I cannot begin to describe the amount of joy that it brings me to report that Anatomy is over. I have officially conquered the first of the 8 week courses of my medical school career, 25% of first year is done! It was a lot harder yet easier than I originally expected it to be. First and foremost, I feel like teaching myself most of the material from online lectures was the most difficult part of the class yet it forced me to rise to the occasion and actually look up the things that I didn’t understand for myself. Many times I found that during looking the information up, if would see other errors in assumptions that had been made about structures and relationships. I also found that by following the objectives, I was able to streamline my studying to the most time-effective material rather than being overcome with all of the extras that were only really meant to clarify the most important topics. It became easier over the course of the class to pull the 18 hour study days before exams and to be in test mode from 9am-5pm without being completely burned out at the end of the day.
In all honesty, this class really pushed me to be diligent in my studying and manage my time wisely. I even created a system for preparing for the events and times that I wanted to spend with friends so that I wouldn’t get behind. This med school thing is totally doable with dedication, hard work, and team work. In undergrad, I always studied alone. I sat in class around but still isolated from my friends as to fully focus on class and not what everyone was planning to do over the upcoming weekend. I had a tutor with private sessions. My education was very much my own with little interaction with those around me. I’ve found that here, teamwork is the only way to truly succeed. Everyone picks up something different from the material. I study with a group of friends and we look out for each other. The Team Based Learning sessions would have been a lot more difficult without being able to review the objectives then night before with my friends, if not for anything but reaffirmation that I actually understood the material. Quizzing each other in the lab is a must! Now that we are moving forward to our next class, Molecular Basis of Medicine, I am eager to see how well I enjoy the schedule and how my study skills will have to change.
