First Med School Exam and Pre-med questions!

Yeah, you gotta figure out the vibe, man. That's how to be successful. How to be successful in med school. Figure out the vibe.

Figure out the vibe. That's good.

Hi, everybody, and welcome to the podcast. This is Generations md. My name is Stephanie and I'm joined here by my colleague, Dr. Sarah Davis, who is also my mother. Hey.

Hey. How you doing?

I am. I'm here. I made it today. I'm struggling a little bit.

Struggling. Have a big night last night?

Honestly, no. I went to. But I went to the Class Animals concert and it was. It was a lot of fun. It was a good concert. It was fun, but just like. So I had exams last week and then like, we had our big block party on Friday and then Thomas was in town yesterday, so it was kind of just go, go, go. And I just. The post exam, like, I'm so tired just from all of it.

Yeah. Yeah, that's. That's a lot. Yes. How was the big block party? That's funny. When you say block party, I. I think of like, blocking off a street and having a party. But this is a block test. A post block test party.

Yes. We had like six weeks of material, and then last week we had. It was like three exams. Two of them were on Thursday, and then we had our anatomy practical on Friday. And then we had our big block party on Friday night, which, like. And after the test on Friday, like, I was so tired. I don't know how everyone was just like, let's go. Yeah.

Adrenaline.

Yeah. I mean, but I mean, it was fun also for, like, especially for the tests on. What was that Thursday? Like, it was a three hour test and we weren't allowed to have any water during the entire thing.

Wait, is that because. So that you don't get up to go to the bathroom or. What's that?

Well, we can't go to the bathroom either.

But why can't you have water?

Like, you can't have a water bottle for, like, cheating, like, stuff. They have just like all these rules. Like, you have to put your backpack up and like, you have to. It's just. Yeah. All these rules. So that I'm like, I feel like if we made it this far, then.

Right. I guess. I mean, that does seem kind of crazy also. Like, I feel like they could just, you know, give you a cup and give you some water.

Right. That's what I was thinking. I was like, why don't they just have water bottles there? Because they give us like, earplugs too. Like, they, like, will do that. And they'll give us like a whiteboard thing. And I'm like, why don't you just get a case of water?

Yeah, that seems like that's something that they could, they could really manage if they want to. But I feel that seems like one of those things where like they're fine, they don't need water.

But after that like three hours of just no water and straight, just staring at a screen, focusing like I was wiped after that. So and that's Thursday. Then we have our anatomy practical on Friday. So right after the test on Thursday then everybody like goes into the anatomy lab and stays there like late at night and then to prepare for the test the next day.

Did you stay there late at night?

Well, I went home and then I came back because right when I finished that big test I just put in my earplugs and I got on my bike and I biked home because I cannot stand the thing of people just standing around talking about the answers. I'm like, this is only going to stress me out and not going to.

Help me get out. Just get out of there. That was good. That was, I think that was a good, good choice for your mental health.

Yeah. But then after. So for anatomy lab there were two groups. Like one group went like they split the class in half. So one group went at 1:00 and the next group was at like 2:30. So in order to make sure that like the two groups didn't cross paths, I was in the 1:00 clock group. So we finished and we're like oh woo, we're done. We like start walking out. But they, they're like no, you guys need to go that like the like out a different door. And then they put us in this like hallway thing.

So it's like they sequestered you.

Literally sequestered us, put us in this hallway and like kept us there for like it was like 15 minutes to make sure the all the other group got in. But I swear to God, like that was my hell. Like actually if the gates of hell open, that is what it is. It is a hallway full of medical students that just finished an exam talking about their answers were shoulder to shoulder. I'm like dripping in sweat. I'm exhausted from standing for two hours taking this practical and like we all smell like formaldehyde stink.

Yeah.

I had also self tanned earlier that day, so I smelled like self tan and formaldehyde and I was just like, I actually thought I was about to pass out and everyone was just like, oh my God, what'd you get for this? What did you get for this? Doing this. Doing this. And I actually, like, I thought I was going to have a panic attack. Like, I was like, I cannot do this. Like, get me out of this room. I don't know how. Everyone around me seemed like, okay. I seem to be the only one that was like, yeah, but that was wild.

It is nice, though, that you got to get it over with before the other people. Although had you been in a later group, you wouldn't have had that.

Yeah, I think they. They're gonna switch that for, like, the second block or something, so.

Yeah. Yeah. So then you won't have that. Yeah. I feel like you need to, like, have some AirPods. Put them in, like, sit in the corner, like, facing the wall, like, listening to music or something.

Well, I couldn't have. We didn't have our phones or anything.

Oh, right. You couldn't have anything with you. That's right. So you had nothing. Oh, yeah. There's nothing even to distract you. Wow.

Exactly. So I was just, like. So standing there, like, staring, and I was just not having it. I really, like, the talking about the test thing, I don't, like, I don't get.

Is very strange. I don't know. I. I don't understand themselves.

And I guess, like, people, like, they want to make themselves feel better being like, oh, you put this for this, right? You put this for this to make sure that, like, they put the right answers. But I think it can only make you feel worse.

Yeah, no, it only does. It's. There's. There's nothing to be gained by it. The test is over. You know, you'll get your grade when you get your grade. But it's. Oh, well, that's rough, baby girl.

Yeah, well, it was fine. I survived. I got through it, got out of there. I got my haircut.

It looks good.

Yeah. And the haircut. I went to a different. Or I. I'd never gone to this place before. And she's like, oh. Like, how was your day? And stuff. And I was like. I, like, told her I just finished a bunch of exams. And I was like. And she was like, okay. Like, if you don't want to talk, then that's fine. And I was like, okay. It was honestly kind of nice. So then we kind of just, like, sat there in silence. When she cut my hair, she was like, yeah, I like to be quiet sometimes. So it was honestly kind of nice.

That is kind of nice. Imagine that. I think if you were doing that stuff all the time. Like, sometimes they do get tired of talking to people. But if people want to talk, they got to talk. Unless you wanted some like, you know, kind of cheap therapy. Not really cheap because the haircut's expensive.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Wait, but was it all stinky, like cadaver, like when you went in there and she had to like wash it and get all the cadaver smell out?

Yeah, also because, like I would. Because they sequestered us in that room. I scheduled my haircut like at 3:30 and like, I wasn't gonna make it, so I had to bike home really, really fast. And then I was gonna shower. Well, I did rinse off, but then I didn't wash my hair because I was about to get my hair washed anyway, so.

Right.

Yeah. I don't know. Hopefully.

Well, it looks good.

Thanks. Thanks.

So you did that. So you, you finished the test, you got your hair done, then did you relax for a little while or then just kind of go straight out or. What'd you do?

Well, I came back and like, I. Yeah, then I like climbed into bed and I was like, I. I don't know if I can do this. Then I rallied and I got it together.

Good, good, good. I know. I do remember that. Sort of sometimes. Sometimes, like you're just so kind of amped up. Like you're tired, but you're amped up. And sometimes I would come home and like clean my apartment because I was just like, okay, I want to do something with this energy. But I don't know, that's. That must have been other times when we didn't go straight to the jigger.

Yeah, right.

That was known to do.

But you guys were finishing at like 11am, right?

Sometimes, sometimes. And then you just walk straight to the jitter and then there you are drinking beer on a Tuesday at 11 o'.

Clock.

It's, it's not a great look.

Some professionalism right there.

Yeah, yeah. And so I don't remember what we. If we went there, maybe we just had like a beer or two and then maybe went, went home and relaxed and then went out later. I can't remember. I'll have, I'll have to ask the KUMC Hotties.

There you go. Like, I'm not, I'm not done yet. I still have a test tomorrow. Oh, yeah, So I have. It's called an osce. And essentially it's like, it's a history taking thing. So you go in with like a standardized patient and you like take their history.

Okay.

So unfortunately my. It's like all this Next week. And mine is the first session on Monday after our exam, of course. I was literally like, no way. It's going to be the first session. And then I didn't even look at it. And then somebody told me, they're like, hey, you're in my group. On the first session, I was like, great.

Okay.

But honestly, I don't know. I'm not that worried about it. I think really it's just about memorizing a script and back.

You know, how to memorize a script.

Back in my middle school drama days, I was always so good at memorizing scripts. Like, I would read it and then I'd be like, okay, I'm good to go. So really, I just need to channel my seventh grade Mulan era and I'm fine.

I think that's true. I think you will be fine. It's. It's funny. Some people have more trouble with that than others, but for some people, it's just. It's just not that hard. Yeah.

Yeah. But I'm happy that the first block is over. I think that it was. Obviously, I have a lot more tests to take and stuff, but that was just the first. Like, we just. No one really knew what to expect.

Yeah. Was it about what you expected it all to be or who knows?

I think so. I mean, at least for the anatomy, like, I had more of an idea of what it was going to be because we had like a couple practice practicals and stuff so that we didn't go in, like, completely blind, which was good. But for the other tests, like the main big one. Yeah. I don't know. It was different than I expected in some ways. And at the same time, it was. It was kind of similar. So I don't know. Don't have my grade back yet, so we'll see.

Yeah, yeah, sure. It's all going to be just fine. That's. But yeah, it's nice to have one under your belt. You're like, okay.

Yeah.

Well, we had a fun weekend because SMU beat tcu.

Well, speaking of smu, we have our new intern.

Yes. New intern for generations, Maryland. Her name is Gerleen and so she will be helping us out on the podcast. And she also. She's a pre med at smu and she said that she and her pre med friends have lots of different questions and so she has given us a list of some of those questions and we're going to address some of those today. And then it could be a recurring series so that pre meds can give their questions and then we can address those maybe at the end of podcast or whatever. Whatever works out.

Yeah. So we'll start off today. She sent us a few and there's a couple that I wanted to touch on. I just thought that this was a good question and something that I want to touch on is just like, is every day unpredictable? Because I think like when I. And I was talking about this on the podcast and on TikTok, like, especially like during orientation week when I first started, I was like, what is my day to day going to look like? Like, I don't know what my day to day is looking like. And I realized that really every day is different. Like it's. There's not a ton of. Some of it is consistent, but it's really like it's. I thought it was going to be more like, okay, I get up, I go to class and then I study, like repeat, or I get up and I study all day or whatever it is. But it's really. Every single day looks different. Like sometimes I'm at home, sometimes I'm on campus, sometimes I'm in lab, sometimes I'm doing group work and stuff. And I thought that was going to really stress me out. But honestly, I've kind of liked stuff being different every day because it keeps it more engaging rather than like last year when I was just going to work from 8 to 5 every single day and it was just literally the same thing.

I like, even though you were with me and that part was really fun. But other than that. Yes, of course.

But other than that, I don't know, I kind of. I've leaned into it more and I have enjoyed it being different every day.

But is it predictable? I mean, do you know what your week is gonna look like?

So I feel like I've, I've talked about this before, but honestly, like, I realize if I try to look ahead too much, then it stresses me out. So I literally don't look at. I mean, I have like a general idea of what's going on, but like, it's 3:00' clock on Sunday. I don't know how many lectures I have tomorrow. I know that I have to be. I have my osce test at 1:00'.

Clock.

Like, I know that and I know on Tuesday I'll have anatomy, but like, I really don't know, like, what my day is going to look like until, like, I actually figure out, like, what. Where I need to be when.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's, you know, just kind of thinking about, like, clinical Rotations and that stuff too. That is a little bit similar as well in that, like, okay, you know, you're on surgery or whatever, but you don't really know what cases you're going to see. You don't know what time you're going to be done. You don't know what time you're going to eat lunch. Like, you don't. There's a lot you just have to kind of roll with, which makes it a little bit challenging if you're, I don't know, trying to be like your spouse is like, oh, are you going to be home for dinner? Like, I don't know.

Yeah. And also just like, with flexibility, I feel like I've, like, in the past, especially in college, like, I would plan my week and I would, you know, be like, okay, this is what my week is going to look like. Like, I need to study for this on this day and do this, like, here. And like, I just have to be really flexible. Like, I can't really do that anymore. I think that's hard for a lot of people making that kind of transition.

But I guess, I mean, part of the one problem that people have in college is that they have so much flexibility and so much free time that then sometimes they have trouble figuring out how to, like, you got to kind of schedule things yourself. And I mean, it kind of sounds like this is like you are more given a schedule and then you have to kind of do that or I guess there's still some stuff that you got to figure out when you're going to study for certain things. But.

Yeah, kind of. But I don't know, because the structure is you're like, at the beginning of the week, they'll send us a thing of. They just. I just got that email of being like, these are the things you are that are required this week. And it'll be like, I don't know, like three things that it's like you have to be here at this time and everything else, like for lectures and stuff. Like, yes, you have. You might have three lectures one day. But I mean, a lot of people, it's like, when am I gonna watch? You just kind of have to figure out when you're gonna watch those lectures.

Oh, okay.

So it's not like you're, you know what I'm saying?

Well, yeah, See, this is all like, different to me. You know, we had in person lectures and so you, you know, when. If you didn't go, then you just read the notes whenever. But is there a video of the lecture that you watch before you watch the actual lecture or something.

Some for the more like conceptual things. It's like it's a flipped classroom. So you watch the lecture before and then you go to class and they have practice questions. So those ones, like, they're not recorded either. Like you can't watch those back. So people go to those. The other ones you can either watch live on zoom or you can watch them afterwards. And like you can watch it at two times speed. So it's all just about time because like it's like, okay, I could go to this class and sit there for, for 50 minutes plus. Because for every, like for every class then you have like another, you know, one to two hours of studying that lecture. So it's like, okay, if I can just do 25 minutes of lecture and then like an hour of studying, I just like cut my time in half.

Yeah, yeah. Also not having to get all the way to campus and that kind of stuff too.

Like, well, sometimes I'll even go to campus, but I'll just be in the library watching the lecture.

Okay, that's funny. I used to dream of that. I just would. I. I remember thinking like, imagine a world where I could just sit here in my nice warm bed and watch the lecture instead of getting out of bed, getting dressed, putting on my boots and jacket because it was freezing cold outside. Then I had to like fight the elements to walk the three blocks all the way to campus and get in there and get settled, take every, all those coats off and then sit there and watch it. I'm just like, oh, would be so nice to just sit in my nice warm bed and do all of this. And here it is not that much longer in the future and you can do those things.

Well, yeah. I don't even know how you guys did it before. Like, honestly, like I can. Because sometimes we'll have lectures. We'll have like five lectures. We'll have lectures from 8am to 3pm I'm like, then you have to study all of those. I'm like, I'm not going to sit in the classroom while these people talk to me for that long. Like, that's not gonna happen.

Yeah, it's a lot of time. Now again, you didn't necessarily. For it was, it was different in different classes. Sometimes they really, sometimes you really kind of had to be there at their lecture. But sometimes you could just, you know, trust that the person who was doing the note service, taking notes would do good notes and then you could just study from those. But. And sometimes There might even be like a, like a syllabus that they followed really closely. And so like, like kind of a lecture was almost in print on, in the syllabus, but yeah.

And textbooks, right? That you could read?

Yes, yes.

We don't even have textbooks.

Really.

I don't know, I think maybe, maybe they, maybe they have. I think at the end of the slides they'll be like, we reference this textbook. But it's not like you just have a textbook. Like we, like, no one ever told us to buy any textbooks. Like, that's not a thing.

Wow, that's funny.

Yeah, well, especially this semester because it's all just like professor written tests too. So like they, they make the lectures and then they like write the questions for the test rather than later when it becomes like shelf exams, which is like a whole another thing. Also good to know because professors, you gotta figure out what they do research on and then they love to ask questions about the stuff that they do research on. Like our pulmonary instructor does research on surfactant and he loves surfactant. And like there, there was multiple questions about surfactant on the test. And I knew, I was like, you know, all of that, you know, inspiration, expiration, all the physics, like, I'm kind of putting that aside and I'm going to focus on surfactant. And I was right.

Oh, wow. Yeah, that's very clever. I don't think I ever thought about that. Like, really thinking about what's the professor's area of interest. And maybe they're going to ask us more about that. That seems, seems like something I should have thought about. But.

Oh, also the vibe of the professor 100%. Like when, if I'm watching a lecture and they're like, it's really about what they emphasize too. Like if they're like, they're emphasizing this thing, I'm like, there's going to be a question on that. Or if they're just more laid back, then I'm like, okay, they're not gonna.

Go into details, like.

But some of the questions or some of the professors are a lot more intense. And I'm like, okay, there's gonna be like a detailed question, you know, so it's about playing the game, man.

Wow, that's really. See, that's very intuitive. I bet there's a lot of people who aren't as good at picking up on that stuff as you are. I don't know.

Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I mean, you could just like learn all the information, I guess, but you.

Know who's gonna do that? Better to play the game and figure out the vibe.

Yeah, you gotta figure out the vibe, man. That's how to be successful. How to be successful in med school. Figure out the vibe.

Figure out the vibe. That's good.

I guess I can't really speak on that because I haven't gotten my block one exam grades back.

But that's true. That's true. Like maybe you're gonna be like, oh, wow. I. Or maybe it's all about the vibe, but you just miss. Missed the vibe.

Right, Right.

Yeah. I find that hard to believe. I think you know your vibes.

But back to the question of things being predictable. I don't know. Like this is, I think especially just in the first semester. Like I, I was talking, I was went to this like ambassador's thing for like, for people interested in my school and I was talking to premeds and they were asking like, what does your day to day look like? And me and the other first year were kind of like, we're still figuring that out and it literally looks different every single day. And like I'm okay with that.

I know. I thought this pre med question, I guess she was asking what in med school, I thought she was talking about like being a doctor. You know what, you never would know what you're going to get into. Actually, you know that that does vary a lot for different specialties in family medicine. You could hear you go into a room and you. A lot of times you have no idea what. Well, you're supposed to have an idea, especially when you have your schedule and they're supposed to have told the person, you know, when they make the appointment what they're coming in for. But a lot of times people say one particular thing because they don't really want to say that over the phone. And then when they arrive, then they, and you close the door, then they tell you what they're really there for. Actually they don't. A lot of times they pretend they're there for like this sore throat or something. And so you're doing that and then you're just like, okay, well we've got you all fixed up. And then you put your hand on the doorknob and then they say, well actually doctor. And then they get into something and you're just like, oh, wow, okay. I really wish we hadn't spent the last 10 minutes talking about this sore throat because now I'm going to need my time for this other much bigger issue that you're here to talk about. And so that's all right.

That's why you got to do the review of symptoms and go through it all.

Yeah, Nobody does that.

This is what I'm literally having my test on tomorrow. So many questions. Do you want to know the questions that we have to ask?

Actually, I know the questions. I learned how to do all that stuff too.

Like, like, there's like 45 questions that we have to ask. Yeah, And I'm like, like, actually. And then I have to have, like seven. Seven different things. Two question for the re. Symptoms and two, like, questions per, like, area of the body and stuff.

You kind of. I mean, I. I know I used to do that. And you sort of like, you'd, like, scan in. In your head. You, like, scan through the whole body. Like, you first start off with constitutional symptoms. Do you have any fever, chills, night sweats, weight loss, weight gain? Okay. Not. Then you start, like, at the head. Okay.

Any.

Do you have a change in hat size? That's.

That was a question. I use that tomorrow.

Yeah, you should do it. It's a good one.

Why would that. Wait, wait, wait.

What if they answered yes, right? And you're like, and who even would, like, know? Like, I mean, hair loss, maybe? No, no, it was actually really talking about, like, like a problem with your scalp skull. Like, if you had acromegaly where you have an increase in growth hormone, but you're an adult and your. Your growth plates have already fused, that could make the bones in your skull, like, actually get bigger and you would need a larger hat.

See, that's absurd.

They're like, I have chest pain, doctor. I'm having a heart attack. Right. Change in hat size. Have you had a change in hat size?

This is like, I've been doing practice, and they're like, yeah, I literally have chest pain. And I'm like, so can you tell me about your family history on your mom's side, your grandma? Like, it's like.

I know. It's really. And I mean, the. I remember one of our professors when we were learning this, he. His thing said, you know, the review of systems is my safety net. Because if you're going through the history and you ask all the questions that you're supposed to ask of a patient, but then you've forgotten something. If you go through the review of systems and ask them that, you know, hundred questions, then if you had forgotten anything in your initial interview, it's going to come up in review of systems. However, there are certain patients that are what they call review of systems, positive People. And every single question you ask, they're like, yep, yep, yep, yep. I mean, you would never get out of the room if you kept asking that question. You know, do you have a. You know, because, like, you go through. Okay. You know, do you have any problems with your vision? Yep. Problems with your hearing? And I'm like, one on one rotation. I remember somebody doing that with a patient. I wasn't in on this, but my friend was. She was watching this. I think it was a psychiatrist interviewing this patient, and he was going through the review systems, and then he started saying, have you been to the moon? And the patient said, yep. Have you seen. Yep. So that's when you really know you've got a positive review of systems kind of patient.

But yeah, yeah.

Anyway. Yes. But yeah. Yep. And I mean, it is kind of terrible because, like, for most patients, you're not really trying to get them to say more. A lot of times you're trying to get them to say less. Because if you ask them questions and they start going on and on about this other thing again, is completely irrelevant to their chest pain. Yeah. And now you're just sort of wasting time rather than getting them that EKG and the emergency stuff that you need to get. I mean, that is a little bit. That seems a little bit silly now. What. Sometimes we would say the pertinent review of systems, so, you know, things that are just related to why they're in there.

This is not helping me because I'm literally getting tested on making sure that I ask all these questions tomorrow. So.

So, yeah, you're going to be fine. You're just, you know, again, you just scan the body and just think about questions about the eyes, questions about the ears, questions about the nose, questions.

I got that part. The review syndrome is just one part of this. Of this test.

Oh, yeah, I. Listen, I know you never got.

You guys didn't have these things back then.

You didn't. We did, too. We did. No, you didn't know what I had. You don't know what an oskie is. You had to go in.

You had a paid actor that you went in and did a whole thing.

Yes, yes, we had paid actors that we did pelvic exams on, too.

What is that, a flex?

Like, what are you just saying that, too?

We do that every week. Well, not the pelvic exam every week, but.

What do you mean?

This is like a part of our thing. We go. And we. We did like, cv, then abdominal, and then like.

We did that, too. Now, we didn't always Have. I mean, we weren't all Richie Rich with all these paid patience. So a lot of times we just had to, like, practice on. Weird.

That's such a boomer thing to say. We aren't all Richie Rich. Like, you, like, what, you went to a giant institution. Like, like, it's not that different.

Well, we didn't have tons of paid actors. We did. But we did do it. And we did that especially for, like, tests and things. But a lot of times you would just, you would, you know, you would just trade off with other students. That person was going to be the actor and you're the, you know, and you're the doctor asking, did you have.

An exam on it?

Yes, we had exams on it. Yes. I mean, you had that even like at the end of different clinical rotations, you did that kind of stuff. And yes, you were graded on. If you had, you know, if you asked all the right questions, got all the information. I mean, this is stuff. This is timeless medical stuff. This. They've been doing this for a hundred years.

All right, fine. Believe you. But.

And then practicing the physical exam. Now, we did not do pelvic exams on each other, but like, all the other stuff, you know, hard lungs, ear, blah, blah. In fact, I mean, I remember, like, looking in each other's ears, looking at each other's eyes, all of those things. I mean, you gotta practice. Yeah.

You know, did I tell you that? Like, part of it. So we do skills and like, then after the skill session, we'll have like a simulation thing and like, we're learning how to do ultrasounds.

That's cool.

Yeah. So, like, the emergency medicine residents came in last week and showed us how to do, like a cardiac ultrasound. And they're like, we get like, more information from this than anything else.

Yeah. Don't bother talking to the patient when you can. Just.

That's essentially what the emergency medicine residents. Yeah. That they're pretty much like.

Yep, yep.

All we need.

Yeah, that is kind of true. Ultrasound is great, though, because it's non invasive and it doesn't have radiation. So if you can get a lot of information from ultrasound, that's. That's awesome. And I think those. That technology is just getting better and better. Huh. Maybe I could get one of those in my office and not have to talk to people.

Well, I don't. It would. I don't. It would be a good thing to get. They're really expensive.

I know that. But there's some that aren't quite as.

Expensive, but they're not as Good. But.

I know, but that's just going to get cheaper and cheaper.

Yeah, no, I mean, it would be a good thing. I think. I was thinking that it would be a good thing to have, but you need to know what you're looking at.

Yeah, well, not. I mean, not like I could learn something. Dad knows how to do that stuff. He does musculoskeletal stuff with the ultrasound.

Yeah. Yeah, I, I know. I still get really confused about. Well, this kind of goes into another question because they were getting really into the physics of the ultrasound and I honestly kind of went over my head. I, I was still really confused about the orientation of everything.

Yeah.

But wait here.

Do you want to read what that, what that next question is?

Yeah. So another question that Girlne had was, do you use chemistry and physics in medicine? Also, is medical school going to reinforce these classes again or all are the classes more advanced and we're expected to remember our pre med courses. I was kind of interested about this because, I mean, the answer is yes. Like, you use physics and chemistry and you know what you do and stuff, and like, having a basis of that knowledge is helping you learn all of these other things. But I, I feel like in undergrad, you know, you're just taking like, chemistry or physics and like, everybody is taking those classes and people, other people in your physics classes aren't going on to medical school. They're all doing, like, they're using it for different stuff. Like, some people are doing engineering and some people are doing, I don't know, other grad programs, other like, things. So it's not kind of tailored to what you're doing. And I feel like now in medical school, yes, like, we still have to understand certain, certain aspects of like, physics and chemistry, but, but we're learning based on like a disease like, or like a, you know, like we had to understand physics in order to do a bunch of the cardiology stuff, but we were learning it based on like, the heart pumping and like, like the heart pumps like this, using physics, figuring out other stuff. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah, I think that's true. I think the other thing is about medical school and how the, the pre med requirements tie in is that it's just, it's like building blocks. And so you keep, like, you just keep. You do keep building on things for some of this stuff. I don't know that you need to go back to the really granular issues that you were learning in that part, but you do need to really, really understand those concepts and So I think that's what happens is each thing is like, okay, I understand this now I can build on it like this. Now I can build on it like this, you know, kind of going up and up. And so that's why, that's why they have that. So no, in some of those class, in some of those things, you're not going to be expected, you're not going to be tested on like really fine details of your pre med classes, but you're going to have to have a good, you just have that good foundational base in order to do the classes that you're doing.

Yeah, 100%. That's what I would. Was kind of like, I don't know, concerned about that. Like, I get what she's asking. She's like, oh my God, everything I'm learning right now, like then are they just gonna throw more stuff at me and I'm supposed to just like know all of this stuff? It's like, no, but like, you know, and also in undergrad you're kind of seeing like a lot of the same, like, I don't know, your classes overlap in a sense. And those overlapping concepts are the stuff that I don't know is re emphasized. And also the stuff that you take the MCAT on, like that stuff is re emphasized. But it's not like you're not doing a bunch of organic chemistry reactions. And like you need to understand like the, I don't know, some sort of random reaction thing and they're gonna throw that at you and they're just in.

The middle of it, you know, the.

The ether's whatever reaction. Like you know what that does. And then you're like, wait, I don't know that reaction. Like, it's not like that.

Yeah, yeah, but you just, you just have to kind of. But yeah, but some of that stuff is you just come at it from like this general philosophy and like, like pharmacology. Like you take a pharmacology class and I do think you really have to understand chemistry in order to understand pharmacology. But same thing, you're not going to get into the really nitty gritty of organic chemistry and stuff. But you do have to understand those things in order to understand some of the pharmacokinetics. And as you're learning about these different drugs. And I do think all that is really important because, you know, I think we've talked about this before. When new drugs come out, you, if you understand how these different reactions work, then you can understand how these new Drugs work. If you never understood any of that, it's really hard to understand how a new drug would work when you don't understand any of those pathways.

Yeah. And like, they're not really testing you on like, like what you're learning. I'm just trying to think of like things you learned in gen chem. Like they're not testing you on how the electrons are moving around, but they're going to be like. But you have to understand that concept in order to understand like how this drug works and that sort of thing. So I think it's like you're not being, you're not just like expected to know everything, but like, if you're doing well in your classes, like, you don't need to be expected to memorize everything from undergrad.

Yeah, yeah, that's. I mean, that's the whole point of having prerequisites. I mean, you could say that about like, you know, when you take a, in college, when you take like a, you know, physics series and it's like three semesters or something and you know, you need those first two semesters to learn to do stuff in the third semester, but you're not really being tested on the stuff that you learned in the very first semester.

Yeah, that's a good, that's a good point. Also, like now most med schools do like module space or like more disease based. Like we're not just taking biochem, like we're taking. We're taking cardiology, we're taking pulmonary. We're taking like that's what we're. So it all goes back to like a disease state. And like really what we're learning is like we're, we like one week the highlight was diabetes and like we were learning about metabolism but like through the lens of like a disease state. So it's not like they're just, it's like this is a biochem lecture. It's like this is like how it relates to everything. So it's, it's just, it's just different because also it all, it's. I don't know, it's all going back to medicine, obviously.

That's nice. Yeah, I've kind of heard about that. That they do more of this like systems learning rather than. I mean, we were just like, okay, take biochem, take physiology, take pathology. And then you kind of, then you like try to put it all together at the end. And it does. I mean it all kind of comes together, makes sense later on, but it's, it's more fun if you can kind of see how those things relate early on, I think that that makes it a little bit more. You're a little bit more motivated to stay in there. When you're just sitting there talking about cellular biology stuff or like. Or biochemistry. That's a beat down.

Well, yeah. And also that's why I felt like in undergrad it was just like going to an organic chemistry lab. Like, I dreaded that because it was just, like, terrible. It was like, what? Like, what's the point? Like, what am I doing? And then when you're learning about just this random or like, random stuff in physics and random equations and like, it's just like math, and you're like, what's the actual. Like, what? Like, why is this applicable? Like, those concepts are important to understand, but, like, once you get to medical school, you. You're seeing the application, you're like, they're like, this is important because, like, this is what happens. And then this is like the physical presentation of that into the skis, you know?

Yeah, no, that sounds way better. I never had any idea what I was doing in those organic chemistry labs, walking around. Put this reagent in here, go over here, do this. I'm just, like, following the recipe. I really had no clue what it was all about.

Literally no idea. Like, I think I blocked it out of my memory, too, because I don't even really remember and. But that's what I was saying. Like, I, Like, I don't. There's nothing, like, for going into anatomy lab. Like, that's cool. Like, I'm not, like, going in, like, dreading going into anatomy lab the same way that I dreaded going to organic chemistry lab. Like, yes.

Yeah, see, that's good. That's a good, positive thing about med school, I think. You know, you're finally doing what it is that you really want to be doing. And so that makes it. That makes it a lot more fun and exciting. Anyway, every day is different in the life of a doctor, too, which is fun.

Oh, wait, did I ask you this?

I was going to say, what do.

You think is the most predictable specialty?

I think that any. The more super ultra specialized you get, the more predictable it's going to be. I remember working with this hand surgeon and following him around, and he. He literally saw 100 patients in his outpatient clinic day, which, like, can you imagine seeing 100 patients in a day? But about 75 of those patients had carpal tunnel syndrome. Like, that's what he saw just all the time. And so it was like, he only saw. There were really only about like three diagnoses that he would see. And so it was just. And you know, there were, it was all teed up for him too. He was like, okay, here you go, here's another carpal tunnel patient. His assistants had already seen him. He walked in there. I mean, he'd just be like, okay, he'd kind of tap on the wrist. All right, yep, carpal tunnel. We'll get you scheduled for the surgery. And then he'd like go to the next patient and just like round and round and round. I mean, we were like running from patient to patient. So I would say his thing, I mean, it was, I mean now probably on a clinic, once in a blue moon, on a clinic day, he'd get some sort of different diagnosis in there, but he pretty much knew what he was going to be seeing all day. But that's because he was like really ultra specific, specialized. He would joke that he needed to just have a drive through for the carpal tunnel surgery. It's like, be awesome. Just, you know how the car pull up, put their, put their arm out. By the time they get to me, they're all numbed up. I'll just go clink, clink, clink and sit, you know, have them drive off. He didn't really do that. But that's, that's about what his practice was. So, you know, I. So again, some of these people, like, they just do something that's very, very narrowly focused. And so it's going to be more predictable because almost all the patients have particular thing. Now, being like a hospitalist when dad did acute care hospital medicine, it could be there's a lot of the same things you see, but truly it could be lots of different things. But now he does mostly per operative medicine, so same things. You see patients before and after certain surgeries. And so I think his days are quite similar. Seeing patients for all the same post op complications that they have. Seeing them for reasons why they might not be able to have the operation preoperatively. And so, yeah, then you see the same stuff. But again, you can always. Something can always go haywire in your day. Usually predictability is kind of good. You know, you sort of want to know what's happening. It's usually when something goes awry, when like there's, you know, it's usually badness.

Yeah. Well, guys, you know where to find us. Generations MD on Instagram @Generations MD on TikTok if you have any questions or if you're interested in being on the podcast. You can email us@ask generationsmdmail.com and we will talk to you next week. Bye, guys.

Bye.