STRATEGY is The Way!
The medical school system does not allow so much time for everything you are expected to do.
Life is short. Energy is limited. Out of the millions of years the earth has been supporting life, each person is only allowed to spend an equivalent of about a second of it. The average human being lives in a complex web of relationships, needs, desires, ambitions and perspectives that shape our lives, including those around us. Even though we are brave (but foolish at the same time) enough to think we have time, enough to share, spend and waste, the reality that keeps hitting us is that we’ve got no time.
Medical School is a place where students are required to know so much in so little time. Indeed, we do spend more time getting our degree than most other undergraduates but we have also come to the conclusion that the human body is too fascinating and sophisticated to squeeze into six years of schooling. That’s why we are not required to know everything.
Many students struggle in school because in this day and age of information overflow, it can be quite difficult to figure out what we need to know; how much knowledge we need at each stage, and the best places to get exactly what we need. In as much as the university provides adult education, where we are expected to direct our own learning but follow the path of our instructors, it is still tough to clearly define when to do which of them… and how to combine them both when the need arises.
Well, who can blame us? After becoming used to the luxury of having well defined boundaries of a syllabus like the great wall of China during prior to entering the university, it is understandable that we’ll keep missing the rather thin line in medical school.
So, this is when the clear distinction between the mere men and the immortals comes in — then, we realize it takes more than being a bookworm to survive in medical school. Those who grasp this early soar all through while the rest get beaten and battered all the way.
‘STRATEGY’ is the magic word! It is a valuable skill you need to cultivate that will serve you amply in medical school and beyond.
Strategy is a skill that allows you to make the best of your limited time and energy to achieve the best of results. This is the secret many top students have that enables them to rise above their colleagues. It also makes them look like they know it all when they actually do not…even Consultants do not know it all!
Strategy also allows you to conserve some precious time and energy for other things that interest you. Of course, you cannot study medicine 24/7 without doing anything else — after all, we were like any other young person before being trained to sacrifice our youth and personal interests to tread the laborious path of Medicine. Unfortunately, many students allow that part of them to wither and die off, all for vain glory of an A+ (which wouldn’t matter 5 years later).
Let’s see strategy as a meal; just like any other meal, we need ingredients to prepare it, right? So here are some few things you need to craft the best strategy:
1. Find out what you need to know
(The best source is your lecturers or supervisors, before you consider your seniors or colleagues)
2. Get your hands on all relevant learning materials
(Ask, ask, and ask everyone until you get them)
3. Know the exact amount of time you have to learn what
(And divide the workload accordingly)
4. Know thyself
(In other words, know your strengths, weaknesses, and limits)
5. Know where the thin line is
(So, you don’t waste time and energy on the redundant extra stuff)
6. Keep evaluating your strategy
(To improve it each time)
In summary, strategy is key!
Signed, Richeal.
