Thanks everyone for encouraging me to not worry too much about the future and focus on the pre-clinical curriculum at hand! It is comforting to hear that I do not need to do anything else at this moment!
Follow-up question...I am not a particularly strong student. Up to this point, I've always been around average to below average in my class. I am worried that I might not be retaining enough basic info for the clinical years. Is there anything you guys recommend to keep the knowledge in long-term memory? I'm guessing the quick answer is Anki, but I really, really do not like flashcards, so any other recommendations would be appreciated.
Oh my gosh, I needed to go do something for med school in the hospital (large metro health center) today and I legit got lost for 20 minutes. Had to text a resident to rescue me.
Hey, your situation sounds similar to mine! Did not do anki, did average for step 1 and preclinical scores.
For medical knowledge:
I agree with all the posters above that learning the preclinical material is the best thing you can do to prep for 3rd year, especially the pathophysiology. I loved Pathoma for that. But, I wish I had a little more time to actually re-explain concepts to really make sure I was understanding them. Whether in a group study setting, peer tutor setting, whatever. I got a lot of help from my school's (free) peer tutors and am now working as one. Teaching a concept really helps reinforce it. Also, if you are a visual learner, try Sketchy for recalling the nitty-gritty.
Try to think about your own differentials and treatment plans as much as you can, especially if y'all have case-based learning or a doctoring course where they are trying to teach you this.
For career choice:
Now that the pandemic is more stable, try to shadow and volunteer to expose yourself to the different specialties, and different settings like inpatient vs outpatient. Shadowing was closed in my school due to covid during most of my preclinical, and it made my specialty choice harder in M3. If you already know what specialty you want to go in, start networking with attendings and residents.
For clinical encounters:
Definitely practice as many physical exams as you can, especially on different genders and different sizes/shapes. Don't feel shy to say that you didn't understand how to do a maneuver, and to ask someone to show you again. If you can practice presenting to patients, that is great. It's fine if you don't get too much practice since most rotations have slightly different styles.
Misc:
Do whatever helps build your confidence. Improve your own mental and physical health, self-esteem, etc (or keep it stable if yours is god) so that inevitably when constructive criticism or bad days come they won't break you. If you have chronic health conditions or mental health needs, make sure you keep up with your own healthcare so you can start clinical year with all the resources (meds, therapy, etc) you need. If you are "type A", know you will have to become more flexible and spontaneous in third year because you will literally not know your schedule until the day before for some rotations. Try to keep up some sources of joy and connection outside medicine, whether through friends, family, hobbies, etc.
