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Margaux: So you guys are probably super excited during orientation right now. I know that most of us were probably feeling really excited. But me, as an introvert, I was a little overwhelmed. How did you guys feel during orientation?

Bushra: I was very nervous. I remember actually being late that day.

Margaux: The first day?

Bushra: Yeah, and being stressed out that I was late. So I'm like running towards HSEB in my heels because we have to . . . it was business formal basically that we had to wear.

Margaux: And it was at 7:30 a.m.

Bushra: Oh, yeah. I was at an ungodly hour. Like, who gets up that early?

Margaux: For orientation.

Bushra: For orientation. And I get there and it was fine because it was just that breakfast portion. And so I see all these people and I automatically go, "Oh my God, that's a lot of people that I don't know." And so I get a little bit of social anxiety when I see a lot of people that I don't know and I need to socialize and get to know people.

But you know what? The first person that I saw was Ali, who is like the nicest person in our class. And so I felt a little at ease when I started talking to him. But, yeah, that was my first impression of the first day of orientation at least.

Harjit: So I actually was a part of second look day, which is just like you just checking out schools before you confirm if you're going there. I was definitely going to the U. So I remember that I was really excited for the first day of school because I had made a new friend, Leen Samha, who's actually one of my best friends in medical school. So I was so, so excited.

Bushra: I feel left out of this love right now.

Leen: You should. That's me.

Harjit: So I was so excited and I was like, "This is going to be a great start to a new year." Although I was nervous when I got into med school because a lot of my friends had already gotten in, in the years ahead. But you know what? I was like, "I can learn a lot from new people in my life." So I was so excited.

Bushra: Yeah. I regret not going to second look day because I feel like a lot of friendships had already been forged. And so I was kind of coming in as the new person and I was like, "Oh, no, where do I belong?" That kind of feeling. But, you know, it all worked out in the end.

Leen: For me, orientation week was . . . there were some fun aspects. They took us to the rope course, which was . . .

Bushra: Oh, I forgot about the rope course.

Leen: . . . huge personality kill.

Harjit: That was so fun.

Bushra: Okay. I'll agree with you that the rope course was pretty fun. Team building.

Leen: It was pretty fun. It made me how much I was out of shape because I could only get up to the second step and I'm like, "That's it. We're done." But there was a lot of information thrown at us and I was just stressed that I was not going to remember it all, and you're not going to remember it all. And I think we came to realize that, yeah, they're going to tell you everything about everything you're going to do in med school, but you're going to get it step by step as you go. So don't freak out about that.

For me, about orientation week, it was kind of my first time actually getting out of a small town and actually realizing that this is where I'm going to have to start rebuilding myself. And, you know, that kind of stressed me out a little bit, but it was also very exciting.

For me, I came from southern Utah as a Middle Eastern person, so I really had to, you know, establish who I was over there in order for people to . . . in order to communicate with people and build bridges with people. And now coming to Salt Lake, it was more of a, "Oh my gosh, I have to rebuild all those bridges again." And so that was a little bit stressful for me.

But as it went on, you start to realize how wonderful your classmates are and how open-minded and how much experiences each of them have. I mean, you think you have experiences and then you talk to other people and you're like, "Wow, I can't believe . . . you did what? You did this research? You had this many publications?" It's amazing. You have very experienced and very talented classmates.

Margaux: Yeah. Leen, I think that's a really important insight, is that you really start to realize how valuable your own background is, and how empowering it is to be with such a great cohort of students that all have such unique experiences. And, honestly, I don't think I made really good close friends until a month or two in, so don't feel like a loner if you can't make friends or you're not making friends in the first week. I am not quick to make friends. So do what is in your comfort zone and take baby steps if you need to.

Bushra: I agree with that. I think that, for me, I always take kind of a back seat when it comes to, you know, making friends and just testing out the temperature. But you also have to kind of put yourself out there. Like, if people are, you know, meeting up, having drinks, whatever, hanging out, you should go to those things and get to know your classmates outside of school. That's how friendships form, and that's how you'll build these relationships with your peers.

Harjit: Yeah. And I will also add it's important for you to take your time to see . . . I mean, when you create friends it's usually through shared interests, but for that to happen, it's really nice to talk to people and kind of know where they're coming from, know about their backgrounds. And I think that that's just a natural progression towards friendship.

Margaux: And don't get used to the lunches every day during orientation week and breakfast as well.

Harjit: Oh, no.

Margaux: That won't go on forever.

Harjit: You're going to have a lot of money coming out of your pocket for food.

Margaux: And Starbucks.

Bushra: Pretty soon you'll be scouring your emails for, you know, the student interest groups and what lunches they'll be bringing because, you know, you're sick and tired of paying for food or bringing food from home.

Leen: Another big part of starting med school is how are you going to study, right? I mean, ever since you wanted to go into med school, people are like, "Wow, you must be so smart. You know how to study very well." And you'll come to find out you're very smart, but your study habits are going to change drastically, especially from Phase 1 to Phase 2. So, from foundations is what you start off with when you come into med school and then starting in January, you start Phase 2.

I realized, for me, coming from a chemistry major background, we really didn't care about the . . . we cared about more of the chemical processes and not the miscellaneous information that came with the chemical processes. So I almost, naturally, trained myself to ignore certain parts of information.

And then, as well, coming from a science background, I also trained myself, you know, to not really focus on the social science aspect of school, in a sense. And so, when we were thrown with ethics and . . . UBM was kind of . . . that was also a different . . . this whole situation, I never studied any statistics or any research methods or anything like that. And then now you have to learn every little nitpicky thing about a certain drug or a certain disease that your brain automatically tunes out. That was a really hard transition for me.

I had to rewire my brain to say, "Okay, now you can't really ignore this little piece of information because it's not relevant to your major. Now, you actually have to include it in as well as other things as well." And so that took me quite a while to actually get used to on how to do.

Still to this day I'll be reading through a book I'm like, "Okay, yeah, that's not important." I'm like, "Wait, why is that not important?" And then I'll have to go back and reread it.

My biggest suggestion would be to utilize the Academic Student Success Center. They helped me immensely figure out how to retrain myself to restudy, in a sense. They also help you try to figure out what kind of learner you are, and that was never something that I really focused on.

Harjit: Yeah. I think to go along with that, basically, there are a lot of resources out there and I think you should not be afraid to utilize them. These people are actually here to help you succeed. They are getting paid for their jobs. And also we're not having to spend money out of our pocket to utilize these resources. And I will agree with Leen. I think that academic resource center is a big source of that also.

Also, along with a point Leen talked about, about study habits, I think it's really important that you find what works for you and be okay if you're making mistakes. I mean, that's exactly what the first year of med school is all about, is figuring out what works for you.

And just a pro tip, I think it's really important to utilize tutors if you can, because when I was an undergrad, you know, people would be like, "People use tutoring if you're not smart enough." But I think tutoring is so important because it really helps you understand concepts in much simpler terms.

I think the strongest part about the tutoring program here is the tutors are med students that have already gone through the curriculum. So professors and doctors that teach lectures, they teach lectures in a way that makes sense to them, but they don't really take the perspective of a student in their mind. But if you have a tutor who is a student, they teach you like a student.

And I think really that is one of the things that I learned towards the end of med school, first year of med school. But this is something I am saying you guys should start right from the beginning, so you're successful.

Margaux: I definitely agree with that. We all utilized the tutoring services here and I think we've all been really grateful and wish we started that earlier.

One thing you'll notice in orientation is you're going to probably get overloaded with resources to use, all the apps to download, all the books to buy. And one tip of advice I would give you is to use the first semester as kind of a testing ground. Don't be afraid to do a 30-day trial of one of those apps and see if you like it. If it doesn't work, go ahead and ditch it and try something completely new.

First semester is built that way and you'll be so grateful when you start second semester knowing which apps work for you and which don't. I would just avoid trying to do them all at once. That was one mistake I made.

Bushra: I agree with that. I think I switched up my studying habits in Foundation every other exam just to kind of see what stuck with me the most. And I think that was probably one of the best advice that I got from a former second year when I was a first year, was just Foundations is made so that you can figure out how you learn the best. You take your exam and you see where your strengths and your weaknesses are, and if what you're doing is working.

And, of course, academic success helps you with figuring out what your weakness is, what you can do to, you know, alleviate some of the areas where you are struggling. So definitely utilize those resources. They're there for a reason.

Margaux: Another thing I think they don't tell you during orientation is who is in your corner. We have a lot of really great faculty members here at the U who are really rooting for you. Do you guys have any input on who are your favorites?

Bushra: Definitely Foundations of Medicine course directors are awesome, Dr. Pippitt and Dr. Moore. I think that you could, basically, talk to them about anything, whether it's school related or not. And they do a really good job of kind of like telling you not to stress out.

You know, everyone is smart in med school and we tend to freak out over stupid things and, you know, we get this idea in our heads that we have to be absolutely perfect. And they're really good about talking you off the ledge and just kind of taking things in stride.

Harjit: I also noticed some more people that are in your corner that you wouldn't really see have assigned roles are actually your upper classmates. I got an opportunity to talk to them and they really gave great insight and great advice. I know you're going to be bombarded with a million things, so maybe take that advice slowly. Maybe your second or third week, be like, "I forgot what they spoke about," so go talk to them. And I think that they can give you good advice so you can be successful in both of your classes and, hopefully, even in your career.

Margaux: And to add on to the people in your corner, if you have anything going on in your life, or maybe you have been having headaches or feel sick, something that interferes with your studying, don't be afraid to talk to any professor, or Dr. Stevenson, Dr. Lindsley, and let them know because they're really good resources for helping you, or just knowing what you're going through, and that makes a big difference in your progression and success in medical school. So don't be afraid, at the earliest sign, to talk to somebody.

Harjit: And I think Dr. Vo is a huge part of that because she is in charge of the whole wellness center. So if there's any type of thing that's interfering with your studying, be it headaches, be it being stressed out, feeling anxiety, or even depression, it's a great resource to use.

Margaux: Definitely.

Bushra: So, I guess, now we should talk about what to expect for your first exam. Basically, the schedule is every two weeks you have an exam. And so, you don't really . . . at least in my experience, I didn't really know how to study for med school. So I was kind of just doing what I always did, which was just to review the notes and hope all was well.

And I think I stressed myself out too much because we had white coat ceremony on a Friday, and then our first exam was the Monday after that. And so it was kind of hectic trying to get all this family time in and study over the weekend.

But I will tell you this. It's not as bad as you think it is going to be in your head. So stop psyching yourself out. I think that's the biggest advice that I can give to anyone. You'll do fine.

Harjit: And I think you guys might be lucky and actually have white coat ceremony on . . . I think yours was on a Monday and it's actually not on a quiz day, so that'll be really different for you.

I think another thing is don't be afraid to do . . . everyone has the potential to do amazing on their first exam, but it's something new. So it sometimes takes time to get used to. I remember in every single unit, my first exam score is always the least. I think I even failed my very first test and I was feeling really nervous about it, but don't lose hope and just get better from there.

Bushra: I think the other thing that surprised me is that . . . so after you take your exam, you basically get a histogram of how everybody did. I just want to let you guys know that you are all medical students. Everybody in your class is smart. So the averages are going to be a lot higher than what you're used to in undergrad. So I think that can put a downer on some people, but I don't think that should be the case. I think it should be a testament on how smart you guys are and how brilliant the class is.

And I think that should be an opportunity to kind of utilize, you know, students in your own class to see what exactly they're doing to study. Maybe they have better strategies or strategies that you haven't even thought of using.

Harjit: So I think I just want to, kind of, go around and see what you all thought about . . . you would tell yourself. If you could go back a year ago, what would you tell yourself? So, Leen, do you want to start with that?

Leen: So maybe, for me, one thing I would tell myself a year ago is enough stressing about stressing and actually, you know, if you do the work, you'll get it done. Also, don't be afraid to use resources around you. Don't be afraid of group studying. That was a big one I was really refraining from. I had never done group study in undergrad or anything. So I thought that was also . . . that's one thing I would tell myself a year ago, maybe like, "You know, don't be afraid to utilize your friends and study with your friends. It actually makes it for more active learning."

Margaux: I would build off that too, Leen. And don't be afraid to try something you've never tried before in your study habits. But don't download everything all at once. Try one thing and if it doesn't work, try something completely new. Don't be afraid of change, and don't be afraid of failing.

Bushra: I think one thing for me is now that going to class is optional for the most part, you don't have to actually be there to get the material. So don't feel like you have to if you think you could utilize that time in a more effective way. For me, I thought I could use the time that I would be in a lecture to study and watch the lectures online in double speed. That's something that was more helpful for me than to, you know, sit there for the whole hour listening to the lecture. I could do it in 30 minutes.

I think another thing is don't be so hard on yourself. You're smart. You can do this. It's been done before. And if you do need help, reach out to someone. There's always a helping hand and a listening ear nearby.

Harjit: I think some of things I would tell myself from last year are things that maybe are kind of like more philosophical, you could say. One is you are the best you, and there are things about you that got you here, and just know those are your strengths. That doesn't mean I have to be the best in Bushra's strengths or I need to be the best in Margaux's strengths. I just need to be the best me.

Second is important in that same way. Don't compare yourself, but also know that you actually can have a competition even within your own self to push yourself forward.

And, finally, a thing I think I would tell myself a year ago is enjoy this. Enjoy your first year, enjoy meeting new people, enjoy your food, enjoy life, enjoy everything about it, because, you know, living in the moment is a way to be the most active in that space. So either when it's you're studying or when you're hanging out with your friends.

Bushra: I love that. I love that because I think we get transfixed on school all the time. But you're allowed to have a life outside of medical school despite what everyone else has been telling your entire life. Med students have lives. Med students do things. A lot of our classmates go skiing. They go hiking, watch movies, hang out, whatever it is. Take some time away from school to be a normal person.

Margaux: That's so right. Wellness is studying, guys. Part of school is taking care of yourself and enjoying life, taking time to study. I always tell myself that exercise is part of studying because if I don't get outside and at least walk or something, then I won't be able to focus on my studies. So think of wellness as part of your study plan.

Leen: So, while we were talking through this podcast, there's been a live poll going on, on Facebook, about the class vitals. So it's, generally, the atmosphere of how we feel about the class as of this week. We just had our Step 1 intro lecture. So they told us what's coming for us in the future. The terrifying Step 1. Right now, we're looking like we're mostly stressed. We also have a feeling that we forgot everything as well as there's general anxiety and anxiousness about Step 1, which, I guess . . .

Bushra: I think it's pretty normal, right?

Leen: Pretty normal.

Bushra: It's pretty normal because, you know, it's the big test at the end of second-year. And this is the first time we're actually getting like a talk-through about it, but I'm not going to be thinking about that until January, to be honest.

Margaux: But what I would add is if we had taken this poll on Monday, everybody would have said they were excited to be back and see all of our friends again. So just take that with a grain of salt.

Bushra: Monday was such a good day.

Harjit: I know. I saw everyone and I'm like, "I missed you."

Margaux: Some of us wish summer was longer.

Bushra: Everyone. But, you know, it was good to see you guys again too.

Harjit: Right. So great.

Bushra: Second year. Do you feel any different starting second year?

Margaux: I feel older.

Bushra: And wiser?

Margaux: And wiser.

Harjit: I feel smarter.

Margaux: I feel like the cool kid now.

Bushra: I know, right? I feel like . . .

Margaux: I feel seniority.

Bushra: I was going to say when I first . . . the contrast difference between first day of first year and first day of second year is completely different. I was like totally chill. I was late first day of second year and I didn't care.

Margaux: Again.

Leen: You were late yesterday . . . oh, wait. And first year.

Bushra: I didn't come the first few hours yesterday.

Harjit: You know what though, Bushra? I've heard super successful people are always late, like Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith.

Bushra: I guess I'm going to be super successful then, right? That's what the data shows. We are scientists after all.

Harjit: We're so, so excited that you're listening to our show and we're really happy to be a part of this journey with you. Please, please, please make sure you subscribe to this podcast. It's super simple. It'll be on your phone. Listen to it when you're driving home, driving here. Don't want to listen to your friends talking to you. No, just kidding. Anything of that sort.

Bushra: See you next time.

Margaux: Bye-bye.