Surviving medical school: 10 top tips for doctors-to-be

So you’ve enrolled at uni, bought your stethoscope and tried to decipher a packed semester 1 timetable. The first weeks and months of med school can feel a bit being repeatedly slapped in the face or rolling down a hill covered in bindis, so here are my tips on how to survive and thrive the trials and tribulations of medical school!

Diarise everything
Starting from the very first lecture in week 1 of medical school comes a bombardment of dates of assessments, extra tutorials, clinical activities, med soc events and more. The earlier you choose a format to keep track of all the info, the better. Using iCloud to connect the calendars on your phone and laptop is a great way to have everything at hand and is easy to add/reschedule things as needed.

Schedule your time
Sit down at the start of each week and look at your schedule for classes/clinicals, and add in everything else you need to make time for. If you block out time for exercise, socialising, study for specific things, completing assignments etc then you are more likely to actually get it all done. I printed out a weekly schedule to hang next to my desk and used a monthly calendar to have major assessments/exams/events on it so everything was mapped out and it helped me feel a bit more in control of my time. Did I mention that I’m a bit of an organisation nerd?…

…but remember that med school isn't your entire life
When it comes down to it, studying medicine is just like studying any other uni degree. Sure, it can be more time consuming than some other courses but there is no reason that studying medicine should mean you have to stop doing other things you love, whether that be sport, music, seeing your friends or binge watching The Bachelor. There will be plenty of times when medicine will have to take precedence over social events (and this doesn’t end after graduation…) but there is no reason to drop all other hobbies once med school begins.

Stay social
It sounds obvious, but your friends and family are the people who during your 4-6 years of medical school, and for the years that follow, will be your rock when things get tough. Friends from med school are also awesome supports and you will rely on each other to get through exam prep and difficult clinical placements. It is helpful to socialise with friends outside of your med school world, not only to have conversations that don’t revolve around exams and study notes, but more importantly to keep things in perspective and escape from the medicine bubble. While that OSCE might seem like the biggest hurdle of your life, stepping back for a moment and looking at the big picture is always valuable.

Find resources/study methods that work for you
When I was in first year, one of the senior lecturers ran a study workshop and impressed upon us that being in some sort of study group was absolutely imperative and that successful students were always in a study group. That’s all well and good if you learn productively in a small group situation but the reality is that just as we all learn differently, we all need to study and revise differently. Try a study group, try doing lots of practice questions, try online flash cards, try summarising textbooks, try YouTube tutorials on tricky subjects, try mind-mapping… and ultimately settle on whichever methods and resources you find the most effective and least painful. I found that summarising lectures and supplementing them with info from UpToDate/textbooks during semester and then doing as many practice questions as possible in the lead up to exams was what worked for me. Whilst is easy to feel pressured by what others around you are doing, keep in mind that just because some students are meeting up every weekend to spend 10 hours practicing histories, you aren’t necessarily falling behind if you choose another way to learn things. Make a habit of re-evaluating how well your study is going after each exam and change things up if needed.

Do a little bit every day
On my first day as a medical student, we had a lecture by a student in fourth year about how to tackle the four years ahead of us. He used the analogy that studying medicine is like having to eat 4 pancakes every day for breakfast. If one day you don’t eat your pancakes, the next day you have to eat 8 pancakes… don’t eat them for 2 days and then the next day you have to eat 12. If you do a little bit of study every day you can keep on top of it, but if you get lazy/distracted/fall behind and don’t seek help, it will quickly be exam time and you’ll have 50,000 pancakes worth of study to do - which is enough to make anyone feel ill. Learning all that medicine involves is enjoyable and fascinating when it is done bit-by-bit and not in a frenzied cramming rush the night before an exam.

Make the most of clinical tutors/opportunities
The vast majority of your tutors and lecturers are doctors who volunteer their time to teach you. Most lectures, tutorials, PBLs and seminars are run by doctors who teach to pass on their knowledge to the next generation of doctors, not because they hold a paid teaching position. Keep in mind that these tutors usually also have a full patient load and clinical duties, so while they can be sometimes hard to pin down for extra time to go over questions, they are valuable sources of learning and inspiration. Find a doctor who demonstrates skills or qualities that you would like to have, and learn as much from them as you can. Is there a registrar who communicates really well with patients and their families? A surgeon who dazzles with their techniques? Or an intern who you can see yourself emulating in a few years time? Most doctors would be very flattered to be asked to be your mentor, or simply to teach you something they are passionate about. One of the fantastic things about medicine is that you have the privilege of being taught directly by people who will continue to be your colleagues, supervisors and bosses in years to come, so forming good relationships with these tutors is vital.

Get involved with peer teaching or a study group
As well as being taught by doctors, most medical students have the opportunity to be taught by more senior medical students, particularly when it comes to history-taking, physical examination and OSCE skills. As a junior, use these opportunities to ask as many questions as possible, in this less daunting environment than when it is a professor or consultant teaching you their speciality. As a senior medical student, teaching juniors is a great way to see how far you have come in your own skills and knowledge, and more importantly is the beginning of your chance to teach the generations of doctors that will follow you through your career.

Ask for help
If you are struggling, getting increasingly stressed out or feel that you aren’t coping with the workload, seek help early. Your GP, student support officers, clinical tutors and senior students are all good sources of support. Though you may be studying to be a doctor, it is essential to have your own GP and resist the temptation to self-diagnose or self-treat any mental and physical health problems. Keep an eye out for your fellow students and be there for colleagues who are doing it tough, especially at stressful times of the year.

Enjoy the ride
It may seem like you have signed up for 4-6 years of all-study-and-no-fun, and for a decent chunk of the time it can really feel like that is the case, but being a medical student affords you so many opportunities that many people will never have the chance to experience. Take the bad with the good and keep the end goal in the forefront of your mind, whatever your personal end goal may be. There are always going to be low points, but the highlights more than make up for these. My personal highlights of med school were being part of lots of births, being involved in resus situations, finding areas of medicine that I absolutely loved, doing my first intubation and seeing successful CPR bring a patient back from the brink. Above all, I was able to experience 4 years worth of patients’ illness and injuries as a privileged observer who had no responsibility but to learn from every patient and family I met along the way; and I was able to do this with a group of fellow students who are now great friends. So take a deep breath and buckle up for the rollercoaster ride, and enjoy the very start of your forays into the medical world. 

​‘The days are long but the years are short’ is an apt way to describe studying medicine, and before long you’ll be out in the hospital or in the clinic treating real patients who put their trust in your knowledge and judgement; so study hard, look after yourself and enjoy all the wonderful opportunities that lie before you!