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Hello everybody , welcome back to the BlackMedConnect

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podcast , affectionately known

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as the B-MED podcast , where

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we share inspiring stories of Black

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physicians and physicians in training

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. We are so excited for season two

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, and today I want you to think

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about this . Imagine that it's May

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. You're a college student , your

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whole semester has gone by and

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you've blown it . You didn't get the grades

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you want , you didn't accomplish the tasks

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that you wanted to accomplish and you don't even know

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where the time went Well . Today

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we're here to talk about how to make sure that does

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not happen to you . So

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I know you're back on your campus and

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I want to share five tips to make

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sure you strategically plan for your

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spring semester . So let's jump

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right in . So tip number one

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make sure you review and reflect

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on your past semester . I

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want you to think back to the fall . What

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went well ? What classes did

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you take ? Did you learn any new

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study strategies to help you ? Did

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you find a partner to help you study that really

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, really was effective in getting your work done

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? Make sure you take a moment to think

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about what went well last

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semester so you can duplicate it for this

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semester . That

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breaks down into a few key parts

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. Number one you're in

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college to have a good time , yes , but you're also

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there to make sure you do well in your classes

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. So let's focus on that first . What

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are your goals for each class ? What

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do you need to make sure you do to be successful

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at hitting those goals ? Be

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sure to think about your classes and

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how you're going to plan and strategize how to

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do well . When you're also setting clear

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goals , you need to think about the bigger

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picture of being a pre-med . Where

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are you in the journey ? Are you a freshman

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? If so , you need to go ahead and

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think about your summer semester . Are

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you going to take classes ? Are you going

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to work ? Are you going to do shadowing

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? You got to go ahead and think about that now

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, because you have to create that plan . The

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third thing to think about is how are you

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going to have some fun ? How are you going

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to integrate your life , your social

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life and your schoolwork all together

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to make sure you're having a balanced

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, fun time in college but also

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getting the job done ? Tip

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number three make sure you actually

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map out your goals . So

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I want you to actually pull up your calendar

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, put your class schedule on it

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for the year and for the semester and

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actually map out when are you going to

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do the things you need to do to make sure you're

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going to be successful . If you know it

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takes you three hours to study for chemistry

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, go ahead and put that on the calendar that

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you need three hours to study for chemistry

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. If you know you are in

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a sorority and you've got these activities

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, go ahead and put it down so you know exactly

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what you need to do as you move

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from one week to the next . I

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often find that students may

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think they have a plan , but when you ask them

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where is it written down , they don't have it written

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down and they can't go back and review

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it . So make sure for tip number three

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, go ahead and pull out your calendar and actually

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put the tasks on the calendar . Tip

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number four make sure you

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actually set a realistic plan . If

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you have 25 credit hours , that's

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probably not a good idea , right ? Make sure

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you take enough classes to meet the

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needs that you have for the semester , but

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also be realistic about what you

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can handle . If you can't take

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four sciences at one time , that's okay

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. Make sure you go based on

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what you can do and what you can do well

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, it's better that

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you do a few things well and

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get good grades in those classes , focus

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on one or two organizations and get

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ready for your summer than it is

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to pile on more than one thing at one

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time . So make sure you set realistic

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plans when you are preparing

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and creating your strategy for your spring

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semester . Tip number five

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is to make sure you take time

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to recharge . You know

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that this is a long journey . If

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you want to become a physician , you're just

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at the beginning as a college student and as

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a pre-man . So throughout

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the semester I want you to build in some

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time where you take time with yourself

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for self-care and spend time

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with your friends . Go ahead and build

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that in as you develop your study strategy

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and you're really focused and going hard . Make

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sure you take that time to recharge . And

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I have a bonus tip for you too . Tip

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number six is make sure you

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get some support around you and use

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the resources that you have . Something

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my mom always says is use the resources

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available to you . So don't just

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be out here on an island by yourself

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trying to figure it all out on your own

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, disorganized and not knowing

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how to go forward . Make sure you

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reach out to the student organizations

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on your campus to help you create

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the strategy . Utilize your pre-health

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and pre-med advisors and in

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that office to help you Make sure

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that you have a strategy and , last but not

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least , check in with your friends to see

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if they can help push you along the way too . So

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be sure to seek out support and the resources

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that are close to you as well . Those

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are my five tips for you as you build

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a strong strategy for your spring

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semester . Remember I

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want you to review and reflect on

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the first semester of the year what

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went well and what would you like to change

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. Step number two is

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to set clear goals and expectations

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for your semester . What do you want

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to accomplish , not only for your classes

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but as a pre-med ? What do you need to

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accomplish to make sure you're getting ready for medical

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school ? Step number three

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is to make sure you put it on

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the calendar and update that task

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list so that you know , week

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by week , exactly what you need

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to do . Step number

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four is make sure you set a realistic

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plan . Don't try to do

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too much all at the same time in

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the spring . I know it's plenty to do , but

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be clear instead of realistic goal , and

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step number five is to make

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sure you take time to recharge

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to make sure that your semester can go

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as smooth as possible . So

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remember , on your journey throughout this spring

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semester , don't do it alone

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. B-MED is here as a resource

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. We're here to help you succeed

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on your journey to med school . We're

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here to help you build community and , most

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importantly , we're here to connect you to the

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right resources . Remember to

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like , share and subscribe to

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Black Med Connect and we'll catch you in

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the next episode . Always remember

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to dream without limits Ÿè

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.