Advice for Incoming First Years

First and foremost, the number one piece I would give is to take every piece of advice with a grain of salt. I remember reading blogs, asking upperclassmen, asking professors, etc. for advice (sometimes I wouldn’t even ask, but still received advice) and getting SO much contradictory information. Everyone is different and has a different method for succeeding in medicine. Absolutely ask for advice, but ultimately follow your gut. If it doesn’t work out for the first exam, do some tweaking. You’ll get there. Everyone does.

Piggybacking off of that first statement, try to stick to a few resources. Again, everyone is going to have a different set of resources that they love and swear by. You can’t use all the resources, there really is not that much time. On top of that, it’s not the resource that gets you the grade—it’s how you use that resource. There is no substitute for just sitting down and studying. The resources are there to help you, but you have to put in the work.

Start off strong. By all means, get enough sleep. But worry about avoiding burnout AFTER you pass the first test. It is a lot easier to start off strong and then tweak your study habits (maybe studying less) than it is to bomb the first test and be climbing up hill the rest of the semester.

… but don’t burnout. Take time for yourself. If you are studying and you realize that you are not retaining anything, take a break. Studying for less time but more efficiently is a lot better than studying mindlessly.

Remember how you felt when you got your acceptance letter. You’re going to need those good vibes when you are months (or years) into school and starting to really feel burnout in full effect.

Last but not least, try to enjoy it! This is your life. You are going to be a doctor.