Hello and welcome to the MCASOM AZ community! We all remember being in your shoes a year or two ago, feeling both excited and nervous about the start of this journey. You are going to learn so much these next few years, and we know that the volume of medical school can feel overwhelming at times. Fortunately, there are many tools to help you succeed and lots of people here to support you. We created this site to help you learn how to effectively use these tools and successfully navigate the challenges that you will encounter in medical school.   

In this guide, we have listed the key resources that will help you succeed in medical school as well as study strategies broken down by course. Please know that you do not have to understand how to use all of these resources today. We actually recommend that you start by reading the sections on mental health in medical school and external resources. Focus on understanding what resources are available, and keep in mind that it may be months before you begin using some of them. Also, to be clear, the authors of this website intend to share helpful resources, but we DO NOT condone cheating. That is NOT the purpose of this website.

Once you start classes, a few days before you begin a new preclinical block, we recommend you read the guide for that specific block. You can reference the appendix for our class block schedule as well as a suggested day-to-day study schedule. The course schedule may change for your year, but the content will remain the same more or less. You can use these schedule guides to build your own study schedule and get organized before the block begins. We want to emphasize that there is no single way to study in medical school, and your study habits are likely going to change throughout the year. Embrace this learning process and be open to trying new things! 

There are also guides for the non-academic parts of medical school including selectives, interest groups, and research. We recommend reading these guides at the beginning of your first year and referencing them as needed throughout the years. For example, there is a helpful guide to “Success in the OR” that you can read right before you do a surgical selective in the operating room (OR).  

Finally, you will see student bios for the classes of 2024 to 2028. Please reach out to any of us with questions, academic or otherwise. We are so excited to have you all on campus and wish you the best of luck as you begin this journey!

When you are ready to begin, go to the table of contents. 

Sincerely,

MCASOM AZ 2025-2028

Meet the Recipes for Success Leadership Team