March 2017 | Currently at home trying to power through three pieces of coursework before I can start revising (!) and v much missing having a giant desk surrounded by maps to spread my work (and other paraphernalia) across.
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““It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.””
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
(via naturaekos)
8 things I learnt after 88 days in medical school
So it’s been about 3 months into medical school, and I just thought I’d share some smol thoughts!!
- Learning to learn: this is so important. In my school, our curriculum is structured in a way such that we have a test almost every day. In the beginnjng, I stressed over getting good grades for each test, but looking at the big picture, each test is just a small percentage. Discovering your studying style and picking resources that work for you is so important in the long run!!
- Take breaks: know yourself, what helps you relax, and set aside some time every or every 2 days to indulge in that. For me, it’s either exercising, watching tv shows, listening to music or just lazing on my bed. Spending time with yourself is key to preventing burnouts, which is all too easy to fall into when you’re in university. You’ll likely be more productive too after taking a break, and less likely to procrastinate!
- Be flexible: not everything is going to work out like it should. We have to be flexible and adapt accordingly. Be it studying methods, schedules, plans with friends/family, etc. It took some time for me to deal with this as I’m more of a planner, and hate it when my plans are ruined!! But I’ve learnt to be okay with imperfection!
- It’s ok to not know everything. This is so important. In any discipline you’re in, not just in medicinal school, learning is a life long journey. It’s impossible to know every small detail about everything- and IT’S OK!! Being comfortable with this uncertainty takes practice, but it’ll help your wellbeing in the long run.
- On that note, it’s OK TO FAIL! So so important too. We all want to be high achievers and pass every subject with flying colours, and when we fail, we hit rock bottom. Being ok with failure + having a growth mindset means bouncing back stronger than before. RESILIENCE!! So important! Endurance shows how long you can last, but resilience shows how quick you can pick yourself up after a fall.
- Learn from others. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Next time, we will be forced to work in teams. Picking on others’ faults and shortcomings is not going to help. Instead, I’ve learnt to look at things and people optimistically, adapt to their styles and be open to ideas. You can always learn something from each and every one!
- Focus on improving yourself and people around you. There’s no point comparing to students from other schools or programmes. Everywhere you go, there will be flaws in the curriculum, education system etc. That’s something we can’t really change, at least for now. What we can do is to improve ourselves, our skills and our knowledge. Complaining and comparing to others will not make us better than them!
- Lastly, it’s tough, but it will be worth it. One fail grade does not make you a bad doctor. What matters is the learning, and having the heart to serve people.
Hopefully this helps those who are reading this post, regardless of university/course, to consolidate thoughts, realign perspectives and remind yourself why you started this journey in the first place!
My inbox is always open to chat :)
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