Home for Christmas

We are on Christmas break now. Two weeks of bliss for most of us. I must confess that I am tired. The last test was challenging, maybe even more than the previous. I went into it feeling less sure about what I knew. – You must understand that in medical school we cover a great deal of difficult material in a short period of time. We are essentially reviewing everything we should have already learned, and then they add icing on top of that cake. If you haven’t even been exposed to the material, it can be an uphill climb. I would guess we cover three or four times the amount of material you are covering in your undergrad courses in the same amount of time. For example, how long did you spend on the Krebs Cycle? A week? We spend an hour. And you have to know everything about it. Of course, we don’t… Most of us only answer about ¾ of the test questions correctly. Just understand that these are very bright people and very challenging tests. The bar is always being raised.

If medical training is on your horizon, I strongly suggest you learn all you can about the human body in the greatest detail you can muster. You won’t be able to learn the detail you will gather in the four years here, but you will need the base to operate from. And, I do emphasize the term “learn”. You must have mental access to this knowledge. Your recall must be crystal clear. You must do this with intent. You must realize that your patients will be counting on you to have made this effort. Very few people are actually willing to do this. It takes a person with a wonderful combination of desire, perseverance, ability and compassion. I hope that’s you.

From the gallery, I think all of this hard work and bar raising is a good thing. I truly can’t imagine any better way to become a doctor. We all need motivation, and this can be a very useful way for us to soldier on. So, bring all of the best equipment you can pack as you head toward this, though try not to be weighed down with the things you don’t need. Many times we have been advised this is a marathon. Pay your entry fee gladly (thankfully), grab your Gatorade every mile or so, stay light, be strong, and keep your eyes focused on the next marker. In the end, you will be amazed at how far you have come and what you know. Then you get to apply it. You will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. Do well.