2.1: Demonstrate a broad working knowledge of the fundamental science, principles, and processes basic to the practice of medicine and apply this knowledge in a judicious and consistent manner to prevent common health problems and achieve effective and safe patient care.
In second year, I struggled academically which I think was the result of a number of factors. I really struggled with severe anxiety during that time, and it was challenging to battle a mental illness and succeed in medical school. I think it also reflected a weakness in my studying skills, which I were used to my previous experience with engineering school, which is vastly different in content and style than medical school. This reflected in some of my test scores in second year, which were not as good as I was hoping for.
I was concerned about this trend affecting Host Defense, Step studying and future work in medical school, so I pushed myself to improve both my coping mechanisms and my studying habits. I moved from mostly passive study by repeatedly reading notes and lectures during first year and the first part of second year, to a more active study. I focused on finding question banks and anki decks, and tried to stick to a schedule for the anki decks. I tried to answer questions I would find myself asking from reading answer explanations in First Aid, and try and connect the material together and take notes in the First Aid margins with additional info I learned from UWorld. I implemented this first during my Step 1 studying time in the spring of my second year, and it wound up paying off as I got a solid Step score of 233.
I continued to use this strategy during third year for the shelf exams, supplementing UWorld question banks with Anki decks and targeted readings for concepts that I would encounter during rotations. I did well on each of these shelf exams so I used a similar strategy for fourth year rotations, minus the UWorld question bank, as it was too expensive. For Step 2 CK, I adapted a compressed version of my Step 1 study, redoing the UWorld question bank I had worked on during third year, utilizing Anki as well as taking notes in a Step 2 First Aid book. This strategy was successful, and I wound up scoring a 250 on Step 2 CK.
Overall, I am happy with my modified study routine, and I wish that I had implemented it sooner. In the future, I will have Step 3, boards, and possibly other academic obstacles to surmount, so I plan to use what I did here as a template for these. As for day to day learning during residency, I aim to read something every night to reinforce what I learn during the day, in keeping with the spirit of the successful changes I made during second year.
Goals:
- During residency, read a journal article/review/abstract or uptodate article/summary related to something I saw or learned about that day.