If I only knew then what I know now: A Primer for M2's

As I begin to write this article, generally unaware of the ultimate audience that it will reach, and reflect on the past year of my medical education, I can’t help but to appreciate the brevity of it all. You begin the first days of second year excited to learn “real medicine,” having paid your dues to the basic sciences. You tell yourself that you’re going to nail pathology, pharmacology, and microbiology. You go to class, you try new study techniques and strategies. You spend the entire second year with the inevitability of STEP 1 looming in the back of your mind, powerless to change the fact that “summer is coming.” And then, somewhere along the way, you stop and realize that it’s already over. You never really found the time to go back through your pharm-cards on weekends, and you never actually read that whole section of Harrison’s like you had intended. But now you’re past STEP 1, you’re on the wards, and none of that really seems to have made all that big of a difference. 

I think that my point in all of this is that despite all of the advice that I’m about to humbly bestow upon my peers, the underlying message is that advice is great, but experience is better. By that I mean you’re going to collect the input of as many people as you can who’ve come before you, buy the recommended books and study aids, even emulate their study schedules, and in the end the only way that you will find what works for you is to live and do it for yourself. You’ll come out on the other side of STEP 1 with the knowledge and experience necessary for the wards, and most certainly your own formula for success to pass onto the next generation. All that being said, I’ve put together what I think are some of the most universally applicable pieces of advice for new M2 students.

1. Don’t let the dark cloud of STEP 1 interfere with what you’re learning now. Yes, that day will eventually come; and yes, you will (hopefully) be well prepared. But in my honest opinion, the most impactful studying that you can possibly do now and through January is to learn everything in the curriculum, and learn it well. Learn for understanding, to answer the why questions, not just the what questions. Go to class, and go to class prepared. If you read ahead, or at least read First Aid/Pathoma beforehand, you’ll be able to ask questions to solidify your knowledge. If you choose not to go to class, I would at least set aside those blocks of time for extra reading and review so that you don’t let yourself blow it off after the first pass. In all honesty, the better you learn it now (when there’s actually a reasonable amount of time to do so), the less you’ll have to work this summer. If you do feel compelled to do something, I would simply suggest annotating First Aid or your primary review resource as you go along with supplementary details. 

2. If you start thinking about your curriculum vitae now, you won’t have to kick yourself later. This is mostly advice from the "what I wish I had done" file. As you begin third year, you soon realize that you need a current copy of your CV earlier than you think. Some competitive externships prefer students to apply up to 9-12 months before the actual clerkship start date, and many of those applications require you to attach a current CV. While it may not seem like a big deal (maybe you figure you can knock one out in a weekend or so),  once you start to factor in the long hours you spend on clerkships (possibly on weekends too!) and the studying/sleeping you’ll fill your free time with, it quickly becomes very easy to blow off until the last minute. When that happens you’ll find yourself scrambling to remember when you did that one volunteer program, or what the title of that poster actually was; you might even forget something in the shuffle of it all. In an ideal world, I would strongly recommend that in your second year you begin to assemble a working CV as you go along. That way you can identify areas where you could use some beefing up while still allowing yourself time to actually do so. Given that I currently can name zero people who have done that in their second year, a more practical alternative would be to keep a running list of “have done” and “will do” items to eventually put into your CV. Keep track of it in Evernote or mac notes, so you can add things as they sporadically pop into your brain. That way, when you do sit down for that dedicated weekend, you’ll at least have a decent list to work off of, alleviating some of the work load from your long-term memory. All-in-all, so long as you have a mostly complete CV going into your third year, you’ll be in great shape.

3. If you haven’t found a hobby or other way to de-stress yet, now is time to find one. If you haven’t realized this yet, medical school can be stressful. It can be really stressful. STEP 1 will inevitably heap even more anxiety onto your psyche, and if you’re anything like me that can get uncomfortable overwhelming. That is why I make it a priority to take time dedicated to myself now and then to refocus and blow off steam. Currently, my outlets consist of exercise (mostly running/weight training) and cooking (teaching myself/experimenting, not just fixing grilled cheese). Those are just my personal examples, and frankly I don’t think it much matters what you do, so long as you give yourself an outlet to shut your brain off and not think about pharmacology or pathology for a while. This will become crucial in the summer when you take STEP study breaks; and you had better be taking some study breaks. Another benefit of having a “thing” is that it becomes a terrific topic of conversation when you get to residency interviews. I learned this from a recent graduate who shared with me how he came to be known as the “guy who has run every day for the last seven years.” While I’m not suggesting that you try and emulate this by doing yoga for 5 hours per day for the next two years, I am more so encouraging you to have “a thing.” By this I mean you can kill two birds with one stone by cultivating a hobby that both helps you relax and helps you to differentiate yourself from other candidates down the line. So whatever you decide to do, just make sure it brings you some kind of joy, and then own it for the next few years.

Ultimately, I cannot say with any certainty that these things will impact your second year whatsoever. To reiterate my opening thoughts, everyone has their own experiences, anecdotes, and advice that they accumulate along their personal path to becoming an MD. My hope in writing this article is that a few of these things will resonate, and make the second year of medical school just a little bit easier to manage. I wish all of the second year students the best of luck not only on the fledgling academic year, but also with STEP 1 and the ensuing transition to clinical education. Have a great year!

Kenneth Sack is a third year Athens student and graduate of LSU planning on training in Orthopedic Surgery. He is from Alpharetta, GA and spends whatever time he isn't studying on exercising, cooking, being outdoors, or binge-watching The Walking Dead.