Step 1 studying is a lot like cleaning your room...

11:50 AM

Author | Kate Brieger

...it just gets so much more messy before it gets clean!

The first week of study period for Step 1 of the board exams really reminds me of when you decide to give your room the cleaning it has always deserved. Including the back of the closet. AND under the bed. You go through so much so quickly and you make some exciting discoveries!

"Oh I'd forgotten about this sweater! I should wear it tomorrow!" (I used to love this pneumonic! How clever! Why haven't I been using it more?)

"I swear I never bought a blue rubber bouncy ball. How is it possible that there is this thing will a price tag still on it?" (No one has ever taught me about this before. I'm 99% sure that First Aid is just making up words.)

"This is impossible! None of this will EVER fit in the closet! Even if I organize it!" (Oh dear. This is a terrifying amount of information.)

"How do other people organize their closets? Do I need new drawers and dividers? And hanging shoe bags?" (What should I use? Other books? Flashcards? Just get rid of all the old notes?)

There are a lot of great things about study period, though, despite the intensity and brief moments of panic. I like being on a schedule, waking up at the same time every day, doing this kind of studying in the morning and that kind of review in the afternoon. You fall into a routine and it starts to feel okay. You just get as much done as you can each day, and that's that.

Blogging isn't technically part of the schedule I wrote for myself, so if you don't hear from me for a month or so, I'll be cleaning my closet! Happy April, everyone!

Media Contact Public Relations

Department of Communication at Michigan Medicine

[email protected]

734-764-2220

Stay Informed

Want top health & research news weekly? Sign up for Health Lab’s newsletters today!

Subscribe
Featured News & Stories Health Lab Podcast in brackets with a background with a dark blue translucent layers over cells
Health Lab Podcast
New study finds steep increase in ED visits for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and shows persistent maternal health disparities
Findings suggest significant increase in emergency department utilization for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy over 14 year span.
close up of yellow cells and blue greenish teal background
Health Lab
An ultrasound-activated hydrogel for steady, sustained drug delivery
Researchers have developed a new composite hydrogel capable of achieving sustained, zero-order drug release using ultrasound as a trigger.
News Release
U-M awarded $3.6M to study post-surgery pain management for individuals with opioid use disorder
The University of Michigan will use a new $3.6 million federal grant to study how pain and opioids after surgery impact people with opioid use disorder, how guidelines might be adjusted to address post-surgical pain and how to prevent opioid-related harms.
A group of people in a conference room in colorful costumes
Points of Blue
Jessie Mei Dalman: Following Your Passions
Jessie Mei Dalman (she/her/hers) comes from Portola Valley, California and graduated from Stanford University in 2018.
Blurry Operating Room
Department News
New insights on persistent opioid use after surgery and genetic associations to opioid use disorder
In a recent edition of Genetic Epidemiology, Aubrey C. Annis and mentors Gonçalo R. Abecasis and Chad Brummett have new insights to share on these genetic associations in their publication, “Genetic Associations of Persistent Opioid Use After Surgery Point to OPRM1 but Not Other Opioid-Related Loci as the Main Driver of Opioid Use Disorder”.
young kid coughing
Health Lab
Whooping cough cases are on the rise: 5 things to know
Cases of a bacterial lung infection known as whooping cough, or pertussis, have been on the rise, with more than double the number of cases compared to last year.