A friend I messaged told me she was studying bacteria already. I was still on viruses.
The NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine microbiology exam is a 3 hour long paper. The 3hrs is deceiving- one would think that this is the standard timing for any big paper. If we were to directly correlate it to the volume of information to be studied, it should amount to 5hrs to distribute a nice essay weightage to the various topics. Topics to be covered are aplenty (in order)- Viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites (protozoa and helminths, aka worms), infectious diseases, general microbiology, antibiotics, antifungals, antimalarials. Now, I'm not complaining. This is medicine, after all. I've gotten used to it already. Oh, just for the record- memorizing is a very apt synonym for studying (at least for microbiology). So you can stay on the same page for about 20mins.
Normally, I would have panicked upon hearing that I was 'behind'. But this time, I knew that I was on track, or at least I was on a steady program of trawling through microbiology tables. I had planned my time, and my mind and heart instinctively knew that I would be able to accomplish my goal of completing microbiology by next Saturday.
Instead, I messaged back, 'Woah, you're fast!'
The truth was revealed in the following reply, 'Er, haha that's because I skipped viruses.'
I laughed a little to myself, and wondered how many were slowly plodding along like me. Before I joined medical school, I had this impression that medical students were wunder-people, able to devour 3 textbooks a week. I must admit that it took some time for me to realize that I wasn't the only 'abnormal' one who was only able to manage a few chapters in 7 days.
When people know you're in medicine, their perspective of you changes immediately. Their eyes light up with interest, and suddenly you become a more intelligent person, capable of handling vast amounts of information and acing all tests. So I try not to tell people that I'm studying medicine, because I don't want it to falsely define me. I once told a friend that she shouldn't let her post in student council define her. She should define it. I didn't know how great an impact it would have on her until she confided in me later that that piece of advice helped her a lot. She wasn't trying to live up to the office- she was living up to her own principles and ideals, and by that way of living she was able to shrug off all the glamour, opinions, high-mindedness and perform well. Needless to say, she did an excellent job during her term, and glorified the office she held in the process. So I don't want medicine to define me. I want to define medicine.
When people think that medical student are smart and talented and all, I don't deny it but I think it's highly exaggerated. We struggle the same way every other student struggles. Maybe we're a little more go-getting. Maybe we like to help others a little bit more. Maybe we can grit our teeth and plough through tons of information a little better than others. But we're still very much subject to the same weaknesses that all students face- fatigue, discouragement, crazy-outbursts to vent stress. Being a medical student doesn't make you a cut above the rest. I don't like the immediate label of 'smartness' that others give to me because it in no way represents who I am, and I believe that it doesn't accurately and fully represent my friends either.
But I suppose that it's normal. I thought that way once too.
I messaged her back, 'I feel so cheated. I thought you were ahead!'
She wrote back, 'Nah, I'm only writing notes on those topics which I think will come out for essays. Hopefully I'll hit viruses soon! '.
Spotting questions? Medical students? It's time to let the students define the image. And not the reverse.
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