Who is a Medical student?

 Life of a Medical Student

Who is a Medical Student?

A medical student is a student enrolled at a medical school, who is training to become a physician. intern. med student. student doctor. apprentice.

Being a medical student is certainly a daily challenge.

    Regardless of your passion for medicine, student life can be stressful and overwhelming at times, due to the hard work and long hours split between studying and training rounds at the hospital. And regardless of the many advantages that come with being a doctor, you must recognize that achieving any sort of career in medicine is a complicated task. Patients’ lives will depend on the training you receive. 

    You will need to be prepared, as a doctor, to be able to work under immense pressure and in life-or-death situations, all while undertaking your job to perfection so patients are treated well, and lives are saved. In this profession, there is no room for mistakes, so as a student, the commitment you make is paramount and you need to be willing to put in the hard work to make sure you become a highly trained and skilled doctor. Whatever the challenge you might face and the difficulties in overcoming it during your student years, it will all be worth it when you will achieve your goal of becoming a doctor.

    This might seem like a fairly trivial point, but it should not be overlooked. The truth for many courses is that you are only really studying in order to pass your exams and once you have managed this the information which you have tried so hard to learn is largely useless to you. This is very much not the case in medicine, with areas of study including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and pathology all being directly applicable in diagnosing, understanding and treating a disease. Not only is this a great incentive to learn the core course material well, in order that you will be a competent doctor, it is also an incentive to go beyond the basic lecture material and satisfy your curiosity about what you have been taught. As a medic this extra detail could one day be put into practice in a clinical situation and could make a crucial difference to a patient. When you are studying medicine you are not just studying for the next exam but taking the first steps on a course of lifelong learning, building your basis of professional knowledge throughout your medical career.

Study smart

    You will need to study a lot during medical school. It would be pretty impossible to achieve the required skills and knowledge to become a skilled doctor, unless you put in all the effort and commitment that studying needs. Every medical student will have a different way of studying, collating information, and organizing their study periods so that they can be more productive and efficient. Some students may prefer to study with other students in a study group, while others prefer to be free from distraction and study alone. Study groups are a great way to share ideas and explain things out loud to one another, it will also help to get used to pronouncing medical words. However, studying alone can ensure you avoid any distractions if your fellow students aren’t as committed as you are.

    You need to work out the best method for you, as there will be a lot of studying to do through the entire medical school journey. Furthermore, don’t be afraid to try out new studying methods, which will help you notice what works best for you.

It’s not all hard work!

Don’t panic, medicine can be challenging but you’ll still have plenty of time to enjoy being an undergraduate, an experience that many people say is the best time of their life. The level of work in the course is such that you will have time to make the most out of other activities at university, such as sports, music and the huge range of other societies that are on offer at university. All that you need to do in order to manage these other activities is be efficient with the time you spend working; don’t spend a whole afternoon watching YouTube videos if you know you have a music rehearsal that evening. University is about a lot more than simply gaining a degree, you will learn a lot about yourself and other people and hopefully build yourself into someone who is capable of being a good doctor.

Get enough sleep

During exam season, when students disregard their own health to be able to focus solely on the task at hand, sleep is often deprived. However, as a medical student, you should know the importance of sleep. Getting a proper night’s sleep will give you the energy and cognitive boost to be healthier, study better, feel happier and more motivated too. Constantly feeling tired and sleepy in class, will not set you off on the best foot to becoming a successful physician. Ensure you log your sleeping patterns, set a schedule and stick to it. Forming a good sleeping habit will allow you to stay in good health and focus on your goals!

Studying anatomy involves more than looking at pictures

Anatomy can be rather full-on, especially at traditional institutions such as Cambridge, where throughout the course of your first year you dissect a “subject” who has decided to donate their body to training medical students. This means getting involved with a scalpel yourself and doing what can occasionally be a rather unpleasant task. Some people might be really excited by the idea of getting stuck in and having a really practical course in anatomy, but for those who don’t you shouldn’t panic. Most other universities use only pre-prepared dissections (prosections), which you will still have to learn the structures of and examine, but without necessarily getting your hands dirty.

Join in with social activities

A doctor does more than just perform surgeries, treat patients, and make medical prescriptions. A great doctor is one who can understand, relate, and connect with their patients and their family and friends too. It can often be hard to communicate with patients when they are going through a lot of physical pain. Furthermore, doctors continually come across patients with different social backgrounds, personalities, and behaviours. Hence why joining in with social activities during medical school will help to develop your soft skills and ultimately help toward the successful medical career you are aiming for.

Get organised

An essential part of medical school is being organised, so ensuring you properly manage your priorities and time is paramount. It is vital that a doctor is organized so they can do their job free from mistakes that can put a patient’s life at risk. You will learn throughout medical school how to stay organized and properly plan your priorities. Each step you take as a medical student will need to be properly organized. Getting organised now is an important habit to have as a successful medical student. Habits such as allowing yourself extra time to cover a more difficult topic, organising your study material, and generally being accurate with timekeeping and other life organization skills. All these areas will help you being well prepared for exams, and well prepared for a successful career in medicine.

Medicine is a long course

Studying medicine is very much a marathon, not a sprint. It is a 5 or 6 year course, where in your final few years holidays become a lot shorter and you are studying almost all year round (instead of having three months off a year). The reason the course is so long is because of the volume of material that needs to be learned; both the basic scientific principles and the clinical skills needed to apply them must be taught.

Search for mentors

Accepting mentors’ help is another habit that successful medical students should adopt to develop their skills and become a highly trained doctor. There is real value and future career preparedness to be gained from the doctors that are also teaching at medical school. These doctors have profound experience in your field and there is nothing wrong with asking for help from your mentors to aid your understanding of the real duties that a doctor performs in the field. Academic advisors, professors, and teaching assistants are the mentors you will reach out to for guidance during your medical school studies.