Sketchy as pre-med during gap year?

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My friend in second year of medical school told me to do sketchy micro (or is it called skecthy medical??) during my gap year (already accepted) before I start this fall. He said it's super useful to get a good head start. Is this a good idea and is it worth the money? Thanks!
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If you truly want to get ahead, I'd run lolnotacop (part of the AnKing deck) alongside it if you want to make it stick and not have to rewatch it later.

Edit: I'd say before anything, familiarize yourself very well with Anki. That way you can hit the ground running if you choose to use it.
 
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100% worth its weight in gold. As for whether you should start it now...not sure how helpful it would be without the context surrounding the different videos. But there are people that are already grinding for Step without having started school, so....I guess? If you literally don’t have research or anything better you could be doing.
 
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Gigantic waste of time, especially now with p/f step
 
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It’s literally the only form of prestudying I’m not vehemently against. I could see doing sketchy micro and then the associated lolnotacop decks and just grinding it in so that by the time you start med school you have <100 cards to do per day. You’ll feel like you have a super power in those classes by the time you start and it’s very useful both in and out of the classroom.

This is 100% NOT necessary and you will definitely be fine if you don’t do this. It’s just quite possibly the only form of prestudy not totally pointless. Keep in mind your friend is likely preparing for boards and just wishing he’d done more and that’s why he’s recommending it.
 
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Ho0v-man said:
It’s literally the only form of prestudying I’m not vehemently against. I could see doing sketchy micro and then the associated lolnotacop decks and just grinding it in so that by the time you start med school you have <100 cards to do per day. You’ll feel like you have a super power in those classes by the time you start and it’s very useful both in and out of the classroom.

This is 100% NOT necessary and you will definitely be fine if you don’t do this. It’s just quite possibly the only form of prestudy not totally pointless. Keep in mind your friend is likely preparing for boards and just wishing he’d done more and that’s why he’s recommending it.
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Some of the sketches are entertaining lol
Looking at you toxo
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ciestar said:
Some of the sketches are entertaining lol
Looking at you toxo
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I still can’t get over the fate of Robin of Ixodes. But I guess there are worse ways to go than getting eaten by a harem of vampire babes.
 
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I feel like anatomy or reading costanzo physiology would be useful to get a foundation. Sketchy could be good too but for me anatomy was the toughest thing first year

Like just the anatomy basics since you don't know what your school will focus on.
 
alkaidius said:
I still can’t get over the fate of Robin of Ixodes. But I guess there are worse ways to go than getting eaten by a harem of vampire babes.
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next time mention SPOILERS at the beginning! jk
 
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Everyone on this forum is going to tell you to enjoy your gap year. Truth is there is no harm in getting started early, it will just make your job easier in preclinical years. Doing SketchyMicro is absolutely doable with little to no background knowledge on microbiology. Watch a few videos on microbiology basics from either Boards and Beyond or an equivalent source and then start watching SketchyMicro videos combined with the Lolnotacop anki deck. You will definitely thank yourself later. My recommendation is to only do a couple videos every day so that they stick. When doing the anki cards, make sure to take your time to visualize the sketch in your head and think where each symbol belongs. Even if the card asks a question that you know the answer to without thinking of the sketch, try to match it to the sketch symbol in your head. This will help with long term retention. It's easy to answer the cards without even thinking of the sketch immediately after watching it but linking the concept to the sketch will help you remember everything months down the line. Like someone else mentioned, anatomy is another subject you can probably start learning prior to medical school.

Goodluck!
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Those are rookie numbers.
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Don’t forget I work 40 hours a week lol. Just making/unsuspending cards on my free time. Practicing making flash cards with costanzo and doing biochem BnB. Also have some gross anatomy in there.

Just doing it to get comfortable with anki and to see if anki is a good study method for me. So far it works like magic - @Ho0v-man just went through purine synthesis/salvage, causes of gout/Lesch-Nyhan’s :p
 
Kumorebi said:
Don’t forget I work 40 hours a week lol. Just making/unsuspending cards on my free time. Practicing making flash cards with costanzo and doing biochem BnB. Also have some gross anatomy in there.

Just doing it to get comfortable with anki and to see if anki is a good study method for me. So far it works like magic - @Ho0v-man just went through purine synthesis/salvage, causes of gout/Lesch-Nyhan’s :p
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So like that’s probably too much. Don’t burn out before orientation.
 
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Kumorebi said:
Don’t forget I work 40 hours a week lol. Just making/unsuspending cards on my free time. Practicing making flash cards with costanzo and doing biochem BnB. Also have some gross anatomy in there.

Just doing it to get comfortable with anki and to see if anki is a good study method for me. So far it works like magic - @Ho0v-man just went through purine synthesis/salvage, causes of gout/Lesch-Nyhan’s :p
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There are less painful ways to kill yourself, like harakiri lol. If you want to start early, though, make sure that it’s a manageable amount or you’ll get frustrated when you can’t keep up with your current schedule come Block 1. Try to imagine being about twice as exhausted coming home from work right now and only getting to your “board prep” after appx 3-4 hours of studying Block 1 material. It has to be something you can maintain for 2 years or it’s literally a waste of time.
 
Ho0v-man said:
So like that’s probably too much. Don’t burn out before orientation.
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alkaidius said:
There are less painful ways to kill yourself, like harakiri lol. If you want to start early, though, make sure that it’s a manageable amount or you’ll get frustrated when you can’t keep up with your current schedule come Block 1. Try to imagine being about twice as exhausted coming home from work right now and only getting to your “board prep” after appx 3-4 hours of studying Block 1 material. It has to be something you can maintain for 2 years or it’s literally a waste of time.
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I’m realllly taking my time and don’t add new cards if I don’t feel like it. I feel this odd satisfaction when I get a card right - I don’t see myself burning out any time soon. I literally spend less than 2 hours a day watching bnb and doing my reviews. Doing biochem is fun cause I get to think about pathways and mechanisms using my graduate chemistry degree (did organic synthesis).
 
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Kumorebi said:
I’m realllly taking my time and don’t add new cards if I don’t feel like it. I feel this odd satisfaction when I get a card right - I don’t see myself burning out any time soon. I literally spend less than 2 hours a day watching bnb and doing my reviews. Doing biochem is fun cause I get to think about pathways and mechanisms using my graduate chemistry degree (did organic synthesis).
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Oh ok. Then considering your background, you MIGHT wanna add in biochem zanki if you finish micro. It’s a different beast entirely and a lot of Zanki diehards skip it. I personally think it’s a masterpiece. I got a lot of compliments on IM for understanding biochem so well.
 
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Kumorebi said:
Don’t forget I work 40 hours a week lol. Just making/unsuspending cards on my free time. Practicing making flash cards with costanzo and doing biochem BnB. Also have some gross anatomy in there.

Just doing it to get comfortable with anki and to see if anki is a good study method for me. So far it works like magic - @Ho0v-man just went through purine synthesis/salvage, causes of gout/Lesch-Nyhan’s :p
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Oh, you haven't even started M1 yet. I wouldn't do any of that crap. Save yourself some sanity. You're going to be drowning in anki for at least 18 months. Let your mind be free and happy for the time it has left.
 
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Studying before M1 Seriously enjoy your time off before you start, especially now with step 1 pass/fail. But whatever do what you want, this is a nerds game after all.
 
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Sky138 said:
I hope you’re being sarcastic because you do realize that step 1 is pass fail right?
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What is the best predictor of step 2 score?

I also think some mastery of step 1 material will help with rotations. I’m not going to let step 1 going P/F kill my determination
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Oh, you haven't even started M1 yet. I wouldn't do any of that crap. Save yourself some sanity. You're going to be drowning in anki for at least 18 months. Let your mind be free and happy for the time it has left.
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Learning how to swim before jumping (or being pushed) into the deep end of a pool will probably help with drowning.
 
Kumorebi said:
Learning how to swim before jumping (or being pushed) into the deep end of a pool will probably help with drowning.
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You don't have to do sketchy to learn to swim. You just need to get familiar with anki, which you can do easily in a day. You probably won't listen, but I'm literally in the thick of M1 right now, and I'm telling you that especially in light of step 1 being P/F for you, you do NOT need to be doing that stuff. It will do you much more benefit to just take it easy. Get in shape if you're not already, spend your time working out, doing fun things, picking up a hobby. If you're already working 40 hours per week, I have no idea why you would want to squander what free time you have now by doing stuff you're going to be up to your eyeballs in soon enough. Why do premeds always think they know better?
 
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Kumorebi said:
What is the best predictor of step 2 score?

I also think some mastery of step 1 material will help with rotations. I’m not going to let step 1 going P/F kill my determination
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In any other cycle you might have had some meaningful returns for starting early but let’s be real, this isn’t any other cycle and the exam is still pass/fail. If you’re trying to get into a competitive residency, especially if you’re going to a DO school, consider networking and doing research. That can and will give you greater returns than a higher step score. Without research and connections, even if you score 20% higher than me on step 2 you will not even remotely come close to taking my spot.
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
You don't have to do sketchy to learn to swim. You just need to get familiar with anki, which you can do easily in a day. You probably won't listen, but I'm literally in the thick of M1 right now, and I'm telling you that especially in light of step 1 being P/F for you, you do NOT need to be doing that stuff. It will do you much more benefit to just take it easy. Get in shape if you're not already, spend your time working out, doing fun things, picking up a hobby. If you're already working 40 hours per week, I have no idea why you would want to squander what free time you have now by doing stuff you're going to be up to your eyeballs in soon enough. Why do premeds always think they know better?
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I stop working after the first week of March. June I have three weeks of planned traveling for vacation. It’s not that I think I know better or am spending ungodly amounts of time studying before M1. For 1-2 hours a day, would I rather spend it playing video games (wasted my life away in undergrad) or doing something potentially useful? Granted working out or starting a new hobby is arguably better than just playing games all day, I really truly enjoy learning the material I’m reviewing.

Yeah your an M1 and probably all the other M1s and med students agree that you could spend your time better summer before school starts. I still play a few games of league when I get home, go out to the skatepark at least twice a week to work on some type of progression, and am no way unhappy at all.

or I can just be in denial about step 1 going P/F as a DO. :angelic:
 
Sky138 said:
In any other cycle you might have had some meaningful returns for starting early but let’s be real, this isn’t any other cycle and the exam is still pass/fail. If you’re trying to get into a competitive residency, especially if you’re going to a DO school, consider networking and doing research. That can and will give you greater returns than a higher step score. Without research and connections, even if you score 20% higher than me on step 2 you will not even remotely come close to taking my spot.
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This is true
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
My point is that those other things are way more useful than doing sketchy or anki right now, because you won’t have a lot of time for them once school starts.
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Learning the ins-outs of Anki and proper creation of flashcards could be something school-related and probably a better use of time.
 
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osamine said:
Learning the ins-outs of Anki and proper creation of flashcards could be something school-related and probably a better use of time.
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for anyone thinking of this -

“Thank you for learning with ... the Anking!”

www.youtube.com

The AnKing

We are medical students and found Anki was an amazing tool, but it's not the most user-friendly and its taken us 6 months just to get the basics. We decided ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
The manual is also a good resource. When I started out I just read through it and would refer back to it when I needed to clarify something.
 
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Sketchy is a GREAT resource, but definitely don't need to start it that early!
 
osamine said:
Learning the ins-outs of Anki and proper creation of flashcards could be something school-related and probably a better use of time.
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Yes, I said that in my other post. It takes a couple hours tops to really learn how to use anki effectively. Then go outside or something.
 
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Kumorebi said:
I stop working after the first week of March. June I have three weeks of planned traveling for vacation. It’s not that I think I know better or am spending ungodly amounts of time studying before M1. For 1-2 hours a day, would I rather spend it playing video games (wasted my life away in undergrad) or doing something potentially useful? Granted working out or starting a new hobby is arguably better than just playing games all day, I really truly enjoy learning the material I’m reviewing.

Yeah your an M1 and probably all the other M1s and med students agree that you could spend your time better summer before school starts. I still play a few games of league when I get home, go out to the skatepark at least twice a week to work on some type of progression, and am no way unhappy at all.

or I can just be in denial about step 1 going P/F as a DO. :angelic:
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Screw Anki, screw the video games. Go get swoll. Probably will get you farther in life anyways. Unless you’re trying to eventually match ortho as a DO. Then you should have started Step2 zanki last year, maturing your deck in between set of military press
 
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Kumorebi said:
I stop working after the first week of March. June I have three weeks of planned traveling for vacation. It’s not that I think I know better or am spending ungodly amounts of time studying before M1. For 1-2 hours a day, would I rather spend it playing video games (wasted my life away in undergrad) or doing something potentially useful? Granted working out or starting a new hobby is arguably better than just playing games all day, I really truly enjoy learning the material I’m reviewing.

Yeah your an M1 and probably all the other M1s and med students agree that you could spend your time better summer before school starts. I still play a few games of league when I get home, go out to the skatepark at least twice a week to work on some type of progression, and am no way unhappy at all.

or I can just be in denial about step 1 going P/F as a DO. :angelic:
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We only get one life on this earth (but I could certainly be wrong on this assumption) and if this is how you’d like to spend the finite amount of time you have, then by all means do it and I’ll support your decision. But as another M1 (so I hardly know anything) I think your time could be better spent not doing BnB before school. Either way Godspeed OP.
 
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This might be an unpopular opinion, but you're likely going to forget your pre-study. I still believe not pre-studying and enjoy life before med school is a good decision.
 
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DameJulie said:
This might be an unpopular opinion, but you're likely going to forget your pre-study. I still believe not pre-studying and enjoy life before med school is a good decision.
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Agreed. As I sit here studying for 3 days straight over the weekend for my renal/pulm block final, I’m glad I didn’t waste the free time I had before med school doing anything medicine related.
 
DameJulie said:
This might be an unpopular opinion, but you're likely going to forget your pre-study. I still believe not pre-studying and enjoy life before med school is a good decision.
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Fully agree. But it’s pretty obvious when someone is just gonna do it anyway so might as well help it potentially be somewhat useful.
 
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is it stil worth it to pre-study if step is going to be passfail?
asking as a non trad who has been out of school for a few years
 
letsgetstarted1234 said:
is it stil worth it to pre-study if step is going to be passfail?
asking as a non trad who has been out of school for a few years
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I wouldn’t only because if you study the wrong way or inefficiently you’d actually put yourself at greater risk for burnout.
 
Sky138 said:
I wouldn’t only because if you study the wrong way or inefficiently you’d actually put yourself at greater risk for burnout.
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that makes sense.
my biggest paranoid worry is not knowing how to study anymore (it's been a 7+ years) since school. I feel like i dont know how anymore.

But burnout is real.
 
DameJulie said:
This might be an unpopular opinion, but you're likely going to forget your pre-study. I still believe not pre-studying and enjoy life before med school is a good decision.
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Definitely not an unpopular opinion. Getting swoll as Ryan Secrest suggested is probably the best use of time imo.

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