It’s OOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don’t believe in God before you start medical school, you quickly become a believer (of something higher than yourself) when you study and take these tests. We were given these lectures notes 4 weeks ago:
And believe it or not, we have covered all of the information! When you start medical school, you will truly be surprised at how much you can cram into your brain. You will also be surprised at how incredibly smart your classmates are. In college, the class average for a test will usually be around 68%, and you being the smart pre-med that you are :), will usually be scoring in the 90s. Well, check out the stats from our tests this week:
Medical Biochemistry
Points Possible: 40
Class Mean: 31.03 (raw)
Class Standard Deviation: 4.70 (raw)
Medical Physiology
Points Possible: 48
Class Mean: 38.15 (raw)
Class Standard Deviation: 5.23 (raw)
Patient Diagnosis
Points Possible: 26
Class Mean: 20.98 (raw)
Class Standard Deviation: 2.16 (raw)
Cell Structure and Function (Histo)
Points Possible: 63
Class Mean: 50.06 (raw)
Class Standard Deviation: 6.16 (raw)
Evidence Based Medicine
Points Possible: 52
Class Mean: 43.96 (raw)
Class Standard Deviation: 4.88 (raw)
Gross Anatomy
Class Mean: 37.2 (raw)
Class Standard Deviation: 4.5 (raw)
Points Possible: 45
As you can see, the class averages are much higher than you would see in a normal undergrad class. And that is the hard truth when you come to medical school; the class HAS to split between those at the top of the class and those at the bottom. It can be a sobering realization when you are at the bottom of your medical school class and you aren’t scoring below 75% on your tests (meaning you aren’t doing too bad at all). Medical school has taught me to be 110% thankful to SIMPLY PASS my tests. That was our prayer (my wife and I) as we studied this week; “Lord, just help us to pass”. And you know the great thing about the Lord is that not only will He answer your prayer, but He’ll throw in a little more to sweeten the deal. He answered our prayer, and we did pass all of our tests this week; He blessed us even more by allowing us to score above the class average on almost all of our tests. I know it may not always happen this way, but I’ll take it as long as the Lord gives it. The sad reality of seeing the data above, with the standard deviation is that some people did not pass (passing is set at about 68% or 69%). And I know that they studied hard too; that is why it would be so discouraging to realize that your game plan for studying wasn’t what worked best for you. But the best thing about LLU is that every class is worth the same and its all based on points, so even though you might fail a 28 point test this time, you can rock the 52 point upcoming tests, and be right on track.
So how did I study for all of these tests? We’ll I’ve learned that what works best for me is not going to class. I miss the socializing, but I get that when we meet for labs and small groups. As I read through all the mess they want us to learn, I type questions and answers using a note card software. At first I was using CueCard, but now I’m using a Mac version, iFlash, which costs about $15, but is DEFINITELY worth it. When you type up 257 questions for one class, you are bound to see some of those questions pop up on the test, and I definitely did. I’m not saying that my method is the best, but if someone else finds it helpful, then I’ve done my good deed for the day.
It feels odd typing this blog entry and not feel guilty because I should be studying. I actually have nothing to study…no, BRS books to read…no Netter’s Atlas to browse through. It is truly liberating, and although it starts back up on Monday, everyone is cherishing this free time. My wife went out to spend our money (that’s how she celebrates I guess), and I would do the same but my toys are too expensive :). Anyway, I’m working on more meaningful posts, so stay tuned!
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