Saturday 22 January 2011

Pressure

The fuddled medic enjoys cricket, particularly working whilst listening to Test Match Special. Indeed the FM shall be up early and doing some Cardiology while hoping England can beat Australia in the 3rd ODI.

But something I want to discuss is based on a comment by ex england captain Michael Vaughan. He argued that as professionals players should be given freedom to train, relax and rest when they want. And that they are in an environment where they are always under pressure, so everyone needs to back off and leave them to it.

Should the same apply to medical student? I resent always having stuff timetable all the time with no flexibility. On Friday I turned up a few minutes late to the lecture due to ward work running over. I did not have the register passed to me, and half an hour later I ran to the office and pleaded to be allowed to be sign in.

It is sad that the medical school and the University dont trust us to learn the stuff we need to learn and lest us get on with it.

And medical school is always full of pointless stuff that makes things more difficult then they need to be. Recently I have completed a one thousand word essay, with a subsequent presentation. Everyone knows its a load of bollocks, but its one more bloody hoop to pass through. Perhaps you believe I have learnt from doing said essay? Well a little, but most of the essay writing was making sure it corresponded with the markscheme and making it easy for the examiner to pass me.



And so my precious time has been wasted, I would have learnt more going to the wards or taking Kumar and Clark to the library and doing some reading.

The vast majority of medical students dont need someone dictating to them how to learn. We are capable of looking at all the different ways of learning and choosing whats best for us.

5 comments:

  1. I think there is quite a bit of variability between medical schools - mine has very few compulsory lectures and we're trusted to make sensible use of our time with pretty minimal oversight. "Self-directed learners" has been the buzzword. Whereas at overlapping DGHs the students from other schools seem to have loads of registers and things to sign off in comparison.

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  2. I have just been discussing this with a friend who is doing the same speciality at the same medicals chool, just at a different hospital site. The only register she had to do was in her intro week.

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  3. From what the articles describes it doesn't seem like essay writing as such, but rather making your own notes as you go along. This is something I do - over and over again on whatever topic needs to be learnt. Whole rainsforests have been destroyed as a result

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  4. The essay and presentation which was a load of bollocks is valuable training for all the superfluous bollocks you will have to complete once you have completed your degree. For instance, annuall appraisal! Cincial governance in general practice. ARRRRGH I just banged my head on the keyboard repetitively!!
    Get used to the bollocks, Fuddled, this is just the beginning!

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