Authored By: Christopher Twilling (M2, Class of 2022)
Doctors study rigorously during and beyond medical school to keep up to date on the latest medical developments in order to better treat their patients. As a medical student, I was reminded constantly of the fact that medicine is a lifelong commitment to learning- a commitment that starts on day one of medical school. Now, reflecting on my first year, I can list off countless pathologies, drugs, and body parts I never knew existed prior to my medical studies. However, I believe the most important concepts I learned over the past year were not the facts I read in textbooks, but rather were the valuable life lessons gathered after several weeks of making mistakes and learning from them during my first year. Two of the most salient lessons I learned were…
- Determining the sacrifices that can’t be made
Before starting school, I was told that I would have to make several sacrifices for my studies. Time spent with family, friends, and relaxing was quickly exchanged for hours in the library. I quickly learned that if I wanted to stay on top of the material, I would need to invest what little time I had left reviewing information. In an attempt to generate more time, I began to sacrifice other activities foolishly like exercising and sleep. On paper, this seemed like a good idea; I had plenty of time now to study, but paradoxicality was now learning less. Because I wasn’t sleeping well, my exhaustion caught up with me and my time studying was significantly less focused. I learned quickly that contributions to my mental health, like sleep and exercise cannot be sacrificed, no matter what. I now better understand that while sacrifices must be made, they should be made in moderation.
- How to pick your battles before they become wars
Everyone has subjects that are easier for them to learn than others. For example, physiology was relatively easy for me to understand when I first started medical school, while other topics, like biochemistry, always was, and still is, my kryptonite. When I first started studying biochem, it was a battle of me vs. the tiny molecules I could never keep straight in my head. I would spend countless hours trying to memorize the metabolic maps, only to make no progress. To gain an upper hand against my metabolic rival, I started to sacrifice my studies of physiology (a subject I was confident in) for my efforts against the enzymes. That worked for a while, but over time, I started to fall behind on physiology. What was once a small battle between me and biochemistry, became a full out war on two fronts- physiology to one side and biochem on the other. As the year progressed, I learned from my mistakes and developed an ability to recognize early when a topic may compromise my ability to learn other material. Instead of distracting myself from my strengths, I now appreciate what I can and cannot learn from a difficult subject and come to terms with the material that is too difficult to understand in that moment.
As I preview my next year of medical school, I know that I will be learning more about Neurology, the Musculoskeletal system, and several other organ systems that are written within the curriculum. However, the lessons I look forward to learning the most are the ones learned through trial and error; such as the ones detailed above. While these lessons are not explicitly found in a standard medical school curriculum, I feel confident that several of my peers have learned the same skills over time and they will benefit us greatly as we grow to become practicing physicians.