One Month into Medical School | NTU LKCMedicine

Never have I been out on the field playing an intense game of frisbee till 10pm. But now I have, and more than once. Welcome to medical school.

Originally this post was to be entitled something like “One Month into Medical School: 3 Key Takeaways”, but I felt like stabbing myself just looking at that title. The word “takeaways” alone is highly reminiscent of the innumerable (painful/useless) reflections we were forced to do through all our years of schooling, no? But I guess this is essentially what this post is about—not takeaways exactly, but small revelations, or ideas—or rather, the defining themes of my first month in medical school.

Enjoy the hustle

Late-night frisbee matches aside, it was really back to the grind of attending lessons, lesson prep, studying or revising, and blitzing through completely packed and hectic schedules. But… it was bliss. It’s always, always a privilege to have the opportunity to be immersed in what we love.

While I’ve been finding myself rather busy these past few weeks, I must say, there’s definitely much less “mandatory” school time as compared to secondary school and JC. More of your time is self-managed—though you’ll come to realise that there is never really enough.

I think there are those of us who genuinely revel in this process. I have a restless spirit, so I like being in perpetual motion. Having a never-ending to-do list can be invigorating, in a way. It keeps us going.

Since I was really young, my dad would give my sister and I a small pep talk at the start of every school year or semester. He never talked about grades. The one thing he said, so consistently that we’d come to expect it, was learning is joy. Till today, I have never felt otherwise.

My dad was wise. Ever so subtly, he had inculcated in us this core belief: focus on the process, not the outcome. If we’re able to do the former, the latter (e.g. our desired grades) will naturally follow. So it is with everything we do. Words like “commitment”, “dedication”, “self-discipline” and “motivation” don’t matter. When we love what we do, it all comes naturally. No part of the process will be easy. But it is precisely the challenge of it that sets us on fire, and makes the journey so much more thrilling and fulfilling.

Be completely present

Things can get busy. (It’s medical school, after all.) So much so that it’s tempting at times, when you’re out with friends at dinner or during some other socialising opportunity, to try and discreetly cram in a bit of studying for the next TBL. However, what I’ve found is that (a) it really doesn’t work at all i.e. nothing goes into my head, and (b) I want to be fully engaged in the conversation or interaction.

The single most important time management principle that I stand by is this: do one thing at a time and focus completely on it. This means saying no to multitasking. Not only does this imply doing only one task at a time, our minds should be entirely focused on the thing that’s right in front of us, without constant diversions (I am still working on this myself).

This actually saves us time. We think we’re maximising efficiency by attempting to do more at once, but it’s in fact counterproductive. Scores of studies have proven that multitasking doesn’t work,

And lastly, there is really no “productive” versus “unproductive” activity that we engage in—every encounter is part of the experience. So my maxim now is to be completely present, whether it’s listening to a lecture or bantering over dinner with friends. Go all in.

Take the shot

So much has happened between the first week of medical school and now, yet that first time playing a spontaneous game of frisbee against the night sky remains most lucid in my memory (more so than any of the syllabus content we’re supposed to be learning, coughs). I guess it’s the utterly freeing feeling of sprinting up and down the field, coupled with a genuine sense of togetherness that you can never get through a Zoom screen.

I wasn’t supposed to be playing frisbee that night. In fact, I’d gone down for basketball. Initially I’d hesitated, knowing that everyone on the court would be more competent than me and most of them were seniors, none of whom I’d even met. And since it was my sport, I couldn’t bear to disappoint myself. To exacerbate my dilemma, the only other Year 1 who was going messaged me urging me to go as well. I’d never played with him nor talked to him in real life, but knew that he was insanely good. I dithered.

After much deliberation, I made up my mind. I’ll go. When I got to the courts, everyone was already in the heat of the game. A friend accompanied me. We roughly identified which were the players from our hall and watched them play for a short while. Then, deciding there wasn’t a place for us on court that night, we headed back. I glanced over my shoulder wistfully.

When we got back to the field, our friends (from the same house) were already engaged in a game of frisbee. I couldn’t play frisbee. But by now I was past hesitating. I threw down my things and ran onto the field.

I thought I’d be a burden on court, or not touch the disc at all, but that night the impossible happened. For the first time in my life, I was actually in the game, scoring and intercepting. Frisbee had never been so intense, or so fun.

It was past 10pm when I sidled into my room, hair slick with perspiration, ears still ringing. Inside, I was smiling broadly. That was insane. I swore to myself that I would never hesitate again. That night, I changed my wallpaper to one that read “YOU MISS 100% OF THE SHOTS YOU DON’T TAKE”. It was one of those “motivational quotes” I’d seen hundreds of times before and thought so cliché that I mentally glided over them. But that night, it was those words that first came to mind. It wasn’t for “motivation” nor was it merely a “quote” now. It was to remind myself to never be struck down by self-doubt, to try hard and make a ton of mistakes rather than to never try and never make mistakes. To just take the shot.

It takes nerves to put yourself out there. It takes nerves to step into the arena without the surety of success. So often we are far from hundred-percent confident. Do it anyway.

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. 😊