a wiser student. For everyone that helped me thanks: Benji, chanudi, Ada [histo TA- big shout out to her], classmates, and most importantly thanks to GOD.

Anyways, onwards to 2nd semester for me. Welcome and good luck to the incoming 1st semesters!