Inspiration from one of the blogs I follow: Wake up to the morning commute, made me rethink my blog. I havn't done this in a while, and found a gaping hole in my life. Likely, it is from the lack of reflection and opportunity to express in words any thoughts and ideas that pop into mind.
Medical school. Before medical school, there was always an ultimate goal in our studies. Not to satisfy any romantacized interests or ideas about enjoying what you are studying, but rather, to get the right marks into medical school. That didn't change whether the subject was musical theatre or laboratory microbiology. The ease in which information is retained might change, or the enjoyment of attending class might change, but you always knew, marks were important.
Probe. Now that medical has begun, has any of that changed?
Scapel: The answer is, well yes and no. On the one hand, marks don't really matter any more. As long as you achieve a mark above 70, you are considered a "pass" and that is all the CARMs will ever see. However, marks do reflect the level of understanding you have on a subject. Even though, what we are studying right now has very little to do with clinical information (anatomy,embryology,physiology,histology), having a strong grasp of concepts would always be beneficial.
Furthermore, having a strong foundation will make understanding concepts down the road much easier to digest. So working hard to learn is something we are more-or-less called to do, what we pay to do, and what I should have been doing since day 1.
I am remiss to say however, I had not kicked start strong learning habits until two weeks prior to an exam! So much time was wasted on romanticizing medicine, and dreaming of future careers. Looking so far ahead at this time is pretty useless I must admit, having no idea what will occur.
Adding more to my shame, is that I had all the best examples of a wholeful students around me! A dear friend of mine, impressed early in my undergraduate career how studying should be done, and how automatic it is! My unofficial doctor-mentor, a neurosurgeon, describes to me how he spent over 120 hours/wk. in the hospital during residency to learn everything he needs to. Such diligence should have imprinted on me early on, before the prompting of an evaluation. Which is in fact a chance for others to view my ineptitude. That drive to hide my ineptitude is likely the drive for the final flury of studying I have seen in the past week.
However, a thought came to mind as I wrote the exam. I should leave MC questions that ask for what I am unsure of blank. I should do this to expose my ineptitude, since later on, in life-and-death situations, when would we get to rely on "educated guesses?" But, as I think about it, we always would, since medicine, is never exact.
Anyhow, the best suggestion I got: "Study like you will never get a chance to look at this stuff again." Take it as encouragment, or take it as a warning. But, I'd hope your doctor studied like that!
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