Amazing medical school resources provided in orientation week

Last week was orientation week at my medical school. Initially, I wasn’t thrilled about attending these sessions. Afterall, I wanted to have those final days of freedom all to myself. However, I’m grateful for these sessions because they were very informative. Here are some of the medical school resources and support services that I learned about last week.

Learning strategies

A key aspect of orientation was to educate students about the essential learning strategies that we’ll need. An in-depth presentation was provided by learning strategists on developing self-directed learning skills like time management, selecting main ideas, and self-testing. It was important to highlight these skills because they are crucial for getting through the large volume of material that will be coming our way. Not just in first term, but all throughout medical school.

The learning strategists who led these sessions were friendly and knew what they were talking about. They did a great job at presenting and coming across as approachable. This makes it easier to reach out for help when needed.

There were additional sessions about motivation, focus, and using resources to name a few. These were led by students in upper terms. Prior to orientation week, we completed various self-assessments about our learning strategies to help us recognize what areas we can improve. Now, we were supposed to select 2 sessions that would help us in those weaker areas. Although, we did have the option to attend any 2 sessions that we wanted.

Resources provided by the school

The school did a great job of emphasizing the availability of the learning strategists and what they can help us with. In the student-led sessions, I learned about various groups and Google Drives that have notes, summary sheets, and my favourite – Anki decks. These resources are amazing.

In addition to these resources, I’ve been receiving emails throughout this week about upcoming information sessions and workshops. One session that I attended helped me learn about a practice testing resource. This is in addition to assigned practice problems and quizzes.

I’ve also signed up for a workshop later today. This session is about making sense of large volumes of material and streamlining the post-lecture review process. I’m really looking forward to this session because time management and efficiency are key to doing well.

Overall, I’m really happy about the resources and support services provided by my medical school. However, attending the orientation sessions was key. They helped me realize what’s available to me so that as I need help, I know where to go and who to ask.

What resources are provided by your school? Do you use them when you needed?

-M

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