Thread: Feeling totally defeated...

I'm a first semester student trying to study for exams. I just feel like giving up because there is so much information to know. It doesnt seem humanely possible. I feel like I have forgotten a lot of what I knew the day before. And now.. I am in the worst mood ever, the lowest of lows. What should I do because I just feel like I have nothing left? Should I still attempt to pull myself out of it even though I doubt it will be successful?

Its very normal to feel overwhelmed as a 1st semester student. The old analogy of drinking from a fire hydrant is correct. The material is not difficult, its the volume that is killer. I went through this during my first semester and was nervous that I couldn't remember any more info. They just continued to pour on the material.

I just tried my best and was amazed at what you can do when you are pushed to do so. Its not impossible, its just you haven't had to push your mind and memory this hard ever before. We all did it before you, so it is possible I promise.

Trust your body and mind and change your study habits to maximize your time. You probably think you have to study all the material every day. You don't! The way you study is up to you, but Ill tell you my method and others may tell you theirs. Then you can try them and find the one that works well for your.

Trying to just memorize everything is very difficult. I found it better for me to make the material into questions on the day I got the info (same day) and then re-ask the material on at least 2-3 days after i heard about them. Use the questions I made to see if I remembered the material. I tried to make the questions encompass as much of the material as possible to minimize the number of questions for each lecture.

Then I would do Step 1 questions (Check Library for other books with questions) Biotest series (book of questions based on subject), BRS series has questions in it too. I do these questions also as a check to ensure I have fully covered as much material as possible on the subjects covered in lecture.

Just keep chugging along and everyday after making your questions for that day, you study a few of the previous lectures quesitions for each class.
Then study some on the weekends, but have the remainder of the day to have fun and take some time off.

You will need to tweak the way you study on how well your grades do. And remember if you continue to study day after day, you will have studied each lectures questions multiple times before the exam.

Hope this helps.

Answer these after blocks: How much do you study? How do you study?

You need to make serious changes later, but for now you should be trying to squeeze as many points out of this bad situation as possible. Go! Study! Feeling sorry for yourself gets you no where, be pragmatic.

Originally Posted by marcm

I'm a first semester student trying to study for exams. I just feel like giving up because there is so much information to know. It doesnt seem humanely possible. I feel like I have forgotten a lot of what I knew the day before. And now.. I am in the worst mood ever, the lowest of lows. What should I do because I just feel like I have nothing left? Should I still attempt to pull myself out of it even though I doubt it will be successful?

Transitioning to studying for medical school might be difficult for some. It is ok to feel overwhelmed. I'm pretty sure some of your classmates feel that way as well.
Just keep reading the materials over and over again. Make sure to review and review again. And also do more questions. Keep at it and don't give up. And welcome to medical school.

Just stay calm. You are going to be ok and even if this block doesn't go the way you would like, you still have block four and the finals to make up for it. Third block is very difficult, especially in first semester considering it is the first time you have ever had a four week block. Just try to stay positive and remember that you have been working hard. If you feel like you need to change your study habits, then do so. You have to figure out what works best for you, but I will tell you what I did. I went over the material from the day that day and marked whatever I had questions about/didn't understand and then went to office hours to ask my questions and clarify what I didn't understand. Then, on weekends I would review all the material that we had gone over and do practice questions to make sure that I really had the material down. And by the time the exams rolled around I felt calmer because I felt more confident about my knowledge.

The way you feel now is normal, just don't let it get in the way of you succeeding. You are obviously there for a reason, and despite what people may say on here, they don't just let anyone in. Try to be positive, it will be ok.

Originally Posted by marcm

I'm a first semester student trying to study for exams. I just feel like giving up because there is so much information to know. It doesnt seem humanely possible. I feel like I have forgotten a lot of what I knew the day before. And now.. I am in the worst mood ever, the lowest of lows. What should I do because I just feel like I have nothing left? Should I still attempt to pull myself out of it even though I doubt it will be successful?

The school provides a free counseling service with Dr. J.A.

It's not the greatest idea to post this when you are practically in block 4 but hopefully you will do your best and it will still be possible to pass with the damage minimization. Message me after your block exam grades and i'll tell you how you can maximize your block 4 results.

and if there you feel overwhelmed, start with focusing on High Yield material. If your not sure how to figure out what is high yield, usually old kaplan questions, USMLE world, and first-aid should good starting points. For anatomy, there are video tapes which provide a good review in the library.

Good luck.

I was in the same position during my first semester. Needless to say, i'm finished my clinical sciences! It's easy to feel overwhelmed with so much ahead of you. There is still time to improve and always found myself improving until the very end. Remember that not everyone learns the same and you have to find the best method for you. Agreed with Dr. Fraud, go for the high yield esp at this point, but don't give up. When your mind goes into survival mode, you find how far you can actually push yourself. Be good to yourself, sleep, try to enjoy what makes you happy, and then study...review,review,review. The information is limited and set, it's not SO vast. I really had a similar mind set as yours. Anticipate, use pics, ask friends for help...message me if anything - i FEEL your pain!!! Trust in all that is good, it pays off...

good advice from above also: stay positive, search for and do all that makes you happy and brightens your day. don't give into your funk. It's never too late either to express yourself and express that you are upset, just work towards fixing it - that will be the hardest adjustment. I went to the counselor once. I don't really know how useful that was or if they told me anything that was useful. It was pretty much like "you should find something that helps!" Then i tried getting a tutor, but people get mad busy and have no time to help. Geee wiz. Find ONE friend that studies in a similar manner as yourself, and bounce ideas and talk it out - also something that helped me. Don't quit!