What advice could I possibly give to fresh students of medicine?
I mean, I didn’t go for medical studies (and don’t plan to do so, to be honest). However, I hold a translation diploma and I’m currently studying a master in communication. Thus, I believe you guys will find this article useful and if so, might somehow apply some of these 5 tips for new medical students. In case you are still skeptical, I’ve also asked among the doctors and medical students that I know and most of them agreed on the following:
1) Don’t let yourself down
Medicine is tough and so is translation (and many other degrees). Even if you didn’t perform as well as you thought you would, smile and move on. You may have tried hard but we are all humans with our ups and downs. Hence, do your best without getting discouraged. One does not need to be the best in every single subject; you’ll like some more than others… and it’s perfectly fine! Look: the person who graduates with the lowest grades will still be a doctor. Just put some effort and you’ll get there someday.
2) Avoid learning by heart
Learning, from Venezuela to Poland, should be about understanding the concepts, not memorizing the words. “What is Luis writing about? C’mon, there’s no other way to study anatomy without cramming!” The truth is that there is, in spite of the long texts you must go through (trust me: I’ve learned a couple of languages this way). For that, I would recommend you all read texts in advance the actual lecture so you are ready to ask specific questions to your professors (and you’ll remember things in the long term).
3) “Focus on me” (as Ariana Grande’s hit)
When I was in the translation and interpreting school, I didn’t have the distraction of a smartphone (I only had a BlackBerry: it was the fad of my university times!). Do you really have to check your Facebook account every minute? If you decided to go for medicine, then focus on it as much as you can (whether you attend a lecture or study by yourself). I’m not urging you not to use your smartphone at all: just try to do “smart” things with it such as visiting the largest user-generated medical question database: Qupi.com
4) Go green by recycling
Ask advanced students for the tests they had. By learning the concepts from previous exams, you are on the right track to learning properly—and therefore passing your tests. I know professors like to ask about the most important aspects of given subjects (and if they decided to go into details, you’d already have the whole idea because you wouldn’t learn things by heart, right?). This is why it’s likely that some questions are similar (if not exactly the same). I did it for several theoretical subjects and it worked. Give it a try…
5) Don’t worry, be happy!
One thing you should always make sure of is finding some leisure time. Even if you had a tough week—and a long oncoming weekend to study for other tests—relax on your own or hang out with your friends (not too often, though). After lectures, if you don’t have any difficult test in the short term, try to act normal (yes, you are normal in spite of your medical studies!). Some of my coolest memories (and not so cool pictures at times) were from parties. Have fun, I mean… it’s just a degree and you’ll surely nail it (:
Did you like this new article? Yes? No? Either way, please feel free to leave your comments below and stay tuned because my next blog is about to come. By the way, don’t forget to check the Qupi.com
