“Hi, where are you?” the voice on the other end of the line was one I’d never heard before, but I was certain it was a staff from the school.
“I’m walking from the MRT,” my voice came out as a breathless gasp. I began to apologise profusely.
So this was how I commenced my first official week of medical school – late for my own White Coat Ceremony, the blisters on my heels screaming as I attempted to speed walk without making them bleed again (the whole reason for my tardiness).
Not the best start, is it?
Monday: National Day public holiday
Although the next day was the official first day of school (i.e. non-Orientation), I didn’t get much work or any preparation done. I went out with some friends from JC and when I got home, the camera I’d ordered had arrived (so of course I couldn’t resist going out for a short photowalk with it).
At night, I couldn’t stand myself any longer and blitzed through a few (minutes of) video lectures. Then I wrote out my agenda for the next day and went to bed. What a productive day.
Insight: Team-Based Learning (TBL)
At LKCMedicine, Team-Based Learning (TBL) forms the mainstay of our learning. Essentially, we are not forced to attend hour-long lectures, but instead view all of them as pre-recorded materials at our own pace. This is all done before the actual lessons. Our “lessons” are TBL sessions, where we answer questions to test our knowledge, discuss in teams, and further stimulate our thinking by applying the concepts learnt.
Tuesday: White Coat Ceremony and rush-packing for hall
We had our White Coat Ceremony in the morning. This year, due to COVID-19, it was a very different affair; family members weren’t allowed to attend, social distancing rules had to be adhered to, and everything was broadcast over Zoom rather than at a centralised auditorium. Everyone was wearing masks. (That alone was a tangible reminder of the weight that comes with our decision to don the white coat.)
While our experience was different, I didn’t sense any disappointment. We were all immensely grateful. Personally, I deeply appreciated the fact that this year’s ceremony was more of a toned-down affair. I didn’t feel that I deserved any congratulations, and felt deeply humbled as I put on the white coat for the first time.
Many of our seniors came down and even prepared cards and gifts for us. This was utterly unexpected and I was really touched by all the effort they put in. After endless rounds of photo-taking, we finally left for lunch and had a good time bonding with our seniors and batchmates.
Insight: House System
At LKCMedicine, we have the House System with five houses. Within each house, seniors and juniors are grouped together to form the “house fam”, a structure that really promotes integration into the LKC community. I love the spirit and the sense of camaraderie at LKC is phenomenal. The seniors also really went out of their way to make us feel at home, even before our official first week began.
By the time I’d finished my online tutoring that afternoon, it was evening, and I hadn’t packed a single thing for hall (note: “hall” refers to on-campus accommodation). And I was due to move in the next morning.
So, I rush-packed everything, ignoring all the post-White Coat Ceremony messages streaming in. At night, I finally got around to uploading and sending photos to my friends, then flopped onto bed.
Cumulative amount of studying done? Zero.
Wednesday: Moving into hall, buying jeans and trying mala
The morning kicked off with me dragging all my stuff into my non-aircon double room. I then went out to shop for jeans with my sister (thereby continuing to neglect any academic work), rushed back to hall, got hopelessly lost taking a campus bus, and had to Zoom in the canteen when I couldn’t set up my Wi-Fi router before my online tutoring.
For dinner, I tried the mala at the hall canteen. I can’t really recall, but I must have done some studying in the evening or I would have killed myself. For the next day was to be our very first TBL session.
Thursday: First TBL session (aka feeling like an actual student at last)
Our TBL session was to start at 9am, so I spent all the time I had before that hastily going through some Anki flashcards.
Insight: Anki
Anki is a flashcard app popular among medical students (unsurprising, when you consider the sheer amount of information we must commit to memory). Its spaced repetition algorithm supposedly helps with memory and retention. I have yet to use Anki regularly but will definitely do an in-depth review in the future.
The first TBL session turned out to be alright since we started off with some concepts that built upon JC Biology. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the session (and the feeling of finally being a student again). We ended in the late afternoon at around 5pm.
Although everything was online, the transition was seamless and didn’t affect our learning. (By the end of the next day, though, I would find myself wistfully wondering when we’d be able to experience a pre-COVID real-life TBL session.)
Friday: Another full day of lessons (yay!)
We had another TBL session, but this was only half-day, covering topics related to professionalism and ethics rather than the core syllabus content. This was followed by two more “lecture-style” lessons in the afternoon.
I felt a little drained—the “Zoombie effect” (when one becomes a zombie after spending too long on Zoom)—but happy. It felt great to be actively learning again. I was grateful for the system that inspired self-directed learning and provoked critical thinking and discussion. I was grateful to be back in school—“school” being a concept that upended all I had known in the past twelve years—learning what I loved.
(P.S. The “Zoombie effect” is not legit. I just made that up. But please tell me you relate?)
Saturday: Hall Orientation day 1
I stayed in hall over the first weekend (usually most people go home on weekends), as Hall Orientation was to be held over the next two days. While I was looking forward to “meeting” new people, I wasn’t particularly thrilled at the prospect of sitting in front of the Zoom screen for another two entire days. I also hadn’t yet figured out how I’d find the time to revise the content for TBL 2 on Monday.
Anyway, if you haven’t experienced an online orientation before, it’s… quite sad. I’d actually enjoyed myself at our med orientation (also held over two days on Zoom, three weeks earlier). Despite everything being online, our seniors really made us feel welcome. Hall Orientation didn’t really feel the same.
Perhaps because by now, not only had “Zoom fatigue” set in, but “orientation fatigue” as well, I couldn’t find it in myself to really enjoy the online parts of Hall Orientation. (To give you a rough idea, games were things like 7 Up over Zoom and dancing to some Just Dance video together in the breakout room).
This was when the true “Zoombie effect” kicked in. What I did enjoy were the times we met up for dinner, when I could meet people face-to-face, and we could talk—really talk. So treasure your physical, normal, non-pandemic era orientations!
Sunday: Hall Orientation day 2 (well, not really)
I went for orientation in the morning but couldn’t really bring myself to stay (and was also increasingly worried for TBL on Monday). So I concluded the week by half-Zooming, half-studying, unintentionally taking three naps (max Zoombie mode now), and finally, having dinner with my hall OG.
What I’ve realised: I’m always grateful for the people, I’m not a Zoom person, and I malfunction when sleep-deprived. So I went to bed early, looking forward to TBL the next day (no sarcasm at all).
Post-Week One thoughts
One thought bubble worth highlighting: I’ve always been a self-directed learner. But oddly, when applying to university, I somehow harboured the notion that the traditional teaching style (lecture-tutorial, etc) would suit me better—which is quite dumb and quite paradoxical.
Now, as I’m writing this, I’ve gone through three weeks of school. But since the very first lessons, I immediately realised how much I appreciated the TBL system, having video lectures, and taking charge of my own learning. You’ll find that while the content is inevitably heavy, you have the flexibility to plan your own time.
There are typically two TBL sessions per week, and lessons interspersed between those. Overall, the hours and the number of days you spend in actual lessons don’t add up to a lot, which leaves you with time to work with. That includes studying at your own pace and in ways that suit you best.
That’s all for this (slightly long-ish) post! Only a few weeks in and I’m trying to re-calibrate, weighing and re-weighing the things I have to do and those I want to do. More on that here, and more thoughts after the next few weeks, maybe. Till next time!
This page is where I’ll be sharing everything related to life in medical school. The posts here may take on a slightly more casual tone and journal-like writing style. Ultimately, they’re just honest accounts of a medical student’s experiences – which will hopefully give you a glimpse of what med school is really like. 😊