On Being Highly Focused on Academics

Shockingly, you won’t be surrounded by die-hard library dwellers in medical school. Instead, many of your classmates will need surprisingly little study time to do well, or take pass-fail to heart. Much of medical school is about finding the balance of things that makes YOU happy. If that means minimizing studying to high yield sessions, then go for it. If that means focusing on academics, that’s also great! Professors and TAs are always open to talk more about what you learned in class, and there is no shortage of material to discuss. There are also a ton of ways to dive into medicine beyond class material. If you’re interested in conducting research, then contacting multiple professors, reading about their work, and meeting with them is a great way to learn about the frontiers of medical discovery, and perhaps push that frontier farther forward yourself. If you enjoy clinical medicine, physicians are very open to shadowing. During this semester I’ve shadowed specialties such as neurosurgery, Ob-Gyn, cardiac surgery, and many more for fun! I find shadowing a great way to experience medicine hands on. If you want to focus on academics, the material covered is fascinating, and there are plenty of ways to get plugged in beyond going to class.