The idea that a message has the power to make your tummy turn dates back as far as the OG \u201chey wuu2\u201d of MSN messenger, but truly, even that does not compare to the endorphin rush that the \u201cCongratulations and welcome to medicine\u201d email gives! I know that many of you have recently experienced this exhilarating rush of happiness, excitement, perhaps a little apprehension, for what the next four years will hold. It is so exciting to welcome you into our little Griffith medicine family!<\/p>\n
Starting medicine is full of change. This degree is unlike anything you\u2019ve done before and although there is a lot to learn and get used to, it will be the most exciting four years of your life. Over the next few weeks you will slowly become aware of how the medical program operates, the plethora of textbooks available to you, the concept of an \u201cLO\u201d and where to go for a good coffee. Although overwhelming at times, everything will slowly start to make sense. Alongside all the bits and pieces of information you will receive, here are some practical things I have learnt along the way and things I wish someone had told me when I started med.<\/p>\n
No, you will not feel like a doctor by the end of the year. Yes, some things you learn will feel irrelevant. No, you don\u2019t need to memorise everything. However, the first semester is a great year to work out the study techniques that work for you before the year gets away from you. <\/em><\/p>\n Alongside study habits, learn to manage your time well. Juggling medicine and life can be tricky. It helps to be prepared so the small things like food, laundry and chores don\u2019t completely slip off the radar. Meal planning is super helpful, as is learning to effectively use the School of Medicine calendar alongside your regular planning devices. Create good habits early and you will find that as the years get busier, your habits will persist. <\/em><\/p>\n You will be bombarded with soooooooo many dropboxes filled with textbooks, past papers, supernotes and everything else you may ever possibly need. As you start completing anatomy prac notes and LOs, set some time aside to look through the resources and see which ones are most effective for you. Save and bookmark these resources, they will become a constant point for quick reference. <\/em><\/p>\n Don\u2019t spend hours reading whole chapters to do LO\u2019s. Instead focus on basic physiology, clinically relevant information and learning the content delivered in lectures by core staff. I found Uptodate, eTG and Kumar and Clark\u2019s Clinical Medicine to be some of my favourite resources.<\/em><\/p>\n Trying to tackle the ins and outs of the medical program by yourself is lonely, inefficient and really difficult. My favourite part about year 1 and 2 was definitely the relationships I built along the way. From my group of friends to my PBL groups and clinical skills groups, I am grateful to know people who are supportive and great to have a laugh with. <\/em><\/p>\n Students in older years are always happy to help with questions or concerns. Get to know your anatomy tutors and ask them all your questions! Along with this, GUMS runs a mentoring program that buddies up year 1\u2019s with year 2\u2019s, PBL sessions for peer to peer group learning and is always contactable on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n Medical school is an opportunity to learn things you are interested in, read broadly and spend time learning basic concepts well. But keep in mind that the things you are learning now are not the be all and end all of your medical career. Just because you don\u2019t understand something now, doesn\u2019t mean you never will. Remember that year 1 is the very first year of your medical career and you will be growing in new skills every day. Maybe the second, third and fourth years look like they have it all together and know everything, they don\u2019t. The beauty of a medical degree is that as much as it demands of you to learn, it also teaches you to be secure in the fact that you do not have all the answers <\/em><\/p>\n I know that this is easier said than done, but it is the best thing I have learnt in the last 3 years. When you accidentally wear clinical dress to PBL or wear shorts to comm skills, it is not <\/strong>the end of the world. If you forget to do an LO or read the timetable wrong and go to the wrong lecture theatre, it is still not the end of the world! Failing one thing, missing one question, having one bad day- these are all normal things and stressing over them shouldn\u2019t drain your mental energy. If you find that you are struggling to manage anxiety or stress, be open and talk to Eve, another member of staff or someone you trust. Medical students are a notoriously stressed out bunch, we\u2019ve all needed support with this before. <\/em><\/p>\n Get involved in things outside of your medical degree. You will be told this a million times a minute this week, but it is really true advice. Indulge in things that let you forget the Kreb\u2019s Cycle exists, talk to people that don\u2019t stress you out, exercise, do things that are productive outside <\/u>of medicine. Prioritise these things, don\u2019t just put them on the backburner as an afterthought.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Maybe this seems obvious, but I still need to be reminded to do this sometimes. Even if you just need someone to chat to or cry with or a friend to talk you through an LO, no request for help is too big or small.<\/em><\/p>\n I hope these tips are useful and help you navigate the first few weeks of med. There is a lot to get used to, but I hope you come to love studying and learning at Griffith as much as I have!<\/p>\n Interested in writing for the GUMS blog? Email Yasha at yashaswini.makkoth@griffithuni.edu.au<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The idea that a message has the power to make your tummy turn dates back as far as the OG \u201chey wuu2\u201d of MSN messenger, but truly, even that does not compare to the endorphin rush that the \u201cCongratulations and welcome to medicine\u201d email gives! I know that many of you have recently experienced this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":17232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[191,190,192,189,188,193,194],"class_list":["post-17226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications","tag-griffith-university","tag-medical-blog","tag-medical-school-tips","tag-medical-student-blog","tag-medicine","tag-study","tag-wellbeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17229,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17226\/revisions\/17229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gums.org.au\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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