mono lab

Starting my 4th year of medical school and already feeling like I am behind everything. Started infectious disease cycle and there is a lot of microbiology, pharmacology that I previously crammed instead of learning. So I guess, it is karma...

I finally got the chance to see my first surgery! I was really excited and actually it was really interesting to see what I was so interested in since I was little - surgery.

So what is laparoscopic cholecystectomy?

It is basically a minimally invasive method to cut out your gallbladder when there are some issues with it. In my viewed case, the patient had two large gallstones and no other method worked to remove the stones, so they just removed the whole gallbladder.

Picture from: https://tamc.co.il/en/article/laparoscopy-cholecystectomy-indications-diagnosis-benefits/

If you are asking why they do the minimal invasion method over the open-abdomen method it's mostly because the recovery is speedy and there are less visible scarring, which is way better for the patient.

Maybe I will do a more throughout post about this...

I tried a few over the few weeks...

First: I tried a layout that I used in school. And I enjoyed it, it had a lot of colors but I didn't make enough space to write things down, so I didn't go further with it.

Second one was a complete failure! :D

I am not sure what I thought when I was making it, but I like seeing how much I worked and maybe the lack of colors is a miss for me. So I will never use it, probably?

And the last, that I will use for the next week. I think this one will stick as I will have a quick view of my day and I made more space for daily tasks and general notes...

Will help a lot!!

But of course, new module, new Anki deck!

The module was about heavy metals, disease prevention. It was quite alright...

Trying to get back into my studying routine...

I use forest on and off, don't think it works for me that much, maybe someone has more tips or apps that could work more? I want to track my study time but I forget to plan those trees:D

Not sure where or how but I did read somewhere that blogging might help in collecting thoughts and help in general. So might as well give it a try.

I was very excited to start medical school but as the months go by I sometimes feel that there is never enough time for anything else except medical related things. This basically goes through my mental health and my grades were dropping. So I guess my study methods aren't enough and I need to change it up.

I will be sharing some resources that helped me pass my DELF B2 exam.

Videos/Listening

arte.tv is a great platform to listen and watch + it has subtitles in the language you're learning (has German, Polish, Italian, Spanish, French and English options).

Podcasts in general are a great way to learn a language. A few I listened were Français avec Fluidité, Autour de la question, Little Talk in Slow French. Of course, anything will work if you get to listen to the language. Available on Spotify.

Youtube Videos. Channels like Easy French are a great source to practice listening and pick up different words. I personally, made a whole different account so that everything would be in French. It would be great for you to find content that you like and watch it in your target language.

Some audiobooks

RTL news, podcasts

Dictionaries

One of my favourite dictionaries is Reverso. It also has conjugations and a phone app.

If you're struggling with pronouncing or come across a new word Forvo is a website where natives say the word.

French has a lot of idioms and translations wary. Expressio.fr

Reading

RFI, reading news will help your vocabulary and topics in case you need to speak about them (it also has audio).

For books to read, you can find some french books on Project Gutenberg

Grammar

eLearning French

Français Facile (might be difficult to go through the website).

If you're struggling with a specific topic in grammar, YouTube has a lot of great options if you just type in the keyword.

Tests

RFI has a small placement test.

DELF sample papers have a few tests in an old format and a new one.

Partajon different levels and listening, writing, speaking tasks.

France Education International offers past papers of DELF exams and other information to read in French.

Tips

To learn a language you have to immerse yourself no matter what. Personally, I didn't really focus on grammar after a while and tried to write as much (essays, descriptions, reviews, journaling) and talk (record voice memos, learn songs, create stories).

One of the best tips I got is to take a keyword and try to come up with a story based on that keyword (you should record yourself to see mistakes or what words you need to look up to) and try to progress the story every day for a few days.

Of course, if you still not confident to speak then write a journal every single day, just write anything that comes to mind and then you will notice what words you use the most and need in your daily life.

If you're learning for a test then do as many sample papers as you can, write a lot, speak a lot. A week before my exam at home I spoke purely in French to not forget it and feel a little bit more confident.

Don't be afraid to ask others for help. If you are not sure if you wrote something good you can ask people who know the language to review it or even go to a teacher. From mistakes you learn a lot, don't be afraid of them.