I've learned so much and classes haven't even begun!

Okay. We hit the ground running in medical school tomorrow. We've been given our first few weeks' schedules and, if you're curious, you can look at it here. As you can see, they throw a lot at you immediately (and I'm pretty sure I've heard the phrase "drinking from a fire hose" no less than ten times in the last week). It's obvious that we have a lot to learn in a very short amount of time, but I wanted to take the time before classes actually start to list down some of the things I've learned up until this point. For the sake of my own amusement, I'm going to list them in my mind's order of importance (including everything from medical school apps to med-school itself).

• If you think that you won't fit in with the other students during medical school, you're dead wrong. The demographics of medical school are nearly identical to your undergrad years. The IQ bell-curve might have moved up a few inches and there are definitely more Type-A personalities, but you still have those goofy awkward kids, the frat stars, the computer geeks, the jocks, runners, and triathletes, and everything in between. On top of that, every single person in the class is working their butt off in medicine, which means you all have something in common. You'll fit right in, I promise!

• Arkansas frogs pee on you when you try to pick them up.

• Live close to school, like...really close if you can find a safe neighborhood. I live about seven or eight miles from campus and it seems like 90% of the rest of my classmates live within two miles. If you live close, you can walk or bike to class if you want. All of the social gatherings (read as parties and dinners) are usually close to campus. Living close is convenient and keeps you close to your social peers.

• Don't spare any expense when you are applying to medical school. If you have the funds available, don't second guess whether you should spend that money on a new suit or that new pair of shoes. Don't wonder if you should have your personal statement professionally critiqued, just do it. I used Atrium Learning and they were superb. They helped me with my statement from the time I wrote it to the day I turned it in. When my finished product was 800 words too long, they cut it down to size and they did an awesome job. It was $140 if I remember correctly, which really is chump change when you realize you'll be in debt about $200,000 by the time everything is said and done. Pull out all the stops, you only get one (or possibly a second) chance to get into any medical school and you don't want to blow it because you didn't spend a bit extra to make yourself look all shiny and new.

• As an adendum to the above, be careful about having someone write your entire Personal Statement. As taken from the AMCAS site directly: "You can’t have your university writing center, your parent, your professor, your friend, or a professional editing service compose your documents. The difference between “editing” and “ghost writing” is obviously a grey area, and applicants must be careful when seeking out help on their documents."

• Medical school is expensive. Between moving, buying books and equipment, and signing up for classes, I realize why I need that huge loan. I feel like I'm already broke and I haven't even gotten my loans yet.

• Be aware that you are going to spend an exorbitant amount of time studying both at home and out. This isn't like undergrad, where they tell you you're going to spend two hours of studying for every hour in class and you quietly snicker and go, "Yeah, that'll happen." We have anywhere from three to five lectures per day. We do an entire Biochemistry class (a full semester in undergraduate) in 9 weeks while we do a full Genetics and a full Cellular and Molecular Biology class at the same time. If you get behind by a day, that's roughly 4 hours of studying you'll have to catch up with by the next day. If you don't keep up, you're going to get buried. It's as simple as that.

• That being said, there are a large group of students that attend less than half of the classes in any given block. There are tons and tons of resources out there to get the information. Our class will appoint note czars to publish their notes every day for the rest of the class. Most of our lectures are podcast so that we can listen in outside of class (or catch up if we miss a day). We have textbooks and rapid review books, flashcards and quick notes. With so many ways to learn, you can pick your own style. If you don't learn well from lectures, read the books, the notes, and the powerpoints. You won't be much worse for wear. Again though, don't fall behind!

• Regardless of how independent you seem, you really need some support. If you have family and friends close by, use them. Now I'm not talking about emotional support (although that is part of it). Sometimes you just need a warm meal, a game of golf, or a day of fishing to get your mind off of medical school. Use the people you know to help get your mind off of the 300 pages of biochemistry that you've been leaning over for the last six hours.

There are a ton of other things to post: 

• Only apply if you are dedicated
• We are entering a very rewarding profession
• We have to hold up to certain standards
• Etc, Etc

All of these (and everything else that's escaped my mind today) most of us already know. If you have any real questions, just send me an email or post below and I'll try to answer when I have a free moment. Until the next post!