If first-year medical students want to know just how hard it will be to absorb the volume of information they’ll receive in class, they should speak with Aurora Bennett, the associate dean for student affairs and admissions at University of Cincinnati’s College of Medicine.

“High school is like a lawn sprinkler. College is like a garden hose. And medical school is like a fire hose of information,” says Bennett, who completed medical school at Ohio State University’s College of Medicine.

The short version of this analogy: Medical school is intense.

Even though historically, more than 90 percent of students who start medical school have graduated within seven years, according to research from the Association of American Medical Colleges, not everyone will have a smooth transition into an M.D. or D.O. program.

[Focus on five areas for success in the first month of medical school.]

Many will make mistakes that might compromise their performance. As students adjust to a new school at the start of a new school year, medical school experts give their advice on how to avoid common pitfalls.

— Don’t ignore support networks: Students just starting medical school must learn that while it’s temping to dedicate all day and all night to school, going this route may not make for a good first year.

“The studying consumes a lot of time, which can leave them vulnerable to isolating themselves from all of their usual contacts and activities,” says Bennett.

She encourages students to build a support network at school. They should also stay connected to family and friends outside of school and activities that provide them an outlet, says Bennett. Those outlets can be exercising or practicing a faith, she says, and help create a more balanced life.

— Don’t try to work: Knowing that a hefty student loan bill may loom in their future, some students may be tempted to get a job in the first year. But that may not be a good idea, says G. Richard Olds, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean at the school of medicine at University of California–Riverside.

“Medical school is pretty much all encompassing,” he says.

Students in college may be able to work 20 hours a week and still get A’s, he says. But in medical school they likely won’t have time for a part-time job. “Students that are successful in med school are probably putting 40 to 60 hours a week into medical school,” Olds says.

Those who try to work and go to school often fail. “They crash and burn,” he says.

[Follow seven tips to ease the transition to medical school.]

Working may make it difficult for students to keep up in school.

“If you fall behind, it’s very difficult to catch up.” Olds says. He encourages students not to take on a ton of extracurricular activities until they’re sure they can handle the pace, which is something they may not know until a few months into the school year.

— Don’t listen to your parents: When students have a mom or dad who is a physician, they may walk into school with certain expectations based on their parent’s experience. But times have changed.

“What was true when they went to med school is no longer true,” says Olds, who went to school in the 1970s.

One difference, he says, is how students use information taught in class. “W e memorized tremendous amounts of material and regurgitated them on tests. Today, you don’t have to memorize the stuff you just have to know how to find it when you need it. It’s managing the information, not memorizing the information,” Olds says. Many schools also gave students actual grades, but now it’s more typical for them to use a pass or fail evaluation system. …

— Don’t select a practice area: Even first-year students with zero medical experience will be constantly asked what kind of doctor they’ll be, but it’s best not to answer that question, Olds says.

Waiting to figure this out gives students the opportunity to vet the breadth of careers medicine has to offer, he says. “Hold off your decisions for as late as you can so that you’re making the most educated decision based on your own experience of going through medical school.”

[Plan ahead to reduce medical school stress .]

One thing students can commit to now, though, is taking care of themselves. It’s easy for students not to eat right or fail to get enough sleep, Olds says. These habits probably won’t make this school year or the next three any easier. The road to becoming a doctor is a long one.

“It’s a long-distance race,” Olds says. “Not a sprint.”

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Avoid Common Mistakes as a First-Year Medical Student originally appeared on usnews.com