After clearing NEET, it appears as a big endeavour with an unclear route and mental orientation when you start your first year. In this situation, here’s a list of some do’s and don’ts I have listed out of from my experience as a first-year student of MBBS.

Do’s

• Attend all classes, including dissection sessions, practical classes, community medicine, and AETCOM modules. Even when you do not feel like it, sitting in classes will enable you to pay attention during the lecture. This will help you learn or retain a topic you can later revise in-depth. The schedule, which initially feels heavy, will start to render more understandable once you begin attending class and follow it up with self-study
• In continuation to the above point, having more than 75 percent attendance is compulsory, and as per CBME, AETCOM will also hold its separate attendance. So, one should refrain from taking leaves in the initial months. This will enable you to take a few days off to prepare as most colleges rarely provide any
• Listen carefully to the professors, write down important points and keywords. Making a note of what they reiterate will help you when learning through self-study and identify the frequently asked questions during exams
• Take crisp notes, make flowcharts, use bullet points. This will help you revise better.
• Maintain your practical records from the beginning. This will help you during submissions. Of course, you’ll also end up having a better presentation and have a  significant chance of scoring full in the internal assessment
• Don’t let go of your hobbies. Showcase your talents in various competitions held all around the year in your college. Join various committees/clubs/associations in your college. Colleges have research forums, drama clubs, innovation labs, and others that will help you explore the singer, dancer, poet, or innovator within you  
• Find time to venture out and take a break for a change of scenery and to refresh your mind
• Always obey your teachers. They have the experience and will guide you well in your learning journey. When facing a learning block, following the pattern your teachers/mentors suggests will help
• Meet your mentors regularly. In a few colleges, students get mentors every year with whom they can discuss progress.  They guide in many aspects like research opportunities, study tips, participating in various events, and more
• Find time to reflect upon your day, how you carried out your activities, where can you make some modifications? Think and rethink making changes in your schedule

Don’ts

• Don’t read cover to cover. Instead, study smartly. Ask for help whenever you need it from your teachers, seniors, and fellow batchmates.
• Don’t hesitate to talk to your parents/support group about your feelings because they cannot see what you’re going through. Speaking about your challenges always helps.
• Don’t stay with people who make you feel less confident, overshadow you and contribute nothing to your learning plan. Please choose wisely as it is a journey of five and a half years, and you want to be surrounded by the right group of people who will contribute to your growth
• Don’t stress about winning every competition. Participation is essential, along with carving out some time for yourself and meeting new people.
• Don’t waste your time being unproductive during your study hours. Manage your time well so that a week before exams, you don’t sit back and feel overwhelmed
• Join as many committees as you can manage. These extracurricular activities are there to make you happy and divert your attention from an already burdensome course.

Signing Off with these lines from the Poem: Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

“If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”