Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Tied for Neuroscience and Cardiology 

鈥淣euro is so fascinating since everything we do is controlled by one organ - our brain! But, our hearts are also essential. The brain and heart work so hard to allow us to breathe and live every day. Learning about both of these reminded me of the importance of life and why I want to be a doctor.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine  

Top Tips for Success from Megan:  

• Meet new people and make friends - it makes medical school so much easier. 
• Never give up. Remind yourself of why you wanted to be a doctor - this was once your dream and it still is, just keep reminding yourself of that! 
• Keep trying different learning/ studying strategies and daily routines until you find one that works for you. You'll know when you find it because it makes studying easier and more enjoyable. 
• Don't lose sight of things that you do for fun/ happiness - for me it is listening to podcasts, working out, spending time with family/friends, etc 

Megan鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淵ou aren't studying to pass a test; you are studying to prepare for the day when you are the only thing between a patient and the grave.鈥�  - Mark Reid 

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neuroscience  

鈥淚 liked feeling like a detective using the tracts and other clues to localize the lesion.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Radiology 

Top Tips for Success from Katelin:  

• Create and find a routine that works for you and stick with it! Consistency and efficiency are two words I live by, and can be applied to most study routines, regardless of what resources you use, whether you go to class or watch ECHO, etc.  
• And ALWAYS reach out when you need help - we believe in you and want you to succeed! 

Katelin鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Don't give up, don't ever give up." - Jim Valvano 

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neurology

鈥淚'm a very visual learner and I found neurology to be like a big puzzle. Once you connect all the pieces things made sense.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Urology or Anesthesiology  

Top Tips for Success from JT:  

• Using outside resources to connect pieces of the information given in class or to get the information from a different point of view, is something I do almost daily and many times saves time.
• Customizing class Anki's or Anking cards can really increase retention, the action of actually editing the card and/or reorganizing the information in a way that makes sense to me really helps me efficiently study.
• Using practice questions in advance of an exam from Boards and Beyond, UWorld, or past classes always helps me pinpoint where my weaknesses or lapses in content lie.

JT鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "The key to success is to focus on goals, not obstacles."

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Cardiology     

鈥淚 loved how you could predict the symptoms of every disorder based on what part of the heart got damaged, and how this class pulled together the previous two courses (respiratory and renal) to make everything click.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine, potentially with a fellowship in Hemeatology/Oncology  

Top Tips for Success from Susanna:  

• Adapt your studying for every class! Every course is very unique so if you find something is not working to help you understand the content, change it. 
• If you use Anki, make sure you understand the cards before doing them. This will help you remember the cards more and Anki will not be pure memorization. It will make your reviews faster too. 
• For diseases that are similar, focus on what is different. Test questions will likely have both as an option and you will need to differentiate them. 

Susanna鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淭he life so short, the craft so long to learn.鈥� 鈥� Hippocrates 

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neurology     

鈥淣eural pathways are interesting once you figure them out. Before figuring them out, not so much.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Orthopedic Surgery  

Top Tips for Success from Nate:  

• Treat studying like a full-time job. 
• Take breaks when you're not being efficient. 
• Be able to talk through entire concepts before test day (teach someone). 

Nate鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淪urvive and advance.鈥� 

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): MSK 

Top Choice for Specialty: Surgery

Top Tips for Success from Sydney:  

Utilize Charts for studying, as well as finding the outside resources that work best for you as a supplement to course material. 

Sydney鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: Don't forget the reason that you're here!

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neurology

鈥淚 loved how if you really understood the anatomy pathways, you could almost answer any question on the test.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine or Surgery (still very undecided!)

Top Tips for Success from Justin:

"I think the best thing anyone can do is to be consistent. I try to study the same amount each day rather than studying all night long two days before the test. I also highly recommend doing practice questions the day before the test and treat it almost like a practice test."

Justin鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Keep on keepin' on."

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Cardiology

鈥淚 really enjoyed how all the courses started to come together during the cardiology block to form big clinical pictures. It put into perspective how much we actually learn over the first two years.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Ophthalmology

Top Tips for Success from Nick:  

• Find what resources work for you and don't feel like you have to use what someone else is using. Don't feel like you need to use every resource out there either.

• Remember to take breaks and take care of yourself! You don't need to study 24/7.

• I loved practice questions and thought applying knowledge was good for reinforcing the material.

Nick鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do." - Michael Scott

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neuroscience

"It was really rewarding to spend time drawing and understanding tracts that were so intimidating at first and then actually see all that hard work pay off when questions started making sense! It was tough for sure, but rewarding in the end.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine or Ophthalmology, but still exploring!

Top Tips for Success from Niki:  

• Do practice questions a few days before the exam, don't wait until the day before to test your knowledge!

• Focus on learning objectives to help pick out content that is most high yield.

• If you're struggling to understand or memorize a certain concept- don't be afraid to re-watch that lecture on a higher speed to help. Often this takes less time than trying to learn it on your own. Pathoma helps with this too!  

Niki鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "I'll do it after this next exam." - Niki, probably

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Heme/Lymph   

鈥淚 enjoyed learning about the complexities and intricacies of the various leukemias and lymphomas. I'm also fascinated by the body's various immunological processes, so it was interesting to learn about how interconnected cancer is with the immune system.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine, with a Hematology/Oncology Fellowship  

Top Tips for Success from Jaewon:

• Don't get resource FOMO; find what works for you and roll with it. Don't be intimidated and feel "left out" just because you're not using the same resources that your friends might be using!

• Anking is not always king; adapt to the class! Charts and diagrams work better for some classes and Anki works better for others. Find what works for each class depending on the type of content.

• Health is wealth; Physical/mental health should never be left behind! Studying isn't everything in medical school; it's important to take care of yourself and take breaks when necessary. Sometimes it's better to rest and refresh.

Jaewon鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Insecurity is loud. Confidence is silent."

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Foundations

鈥淚 really enjoyed the intersection between genetics, biochemistry, and medicine. The professors did a great job of giving us the building blocks that we鈥檒l need for the rest of our time in the classroom!鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Anesthesia or GI

Top Tips for Success from Drew:

• Start preparing for exams early. A good method is to review material either the day of or the day after you learn it in class. The earlier you prepare, the less you will need to cram.
• Do not get too crazy with outside resources; this may overwhelm you. EVERYTHING you need to know for exams will be inside the powerpoints. Study them carefully!

Drew鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淭he bad news is time flies. The good news is you鈥檙e the pilot."

More from Drew: Find ways to enjoy life outside of medical school. Spend time with friends, go on walks, exercise, etc. I personally made it a priority to workout twice a day, and I found that really helped with any stress I had! And always ask for help from peers, professors, and those in the OME if you need it. We are all here to help you along this journey.

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neuro!

鈥淥nce I (finally) learned the pathways, I liked being able localize where a lesion might be from a patients symptoms. I鈥檓 also a visual learner, so drawing and mapping out pathways was cool! 鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Pediatrics

Top Tips for Success from Maddie:

• BALANCE! You will learn your best when you鈥檙e taking care of yourself (working out, getting enough sleep, spending time with loved ones, etc). Don鈥檛 compare yourself to what everyone else is doing!

• Practice questions really helped with my learning! Don鈥檛 worry about waiting until you鈥檙e 鈥榬eady鈥欌€� I found them to be helpful even when I was still solidifying topics.

• Use active recall (Anki works best for me) and tailor it to your own needs. Talking through topics with my classmates was something I also used in every class!

Maddie鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Be curious, not judgmental." - Ted Lasso

More from Maddie: Medical school can be really overwhelming, and sometimes you just need someone in your corner telling you 'you're doing great!' Don't hesitate to reach out for anything, we're all here to help each other!

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Multisystems

鈥淚 thought Multisystems was really interesting. All of the systems you've learned about come together and things you learned in previous courses make a lot more sense the second time around. 鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Diagnostic Radiology

Top Tips for Success from Cameron:

• Go to lecture in person (or at least watch lectures early in the day)!
• Try to get plenty of practice questions in before exams
• If a concept doesn't make sense, keep researching explanations until you find one that makes it click for you.

Cameron鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." - Marcus Aurelius

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): MSK and Cardio

鈥淚 liked both for different reasons. I loved all of the pathologies in MSK, but also loved the ECGs in cardio.鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Pediatrics

Top Tips for Success from Jacob:

• Make to-do lists each day either on your phone or on a sticky note. When you complete something, cross it off. It鈥檚 a great way to not only stay organized but also see how much progress you are making. Made it so much easier to tackle things throughout the day for me!
• Sketchy Pharm and Micro was so helpful for me for Step; and looking back could have been so helpful in classes (especially cardio), too.
• I鈥檓 a big Anki lover. This was my primary method of studying, but I also learned pretty quickly that just doing Anki will not be enough to learn everything that we need to. 

Jacob鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淛ust keep swimming鈥�- Dory

More from Jacob: I鈥檇 love to help out in any way I can! Whether that be with studying or just adjusting to school in general, I鈥檓 more than happy to give some helpful advice!

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Foundations

Top Choices for Specialty: General Surgery, Trauma Surgery, Vascular Surgery or Interventional Radiology

Top Tips for Success from Meg:

• Find a buddy who studies similarly to you and talk through big ideas out loud one or two days before the exam.

• Brain dump when you sit down to start studying.. before opening notes, see what you can remember from memory and write on the white board... challenge yourself to reason through pieces you don't remember and don't be afraid to be wrong because getting it wrong usually makes you remember it 10000x better next time around.. check your work with your notes after.

• Try different study methods for different topics; it is okay to have 8 different ways of studying that work for you depending on what the content is. I liked the variation of having different options for studying and it made it less mundane that way for me.

Meg鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Squeeze the juice out of life"

More from Meg: I have ADHD and am comfortable talking about and sharing my experience of navigating that with others who may be curious.

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neurology

鈥淣eurology was a ton of information but it connected to my undergraduate studies a lot!鈥� 

Top Choice for Specialty: Neurosurgery  

Top Tips for Success from Cassity:  

• Go to class and take notes on paper (can't emphasize this one enough!)

• Don't study in the same place that you rest

• If you find yourself getting bored, take a break (preferably without screens)! 10 minutes resting your mind is much more beneficial than 10 minutes of unfocused studying.

Cassity's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Even one Anki card keeps the streak alive."

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neuroscience

鈥淲hile it was one of the more detailed and difficult courses, once you connect all of the pathways, it was so interesting to see their effects on our sensory and motor output. Learning the outcome of different lesions was like a very intricate puzzle!" 

Top Choice for Specialty: Pediatrics and OB/GYN are at the top, but still deciding! 

Top Tips for Success from Brie:

• Find what works for YOU and stick with it! Collaborate with your classmates and share resources, but do not get caught up in what others are doing once you've found your routine.

• Practice questions, practice questions, practice questions. Wherever you can find them, use them!

Brie鈥檚 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete." - Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Cardiology

"It makes sense."

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine

Top Tips for Success from Emad:

• Find what works for you and stick to it. Ignore the noise. Stay disciplined.

Emad's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Trust in God, but tie your camel"

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Psychiatry, Cardiology, GI

Top Choice for Specialty: Child Psychiatry 

Top Tips for Success from Kate:

• UWorld Anki Add-on, Sketchy Bugs & Drugs, Keep your Anki up throughout M3 Clinical Rotations in preparation for STEP 2

Kate's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: Consistency is better than perfection! Medicine is a marathon not a sprint. 

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neuro! 

"The spinal tracts are so interesting to me."

Top Choice for Specialty: OB/GYN

Top Tips for Success from Kendyl:

• Spaced repetition would be my biggest study tip! I found it helpful to review the lecture PowerPoints prior to going to class as well as immediately after. I also kept a notebook of illness scripts for each system to look over periodically. Also, a resource I love to use is Amboss! I gained access to this during my third year of medical school and wish I would have used it sooner.

Kendyl's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淪tudent, you do not study to pass the test. You study to prepare for the day when you are the only thing between a patient and the grave.鈥� -Mark Reid

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Cardio 

"I really enjoyed learning the physiology and the mechanisms of the various drugs."

Top Choice for Specialty: General Surgery

Top Tips for Success from Mason:

• Med school bootcamp has been my favorite study resource. It has great short lectures with easy-to-follow explanations. My best overall advice for medical school/studying is that consistency is key. Learning does not happen over 1 day. Learning is best achieved by consistently putting the time in over the course of several days, weeks, and months. Consistently working towards goals over a great amount of time is how students become physicians.

Mason's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: Enjoy the process

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): My favorite M1 class was probably Foundations; it was very Biochem heavy which I have always loved learning about! It was a nice switch from Anatomy and I felt like it gave me a great foundation moving forward in medical school. My favorite M2 class was wither Cardio or GI; I found these the most interesting, and my knowledge from these courses have aided greatly thus far in third year!

Top Choice for Specialty: EM or Surgery

Top Tips for Success from Hanna:

• 1. Try to go to class as much as possible! It really makes a difference to be in person. 
• 2. Don鈥檛 be afraid to experiment with different studying strategies if something isn鈥檛 working. 
• 3. Don鈥檛 feel pressured to do the same activities/studying strategies as your friends. You will thank yourself later for branching out and trying out different things!

Hanna's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淥gres are like onions. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers.鈥�

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): I don't have one favorite, but I really enjoyed anatomy, foundations, and heme/lymph. A lot of these classes connected the dots on things I had a little bit of knowledge on and helped me ease into the first year of medical school and set a great foundation moving forward.

Top Choice for Specialty: TBD

Top Tips for Success from Amanda:

• Top study tips are spaced repetition, don't be afraid to try a new method to study, and sometimes writing something out helps a lot!

Amanda's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "You could rattle the stars- you could do anything, if only you dared" -Sarah J. Maas

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Heme/Lymph 

"I loved learning about blood cancers and seeing the impact our oncologists make on patients and their families and thought the content was super interesting and relevant!"

Top Choice for Specialty: Peds Oncology

Top Tips for Success from Zoie:

• Find a routine that works best for YOU! Avoid comparing yourself to what others are doing and getting lost in the multitude of resources available. Don鈥檛 be afraid to switch up study methods/resources for different topics and classes.

Zoie's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: They may forget your name, but the will never forget the way you made them feel.

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Neurology "

I think the brain and nervous system is the most complicated and interesting thing on earth! So crazy and cool how much it does!"

Top Choice for Specialty: Neurology

Top Tips for Success from Brian:

• (1) Be flexible and varied in your strategies. Make sure you have multiple 鈥渢ools鈥� which you can use and be willing to try new approaches when content is more difficult. 
• (2) Save practice questions until the days leading up to the exam. Spend the majority of your time practicing review and recall of information studying.

Brian's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淲e are what we repeatably do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.鈥� -Aristotle

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): MSK or Foundations

"I really enjoyed Foundations for its intricacy walking through concepts as a whole as well as getting into the mechanism; while MSK, I enjoyed because you could focus on clinical skills & observation to achieve a diagnosis."

Top Choice for Specialty: Internal Medicine or Pediatrics

Top Tips for Success from Reagan:

• Develop relationships and cultivate an environment that supports you to succeed. Set goals and standards for yourself, but give yourself grace. When you need perspective, remind yourself it's not about the grade, it's about your future patients.

Reagan's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: God brought you to it, he will bring you through it!

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): MSK! 

"The course was very well organized and engaging."

Top Choice for Specialty: Orthopaedic Surgery

Top Tips for Success from Edward:

• 1. Treat medical school like a job. By scheduling blocks of time for dedicated studying, you will stay on top of course material and still have time for things outside of medicine that you enjoy. 
• 2. Connect with M2, M3, and M4 medical students that have been in your shoes. 
• 3. Find outside resources that fit your learning style and stick to them (ex. Anki, Sketchy, Amboss).

Edward's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): I love reading murder mysteries, and localizing lesions with Dr. Franklin is the ultimate "who dunnit?"

Top Choice for Specialty: Med-Peds, Neurology

Top Tips for Success from Julia:

• 1. Ask questions!! It's okay not to know the answer:) Our faculty are wonderful and they are always there to help you better understand concepts 
• 2. Study strategies that work for some people, may or may not be the right method for you. Don't be afraid to try a new study method, but also have confidence in the strategies that work for you!

Julia's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: A fully saturated sponge is not a happy sponge... so make sure you wring yourself out once in a while :)

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Foundations! 

"With my chemistry background I was very comfortable with the material and loved the problem solving (compared to straight memorization) that was required."

Top Choice for Specialty: Anesthesia

Top Tips for Success from Kate:

• 1) Find a routine and stick to it! I have a solid schedule and it keeps me on track. 
• 2) Keep up with review to say on top of the material and be prepared for the exams. 
• 3) Take time for yourself outside of school, chores, and working out. All these things are important, but it is also so important to relax and do something you truly enjoy.

Kate's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: 鈥淣othing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty.鈥�

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): Anatomy

Top Choice for Specialty: Orthopedic Surgery / General Surgery

Top Tips for Success from Kam:

• 1) Three pass throughs of content with spaced repetition of the information is essential 
• 2) Class isn't that bad, overcomplicating with outside resources can give you double lecture 
• 3) Slides can get noisy - find ways to boil the information down to how you conceptualize it

Kam's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Hahah, you mean like, singin' and dancin'? Nah, not me man - I just surf." -Cody Maverick (Surf's Up)

Favorite M1/M2 Class(es): My favorite class thus far has been anatomy because I enjoyed learning the different muscle groups and their importance in various functions and movements of the body.

Top Choice for Specialty: Otolaryngology

Top Tips for Success from Louise:

• 1. Adapt your study strategies to your needs. Don't use a resource just because others are. 
• 2. Dedicate time to studying but also dedicate time for yourself.

Louise's 鈥淵earbook鈥� Quote: "Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions" - Albert Einstein