{"id":125223,"date":"2025-09-08T08:44:45","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=125223"},"modified":"2025-09-08T08:44:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T13:44:46","slug":"new-med-students-praise-preparedness-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/09\/08\/new-med-students-praise-preparedness-program\/","title":{"rendered":"New med students praise preparedness program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Starting medical school can feel overwhelming, but a new Academic Preparedness Program<\/a> at UNMC is helping incoming students build confidence before their first day of class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weeklong initiative, launched in August and offered to all incoming medical students on a voluntary basis, introduced students to lecture material, study strategies and wellness practices. The program, designed to give participants a realistic preview of medical school and advice on how to succeed, also included a mock quiz and a panel featuring second-year students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For incoming medical student Ben Ravnsborg, the program offered a welcome head start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt gave me a foundation on the format of everything; how to take notes, what resources to use, even just how to get to the presentations,\u201d he said. \u201cThe M2 panel was especially helpful, because we heard from people who just went through it and could share what worked for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eben Samuel agreed that the exposure was valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone talks about the huge volume of material, so getting a taste of that earlier on was really helpful,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about memorizing every detail but about understanding the broader concepts and going deeper where you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For others, the program served as a re-entry point after time away from academics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took a gap year, so I mainly wanted to get back into the mindset of studying before anything was graded,\u201d Santosh Kota said. \u201cI also learned new study strategies that showed me memorization isn\u2019t the only, or best, approach in medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond academics, students highlighted the benefit of forming early connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of faces and names you get familiar with before classes get really intense,\u201d Ravnsborg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven just meeting potential lab partners or people with similar interests makes a difference,\u201d said Maximus Lauritsen, who is considering neurology as a specialty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Skye Kusler, establishing connections and a support network was helpful. \u201cMed school can sound scary and competitive, but everyone here has been so welcoming,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to start out knowing we\u2019re all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Program director Aleisha Nabower, MD, said early feedback suggests that combining practical preparation with community-building is making the transition to medical school more manageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe week went very well,\u201d she said. \u201cThe students were highly engaged in trying out different techniques and figuring out what worked best for them. Additionally, they were able to establish connections with both their classmates and upperclassman, helping them build their support networks for the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Nabower expressed gratitude to all the faculty across the phase one curriculum, wellness officers, academic advisers, second-year medical students and offices of medical education and student affairs that put in countless hours to get the program off the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe collaboration across multiple entities is really what made this week successful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

FaG qnA <\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weeklong program aims to tackle identified areas of need for new 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