If we can recall the integral part of our life as a student, it would be the exams. It is when the nights are accompanied by a cup of coffee, thick books and occasionally music that would still fail to keep you sane because none of us would be unbothered by test schedules. We wake up to the sight of human skeleton and books on our bed but unable to leave our overwhelming worries of failing behind. Apart from making our lives miserable, tests also make us unhealthy. The lights that we kept on during sleeping halted melatonin release and the reduced hours of sleeping prevents consolidation of memory. The instant noodles and junk food we ate, which we thought could spare the time for reading actually makes our lives shorter than it is. Though you think you had spent your weeks reading the same thing over and over again, you are still not always guaranteed good grades!
Source: med.fsu.edu
Everything else will fall in its place sooner or later, if we truly know what we are reading!
There is at least one thing we must have in order to get away with bad grades. Like everything else in the world, knowledge is an art; not a standardized form of information or answers encrypted in multiple choice questions, OSCE’s and even text books. It does not come with pre-condition or protocol before it was better studied. We ought to be a sincere learner as that can make learning process as natural as the way knowledge was first discovered. Eventually, the information will lead to another when they are interrelated to each other. The only way of doing this is by understanding your basics. Do not be dismayed if your friends scored better grades than you because exams only test the capacity to withhold memory but not necessarily the understanding of the subject. Bear in mind that everything else will fall in its place sooner or later, if we truly know what we are reading.
Some of us used to be the ones who can proudly recite a patient’s history without looking at the paper. I used to be the one who can memorize if not the whole book, most part of the book in two weeks. I reckoned that this was actually wrong in so many levels. However, it is not impossible given the innate capacity of one’s brain to conceive bundle of facts within a short period of time but what the brain missed during the instant process is pure understanding. To be able to understand, we certainly need sufficient time. This is where I got it wrong. My brain did not analyze the text but it simply scanned them because it knows it can do it the easy way. So, as time passed by, I can no longer find the text in my mind. I truly had a hard time recalling the important things I forsaken when I entered my clinical year because I simply did not understand anything. Surely, one thing you can agree with me, no one still remembers his Biochemistry and its twisted formulas!
The strange thing about medicine is your effort can go awry with a single mistake!
Do not blame anyone, be it your competitor or your environment or you will never find a solution. I always find myself at blame for not passing a test while trying to find fault with others. The problem definitely lies in us. It could be the wrong technique or poor priority and time management. A good learning technique simplifies everything. Technique by definition is a way of doing something by using special knowledge or skill. Different people do it in different ways. Customize your own technique to suit your personal capacity. For instance, people like me prefer photographic materials and tabulated data rather than reading mundane text in the book which signifies nothing. It is equally important not to be consumed by the much effort required from you in a particular technique by also trying other alternative possible if one does not suit you. This way, we are being effective.
If I do not pass an exam, chances are that I am going to be a bad clinician in the future. This is not true. Medical school’s competition can be daunting. A lot of people think that grades hold a significant indicator of achievement and competence. Consequently, we no longer mind the sensitivity and ethics when confronting a patient as long as we can utilize his body thoroughly for the purpose of learning. This is the kind of clinician we will nurture ourselves to be when selfishness gets in the way of participating in the so-called ‘competition’. You may be an excellent student but your ethics sunk too low in the pursuit of good grades. This is when our soul becomes detached from normal feelings and compassion. We need a shift in paradigm! Medical school should not only be a place where we rummage on warm-blooded mammals to get what we want but a platform to evaluate what we will become in the next five or six years.
If a competitor tries to bring you down, avoid it at all cost. Some people find it easy to survive in competition because they are naturally competitive, but some are just do not. We all have that friend whose life is all about being the best while some other may prefer to be among the best. It saves you the hassle of being bothered by reputation and stress. Competition causes distraction. The amount of worries that trivializes our real pursuit can be insane! Some people are easily disheartened and descend into voluntary social displacement because of failure to meet their unnecessary expectation. Why do we need all these?
Fortunately, medicine is not just about being waxed with books and tests!
There are several society programs that you could venture in if you are fond of learning outside the classroom settings. You could integrate Public Health subject in a wide variety of campaigns, talks and conference. I used to like Public Health when I found freedom in expressing my opinion outside the ‘boring’ classroom. That is how propagation of knowledge should be like. We have to take part in decision-making and intervention processes from the grass-root level. The learning benefit could be effortlessly terrific! Just when you thought Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) only exist on the text, you now begin to reach out to the affected community and understand more. You would eventually get to elaborate the importance of socio-demographic pattern in FGM without even looking to the book.
Although medical conference sounds quite frightening in the beginning, it is actually the best place to break out those confines in a rigid classroom. Conference is where the experts gain ground to talk within their expertise about various medical breakthroughs that you could not find in a textbook. This makes learning process more exciting and you could imagine yourself pleasantly talking about a subject you hope to deliver in the future. Another way of doing it is by having a mock conference, if you find yourself less likelyto lend your ears to listen attentively for many hours. Yet, it is still very much a conference set up according to the real framework without the presence of experts and you could enjoy the space to talk about various subjects among your friends. You could practice being critical, quick and instil good interpersonal relationship through teamwork.
Now, is it not true that medicine is an art?
Medicine is a subjective and creative field of science. It is subjective because it changes according to how we deal with it. And it is creative because it shapes our mind into thinking more than we should but within our customized way of thinking things, be it simple or complicated.
Ameerul Aiman is a 5th year medical student in Ain Shams University of Cairo, Egypt. Know more about him under the Young Columnists tab.