Back at it!

In honor of successfully completing MS1 (the first year of medical school), I’m doing a mini-series on the things I learned in the first year of medical school. It will be broken up into several posts of DOs and DON’Ts — access them all here!

Mentors Explained

My medical school assigns each student to a physician mentor for the next four years. They guide us through our clinical education, which begins in the first year. Most of all, our mentor is a source of information and support for us. As a result, mentors are critical to sharing our growth and success in our recommendation letters for residency.

What Did We Talk About?

My mentor and I met in the first week of school to establish my goals. While we chatted, I expressed my academic goals, the specialties I was interested in learning more about and described my plan for the year. My mentor has guided many students throughout this process and has a valuable perspective. They listened to me, helped me tweak my plan, and even supported me by facilitating shadowing opportunities.

Why Was It Worth It?

As a result of that meeting, I had a stronger understanding of my goals, a clear plan to work toward them, and a strong supporter that would keep me accountable. I built a strong foundation with my mentor. It was helpful through the first year, but especially in the beginning.

Medical school can be lonely. In the first couple of months, I was navigating a new curriculum with 100+ students I had just met and was far from my family and friends. As I found my bearings in a new environment, I kept busy by working toward my goals. It made all of the difference.

What If I Don’t Have or Like My Mentor?

If your med school doesn’t have a mentorship program or if you’re assigned to a mentor that you can’t connect with, then find a mentor on your own! For example. you can cold email physicians in specialties your interested in. Scope your physician lecturers for one who seems keen on helping students. You can also ask your classmates about their mentors, as mentors can guide more than one student. It might take some time to find the right person, but it’s worth the effort!

Med School DOs & DON’Ts: DO Meet with Your Mentor was originally published on Premed to MD

This is what post-MS1 summer vacation looks like today 💕 I only get a couple days off before I start my summer research in San Francisco and I'm living it up. I'm so excited to be back in the Bay for the summer!

Read this.

I have one week of MS1 left. I've debated making YouTube videos for the last couple of years about this med school journey but if first year of med school has taught me anything, it is that anonymity is a privilege. All I can think about are the blogs I want to write this summer. There is so much I want to say.

This is how I feel about having to learn medicine when it is so close to summer. The last summer of the rest of my life...😥👋🏻 ok ok, true yet slightly too dramatic. I actually just love all things skulls and saw this on my walk to grab lunch while studying today 😜

Taking the edge off my Mondaze with some fresh fruit. Here's to a productive week ahead! 🍍 🍇 🍉 🍊

Sundays are for farmer's markets & getting groceries at Trader Joe's on the walk home because you can't afford the farmer's market produce 😂 Got a bunch of yummy veggies and snacks for the week! Eating (fairly) clean makes me feel better and helps me be more productive. I also love to eat at home because it's convenient and easier on the wallet! I spend less time trying to figure out where to go out to eat and have a little more cash for airplane tickets ✈️ ☀️

Study vibes from my library's new study pod 😍 it's the little nerdy things that make my heart happy. Sorry to have been MIA for a while -- med school has kept me adequately occupied 😜 I can't believe first year will be complete in 2 months! And I'm so so so excited about my Summer plans ☺️

I took some mid-week breaks to explore med school city a bit with a visitor who was in town. It was refreshing to get out and do something different on a day I'm usually studying. Confirmed to me that I am capable of having a life outside of med school with out everything burning down (real thoughts haha) :)

When you have an L-shaped desk by the window but decide to cram everything on your two-person dining table in the dark kitchen. This is midterm mode in #medicalschool folks.

Spent the long weekend doing this. Now, to study!