The document provides tips for medical students related to their studies and experiences during medical school. Some of the key tips include: - Keep necessary supplies like sweaters, ID badges, and stethoscopes easily accessible. Practice examination skills on classmates to understand normal findings. - Form supportive relationships with other students and faculty for assistance and bonding. Self-care like eating well and finding hobbies is important to avoid burnout. - Internship is stressful but interns should seek help when needed, respect nurses' expertise, and be kind to patients and other students.

1. 50 Helpful Little Things to
Know for Med School
miss-sassmaster:
1. Never hang your stethoscope
from your rear view mirror
2. Also don’t hang your white
coat in front of the car
window
3. ID badge is life, ID badge is
love
4. Keep a sweater with you
somewhere, all the time
5. Save the sleeves, watch out
for “pens all over the place”
syndrome
6. Once the first person caves
for the fancy pens, everyone
else falls like dominoes
7. Ascetically pleasing
powerpoints are hard to come
by
8. There will be one rare disease
your school harps on like
everyone has it
9. Most instructors care about
you and your success
10. And those who don’t are
miserable already, don’t
waste your time being upset
about it
11. Be nice to all faculty and
staff even if they have no
effect on your grades
12. A 3-hole punch is a coveted
prize for the binder
dependent
13. Movement is necessary, do it
every once in a while
14. Glove size matters
15. Shoe covers have zero
traction
16. Real life things will just start
smelling like anatomy lab
17. Anatomy lab will always
make you hungry no matter
how much you eat
18. Don’t be ashamed, if you
think the anatomy lab smells
to high hell, wear the mask
19. No, you cannot use an animal
otoscope on a person
20. Yes, you can use a regular
stethoscope on a little animal
(be gentle!)
21. It’s always better to touch too
softly at first than to kill your
partner
22. Practice your poker face
23. Being graded on empathy
makes you less empathetic
24. Most med students don’t
have a ton of physical
ailments, so practice on many
classmates to get a feel for
what is “normal”
25. If something feels odd on
your partner, ask your teacher
for help before you scare the
crap out of them
26. There will be one
disease/bug/drug that you
will never be able to
remember no matter how
many times you look at it
27. Many gunners will not realize
they are gunners, don’t
bother pointing it out
28. If you get any legit
equipment, it should be your
stethoscope
29. A reflex hammer is still a
hammer
30. Food is alternative currency
31. Coffee runs are bonding time,
even if you don’t drink
coffee
32. Be courteous and remember
to remove a used K-cup

2. 33. You will not know when
burnout will happen, but
when it does, it’s too late
34. It’s always better to be too
covered up in professional
wear
35. There is no shame in walking
around in your socks
36. While it feels like high
school, remember everyone is
an adult
37. Nice can be a relative term
when it comes to medical
students
38. But some people will be
completely fantastic
39. If someone is doing
something nice and they
aren’t your fav, don’t be a
dick
40. For every horrible group you
will work with there will be
an amazing one
41. It will take time, but you will
find those who you mesh
with
42. It’s okay to decide someone
is not a person you want to be
close with
43. Every term is impossibly
hard to get yourself back into
a solid study routine
44. You will change study
techniques 100 times even
after you find one that works
45. The difference is that you can
adjust faster each time
46. Break downs are the rule
rather than the exception
47. Success happens more often
than you would think
48. Even if it seems impossible,
the grades, the specialty, the
residency put in 110%, your
best is never something to be
ashamed of
49. Do not do this if you aren’t
110% sure
50. Love every minute of it,
you’ll only do it once
Getting shit done during finals
 Study/work when you're most
productive. Do the less important
things later. When you have a lot of
energy, you might think it’d be better
to finish doing the little things to be
able to focus. However, you’re much
better off doing the little things (like
organizing things, replying to e-
mails) when you don’t have as much
energy. That way, you make the
most of all your time.
 I hope you already do this but if you
don’t, prioritize. Study first, work
out later. Eat first, study after. Skip
the movies this weekend. This time
of year, it’s important to put yourself
first. Then your studies, then
everything else. Which brings me to
my next point…
 Take care of yourself. You won’t do
as well as you could if you burn out.
There is such a thing as too much
studying. Do things to keep yourself
physically and mentally healthy.
Remember, you do your best when
you’re at your best.
 Eat healthy food. It’s easy to get
sucked into eating fast food because
it’s convenient in terms of time. But
eating healthy really makes you feel
physically better; giving you the
energy to stay focused.
 Set deadlines and make someone
hold you to them. Preferably
someone who knows a thing or two
about what you’re doing so you can’t
fool them.

3.  Stay motivated. I always think about
how good it would feel when I get
the grade I want before I study. I also
make lists of things I’ll get to do
once finals are over. Sometimes I
even write down things I’ll do during
my study break. You need to keep
motivating yourself so you don’t get
bored.
Good luck and happy studying! :)
Here’s my list of tips for surviving the first
month of being an intern.
1. Have a (healthy) vice. Let’s be
honest. Internship is stressful. I’ve spent
hours awake at night wondering if I’ve
missed something, or if I did the wrong
thing, or if I handed over properly, or if I
upset my consultant… the list goes on.
That’s what makes it paramount that you
have something at home that makes you
happy and relaxed. For me, it’s a long bath
with my special oils. I come home, and after
I’ve pottered around, I get into the bathtub
and spend as long as I like there. It’s a much
better idea than reaching for a bottle every
night, and every year, a number of junior
doctors sadly take their own lives. Please
look after yourselves.
2. Have a plan. Every time you see a
patient, you need to do one thing: decide
whether the patient is likely to deteriorate in
the next ten minutes. If you’re worried, get
help straight away, even if it’s just a gut
feeling. No one will be upset if you seek
help. But if they’re stable, make a plan for
that patient. Come up with a likely
diagnosis. Order some basic bloods. Think
about what treatment you want to start and
look up the protocols. Go re-examine the
patient if you think you missed something.
And then go to your senior and present your
workup. You might be wrong, and that’s
okay. But you’re thinking like a doctor.
3. But ask for help when you need it.
You’ve been a doctor for a month. You
don’t know everything. Heck, most of the
time, I feel like I know nothing. But if
you’re out of your depth, or you’re not quite
sure, ask for help. If you’ve looked at the x-
ray and you’re 99% sure there’s not a
fracture, get someone else to look at it
anyway. If you’ve put a plaster on a patient,
and it’s your first one, get a senior to review.
It saves time down the track and it’s an
opportunity to learn. Asking for help is not
admitting failure, promise.
4. Nurses rock. Nurses are incredible.
On the wards, they know the patients better
than you. In ED, they’ve seen a million
patients – always ask for their opinion.
They’ll often give you the diagnosis. They
know where everything is and how to treat
most conditions. Ask them for help, learn
their names, be friends. It makes a huge
difference.
5. Take everything you’re told with a
grain of salt. If your registrar tells you that
a patient is coding and needs CPR, don’t
question it. But if they start advising you on
future pathways and which hospitals are
good and what battles you’ll face, listen
closely but don’t take their word for it.
Pathways in medicine and surgery are
changing all the time. Respect the
experiences of others but don’t take them as
gospel.
6. You are not as dumb as you think
you are. I spent my first three weeks
convinced I was the stupidest intern to ever
come out of medical school. I was
convinced that I made mistake after mistake
after mistake. But then I realised: I’m not
that bad. Every intern struggles. Just because

4. you think your colleagues are better than
you, it doesn’t mean they are. My co-intern
today told me about her panic with a patient
re-presenting – an exact feeling I’d had a
week ago. You’re doing fine.
7. You are not alone. Reach out to your
support networks. Debrief with your fellow
interns and leave the house occasionally.
Call your parents and your partner. If you’re
struggling, talk to social work. Most
hospitals have someone to look after staff
wellbeing. You’re protected by
confidentiality, so talk without fear. And if
you’re feeling at risk of suicide or self-harm,
tell them that too. They can’t keep that
confidential, but they can put you in contact
with support people.
8. Use quiet time to study. Make use of
night shifts and lulls to use hospital
resources to catch up on study. But do most
of your learning on the job – that’s the stuff
that sticks. And if your colleague has an
interesting patient, go see them as well.
Keep learning.
9. Be nice to the med students. Give
them interesting patients. Don’t make them
write all your notes. Learn their names. Let
them cannulate and take bloods and suture
people. They’ll be doctors soon too.
10. Listen to your patients. Sometimes,
patients are exhausted and fed up with
doctors. They know you can’t offer them
much, but you can offer them your ear. Find
out what’s really upsetting them.
Acknowledge that you wish there was a
magic pill you could offer them. Learn the
names of their visitors. Keep them updated
about their care. Be a person first, and a
doctor a very close second. And social
history matters. Social history should be
done for every patient, not just in OSCEs.
11. You will have to break bad
news. Telling a patient that she’s miscarried
or that they need to go to hospital never gets
easier. Just make sure you have someone to
talk to and a way of being kind to yourself
afterwards. It’s okay to cry and be sad or be
angry. It’s normal.
Keep plugging along with internship. We’ll
all make it through.