To the incoming second year medical students:
This is unsolicited advice from a newly minted fourth year (wow…I can’t believe I’m officially an MS4!) so continue reading at your own will and take everything with a grain of salt. And while it seems far away now, the rest of medical school will fly by even faster than this first year. Really, you will miss this “honeymoon phase” of your medical school journey. But congrats on surviving first year, you MADE IT!!
Now, if you haven’t heard already, second year is rough. And it’s rough for everyone (gunners* included). Many of my classmates and I felt that we had not been mentally prepared for the brutality it brings. Of course, not all of you will feel this way but this is an important message for the rest. There is no sugar coating the reality of Step 1 (or board exams in general) and its importance in matching. One thing to always remember is that you are doing this for YOU; not anyone else, not for that perfect step score, and not even to get a higher score than your frenemy. While there are certain specialties with minimal thresholds for scores, there are ways around this (Step 2 CK, LORs, etc.) and you are bound to change your mind regarding specialties during third year anyway, regardless of your Step score. But if you let the stress of your score dictate your entire experience, the anxiety will consume you more than it already does. So my advice to you is to not study for a score, but study to do the BEST YOU CAN. Study at your own pace and take breaks often (no one says you have to study at every waking moment of every day. Remember, this is a marathon and you don’t want to tire out before you can even see the semblance of the finish line).
We are lucky to be at a school where grades aren’t a thing, thanks to a pass/fail curriculum that encourages a collaborative, friendly environment. But Step 1 can get the worst of us, as people share the amount of Anki/Kaplan/UWorld/First Aid/Pathoma/etc. they are doing each day. While for some of us it may validate the hours we spend studying, it can significantly impact the mental health of others who may not learn the same way as us and are using different resources, but now suddenly feel guilty for not using all the same resources as everyone else. If Anki isn’t your jam (no shame in raising my hand here) know that is absolutely okay, and this applies to any of the resources.
Long story short, second year can be the biggest set-up for comparing yourself to your classmates, during one of the most stressful periods in your life (this is your first ever board exam!). I wish someone had told me all this before I started second year. Perhaps I would have been better prepared mentally. You see, when our brains have some forewarning of what is to come we can handle the worst of situations like champs. But when we are suddenly thrown into uncharted territory our minds do not fare so well with the uncertainty; the current pandemic is an excellent example of this. Nonetheless, this is in no way meant to demoralize you (there are certainly pros to second year, like Capstone weeks after every exam instead of each block), but rather my goal here is to normalize some of the feelings you may experience moving forward into PAL block and second year.
Please be kind to your fellow classmates and ask if it’s alright with them before sharing your studying progress, even if they are your closest friend; they may not be in the same mental space as you at the same time as you and that is okay for the both of you. In life, generally speaking, there is not a “right way” of approaching something, as you are all well aware considering the very unique and individual paths you took to reach this stage in your life today. And you all will continue to pave your own personal paths, even as you are all on this journey together.
All of this is easier said than done and at the end of the day you will all make your own so-called mistakes and learn from them. We all want and need validation, but there are other ways of going about this: schedule a meeting with a learning specialist or tutor, call your loved ones, talk to yourself (really, try it sometime!). Whatever it may be, take special care of yourself (and others in your class, if possible), don’t be too harsh on yourself, and reach out if you need help.
Congrats on your promotion to second year, we’re all rooting for each one of you!
*Disclaimer: The use of gunner in this piece is not meant to be offensive but rather in comical use of this term to mean those students considered to be at the “top” of the class in people’s minds (since we don’t have rankings) even though in some sense we are all gunners. It’s what got us into medical school.
P.S. The Anxiety Resource Center is an extremely helpful counseling resource available to and utilized by many UACOM-P medical students. We, as a medical student community, must normalize seeking out such mental health resources considering we are entering a profession that is experiencing a burnout epidemic.
**Counseling resources for UACOM-P Medical students (Free!): https://wellness.arizona.edu/medical-students/counseling-resources-medical-students
Pareena Kaur is a member of the class of 2021 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix. She is originally from India, but spent her childhood between Arizona and Canada. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physiology and minors in French and Neuroscience. In her free time, Pareena enjoys spending time with friends and family, traveling, and dancing. She is a big foodie, and Indian street food is her favorite!