Run by Ben Peticca, this is meant to be a casual platform to personally ask upper years with similar interests for candid advice regarding studying, board prep, matching into a specific specialty, extracurriculars, research, balancing school and life, or anything else.
People come into med school with different levels of understanding about what the next 4 years of their life will look like. Some people have parents/older siblings that have told them everything about med school before they enter, while others are the first in their family or friends to go to med school. Some M1s enter knowing the ins and outs of The Match already and others have never even heard of Anki or First Aid. This project to intended to provide everyone the opportunity to ask people who have been through it for advice.
It is for anyone looking for advice or guidance. M1s-M4s. Generally, I expect that younger years will want to ask upper years for advice, but there may even be situations where, for example, an M3 looking for ophthalmology research may want to reach out to an M2 already involved in ophthalmology research.
Anything.
Examples:
M1: How do I study for Anatomy? How do I download anki? What deck should I use? How do I use the Anking/Ankatz decks? How should I study if Anki doesn’t work for me? Should I pursue research? Should I do an elective? What should I do during my M1-M2 summer? Who do I ask for research? How do I balance school and life? Should I be volunteering or doing any other extracurriculars? How do I find friends with similar hobbies?
M2: How do I study for step 1? What 3rd party resources should I buy? Where can I get 3rd party resources for free? When should I start studying for step 1? How do I start a club or program at the school? What order should I schedule my third year rotations in? What sites should I rotate at? Will I have time for research in third year or should I do it now? What extracurriculars should I do if I don’t know what specialty I want to go into?
M3: How did you decide between specialty X and specialty Y? How do I study for shelves? How do I study for step 2? How do I get good clinical evals? What is ____ rotation like at _____ site? How do I find research in the specialty I am interested in? What aways should I apply for in my specialty? Who should be my mentor in my specialty of choice? How do I volunteer in my specialty of choice? Who and when should I ask for a letter of rec? How should I schedule my fourth year?
Want to ask for advice?
You can simply go to this link and email whomever you like by filtering individuals based on topics.
Want to give advice?
M1s-M4s can sign up to be an advisor. You do NOT have to be an upperclassman. Click here to sign up
(And obviously, simply because an individual has volunteered to be an advisor does not mean that they cannot also reach out to another advisor if they need advice on their own studies)