You did it! The years you’ve spent orbiting around one common goal has paid off, and you got accepted to medical school. Now what? Should you dive back into studying with your last few months before matriculation? Spend your remaining savings backpacking through Europe? I advocate for a healthy balance of both. Here’s the best advice I have to offer on what you should be doing to prepare for medical school.
There are many websites that will scare you into thinking you NEED to review all of anatomy and biochemistry before you begin medical school. I’m here to tell you you DO NOT need to spend your last few months of sweet summer or your final semester of school or work poring over textbooks. If you’re a couple years or more removed from your science classes, I would get a refresher on the basic concepts—this means watching some Youtube videos (I personally love Ninja Nerd) or rereading parts of your MCAT biochem review books and reviewing the (I know) Kreb’s cycle, for example. Your introductory classes in school will be a rapid review of college concepts (think all of biochem in under 6 weeks), and the pace is overwhelming for everyone at first.
The only other preparation I would do is to check out some of the available study resources for medical students. If you’ve never heard of Anki, this is the time to download, mess around with how it works, check out Anking, and watch some YouTube tutorials. There’s also external paid study resources such as UWorld, Sketchy, and AMBOSS. UWorld and Amboss are question banks, and Sketchy is a visual learning platform especially helpful for learning microbiology and medications. I would not purchase these as yet as they are more geared toward board prep (and some schools may provide it for you), but it’s helpful to know what they offer as they may aid in your pre-clinical curriculum prior to these exams.
Beyond some light review of foundational concepts and setting up a couple study methods to try out, I would tell you to relax. There is no amount of pre-studying that will make your first year’s curriculum substantially easier, and once you begin school, you will not have the same free time you did again. My best study tip is to spend time with your loved ones and build healthy habits, which conveniently leans into my next topic: self-care.
If you haven’t heard the phrase “medical school is like drinking water from a fire hose” yet, you’re about to. Some of the most important things that you should do prior to matriculation is to build healthy habits for your lifetime and relax. The next minimum seven years are going to be long hours of studying or time spent in the hospital, so it’s crucial that you have a healthy sleep routine, find an exercise you enjoy, an activity that brings you peace, and soak as much time with your loved ones. Go on the spontaneous trip you’ve always wanted, do the spring cleaning you meant to last year, and learn some meal prep recipes so you’re not eating fried hospital food all the time. Burnout is exceptionally real in this profession and it’s vital that you understand how to care for your body and mind.
Some other things to consider are to check in with yourself and what you need, and perhaps set up an introductory meeting with a therapist or other professional. Medical school is a marathon, not a sprint, so resilience is required and can only be built if you take care of your mind! I also got a Headspace subscription through my school, which has helped me to take a few minutes every day to practice mindfulness and keep myself grounded. All in all, this is me giving you permission to do the things you wanted to do, finish your to-do list, and enjoy your time before matriculation. You’ve earned it!
