So Med 2. Where do begin.. I guess the best thing to do would be to talk about my thoughts on each class that I took this past semester and expand on a few things that helped me do well.
Biochemistry
A great class!! One of the best things about biochemistry is the professor. You guys will learn very quick that he is one of a kind. This will be one of the more intensive courses for Med 2 (also EBS 2) and the key to success here is to go to class. Most of your learning will happen during the lecture, which is not the case with all classes. You will have lecture every day and will have a quiz on the second monday of each block. The quizzes are 4% each and are actually really helpful. I suggest that you study hard for these quizzes. Not only will the 12% (4% x 3 quizzes) help at the end of the course, it also makes studying for blocks easier because you have already studied half of the material in depth. If you put in the time to score high on the quizzes, you will be very grateful in the long run. In addition, the professor will suggest that you do as many question as you can. If you have the time it is a great thing to do. You will get a list of sources to get questions from so getting practice questions shouldn’t be too difficult. I found that with my Med 2 schedule I didn’t have the time to do a lot of questions. I did a few here and there, but not as many as I probably should have. That being said, biochemistry was one of my highest marks despite not doing questions. For the people who did do questions, they said they helped. So if you have the time I suggest doing as many as you can! At the end of the day, the more questions you can do before step 1 the better off you will be.
One word of caution for this course is to make sure you don’t fall behind. There is a lot of material that will be covered and if you let even a few days pass before catching up, it will be difficult to recover. There are people who work really well under pressure but it is certainly not the best method for me.. So take it as you will. If you have an NBME final exam for Biochemistry, don’t be worried. Dr. Mungli prepares you very well for any standardized board exam. As an example, this semester my class scored 10% above the US medical students average for the same exam! Just know that you will be very prepared.
Physiology
As I stated previously, physiology was one of my favorite courses so far. It is also a very important class for your medical career as you will come to understand pretty much the first day of the class. The key to success here once again is to go to class!! Some of the concepts I was only able to fully grasp because of the way it was explained to me. He is an excellent lecturer and is a wealth of knowledge. Take advantage of that while you are in his class. Another important part of this course is doing questions. My suggestion would be to do around 10 questions after each class pertaining to the lecture. There are two questions resources that I used. Guyton (physiology Q and A book) and Kaplan. I did every question in the Guyton textbook by the end of the semester and as many Kaplan questions as possible. There is no doubt that It helped me. These resources shouldn’t be too hard to find either. Most people will have them and if not, just ask an upperclassman and I can bet they will be able to give you a copy. There were TA reviews for physiology as well, but I didn’t have the time to go to them. If you are struggling in the course, it might be a good idea to stop by and see if it helps. The prof is also very helpful if you have questions. You can pretty much stop by and ask him to quiz you on stuff and he will..
This class also has a lab component. Not much to say here except enjoy it. Try to learn as much as you can. It is tons of fun!
Epidemiology
This course is one of the lighter courses you will have semester 2 (If you are Med). If you are EBS, you wont be taking Epi until semester 3. I learned quite a bit from this course, but in order to do well you do have to put in a bit of time. It doesn’t require nearly as much time as the other 4 courses, but if you don’t study on a regular basis make sure you budget enough time the weekend before the block exam to study. You will write the block exam one week before block day for all the other courses. So when you go to take block for all your other classes on the real block day, you have already written the epic exam the week before. It certainly lightens the load on block day, but you need to take the time to study for the exam. Many people have done poorly in the course because they thought it would be easy. Don't fall in that trap. Study hard for the first one and gauge for yourself the difficulty level.
Genetics / Immunology
These two courses are taught by the same professor. Even though they are low credit courses, don’t think that they aren’t important. I probably spent just as much time on each of these courses as Biochemistry. The keys to success is to go over all the material that was given to you. The questions can come from anywhere in the material. Nothing is too challenging, it just takes time and memorization, which is rather unfortunate. For the most part, don’t memorize things in med school. Instead truly understand them because you’re not just studying for the class, you’re studying for the USMLE. In these two classes however, there are just some things that you need to memorize.. The TA reviews for genetics are really helpful. I didn’t go to immuno reviews because I didn’t find I learned a whole lot from them. There were people who enjoyed them, so give it a try when you get there. I also know a few people who went to the reviews as a way to take a break. You are not directly studying but instead you get to just sit and absorb the material a second time. Even if you don’t learn a whole lot, it sometimes is a good way to break up the day and be semi productive at the same time. As for questions, there aren’t really any that are worth doing. I don’t know too many people who even attempted to do questions. If you are the type of person who cant get enough practice, they maybe you will find them useful. The prof does make a few questions available for you, so give them a try. There will also likely be lots of questions in the TA reviews.
Med 2
Med 2 was wild. Was it worth it? Yes. Is it for everyone? Probably not. I don’t mean to say that certain people aren’t going to be able to do it in terms of academics, what I’m saying is that it has to suit your life style. Rather, you have to make it suit your lifestyle. I say this because you will be busy all the time, and this is not for everyone.
If you are accepted into UMHS in the med program, I suggest to everyone to go for it. You have nothing to loose. Med 1 is perfectly attainable. Worst case scenario, you drop a course and become EBS. Many people have done this and many more will. Don’t let future semesters scare you from dropping to EBS before you even begin. People will tell you you’re crazy, and they will say they have no idea how you do it, but don’t let that get to you. Just tell yourself you will get through it and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. The only thing that limits us is the limits we put on ourselves. If you stick with it you will be happy even if you decide to leave Med second semester. To put it in perspective, when I started in Med 1 there were quite a few of us. There were about 20 I would say. By the end of the semester about 50% dropped. Going into Med 2, if I can think back there were about 10 of us. Currently (prior to exams anyways), there were 7 planning on going into Med 3. That number could change. This is a large number to be honest. The semester above us only has one person carry through from Med 1 into Med 2. Many people start in Med, get themselves one course ahead and then join EBS and there is nothing wrong with that. The only negative thing about staying in Med, as I have described before, is the pricing scheme. If you’re staying Med 2 beyond first block, you are stuck paying MED tuition. If you can get through Med 2 however, the worst of it is behind you. Med 3 while tough, I’ve been told is about the same if not slightly better in terms of course load. You may ask, what are the benefits? Why would I put myself through the extra stress to be in Med? This is a perfectly fair and is a question that nobody can really answer except yourself. Maybe you are not enjoying the island, maybe you work well under pressure, maybe it’s a personal goal that you made with yourself. No matter the reason, as long as you are happy with the decision and can justify it in some way, then go for it! That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Mike
Biochemistry
A great class!! One of the best things about biochemistry is the professor. You guys will learn very quick that he is one of a kind. This will be one of the more intensive courses for Med 2 (also EBS 2) and the key to success here is to go to class. Most of your learning will happen during the lecture, which is not the case with all classes. You will have lecture every day and will have a quiz on the second monday of each block. The quizzes are 4% each and are actually really helpful. I suggest that you study hard for these quizzes. Not only will the 12% (4% x 3 quizzes) help at the end of the course, it also makes studying for blocks easier because you have already studied half of the material in depth. If you put in the time to score high on the quizzes, you will be very grateful in the long run. In addition, the professor will suggest that you do as many question as you can. If you have the time it is a great thing to do. You will get a list of sources to get questions from so getting practice questions shouldn’t be too difficult. I found that with my Med 2 schedule I didn’t have the time to do a lot of questions. I did a few here and there, but not as many as I probably should have. That being said, biochemistry was one of my highest marks despite not doing questions. For the people who did do questions, they said they helped. So if you have the time I suggest doing as many as you can! At the end of the day, the more questions you can do before step 1 the better off you will be.
One word of caution for this course is to make sure you don’t fall behind. There is a lot of material that will be covered and if you let even a few days pass before catching up, it will be difficult to recover. There are people who work really well under pressure but it is certainly not the best method for me.. So take it as you will. If you have an NBME final exam for Biochemistry, don’t be worried. Dr. Mungli prepares you very well for any standardized board exam. As an example, this semester my class scored 10% above the US medical students average for the same exam! Just know that you will be very prepared.
Physiology
As I stated previously, physiology was one of my favorite courses so far. It is also a very important class for your medical career as you will come to understand pretty much the first day of the class. The key to success here once again is to go to class!! Some of the concepts I was only able to fully grasp because of the way it was explained to me. He is an excellent lecturer and is a wealth of knowledge. Take advantage of that while you are in his class. Another important part of this course is doing questions. My suggestion would be to do around 10 questions after each class pertaining to the lecture. There are two questions resources that I used. Guyton (physiology Q and A book) and Kaplan. I did every question in the Guyton textbook by the end of the semester and as many Kaplan questions as possible. There is no doubt that It helped me. These resources shouldn’t be too hard to find either. Most people will have them and if not, just ask an upperclassman and I can bet they will be able to give you a copy. There were TA reviews for physiology as well, but I didn’t have the time to go to them. If you are struggling in the course, it might be a good idea to stop by and see if it helps. The prof is also very helpful if you have questions. You can pretty much stop by and ask him to quiz you on stuff and he will..
This class also has a lab component. Not much to say here except enjoy it. Try to learn as much as you can. It is tons of fun!
Epidemiology
This course is one of the lighter courses you will have semester 2 (If you are Med). If you are EBS, you wont be taking Epi until semester 3. I learned quite a bit from this course, but in order to do well you do have to put in a bit of time. It doesn’t require nearly as much time as the other 4 courses, but if you don’t study on a regular basis make sure you budget enough time the weekend before the block exam to study. You will write the block exam one week before block day for all the other courses. So when you go to take block for all your other classes on the real block day, you have already written the epic exam the week before. It certainly lightens the load on block day, but you need to take the time to study for the exam. Many people have done poorly in the course because they thought it would be easy. Don't fall in that trap. Study hard for the first one and gauge for yourself the difficulty level.
Genetics / Immunology
These two courses are taught by the same professor. Even though they are low credit courses, don’t think that they aren’t important. I probably spent just as much time on each of these courses as Biochemistry. The keys to success is to go over all the material that was given to you. The questions can come from anywhere in the material. Nothing is too challenging, it just takes time and memorization, which is rather unfortunate. For the most part, don’t memorize things in med school. Instead truly understand them because you’re not just studying for the class, you’re studying for the USMLE. In these two classes however, there are just some things that you need to memorize.. The TA reviews for genetics are really helpful. I didn’t go to immuno reviews because I didn’t find I learned a whole lot from them. There were people who enjoyed them, so give it a try when you get there. I also know a few people who went to the reviews as a way to take a break. You are not directly studying but instead you get to just sit and absorb the material a second time. Even if you don’t learn a whole lot, it sometimes is a good way to break up the day and be semi productive at the same time. As for questions, there aren’t really any that are worth doing. I don’t know too many people who even attempted to do questions. If you are the type of person who cant get enough practice, they maybe you will find them useful. The prof does make a few questions available for you, so give them a try. There will also likely be lots of questions in the TA reviews.
Med 2
Med 2 was wild. Was it worth it? Yes. Is it for everyone? Probably not. I don’t mean to say that certain people aren’t going to be able to do it in terms of academics, what I’m saying is that it has to suit your life style. Rather, you have to make it suit your lifestyle. I say this because you will be busy all the time, and this is not for everyone.
If you are accepted into UMHS in the med program, I suggest to everyone to go for it. You have nothing to loose. Med 1 is perfectly attainable. Worst case scenario, you drop a course and become EBS. Many people have done this and many more will. Don’t let future semesters scare you from dropping to EBS before you even begin. People will tell you you’re crazy, and they will say they have no idea how you do it, but don’t let that get to you. Just tell yourself you will get through it and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. The only thing that limits us is the limits we put on ourselves. If you stick with it you will be happy even if you decide to leave Med second semester. To put it in perspective, when I started in Med 1 there were quite a few of us. There were about 20 I would say. By the end of the semester about 50% dropped. Going into Med 2, if I can think back there were about 10 of us. Currently (prior to exams anyways), there were 7 planning on going into Med 3. That number could change. This is a large number to be honest. The semester above us only has one person carry through from Med 1 into Med 2. Many people start in Med, get themselves one course ahead and then join EBS and there is nothing wrong with that. The only negative thing about staying in Med, as I have described before, is the pricing scheme. If you’re staying Med 2 beyond first block, you are stuck paying MED tuition. If you can get through Med 2 however, the worst of it is behind you. Med 3 while tough, I’ve been told is about the same if not slightly better in terms of course load. You may ask, what are the benefits? Why would I put myself through the extra stress to be in Med? This is a perfectly fair and is a question that nobody can really answer except yourself. Maybe you are not enjoying the island, maybe you work well under pressure, maybe it’s a personal goal that you made with yourself. No matter the reason, as long as you are happy with the decision and can justify it in some way, then go for it! That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Mike