Here’s a list of tips I would give to my first-year newbies:
This is based on what I have learned from my own experiences, and it is up to you to see what fits your learning needs and institutional policies :)
1. Make friends. It won’t hurt to get out of your bubble of studying. In fact, you’ll make friends you can study with.
2. Take it as a networking opportunity! Every corner of med school provides opportunities to network with seniors, with batchmates, and with professors. Don’t be afraid to approach people and connect.
3. You don’t need to attend every lecture! Check out which professors work for you and only attend those.
4. Don’t rely on lectures to teach you information. Keep them your last resort to understand the highly testable material.
5. Don’t read through every textbook. Some topics are simple and can easily be covered through lecture slides, some need assistance through other resources, and some need concept building (so draw).
6. Choose your books wisely. The longer the book, the more time you’re going to need to read through it. Strategically plan how much time you can allocate to your textbooks, they’re not the ONLY source of information.
7. Don’t buy the books everyone else is buying. Do your research and find what works for your study routines, some prefer reading through the long heavy books, others want USMLE focused books, and some, who prefer not to read through textbooks.
8. Don’t buy all your books on the first day of medical school. Wait before you jump in. There’s lots of books to choose from and it’s better you take the time out to plan which ones you’ll use.
9. Be friendly, but don’t make every person your friend. Simply said, keep your private circle small, but strong. You don’t need to be close to every person you meet. Be cautious of how much information you share.
10. Join organizations in your university that interest you! This is the best NETWORKING opportunity. It’s also great for your CV! For my university, we have PWA, SAYA, SOCH, Hamara Mustaqbil, VHFAT, SoMR etc. all working in different areas including welfare, research, patient care etc.
11. Seek research workshops and opportunities. The earlier you get involved, the better. Refer to my blogpost on getting involved in research early on.
12. Use the TIPS your SENIORS provide. They’re very helpful, and you can learn from their mistakes.
13. Try out different study styles, routines, books etc. This is your time to experiment. First year is the easiest and least busy year of medical school, use this time to explore opportunities, network, learn how to study etc.
14. When studying for exams, prioritize PAST PAPERS.
15. Don’t get too caught up with studying, have fun along with it! Take part in university events. One thing I like to emphasize on is consistency, even if its 10 minutes make that commitment to study every day.
16. Don’t let the PANDEMIC destroy your aspirations. Even though you’ll be limited in many ways this year, don’t let that stop you from pursuing all that you want. There’s always going to be a creative way around getting all these things on the list! Want to make friends? Join the FB group for your batch. Can’t find research opportunities? Connect with your batchmates and make groups to help each other out. Want to do extracurricular activities? Research different positions and note their application deadlines so that you can apply. Don’t know how to study? Optimize the time you have with online learning to find what study routines/styles exist out there (YouTube is amazing for this, but don’t go down the rabbit hole haha).
17. Prepare to learn from your mistakes. This is VERY important as a medical student. You’re bound to make many mistakes, but that’s okay.
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