Habits I've Had To Break As A One Month Old Medical Student

Today marks my one month of being a medical student in Western Mindanao State University, College of Medicine. And here are some changes I've had to make to cope with our curriculum (COVID-19 edition). There's no hope for face to face classes anytime soon so we had to deal with the advantages and disadvantages of online education through MS Teams.

Here are our subjects for the first semester:

• Biochemistry
• Introduction to Medicine I (Anatomy and Physiology)
• Perspective in Medicine
• Preventive and Community Medicine
• Medical Ethics and Good Clinical Practice
• Leadership and Management

We have online classes from 8 AM to 5 PM from Monday to Saturday. Our vacant period is only every Thursday afternoon. After each lecture by a visiting lecturer, there is a Small Group Discussion with our FGL facilitated by a faculty doctor. Sometimes we discuss as a group then present our answers in the plenary session. We also have Assignments/Problem sets/Case Studies every now and then. Quizzes, Practical Exam and Long Exam are of course also part of our lives as students. 

So what's the problem? Lectures stretch for hours and you have to read ahead of time to basically keep up with months worth of lectures condensed into those precious hours. Then, you have to research some more to answer the Assignments/Problem sets/Case Studies and share it with your classmates. After a long day of lecture and active discussion, you still have to study for upcoming exams. So here are some changes I've had to make to adjust with our grueling baptism of fire as pioneering batch of WMSU COM:

1. SLEEPING IS ACTUALLY A FUN HOBBY

I used to sleep at 2AM then go to work at 7 - 8 AM. I never worried about not having enough sleep as when the pandemic started, our work had to be accomplished in shifts so we get to rest when our 2 week duty ends. Now, If I had to choose between sleeping and studying longer, I would choose SLEEP over anything. It's the one thing I can give myself to keep from going crazy from the intense amount of workload. You can't afford to be super groggy the next day for another set of information overload and group discussion.

2. NETFLIX/YOUTUBE/TIKTOK WHO?

In connection with No. 1, I spend a lot of time watching series, videos and the likes. I now feel guilty if I even watch just one episode as I know it would lead me to a downward spiral due to my scary binge-watching tendency. So I keep myself in check. Though if something particularly good happens or if I have to deal with disappointment, I do lose myself in a non-medical related world to refresh my mind. 

3. MEDICAL BOOK OVER FICTION ANY DAY

In connection to No. 2, I also read a lot since my net connection isn't super strong to begin with. I could finish a 1000 page novel in three days or so. I actually keep to myself most of the time. Now, every time I open my ebook reader app, I get overwhelmed by the pages of the stories I used to enjoy. I kept thinking that I could spend these hours reading our super hard to digest medical textbooks like Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry or Moore's Clinical Anatomy instead. I never thought Medical School would take over my life this way but it did.

4. REST IN PIECE, SOCIAL LIFE

I used to be active on social media especially in updating my My Days and Stories on Facebook and Instagram. I had a tiktok video to post everyday. Now, I try to keep up with uploading and stuff but it's all a bit too much. No one understands except for the people you are experiencing it with. So my social life is now limited to communicating, updating, and ranting with my classmates through Facebook messenger. I promised myself I would still have time to slay in life but no, I still have a lot of adjusting to do before getting to that point.

5. BARE FACED BEAUTY BABE

I love make up. I couldn't go a day without beating my face up gently with my brushes and sponges. Now, I try to not mess with the remnants of my lash extensions to make it look like at least I'm trying. This lifestyle isn't good for my acne-prone skin so I try to at least be religious with my skincare routine. I loved applying eyeliner but now, I'm like ehhh I could do without it.

6. CRAMMING, REALLY?

I recently came across an advice pointing out that if you can't learn the concept in days leading to the preparation for your upcoming exam, what makes you think that you can learn it the night before? And to that, I agree. For my first ever Long Exam in Biochem, I failed. It was disappointing especially when I recall the effort I made in studying FOUR chapters worth of material where anything can come out. But I guess the studying methods I used didn't work for me. I do know that Cramming isn't going to help me. It used to work in High School and College but this is a whole 'nother level.

Hoping I could update in another month and actually have some positive changes and tips for success to share. But for now, these are some of the habits I've had to break. And I hope I could keep it up. I am grateful tho to be a Crimson Doctor in the future.