I'm writing this after my last mini of semester one of medical school (I still feel weird when I say I'm in medical school)! It's been a long (yet somewhat short) ride but I'm in the final stretch.
I've had this thought brewing in my mind for the past week and I thought I would share it with you all. I remember when I was applying to University thinking to myself "I wonder if I've done all I can to prepare for this?" - and that same thought crossed my mind before I came down to start my medical school journey. Since that thought crossed my mind for a second time, and many times throughout this semester, I've realized that there are some things you cannot completely prepare for.
Yes, you can take pre-requisite courses and read every self help book and blog that people have written but until you've experienced the experience yourself you don't know how you're going to react. I thought I had mentally prepared for medical school and the amount of work we were going to have to go through, "I went to MERP, that was a great stepping stone, I'm so set for this!"
I was partially correct. Yes, MERP did help with my organization, note taking skills, study product skills, test taking skills ect ect. but unless you've gone to medical school you don't know what medical school is like.
You don't know how you will feel after sitting in class for four hours and then going directly to the library to re-learn the material until you go to sleep and then repeat that the next day.
You don't know how you will handle loads of information coming your way, some of it you pick up quickly, some it takes more time. And then balancing what you're learning and what you need to review in order to prepare for up coming exams.
I think the best way to approach medical school, or anything you haven't been exposed to before, is with humility and an open mind. You will never be the only person sitting in the library thinking "How the heck am I going to do this?!" - EVERYONE is thinking it. Everyone has topics they are stronger in - whether it's because they did their undergrad/masters in that field or just out of pure interest in certain subject areas.
Use your classmates and friends for help. We're all going through it together. I could talk someones ear off about biomechanics of movement or the gait cycle or the limbs... but talk to me about biochemistry and that conversation won't last long. I never really used my friends to help me understand concepts in undergrad and I really wish I would have just sucked up the fact that I can't know everything and asked for help. It's very easy to earn points on an exam if you just ask your friend if you understand a concept correctly.
We're all going through it together, and we will all do it together.
My friend group has become my family, and family sticks together through good times and bad.
So lets go rock our last week of first semester!
Jen
<3 !!!!!!!
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