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Reaching a top-profession institute like a medical college is dream and desire of every passionate student. Every student who aspires to choose the profession of medicine and does all the studies devotedly and passionately, finally reaches the rank of those who are considered the cream of nation's education and are admitted into a medical college.
At this point, he considers himself as one of the most successful persons in the world and rightly so. He would be able to continue his studies without
worrying about his future anymore as now it has been secured as a doctor. He foresees his future professional life as a highly paid,top class medical professionalist and gets ready to join medical college with highly contented,peaceful and joyous mind, excited enough to wear the white overall with a steth around the neck, hallmark of the noblest of the professions.
Despite all the charms of a medical college, a medical student has to face a huge number of problems from the very first day.He realizes it very soon that this world is quite different from inside than he had actually imagined about. If he is a hostellite, he would consider it like more than a hell where he is most liable to lose his all the best potentials. During first few months, he would consider it the worst part of his life and would face the worst of problems he has ever had in his life.
Let's have a look at some of the major and the most common problems faced by a 1st year medical students in general and how they can effect his life and his particularly his personality in his career.
-The foremost problem faced by him is ragging. It starts from the very first hour and oftenly the very first minute. It's a major problem faced by students of all other institutes as well but it's a major dilemma for a first year medical student in a way that, i believe, has never been looked upon.
It's always the first impression of a newly adopted environment which impacts the person's attitude and behaviour with the people of that environment as long as he is related to that setting. As per the culture of ragging in our medical colleges, the way a medical student is ragged and the way he perceives the attitude of seniors towards hime thereof, makes him think again about if it really was noblest of the professions he was going to be related to. What he actually perceives is that people around him, going to be a part of this profession, do not have the decency and civilized behaviour expexted from this profession.Quite unknowingly, this thought becomes the part of his subconscious and subsequently the part of his personality.
This change surely depicts in doctor-patient relationship which we can clearly see in our government hospital setups. So if the manners and discipline is made a part of medical lifeTh at this very beginning, we can produce much better doctors who are more kind and affectionate towards their patients.
-Other problem faced by 1st year medical students related to their studies is the choice of a book or books for a particular subject. There are usually more than two books recommended for a subject and the course being so extensive,not all the books can be followed. So he has to make a choice about following the best book. He is usually confused about different opinions given by his teachers and seniors. The sooner he addresses and solves this problem, the better it is.
One way is to find out which book is followed for exams.Ask as many teachers and seniors as possible and you'll get the answer.
No book is bad. So what else you can do is to read different books for some particular topics and go for the one you can easily understand and suits the way you learn from books.
-It's easy to lose study routine at the beginning due to inability to understand the new type of subjects. If this problem is not addressed as soon as possible, it gets almost impossible o catch up and to make up a routine. So Making up a routine and following it strictly can save you from all the burden and tension of covering up all the syllabus at the end of session.
-Failing tests at the beginning is common due to problems just mentioned above. This is sometimes a big setback for a medical student who has never failed a test in his earlier educational life. Some students sooner or later understand where the fault lies and get back on track. But the problem arises for those who cannot judge the root of the problem and cannot adjust according to the conditions. This type of students should regularly visit their teachers and discuss with them whatever problem they face regarding the tests.
Apart from the above mentioned two categories, there is a third type of students who do not take it seriously and consider it normal.They usually give no importance to the class tests and decide to study and cover the syllabus near the end of the session. This attitude almost always arises at the advice of seniors who had adopted the same attitude and satisfy them by giving their own examples of passing the exams in the same heroic way, having no idea about the difference and durability of knowledge from those who study the whole year quite regularly. If you are one of those aspiring to reach the peak of profession after graduation, you should be looking forward to giving importance to studying regularly insteady of going through the whole course in a short time in the end just enough to pass through.
-Most of the students give up their previous hobbies under the pressure of studies and find it difficult to continue with them. They aim to get extra time out of it for their studies but this is a pretty wrong thing to do. Hobbies mark the strength of one's personalityand satisfying these hobbies is essential for a peaceful and contented mind setup. So continue with them and adjust your study schedule accordingly. Although giving up the bad ones is really a good thing to do.
-As the pressure of studies and all the trouble of coping upwith so many problems mount up, medical student fails to have any pleasurable and enjoyable activity. This puts up an extra problem in his life with all the boring and dull routine adding up to the stress he is already facing. So getting some time out specially on weekinds for going out and having fun is an essential thing to do. This will keep your mind and body fresh and will enhance your capability to solve the rest of the problems.
According to a research, medical students are one of the most liable to undergo stress and hence depression. So addressing the most serious problems and solving them as soon as possible is very essential for a successful life as a medical student.
Just enjoy it and be proud of being a medical student. Keeping your interest and spirits high, you'll be one of the best in the field.
3 comments:
perfect depiction of starting medical life, its immediate effects n change of behavior in the long run...for combating these problems, which seem nothing are actually changing your life n nobody gets to knw how!!!, every medical school should arrange counselors, their availability ensured...and students shouldnt think it like if i go to em then ppl would call me mad....its needed n well proved fact whenever you go to some new place, u need time n right advices which suit u the most...n counseling is best option i suppose...
very true! perfect picture!. but sombdy ought to facilitate students as well if not solving the problems
Dear Ahmad
You have very nicely presented the dreams and problems faced by a medical student.To tell the truth this was exactly my feelings when i got admission in the medical college more than 25 years and i was charged upto serve my nation as a doctor being a top professional.It really made my proud to be a medical student.
Similarly we faced the ragging by the senior class and were afraid to visit the clinical side for a couple of months.Perhaps ragging was more in hostels.About 25years on I feel all the new student should take it lightly as long as it is within limits, and once it crosses the limits one should have the courage to say enough is enough and all the juniors should show their unity.If you feel bad about ragging then you should be the one not to start ragging when junior class comes and keep the tradation of not ragging.
Choice of book is very important in your studies.All the students should be very clear about the objectives of a particular subject /module/or topic/.Many students waste their energies uselessly studying unnecessary details.eg anatomical details from Greys anatomy or other minute details in physiology.Your objectives should be very clear to you for studying these basic subjects and their application in clinical subjects.So it would be a good idea if medical students can make up their future plan of action like specialization in a particular field.So regarding a book,there are standard textbooks which should be followed.I personally believe that textbooks with a lot of illustrations, diagrams and sketches are better to remember.Do not go for notes or lecture notes.They ll just burden your memory.Its not a bad idea to study more than one book, but while preparing for exams you should follow one book, shifting important notes from other books on this book on small chits.Studying from more than one books always improve your understanding of the subject and the ususal way in post graduate studies.
I agree that there is pressure of studies but i have witnessed medical students wasting a lot of time in the morning times and routine classes.They only study during prep leaves and some do study 18 to 20 hours which is not fair to themselves and makes them beleive that they have worked very hard, just forgetting the time they have wasted.
Interaction with the teachers is very important and should be more frequent.
Remember undergraduate studies are aimed at making a MBBS doctor and not a specialist.So if you are focussed punctual in your classes and involved in your patients and wards , medical studeis are not very hard.You need only 50% to pass, but of course many of you eye the top and for them the sky is the limit.
Best of luck to all medical students
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