I used to ask this question a lot.
Like in every biology class in high-school I used question the role of my teacher. In exams, all the questions came from “the book”. Hence, I was always like, “why the fuck should I listen to you, if you are are simply following the book (which I can read myself anyway lol)”.
Plus, one of my biology teachers sucked so bad, I still wonder how on earth anyone thought she was even qualified enough to teach us (I hope for the best for her, she is a nice person tho).
It felt dumb to listen to someone explain stuff which you can understand by yourself.
Hence, I did not listen to my teachers (most of the time). And I relied heavily on the books for all my biological knowledge.
And it worked out fine for me.
I got pretty good scores in exams.
Hence, since then, I had lost my respect for teachers. I felt teacher were “unnecessary”, that they were useless, that they were there only to take our fees and nothing else, and I could find no reason to justify their existence.
But then came medical school.
Medical school.
I went into the medical school with the same attitude towards teacher that I had developed during high school. I though all teachers were dumb and useless (repeating the same stuff from the books).
And oh boy it was the wrong fucking move lol.
I did not pay any attention to the teachers in lectures. Instead, I stayed at the back of the hall reading those huge medical books (which I thought had all knowledge I needed, just like in high school) while the lecturer was mumbling about what causes heart attacks or something. I felt I was pretty smart; it felt like I was learning more than what these other dumb kids were learning lol.
Little did I know that I was actually being what people call, “over-smart” aka “dumb”.
So, one day I looked at one of my friends notes, just curious about what exactly these teachers were teaching (and looking for a reason to justify my lack of attention in lectures). I was expecting the usual, that the teacher had taught the same stuff that’s already in the book.
But alas! It wasn’t so.
These mfs had notes about stuff that was not even remotely mentioned in my book. They had so much more detail than what was mentioned in my book. And very little details about the topics that were actually in my book.
In other words, what they were teaching and what I was learning were two different things!
And guess what? In exams, they ask question based on what they taught you, NOT what you read lol.
I was fucked.
I did not know that medical school was different from high school.
The difference.
So, in high school/ A levels, every thing that you need to know is already in the books, believe it or not. That’s why there are designated course books (marked as “approved by Cambridge for A levels”). The whole course is very structured.
There is one book to follow, and it covers your whole syllabus (especially in biology).
In other words, the whole course is relatively easy.
But in medical school, there is no fucking course book! There is no single book that will cover everything that you need to know. The subject of medicine is so vast (especially physiology and biochemistry), and so differently taught across countries that, no writer can successfully write a “course book” for medicine, that is acceptable for all levels and all systems of education.
Hence, instead we have a list of reference books (there are like 12 for each subject lol) which we are ‘recommended to study’. Now, you cannot possibly expect a student to study all 12 or more of these giant books for each subject. There is simply not enough time, plus a lot of these books are meant to be read by real doctors (not some clumsy first year students lol), which are super complicated. And the ones that are small and easy to understand, usually do not contain all the required details.
Hence, there is no course book! Books are basically supplement materials in medicine (unless you are some genius who has the audacity to read multiple books at once lol). You read books for further details and clearing your concepts, not as a primary learning material like in high school biology.
So, the primary mode of learning (specially to get grades in exams) in medical school is: lectures.
See, in lectures, the teacher (who has possibly read many books) has complied the necessary details (from all those enormous books) specific to the level of students attending the class, and he/she shares that information with the students.
If you were to do that by yourself, it would take so much effort and time!
Hence, the teacher is actually important in the sense that he/she makes it a whole lot easier for students to learn what’s important. This is especially relevant in absence of a designated medical ‘course book’.
So, I was making a huge mistake all along. I was reading just one of those giant reference books thinking it had all that’s required to pass the exams. I treated it like a ‘course book’ when in reality, there was no course book! So, I was learning only a fraction of what I was expected to learn by my teachers.
So, with this eye-opening experience, I (recently) developed a newfound respect for teachers all around the world.
Of course, some lectureres suck, but what they teach is important none the less.
So,
Respect your teachers and pay attention to them! (and don’t be like me lol).
Cheers!
= )
Honestblogs 