First exam of medical school today! I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous. But thankfully, we’ve all been preparing very hard for some time now. In the course of that preparation, I’ve discovered that studying for medical school is different than any of the studying I’ve needed to do before. Here’s how:
- Integrative: We don’t compartmentalize our exams by subject. For any particular exam you may need to draw material from genetics, cell biology, anatomy, pharmacology, or any of the basic sciences. This is appropriate preparation for clinical practice, since patients would never present with, say, a tidy “biochemistry” complaint. We must learn to be integrative,
- Prioritizing: In undergraduate school, it was possible to study all of the required material. In fact, it was possible to master all of it. Because of shear volume, that’s just not possible in medical school. We are forced to discern which information is important to study (because it will matter to patient-care), and which is not.
- Life-long Learning: Always in the back of my head, I’m remembering that these are not just exams. They are stimuli towards a career ahead. I must learn the material not only for recall on exam day, but more importantly for recall in the clinic where it will truly matter.
- Concepts-Up: Our instructors don’t care that we memorize the names of a hundred cytokines, or complex cell-signalling pathways. Rather, they want to see a conceptual understanding of biological processes and more importantly, the ability to explain those processes and proficiently apply them to clinical problems. I’ve discovered that this is, in fact, far more difficult! To memorize is easy; to understand takes work.
You forgot to mention that it’s almost impossible to fail…
Comment by Matt — December 10, 2008 @ 11:54 am
Ha ha
… correction: it is *very* possible to fail. However, if you do, the medical school has already invested so much in you that they are eager to help you undergo remedial work and bring you up to speed. Nobody graduates without knowing the required material.
Comment by Jason Booy — December 10, 2008 @ 1:44 pm
In regards to ‘Concepts-Up’: I think you just did the wrong type of undergrad… I just wrote my algorithms exam, and it was pretty much all concepts.
Oh, and I think the ‘Life-long Learning’ thing goes for everyone, I wouldn’t want to drive on a bridge designed by someone that forgot everything from their undergrad!
‘Integrative’ is debatable, but I’m still using calc from first year in my stats course, and sometimes pre-req’s actually do mean something.
Anyhow, hopefully you don’t fail, it’d be crappy if you *lost* all that time doing remedial work
Comment by Tim — December 10, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
What’s funny is that I am just studying about cytokines and different cell-signaling pathways for my 483 final tomorrow. For this course we regrettably have to memorize those names and specific molecules. This, in my opinion is not very effective teaching methods because, sure, we are taught that GM-CSF stands for Granulocyte/Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor and that it promotes the growth and proliferation of granulocyte and macrophage cells but that doesn’t mean that the class is going to integrate this information with other class’s information,such as Histo, and that certainly doesn’t mean people are going to remember this past tomorrow at 6:30pm.
What’s sad though, is that people who perfectly memorize these facts (but just memorize) will get the erroneous idea-through their stellar marks-that they indeed understand the material and are able to apply it in everyday situations. SAD.
Comment by D — December 11, 2008 @ 12:45 am
What I’m still wondering is when you get your class on messy handwriting! I’ve never seen a prescription that I could read!
Comment by Mom — December 11, 2008 @ 11:24 am
@Mom: The messy handwriting is part of the ‘hidden curriculum’ at all medical schools. Everybody must pass this most crucial exam!
Comment by Shahrukh Bakar — December 16, 2008 @ 5:33 am