Setting Yourself Up for Success in Medical School

Congratulations on being accepted into medical school! This is an exciting milestone and the result of years of hard work, discipline, and dedication.

Before the pace of medical school ramps up, take some time to unwind and reflect on everything you’ve achieved. Once you’re ready, it’s worth starting to think about how medical school differs from high school and how you can best prepare for the transition. As a final-year medical student, I still remember how surprising those differences felt and how challenging it was to adjust to a completely new learning environment.

A Different Approach To Studying

One of the biggest adjustments when entering medical school is changing how you study. The volume of content is significantly greater, and success depends less on memorisation and more on understanding, application, and integration of knowledge across systems.

Rather than aiming for perfection in every topic, medical school often rewards consistency, repetition, and learning how to prioritise. Developing effective study habits early will make the transition much smoother and reduce stress as the course progresses.

Study Resources

One of the most striking differences in medical school is how universal the curriculum is. In high school, Year 12 subjects can vary significantly between schools and states, both in content and assessment style. Medical school, however, is remarkably consistent worldwide. Anatomy is anatomy, diseases present and are diagnosed in similar ways, and assessments often follow comparable formats across universities (you may already have heard about OSCEs).

The advantage of this is access to an enormous range of high-quality learning resources created by students and educators around the world. Pre-made Anki decks, online courses, and YouTube tutorials can be incredibly helpful in supplementing your university’s teaching materials.

Question banks are another key resource. Platforms like eMedici are designed to help students consolidate knowledge and develop clinical reasoning. Universities may not always release recent exam papers or provide questions that reflect the most up-to-date clinical guidelines. Question banks expose you to different ways of thinking about the same topic, highlight what is most likely to be examined, and help bridge the gap between learning content and applying it in exams.

Sharing Is Caring: Working With Your Peers

While high school can sometimes feel competitive, medical school is much more collaborative. Learning to work effectively with others is not only essential for your future career—where you’ll constantly rotate through teams in hospitals and clinics—but also a valuable life skill.

Throughout medical school, you’ll spend a lot of time in small-group settings such as bedside tutorials, clinical skills sessions, and group assignments. These environments are designed to help you practise communication, teamwork, and navigating different personalities.

Studying alongside peers can also make the workload feel far more manageable. Medical school can be draining, but having people around you who genuinely understand the pressures makes a huge difference. I remember being part of a small hospital cohort where mornings were intense and exhausting. Lunchtime debriefs with other students in the student room became an essential way to reset and recharge.

From a practical perspective, group study is almost essential for clinical assessments. OSCEs, history-taking stations, and physical examinations are extremely difficult to practise alone. Working with others makes preparation more effective—and far more enjoyable.

Getting Involved Beyond the Classroom

One of the great things about medical school is the sheer number of extracurricular opportunities available. The challenge is that many of them require you to actively seek them out. Unlike high school, universities and lecturers don’t always advertise societies or events, even though opportunities such as surgical workshops, conferences, and exchange programs exist.

Medical-Focused Extracurriculars

In first year, it’s worth joining clubs that genuinely interest you—even if you have no idea what specialty you might want to pursue. Medical societies (“medsocs”) are a fantastic way to meet people in your course, learn how events are organised, and feel more connected to university life.

There are both national and university-based societies. For example, AMSA (Australian Medical Students’ Association) is open to medical students across Australia and New Zealand and offers opportunities like national conventions and advocacy work. Most universities also have specialty-focused societies, such as surgery, paediatrics, psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynaecology.

Even if you don’t formally join a club, attending events can be incredibly worthwhile. Workshops, revision nights, and social events often provide hands-on experience that’s hard to replicate on your own. These events are also a great way to meet senior students and junior doctors who can offer insight, reassurance, and motivation for the years ahead.

Other Extracurriculars and Maintaining Balance

It’s just as important to stay involved in activities that aren’t related to medicine. Because of the time demands of the course—and the fact that you’ll often move through the degree with the same cohort—medicine can quickly become your entire world.

University social sports, hobby-based clubs, religious groups, and student representative bodies offer valuable opportunities to exercise, unwind, and connect with people outside your immediate medical circle. Many students are surprised by how broad the range of options is once they start looking.

Continuing interests from high school, such as sport, debating, chess, or music, is also highly recommended. In the early years of medical school, workloads are often more manageable than students expect, and there’s no need to give up the things you enjoy. Having something completely separate from medicine can be refreshing and grounding, especially after long days of study or clinical placement.

Conclusion

Starting medical school is a major life milestone and an incredibly exciting chapter. Keep an open mind, be willing to try new things, and trust yourself as you navigate this transition. With the right support systems, effective study strategies, and a balance between academics and life outside medicine, you’ll be well placed to enjoy the journey ahead.

Have fun—and welcome to medical school.