I remember how cheesy orientation was. We went on a retreat to "build team spirit" or something and it was pretty boring. I think most team building happens over drinks or in crises. I prefer team building over drinks.
Anyway, I remember first year being exciting and stressful. Mostly stressful. I literally memorized textbooks of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, pathology, embryology, and pharmacology. I'd study from 5am to 11pm on weekends, and I drank probably 6 cups of coffee a day.
I made some friends during first year, mostly kids who seemed to belong to a "cool" group of kids into music and art. They were pretty laid back but I think closer with each other than with me for some reason. I never really was into groups in med school because I felt like studying was less efficient for me and I never really craved attention or the need to be around someone all the time.
I noticed a lot of different coping mechanisms first year, among people and myself. I buckled down and studied hard by myself, putting on my favourite music and making playlists with the occasional youtube break.
Some people clustered into groups that remained tight through basic sciences and you'd always see them posting photos of themselves hanging out on facebook. Others never went to class and just viewed recorded online lectures and only showed up for exams. They were sort of the med school ghosts.
Anatomy lab was my favourite, as challenging as it was to memorize all of these insertions/origins/actions of basically every component in the body down to which locations of the inner ear are potassium rich and literally microscopic details about the basilar membrane and cochlear hair cells. I liked being in scrubs and using a scalpel to dissect through tissue, never forgetting my "teacher" was once someone living who donated their physical body for the education of young students who would one day touch lives and struggle with the toll of being in charge of saving someone's life.
First year was definitely stressful, especially around exam season. I remember taking my favourite track jackets to wear in the study center because it was always noxiously cold. I remember watching the sun rise from the student center and watching it set without ever really leaving because I had so much to study.
I never did the crazy all nighter thing though, nor did I stay overnight in the library studying. I did my best to take care of myself and I think that carried into clinical rotations.
I saw colleagues fail out of medical school, some of who were good friends of mine. I saw people the next year but as underclassmen since they had to take leaves of absence for various reasons.
First year was pretty memorable and a lot like high school in the sense you're around a relatively small group of people for much of the time. I saw people date and break up and start sitting at opposite corners from each other in the auditorium for lecture. I went on a few dates myself with girls a year ahead of me but it never really amounted to much. I did most of my dating outside of medical school.
Being a medical student wasn't really impressive to anyone I dated, lol. I was so busy for such long stretches of time that it was difficult to date anyway.
Autumn was the best season to be a medical student since I found the cold and changes in foilage to be comforting. It was a time to just really withdraw from the world at times and study and keep warm.
I did burn out pretty badly once, though. I felt overwhelmed and almost dissintersted in biochemical pathways and having to do all these small group sessions that were pretty "low yield" just made me wish I could be catching up with all the studying I needed to do before my next exam.
I remember having so many meals on campus, too. Pretty bad, bland stuff. But I was close to family and had decent meals every once in a while. I definitely got to know the restaurant scene as well, and kind of grew into a gentleman with more refined taste in food and drink.
You go through so much in medical school that you do spoil yourself a little every now and then, and I think that's normal. It's a great morale boost to go out to eat here or drink this or go on a vacation somewhere.
First year was a daily grind that always consisted of setting up camp in the study hall after lecture, but I almost miss it. Going from a bookworm to someone who is keeping cirrhotic ESRD patients in septic shock alive is a really big change.
The only thing I regret from my medical undergraduate education was so much emphasis on biochemistry and not a single lecture on fluid management and acid base balance on elderly patients with septic shock who have just finished a course of chemotherapy.
There's room for improvement in medical education.
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