Oly Medical Student

If you want to become a doctor, you should get used to the idea that you’ll spend a great deal of your time studying. Through the course of our degree we will be asked to learn, understand and commit to memory an enormous amount of material and when, finally, we become doctors, studying doesn’t stop. The medical sciences evolve by the second. Everyday life changing discoveries are made and we need to keep up with that in order to provide our patients the best resources we can find. So, even though it might not be one of the most pleasant things to do, it is something very necessary on our way to become good physicians. Since many of you have been asking for tips on how I study, here are a few tips that worked for me:

1 - Cornell Notes taking system - this is the note taking method I found most helpful to take notes in class and at home when I’m studying. It keeps things organized, it’s quite easy to use and, when revising, it’s quite simple to understand.

2 - One Page Notes - this is a tip given by Doctor Andrea Tooley on her YouTube channel, which I truly recommend checking out. Basically, the point is trying to condense one class, chapter, etc. in one page. Of course sometimes it’s a lot of material but trying to do that, even if it exceeds one page, makes us focus on the essential. 

3 - Not too much stuff at once - when studying, I don’t like to have too many things open at once. I like to keep it simple, just some slides, maybe a book and my notes. It’s not helpful to study by two books, three reviews and notes. It’s a lot of stuff and it gets harder to concentrate. What I do is to choose the materials I find most helpful and take my notes based on that. If then, if I find that another book that has some helpful information, I read it after and then I add those notes.

4 - Not let work pile up - Simple to understand, HARD to do. 

5 - Ask older students - when you don’t know how to study for some particular subject, just ask someone who already done it.

6 - Airplane Mode - when I want to focus on something, and I need to be on the PC, I put it on air plane mode. Blind yourself to distractions. 

7 - Water or Tea - have a bottle of water on the desk. It keeps you hydrated and when you’re frustrated, just have a sip of water or tea instead of going online. Hydrates and calms you down. Just don’t go on drinking liters and liters of water please.....

8 - One thing at the time - when you’re studying one subject, focus on that subject. Don’t be thinking about the other ten thing you need to do. You need to be doing that, so focus on that. Be efficient, learn to prioritize.

9 - Plan it OUT - I’m a fan of the bullet journal principal. A plane white notebook and my to do lists, exams, etc. It’s important to have a good outlook on what you have to do. I just don’t waste too much time on aesthetics. (Still looks cool though xD)

10 - Get cosy - make studying a cosy moment. It helps :D 

September 12th

First year has come to an end. It seems like yesterday I was sitting at my first lecture and, at the same time, it feels like a life time has passed. It was intense, hard, interesting, great and a whole bunch of mixed emotions as everything good in life is, right? It was a lot different then what I had expected, and I do not mean that as a bad thing. So here are a few things I learned this year.

1-When people say med school is hard, IT IS HARD!! We come from a place where we studied and worked a lot to make this dream come true, but the truth is, once we get there, it will be expected even more of us. It will be scary at first, actually it will continue to be, but that’s what makes you great, it makes you go beyond yourself, you discover that you were stronger and capable of pulling of stuff you’d never imagine. But you can do it, people before you did it and will continue to do it. You just have to give it your best, it takes everything you got.

2-You will fail. For the most of us, we will fail a couple of exams and even some subjects. The material is difficult, there’s no time to study, you might not have paid attention in lectures or not studied enough or studied the wrong way. The bottom line is, failing is not the end of the world. It is hard to find a doctor who has never failed at something throughout its life. And it’s important even to fail at somethings. It makes you humbler, it makes you work harder, it shows you what works and what does not, it will make you see how bad you want to be a doctor. I speak from experience and from what many doctors told us, one of the best doctors I know included. What is important is that, when you fail, you don’t go down. YOU FIGHT HARDER.

3-WE NEED EACH OTHER! I know that in many universities and medical schools competition is a constant in each med student’s life. I am really blessed that that is not the spirit in my university. We are a small university, there are few of us, but we are a united family that helps each other in times of difficulty that celebrates like crazy when things go right and that picks you up when things go wrong. The older ones guide the new ones and everyone helps each other out. And I can assure you it makes all the difference. Medicine is known at our university as the pack, we don’t fight each other to go the distance, we go together and we go further. That is our motto. You’ll meet very few people outside the medical profession that understand what you do, how hard it is and why you do it. Your colleagues do understand that, and that understanding should make them your family, your friends, not your enemy.

4- Don’t let examinations ruin the beauty of what you are learning. You are learning about one of the most complex and interesting subjects there is. What you learn will make the difference in people’s lives. Please, do not make it about a grade, because it is not.

5- Don’t miss out on life. Medicine will be a great part of your life. It is not a career choice, its life choice. But don’t miss out on a coffee with a friend, or a party here and there, get to know the people you work with, go out for a walk, go on fun adventures, and get to know the place you are studying in or show it to the ones who don’t know it.

6-Don’t waste time. Procrastination does not go well with medicine. Time is something that we don’t have too much to spare. Make the best you can with the time you have. Procrastination does nothing for you and the sooner you realise this the better. Ask yourself, “Do I really want to be doing this?” Do I really want to be watching this video? It’s not even funny, do I really need to take an hour to shower, when on any other time it would only take 20 minutes? Do I really need to be staring at that wall? Get that out of your way, you’re smarter than that and it will make you feel much better. Because, most of the time, you don’t ever want to be doing whatever you are doing as procrastination.

7-”when you’re tired, learn to rest, not to give up”. You’ve read it, you’ve memorized this. It is important

8-Treasure every moment. It will go by pretty fast. Treasure the things you learn, the friendships you make, the family you create, the teachers that truly inspired you, the walks around the campus, the adventures, the late nights with friends, studying or going out for fun, the crazy examinations with scary professors, those moments when you finally understand a difficult subject.... It’s your life, don’t pretend it isn’t. Make it extraordinary.