For current SMU Students?

[charlottenian]

How hard have the courses been? I met some SMU students while down there and they said some weeks they never get to go out due to overwhelming amount of material.... Also what kinda of study habits/tricks have you all developed? I don't like to cram study and prefer to study for a couple hours every day to stay on top of things, but on the same token I can't sit all day and study or I go nuts :cry:

[AmericanIMG]

medical school is going to be tough...there are times when you can enjoy yourself and times when you will be in study mode for days at a time. all i can really say from what i have seen is that if you have a good background in anat and histo and go over a lil embryo before you come here it will make life alot easier. if you have time before you matriculate (come to class) you should pick up the BRS Anatomy from amazon.com and use it along with a netters atlas to get a good base (focus on the clinical aspects more then the overwhelming amount of detail). for histo get histology by moore and learn it and you will be good (focus on details, not clinical aspects). this not only applies to you but to all incoming first semesters...i think that you will understand it more when you are in the middle of semester 1...especially studying histo early
:wink:

[MDTOB]

How hard have the courses been? I met some SMU students while down there and they said some weeks they never get to go out due to overwhelming amount of material.... Also what kinda of study habits/tricks have you all developed? I don't like to cram study and prefer to study for a couple hours every day to stay on top of things, but on the same token I can't sit all day and study or I go nuts :cry:

You definitely want to put a few hours in a day, and maximize your weekends. This will keep you on track and you won't fall behind. A lot of people only study when it comes time for exams. This proves critical as some may not do well (obviosly!).

As for books: you should definitely look into the High Yield books for all your 1st semester courses (i.e. Histo, Embryo, Anatomy, Biostats). They are very useful and cut down on studying time as they highlight key concepts. I would also advise getting the First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 book.

Good luck.