The nature of medical education.
Medical science is a vast and complicated field. There are so many topics to learn, so many diseases to diagnose and an unprecedented amount of new knowledge added to the field by relentless researchers all over the world.
And… it can be overwhelming at times. I mean, there is just so much to know!
But I believe a little perspective can help : )
Part 1: The destination.
So, the whole point of all the learning that you do in medical school is to prepare you to become a good doctor. Hence, it only makes sense to understand what a doctor actually does if you going to become one lol.
So, the job of a doctor (as far as I know lol) is similar to that of a complex computer. A doctor simply takes input (signs, symptoms, X rays, CT scans) from the patient, then he processes it (figure out what the symptoms mean, and form a proper diagnosis of the disease) and then gives output (give out a cure/solution to the patient’s problem).
Yup, that’s basically the job of a doctor at it’s core.
Now of course, human beings are not machines lol. Hence, there is always an emotional aspect to the job (you know, empathizing with the patient and listening). But, that’s not the theme of this article so I’ll not talk about these (although these too are very important skills).
Now, going back to the computer analogy, we can see how medical schools try to prepare you for each of these steps differently.
However, most important of these steps is: Processing.
So, in order for a doctor know process the complex sings and symptoms that a patient presents (after all the human body is incredibly weird lol), he/she needs to know and more importantly understand a lot of things. And I mean a lot.
For example, how do you figure out what’s wrong with a patient who has blood in his urine, is having persistent headaches and has difficulty walking? I mean, the fuck do I know right lol? These are seemingly unrelated symptoms at first, and to a layman (heck, even a doctor) these might not make any sense what so ever.
And if you can’t understand the problem, you can’t solve it.
And that’ why learning is given such an emphasis in medical schools.
See, in order to relate these 3 seemingly unrelated symptoms (and give a proper diagnosis of the patient), the doctor needs to know FACTS about the human body: Why is there blood is urine? In which conditions a person has difficulty walking? And so on and so forth. Moreover, he needs to UNDERSTAND what these facts actually mean, and make relationships between these facts to come up with a complete understanding of the disease at hand.
And that’s why medical schools are notoriously hard.
It’s because to become a good doctor, you are required to know a shit ton of information and be able to make logical relationships between these bits of information. And to know so much information, you need to STUDY a lot. And by a lot, I mean a lot lol.
“Hence, if you ever feel overwhelmed or frustrated as to why you have so much to study, understand and memorize in such a short amount of time in medical school, always remember: It’s because it’s such an integral part of being a good doctor.”
It can help you keep you morale up : ) Plus, if you really understand it, it’s pretty fun ; )
Part 2: The skills
So, medical school can be kind of overwhelming.
But if you are able to develop some basic skills early on, it will make your life so much easier. A better way to put it would be, medical school forces you to develop these skills because if you don’t, you will fall behind lol.
Below is a list of skills I think are absolutely important in order to survive (and do well) in medical school:
- Organization/ Time management.
Yeah, we all have been there. We all feel like we are not organized people, that our life is an absolute mess. Don’t worry you are not alone.
But if you want to have an easy time in medical school, you do need to start developing good organization skills. These include,
- Keeping track of you lectures
- Knowing your exam dates
- Managing your notes (whether physical or on a computer)
- Managing your books (because there are so many!)
- Taking time to study for exams beforehand (it’s very hard if you cram stuff at last moment)
- Scheduling your day (to make time to study different subjects)
- Plus, you need to maintain your health, relationships and overall wellbeing too!
Now, I know these don’t sound very sexy. I mean, these take effort and effort is never seen as attractive in a world that we live in.
“But I would much rather be a little ‘less sexy’ than be sleep deprived : )”
2. Learning skills
The stuff that you need to learn in medical school is vast. There so many subjects, and each has a seemingly infinite amount of information to be learnt.
Hence, knowing how to can help ; )
Below are some of the stuff I think you should be able to do in order to learn efficiently:
- Manage your books: There are so many books for each subject (since there is no single “course book” in medicine), it’s easy to get lost lol. Hence, I recommend you read many books from different writers and find the ones that work best for you.
- Categorize books: There are big books and there are small books. Big books should usually be used to understand concepts (but they are not really exam oriented) and small books should be ideally be used to prepare for exams (because they only contain the most relevant information).
- Read multiple books when possible: Read both big and small books. Similar to point no.2
- Lectures are a goldmine: Pay attention to lectures (or at least review the slides lol) because the lectures often contain only the most (I mean the MOST) important information that is bound to be asked in exam. So, if you only understand the lectures, there is a good change you know the basics (which is extremely valuable).
- Use the internet: The is so much stuff to know that sometimes, going through books to clear every little confusion/ or understand every single topic is simply not time efficient (remember, you are always running out of time in medical school lol). So, use Google to quickly find information you need instead of flipping through pages. You can even find really good lectures on Youtube for free. There is more to the internet than just watching cat videos ; )
“The point is: Take charge of your own education, cause your teachers won’t. They are there just to cover the basics, clear up confusions and take exams. Much of the work has to be done by yourself lol. Seriously.”
Part 3: The conclusion
All in all, medical education is high volume and fast paced in nature. That is why most people feel that it’s so difficult at times. Hence, you need all the motivation, learning skills and organizational techniques you can find to keep up with your school work.
Most students struggle to keep with the never-ending stream of lectures and exams (I being one of them lol). And to tell you what? It’s okay.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed, do ask for help and be kind to yourself.
Cheers!
= )
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