Diana Nikolyan shares her top tips for thriving in the 5th semester in Maine, where students transition from basic sciences to clinical rotations. Here's how to stay on track, manage nerves, & make the most of your time in this beautiful state!
1. After basic sciences it’s easy to want to relax & take it easy for Maine, but find a limit. Allow yourself to relax on the weekends & stay on task during the week.
2. You will be interacting with standardized patients & real patients, so if you get anxious by this, find a way to manage your nerves. It’s just practice & it’s better to make all the mistakes now rather than in clinical rotations. Those you interact with are nice & understanding of this. During standardized patient encounters (SPE), take their feedback & before you start to argue or disagree, reflect on it first.
3. Have a solid study group of 3-4 people & practice clinical skills with them every week. We did this with a group of 4 every Tuesday after school to prepare for our SPE on Wednesdays.
4. Build yourself up to do 20-30 Kaplan questions to prepare for Step 1 every day. If you’re too tired & can’t read the explanations, just do 20 Qs on the timed setting. This will force you to at least get some practice in & then review it another day.
5. Enjoy Maine. It’s a beautiful state & you’re only there for 15 weeks. After the 15 weeks it’s time to study for Step 1, so enjoy your relatively laid back schedule.
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Congratulations to the cohort for their selection into a great opportunity! And kudos to the periop leadership team and HR team for designing this wonderful program!