Chapter 8 - My one year anniversary of being a Medical student - Lessons and Advice

Remember when you were a premedical student in college? It seems like a century ago for many of us who have just completed the first year of medical school. It feels that way because our lives have changed dramatically. Normal life seems to have vanished, and suddenly, 24 hours in a day are not enough to get through the enormous volumes of information that we are expected to learn for every exam. It seems virtually impossible. Nowadays, we barely have time to eat or sleep.

Medical school is not the end of the world. Take it from me, a student who started this journey exactly a year ago, The best advice I have gotten in Medical school ironically came from one of my patients, Mrs R.R at a nursing home visit, She said, "Medical school is what you make of it. Do not let medicine define you; instead, tailor medicine to your lifestyle. Otherwise, you might become overwhelmed by the demands of your new life and lose the sense of why you chose medicine in the first place."

Great time with my patients - Grande nursing home, Dominica

So how do you survive medical school? From the beginning, time management must be a major priority. If you can manage your time successfully, you can still enjoy your life to a certain extent. Studying in med school is not the same as it was in college; this is a new world where you have to explore different techniques and find what works best for you. Its all about studying smart, not studying hard. If you don't know this at the beginning, you will learn it the hard way, so I learned.

Studying medicine is a long process and demands a great amount of discipline and sacrifice. But the reward is priceless. To all fellow medical students and inspiring MDs to be, I hope you continue to stay strong through this invigorating-academic-draining-reward fulfilling career. These are some of the common pieces of advice that has helped me so far

1. "Take care of yourself". You may face long-term negative consequences to your health if you adopt negative behaviors. Do not deprive yourself of healthy, fresh food. Do not ruin your health by eating fast food and avoiding exercise. Do not pull all-nighters and deprive your body and brain of sleep; the consequences are too severe for what may be only 15 minutes of productive studying. Your brain needs fresh food, water, fruits, and vegetables. Your body needs exercise and sleep.
2. "Don't compete with other classmates, or compare your grades to other in class." We all had to be competitive to get into medical school. But once you are accepted, the playing ground is now level. Competing with their classmates will not make you a better physician. Getting a 90% on your pathology exam will not make you a great pathologist either. As soon as you walk out of your first exam, look around, and you will see people obsessing about what the right answer was for Question 13. They are very easy to spot. If they come to you and ask if you put "C" for Question 91, tell them "No, that you put in the right answer." ok, maybe you don't really have to be jerk, but just stick to friends who share your philosophy.
3. Answer practice questions while you study. Studying my notes 10 times is probably the best way to prepare for exams." Wrong! The only way to test your learning is to do practice questions. For example, after studying your BRS physiology or Robbins pathology, complete the questions at the end of each chapter. This will help solidify the concepts you just read. Studying the same thing repeatedly does not make you smarter, but getting a question wrong will teach you a bit more. Professional educators will tell you that it is statistically proven that students who do more questions perform better on boards. Oh I totally agree. Only go back to the big books when you consistently miss questions on a certain topic and the answer explanations are insufficient. Also, listen to internet medical gurus like Dr Goljan, Dr Najeeb, Dr Adesina. They are the bom!
4. Get the big picture. You will likely start your first day in school delving into biochemistry, anatomy, microanatomy, histology and embryology (my once nightmare). From the start, instructors talk about columnar epithelium, and show you slides..all of them looked the same. The Radiologist will show you a fracture on an x-ray and all I see is an instagram picture edited to black and white background. Don't freak out yet, because tomorrow, you are learn about brachial plexus and you will wish you had more time to look at that "instagram photo". Bottom line is there is an enormous amount of information overload and so as you memorize, get the big picture!
5. Study in groups. "I am going to study on my own because I don't need anyone's help or I hear this a lot, studying in groups always slow me down." Wrong! Medicine is all about teamwork and sharing information. You have to be able to cooperate with others. Even when you apply for residency, it is important to keep this concept in mind. The moment the residency directors feel you will not be a good team player or that you might have "issues" with your colleagues, your application goes in the shredder. Find a small group of people who share the same healthy habits as you, meaning they like to exercise, they do not like to discuss grades, and they have a positive attitude. Once you find the right group, arrange to meet weekly for several hours to ask each other questions about concepts you do not understand. I can't recall how many questions I have gotten right in exams just because someone in my group just randomly said it. And once in a while in your study group, you guys can dance and sing away your academic sorrow. lol.
6. Take time to engage in stress-relieving activities. Everyone in your class is facing the same amount of stress, some people more than others. You might notice some students walk around with a frown, whereas others wear huge smiles. How is that possible if they are all facing the same pressure? Again, it is time management. If you have extra time, you are able to reduce stress. Spend time with friends, or do something on your own that makes you feel better. Activities like exercise, yoga, listening to calm music, talking to your parents, your "best friend" (if that's what you call it) or praying -- there is something out there that makes you feel better. Find it and do it. Do not let the stress affect your studies, relationships and, most importantly, health.

These are my 6 cents about Med school from the bird eye view of a beginning 2nd year medical student, but it applies to all other careers and courses, whether in communications or law, engineering or business. Wish me luck as I wish you too.