If I was in college, I wouldn’t even know there was a test coming up until like 3 days before the test. Its not that my college teachers didn’t annouce the test, but I just didn’t take note of it until about 3 days before. Well, I’m in medical school now and I’ve been thinking about our first test block since our first day of classes. The first 2 weeks of school have been pretty ok to be honest. I had always heard of medical students describing medical school work as drinking from a firehouse, but I hadn’t felt like that yet. I mean, it was alot of information, but I was studying like 4 hours a day, and I felt ok. Well, I think I understand now. We have two weeks until our first test week, and I’ve studied more information in these past 2 weeks than I would have studied in a whole semester in college. And they plan to give us more lectures right up to the Thursday before test week.
I’m really not freaking out, but after sitting through 2 hours of boring Histology lecture and some other classes today I realized that I’ve been going about this studying thing all wrong. You see, my normal routine is that I wake up at 5 a.m. and have devotion with my wife til around 6 a.m. Then I preview the lecture material and groom myself between 6 a.m. and 7:55 a.m. I get to class by 8 a.m. and I sit through lecture until 12 when we have a lunch break. If I don’t have lab in the afternoon, then I go home, and and study until around 8 or 9 p.m. (not straight studying because I take alot of breaks). Then I try to excerise between 9 and 9:50 p.m., and then I got sleep by 10 p.m. The problem is arising during lecture and my afternoon studying. You see, I realized pretty early in college that I don’ t learn by sitting in lecture, especially when the teacher quizzes you from the stuff that comes from the book. I’ve been going to lecture simply because everyone else is, but I sit through lecture, and besides the occasional, “This would be a good test question”, phrase that the teachers may mention, I don’t get much from it. I end up having to read through all the lecture notes and reference with BRS books along with the other reference books anyway. I also learned in college that my mind is much more sharp in the morning than in the afternoon; but I’m usually studying all afternoon. So as you can see I wasn’t being real with myself. So with two weeks left, I am changing my whole game plan. I AM BOYCOTTING CLASS ATTENDENCE (besides lab and required stuff). I’ll just stay home and study what I would have had to study anyway in the afternoon. Then I’ll listen to the lectures for the day (they are audio tapped); then I’ll exercise and and study more if I need to. Medical school is all about figuring out what works for you, and I think that I’ve finally realized what works for me. We’ll see whether this was a stupid mistake once our first test block is over. Our test week is proceeding as follows:
Sept. 17 / 8:30-11:30 a.m.: Gross Anatomy and Evidence Based Medicine
Sept. 18 / 8:30-11:30 a.m: Cell Structure and Function (basically Histo)
Sept. 19 / 8:30-11:30 a.m: Patient Diagnosis and Physiology
Sept. 20 / 8:30-11:30 a.m: Biochemistry
Sept. 20/ 1-5 p.m.: Gross Anatomy and Cell Structure & Function PRACTICUMS.
Even though I have so much to study, I’ve realized that you have to take breaks or else you will kill yourself. So I’ll take Sunday off to enjoy the LA beach scene, but on Monday I’ll be back at it. Don’t expect too much from me until our first test week is over. After the test I’ll know whether I can still blog under the medical student category lol, :). If not then I’ll make a living collecting cans or shoe shining.
Thanks njbmd! Its interesting how the grass is greener on the other side. All I want to do is be where you are with patients, and you want to come back here and brush up on basic sciences, lol. Anyway, I hope I can master these classes like you did with yours. I think I’m going to check out your blog again for your advice about the different classes. Thanks again for the encouragement.
Medical school teaches you how to “teach yourself”. You have made an important adjustment in the first two weeks. You figured out that sitting in lecture does not work for you. You made an adjustment and you will make many more before you settle into your routine of mastery of what you need for your patients. I envy you in some ways because I would love to have an opportunity to be able to just study and learn my basic sciences again. I do loads of reading and often feel that I am losing much of the stuff that I was so sharp with during medical school. I keep reminding myself that God has given me everything that I need. Enjoy yourself because you are truly on your way!