Why should I listen to you?

Honestly, I don’t really know. This blog goes through what worked (and didn’t work) for me in my first year of biomed, and there’s no guarantee that the same thing will work for you, we all learn differently. I just hope that something in this blog helps you get through a really, really tough year.

For those who are wondering what my grades were, I managed a core GPA of a 9.0, and an overall GPA for the year of 8.75. Trust me, this did not come easy for me and I don’t want to sound like I was perfect — I wasn’t. I really didn’t look after myself in first year. I hardly slept all year, and I lost quite a bit of weight in that hellish first semester (like not in a good way…); in first semester, my hair even started falling out more than is normal. The stress was real.

I tell you that because I don’t want to give you the illusion that I was this person that balanced everything perfectly. My social life was non-existent and I didn’t play any sports. My life was study.

Some people can get A+ so easily, cause they come with bucketloads of brains. For me, I just worked damn hard. I just decided I needed to give this year everything I had, so if I missed out, I knew I couldn’t have done anything more. I wouldn’t exactly recommend working as hard as I did, because as you have read, it really punished my body. But I want you to know that I understand that if medicine is your dream, you will give it your all, and it’s okay if the only way you know how to do that is to absolutely wreck yourself. Well, maybe it’s not exactly okay…but I get it.

Try to find a system that works for you and makes you feel like you have learnt as much as you possibly could. That may mean using some of the things I did, or none at all. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things till you find something that works for you.

Don’t stress yourself with trying to fit in things like volunteering or extra-curriculars if you are only doing them to make your application look better (because it doesn’t make much difference in the end). Do things because you want to do them and because they relieve your stress. Don’t add more stress to yourself by doing things you don’t enjoy.

I hope you have some really enjoyable moments this year and ultimately come out with what you set out to achieve. Remember, it is not the end of the world if you do not make it into your dream course. All you have to do is finish a degree and try again…in the end, what is 2 years in comparison to your whole life?? Also, grads have it way easier in med because they have awesome study skills and often know a lot of the content in advance.

Try to look after yourself more than I managed to and never compare yourself to others. You are running your own race, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing.

Goodluck for the year ahead, and I really hope this blog helps you in some form or another. If you have any questions that I haven’t answered, please feel free to email me and I will respond as soon as I can.
biomedorbiodead@gmail.com