Surviving Med School

A site dedicated to providing the best tips and advice on how to get into med school and how to organize yourself in order to graduate with honors.

Saturday 8 November 2014

The "Three Day Diet" Explained and Reviewed

Fitness and dieting are part of who I am, and as such I often get asked a lot of questions regarding weight loss. One has been popping up a lot lately, so I though that I should write a nice blog entry to address it. So, people want to know just what I think about the “Three Day Diet”. They also seem to be particularly interested in how quickly they could lose weight with this diet if it is really something that works.

In my opinion you should first try the 5:2 diet program because it is somewhat similar and based on actual scientific evidence. It is also much easier to follow along than the Three Day Diet.

Why? Well, let me warn you right away that the “Three Day Diet” is a very strict dieting plan and not everyone can follow it. However, if you can make it through the first week you're probably good to go. Still, this is hardly an effective long-term diet strategy and this is why I am against it.

If you follow the meal plan as expected then I am almost positive that you can expect to see some effective weight-loss. However, I strongly encourage that you do this in addition to a good exercise routine if you want to see real results.

Let me also include a word or two about the health effects of this program. While is completely safe and healthy for your body, it is a bad program for a long-term diet. After three-four weeks you should abandon this plan and switch to something sustainable to prevent the lost weight from coming back. So, let’s get in the details and the mechanics of the dieting plan. As you might have guessed by now the principle idea is that you will diet for three days and then eat regularly, in moderation, for the rest of the week.

Allow me to give you a simple example:  you can use this diet program on the weekends and Monday (that's your 3 days) and then try to enjoy the rest of the word week as you wish. On the weekend you will rinse and repeat of course! However, during the rest of the week you'll have to make sure not to eat any junk food, unprocessed sugars and overall high calorie meals. I would personally like to recommend that you stick to the simple and easy-to-follow Mediterranean diet plan for the rest of the week.

So, let's look at the three day diet menu, shall we?

Tuesday 4 February 2014

Top 5 Android Apps for Med School Students

Getting through med school is hard for a variety of reasons, but I've always considered that pure memorization is a major concern and downfall for many med school students. There are just so many things that you need to memorize (especially during Anatomy course) and for a lot of people this is a major problem. Another issue is organizing your schedule - a lot of students don't know how to do this. Therefor countless hours are lost and you fail your tests; but if those hours had been planned and used productively you would have passed with flying colors. If you are already addicted to technology then don't try to run away - embrace it! This is my list of the top 5 Android apps for med school students which will help you become more productive and enhance your study session.

Visual Anatomy (Free)


This Android app is relatively small (only 9.1 megabytes) and it is completely free. However,  the Visual Anatomy app can only be useful for your pre-med and first year days, outside of that it lacks a lot of information and details that you will probably need. However, if you are a new med school students (or planning to become one) then this is a really brilliant app. Here are some of the features I enjoy the most:

  • High quality and high-resolution images
  • Multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge
  • Descriptions and useful information for muscles and bones
  • Support for English and French
  • Looks very good on a tablet device
visual anatomy app android
Visual Anatomy FREE

Saturday 18 January 2014

Med School with 30 Years Old - Is It Even Possible?

Starting med school with 30 years of age - can it be done? A lot of people wonder if they are just simply too old for med school as it may seem like a bad idea at first. But why? Why is perusing your goals and gaining a better education a bad idea? For most people the answer is simple - I am just too old for med school. This isn't because people think that they won't be able to learn and graduate, but because it takes a lot of time to finish med school in the first place. 

You are not too old! :)
In fact, if we assume you've finished collage, it will take a minimum of 7 years to become a doctor. However, you would be surprised as to how many people actually enroll into med school with 30. While it is not the most common demographic, it is also not unusual to see people how are a lot older than that. You should have no prejudice about your age and I assure you that nobody will think less of you. The only thing that you really need to ask yourself is this - can I actually find the time to finish med school?

If you already have a job and family (especially kids) then finishing med school will be a very hard task. The task of successfully finishing med school within 7 to 8 years is already hard enough without the extra commitments hovering over your shoulder. Aside from the matter of time, I am sure that you know that med school is very expensive in the US.

Finishing a Medical School Abroad

The Caribbean is known for being full of offshore med schools that are full of people from North America. In fact, Wikipedia states that only 5% of the students here are from the local population and that the average students is from USA or Canada and their age is between 27 and 32. Sounds pretty good doesn't it? If you've been looking for information about medical school with 30 in the past then you've probably heard of these schools already.

offshore foreign medschool

But the problem is that these types of med schools are more suited towards people who already have a job in the industry (nurses for example) so that they can achieve better knowledge and education in order to improve their career. There is also a running opinion that offshore med schools are looked down upon once you start seeking a job. You can read more about offshore med schools on the link above, but for now let us talk about a different alternative: finishing medical school abroad in Europe.

Medical Faculty Novi Sad - Requirements, Studies in English and Costs

The Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad is a well-known med school in Eastern Europe that provides a special course in English for foreign students. Along with the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade it is one of the most prestigious schools of its kind on the Balkan peninsula. The faculty provides three courses for foreigners: medicine, pharmacy and dentistry. 

All of the courses are in English and they only accept 20 people per course each year. Thus, this means that getting in is a challenge, but it is well worth the effort. Just think about it - wouldn't it be awesome to be working in a group of 20 people? The professors will be able to fully dedicate themselves to your development and as such you will certainly get your money worth.

We will now go over the following questions:
  1. Where is Novi Sad? What is it like?
  2. What are the requirements to study in Novi Sad as a foreign student?
  3. What are the tuition fees? The living costs?
  4. General tips and advice

Why Study Medicine in Novi Sad?

The city of Novi Sad is located in the northern region of Serbia and it is the largest city in this region. However, it may seem rather small for someone from the US as it only has a population of roughly 230,000. If you have ever been to Italy or Austria then the architecture of the town will likely seem very familiar. It is a beautiful city with a long history and tradition which features people of various nationalities, religions and cultures. 

study medicine in novi sad
The Town Square is very beautiful and the people are quite friendly
Just about everyone in Novi Sad (and in Serbia) knows how to speak English as their second language and a lot of people may be able to talk in French or German. As a result you will find it very easy to navigate the city and meet new people, colleagues and friends. Aside from this the city is well-known for its restaurants and nightclubs and there are a lot of tourists from Europe throughout the year.

That's all well and fine. But why study med school here? Well, there are various reasons, but here a few that we can single out as bullet points:
  • Three unique courses are available depending on your interests 
  • You will work in a small group which means that the quality of your lessons will be better than in most places
  • Tuition costs are very low and the costs of living aren't very high either
  • You will get a chance to see real procedures and assist real doctors in medical clinics. A lot of other faculties offer this, but they execute it very late.
  • The school itself is a part of a large complex which includes the town's medical center and hospital.

Med School Self-defense and Security: How to Protect Yourself

While this article won't exactly help you finish your studies in med school, it will help you with an issue that a lot of people (especially women) struggle with. On average, 1 out of 6 women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime and women in college are four times more likely to be assaulted. This isn't a cause for paranoia or a reason to be scared of going to collage. However, this is a valid threat to keep in mind before you make stupid decisions or bad calls. In this article we will explore how students can secure their room and learn self-defense in case things go wrong. Remember, it only takes one psychotic lunatic to destroy one's life and it is up to you to take things into your own hands!

self defense at campus statistics
Chart: Self-defense class can be extremely valuable. Don't ever think with the mindset "It will never happen to me" because it very well could. 

Also, if you are going abroad or a bit too far from home, your parents will certainly have a better peace of mind if they know that you can kick some @$$ (talking from personal experience)! :D

Enroll in a Self-defense Course

A very practical solution for this problem is to simply enroll in a short self-defense course before you go to college. Also, there are a lot these courses that are often organized at schools themselves, but we highly recommend you get this out of the way before your studies and classes begin. A lot of you may be thinking: but that could be expensive and very time-consuming! Actually it really isn't and you may often find courses like this to be free, especially for women.

med school self defense courses
Learn how to control the situation
As for the time consuming part, this obviously depends on the course and your own ability to organize your schedule and manage your commitments and duties. In general, a course like this will require you to come to class once or twice a week for a total of 2 to 4 hours of your time per week. However, these courses are usually done in less then a month so no need to worry about it stretching on too long. 

If the course is ran by an experienced trainer then you will probably get the chance to learn some interesting things abut anatomy and the way the human body functions in stressful and dangerous situations. If you are just starting out med school then information like this may be very helpful so that's actually an extra bonus!