Tips for a first year medical student

Reflections from final year

Life is a journey, not a destination. And medical school is a part of your life, but not all of your life. But give it your all anyway. Along the journey, you'll discover that the more you put into it, the more you get out.

Study hard, and play hard. It's a time of redefining things. Study may mean reading, pre-reading, re-reading. But it may also mean re-listening, group discussing, re-writing, and peer teaching.
Play could mean DotA, Diablo and StarCraft. But it may also mean Tae Kwon Do, Urban Life, DNA, rock band, treasure hunts, etc.

Look at your horizon and keep extending it. Your comfort zone should include a discomfort zone. Like Anatomy? Good; now get good at Physiology too. While you're at it, might as well delve into Biochemistry, Pharmacology, and Pathology. And Health Practice/Psychology complements those. Every cell, tissue, organ, system can be broken down into these aspects.

Write down your personal mission statement - something that states why you're doing what you're doing. Where do you envision yourself 5 years from now? What about 10 years? Stick it to your wall to lift you when you're down.

Talk about the things you love in life. Whether it's the structure of DNA, the pathway of glucose metabolism, the 4 types of human tissue, homeostasis in dehydration, acoustic guitar music, the psychology of love, or the meaning of life - talk about them with people around you. Add a dose of humility and curiosity, and I promise you'll learn something new.

That's all for now - more to come.

Bite-sized quotes

"Tidak lari juga tu (She won't run away if she's meant to be)" - Mummy, about the one, 17.10.12

For a Lifetime

I believe in the hidden value of the waiting period.
I hate romance break-ups.
I don't want to initiate something only to break up later.

So far my ~15-year relationship with God hasn't been broken up, and I believe that it never will be. For I choose not to break up.

That's why I wait on Him, my Heaven Dad, to show me the right girl. Because I believe that right now the right girl is also waiting on God, never breaking up with Him.

When God finally brings us together, I know it'll be for a lifetime, because it begins with our personal relationship with Him, which itself is for a lifetime.

Picture credit: ruggedgrace

Thankful

Thankful for today

It could have gone wrong. My alarm woke me at 5.30am, but I went back to sleep and only got up at 7am. There goes my plan to get the free early bird train ride - I had to pay $5.50 instead. That's not a perfect launch.

But 14 hours' worth of wisdom later, I can't help but be thankful as I look back on the day. Our consultant paediatrician was happy with my case presentation during the PBL tute. That was an imaginary case of a boy with poorly controlled asthma. Our senior registrar was also very happy with my case presentation as I shadowed her until 8pm. This was a real case of a boy with acute bronchiolitis. Thank God for these opportunities!

And I could take for granted the rest of the learning experiences today - tutes with 2 consultants on genetics and a case of possible lung abscess, and my first time seeing forceps delivery - but I choose to be thankful. To God. Bad starts don't mean bad endings. In the end, it all went all right.



Picture credit: faithcenter.files.wordpress.com