Don't Do It
For those of you who are following this blog as a way to get an inside glimpse into the world you ache to join, I have some advice for you. Don't do it. Don't go to medical school, unless you are absolutely sure there is NOTHING ELSE you can imagine yourself doing. I have finally hit that wall, the point at which I am questioning my decision to go down this path. I'm here for the long haul, (too far in debt at this point to stop), but I need to vent for awhile so that I can pick up the next two inch syllabus in my mailbox and start studying again.
We just finished our third neuroscience exam, and sorry for the delay in writing since the first exam. Because the first exam went so poorly for our class (the director had to regrade the exam so we could all pass), I studied extra hard for the second one, as did the rest of our class. And we did outstanding on the second exam, with an average much higher than expected (although that could be because he was trying to be nice to us...). But then there was thing mornings exam, which should have had the following warning on the front page: "Welcome back to the real world of having to learn totally inconsequential and irrelevant facts as a way to prove your competence as a physician in training."
You may be wondering what I am talking about. Well, we are learning neuroanatomy right now, down to the very minuscule details of where specific neurons are in the brain or brainstem, and where their connections come both FROM and TO. Now, imagine that the brain is a pile of very very very thin angel hair pasta (today I would call it devil's hair). Each strand of pasta winds its way through various parts of the brain stem and brain, touching down in the amygdala before cruising along the stria terminalis, before jumping over to the hypothalamus, and then continuing on down the posterior longitudinal fasiculus, before sending off projections to certain neurons located in the spinal cord. Now you may think this sounds fascinating, and it is, especially for a PhD, or someone who spends their life in a lab studying the pathways in the brain. But come on, for a second year medical student, IT IS TOTALLY IRRELEVANT. Now, if I was a third or fourth year resident in a neurosurgical or neurology residency, then this information would not only be crucial, but it would also probably be easy to remember after having spent four years on the wards taking care of patients, and looking at brain scans of patients who were suffering from lesions or interruptions in these partial brain pathways.
Am I whining? Yes I am whining. I am complaning because the quality of my life right now sucks. Because I am struggling with depression and anxiety, and a tremendous lack of balance in my life, all to prove to my teachers that I am smart enough to be a physician. And I truley believe that it doesn't have to be done this way.
Oh ya, here's another thing that really bugs me. Pharmaceuticals. Yes, them, and not their mere existence, but the fact that as students we have to memorize these long ridiculous lists of drugs to treat every single disease. Now of course it's important to know about the drugs, but you may or may not know this, all residents have in their pockets, via a little drug book or their PDA, instant access to information about medications. It's important to know how long the half lives are (which means how long the medication's effects will last), what the potential side effects are (so that you can watch out for them), and also, what other drugs may or may not interact with the medication you want to give to your patient. As a resident, not only will you get instructions from upper residents about what drugs to try first, but you also will have instant access to that information, right in your pocket! (it will certainly no longer be in your brain). No one can possibly remember all the drugs, with all the dosages, and with all the side effects (except for maybe one of my classmates who was a pharmacist before coming to medical school - boy I wish I could have his brain for the medication questions....).
So yes, this last exam had its ugly share of questions about medications for depression, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. But I think it's absolutely insane to waste our time and valuable brain areas to memorize facts that we can easily look up in a book. Wouldn't you rather that your physician had a thorough idea about how to evaluate a patient with a potential problem with their mental status? How about what a list of possible diagnoses might be, what tests would be appropriate, and what general category of drugs would be the first line treatment? Is is really important to know if phenobarbital works by increasing the duration of the calcium channel opening, or the frequency of the calcium channel opening? Who cares!!!! All that matters is that phenobarbital works by increasing Calcium influx into the neuron, will increases the release of GABA, which is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain! AAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH.......
I'm working myself up into a frenzy here, which is so much better than the mind numbing depression I usually feel when overwhelmed. I do plan on doing something with my fuel also; I'm going to write a book about medical school, in an attempt to put some light on the things that happen (that don't need to). I think I'll call the book, "Don't Go to Medical School!" What do you think? Cheers.
We just finished our third neuroscience exam, and sorry for the delay in writing since the first exam. Because the first exam went so poorly for our class (the director had to regrade the exam so we could all pass), I studied extra hard for the second one, as did the rest of our class. And we did outstanding on the second exam, with an average much higher than expected (although that could be because he was trying to be nice to us...). But then there was thing mornings exam, which should have had the following warning on the front page: "Welcome back to the real world of having to learn totally inconsequential and irrelevant facts as a way to prove your competence as a physician in training."
You may be wondering what I am talking about. Well, we are learning neuroanatomy right now, down to the very minuscule details of where specific neurons are in the brain or brainstem, and where their connections come both FROM and TO. Now, imagine that the brain is a pile of very very very thin angel hair pasta (today I would call it devil's hair). Each strand of pasta winds its way through various parts of the brain stem and brain, touching down in the amygdala before cruising along the stria terminalis, before jumping over to the hypothalamus, and then continuing on down the posterior longitudinal fasiculus, before sending off projections to certain neurons located in the spinal cord. Now you may think this sounds fascinating, and it is, especially for a PhD, or someone who spends their life in a lab studying the pathways in the brain. But come on, for a second year medical student, IT IS TOTALLY IRRELEVANT. Now, if I was a third or fourth year resident in a neurosurgical or neurology residency, then this information would not only be crucial, but it would also probably be easy to remember after having spent four years on the wards taking care of patients, and looking at brain scans of patients who were suffering from lesions or interruptions in these partial brain pathways.
Am I whining? Yes I am whining. I am complaning because the quality of my life right now sucks. Because I am struggling with depression and anxiety, and a tremendous lack of balance in my life, all to prove to my teachers that I am smart enough to be a physician. And I truley believe that it doesn't have to be done this way.
Oh ya, here's another thing that really bugs me. Pharmaceuticals. Yes, them, and not their mere existence, but the fact that as students we have to memorize these long ridiculous lists of drugs to treat every single disease. Now of course it's important to know about the drugs, but you may or may not know this, all residents have in their pockets, via a little drug book or their PDA, instant access to information about medications. It's important to know how long the half lives are (which means how long the medication's effects will last), what the potential side effects are (so that you can watch out for them), and also, what other drugs may or may not interact with the medication you want to give to your patient. As a resident, not only will you get instructions from upper residents about what drugs to try first, but you also will have instant access to that information, right in your pocket! (it will certainly no longer be in your brain). No one can possibly remember all the drugs, with all the dosages, and with all the side effects (except for maybe one of my classmates who was a pharmacist before coming to medical school - boy I wish I could have his brain for the medication questions....).
So yes, this last exam had its ugly share of questions about medications for depression, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. But I think it's absolutely insane to waste our time and valuable brain areas to memorize facts that we can easily look up in a book. Wouldn't you rather that your physician had a thorough idea about how to evaluate a patient with a potential problem with their mental status? How about what a list of possible diagnoses might be, what tests would be appropriate, and what general category of drugs would be the first line treatment? Is is really important to know if phenobarbital works by increasing the duration of the calcium channel opening, or the frequency of the calcium channel opening? Who cares!!!! All that matters is that phenobarbital works by increasing Calcium influx into the neuron, will increases the release of GABA, which is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain! AAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH.......
I'm working myself up into a frenzy here, which is so much better than the mind numbing depression I usually feel when overwhelmed. I do plan on doing something with my fuel also; I'm going to write a book about medical school, in an attempt to put some light on the things that happen (that don't need to). I think I'll call the book, "Don't Go to Medical School!" What do you think? Cheers.
posted by Valerie Brooke | 11:10 AM
|
5 Comments
