This past Monday I took my Metabolism and Nutrition mid-term (I think I passed...)  As usual (and as expected) the weekend was a major cram session, and I finally turned into bed at 4 am (where I proceeded to roll around in bed with my mind constructing random thoughts about hypokalemia which made no sense whatsoever).  Basically my whole weekend was spent between phases of studying and whining about studying.

In undergrad, I usually only spent one or two days studying for a test or exam.  Here, I had to start like 3-4days in advance.  So basically, the amount of material I needed to know for my medical school exam was 2-3 times as much as for an undergrad exam.  All that said, the exam questions weren't any harder than any undergrad exam.

If you ask any medical student about whether medical school is challenging, I'm sure they'll say yes, but I'm sure they will also tell you that it's not intellectually harder (though I guess it depends on what their undergrad major was.  But I would say this is probably true for any student with a science background).  Rather, the reason why academics in medical school is more challenging is simply because you have to learn a significantly greater volume of information in a shorter period of time.

Why is Your GPA Important to Admissions Committees?

Most medical schools use GPA as a huge screening tool when assessing applicants.  The reason for this should be obvious:  GPA has a strong correlation with intelligence.  While it is true that there are always exceptions (e.g. someone smart might not apply themselves, someone might have personal issues that affect their school work, etc.), on average and in general, this correlation will stand (remember, we have to play averages because it’s impractical to work on a very specific level).  While anyone can get a bad GPA if they want to, not everyone can get a good GPA.  You want someone smart helping you make decisions about your health, right?  Well, we need some sort of tool for that, and GPA is one of the only ones we have.

A strong GPA also says a lot about your long term work ethic.  Anyone can do well in one course, but doing well over many courses suggests your success isn’t a fluke.  To maintain a good GPA over many courses demonstrates that you not only have a strong work ethic, but importantly, you have a strong work ethic when it comes to academics.  A lot of medical school is simply learning a ton of information – it is school after all.  Considering how much information you get thrown on you in medical school, the admissions committees need to know you are capable of handling a heavy work load.  The learning is going to extend beyond medical school and for life – doctors are constantly learning and acquiring new information.  Good doctors are good students.

If I had to choose only one criteria to admit applicants into medical school, it would be GPA.  While I acknowledge a lot of other skills are important, the ability to learn and remember as much as a physician needs to is probably most important.  You can’t treat if you don’t know anything.  Most applicants have pretty good soft and people skills, and if not yet, those can be worked on and developed through the clinical skills programs here.  But it’s way more difficult to teach someone how to learn and how to think than it is to teach someone how to work with and for others.

Learn the Way You Learn Best

When I started medical school here, I kept hearing that you just needed to get past the hump of first semester and things would get a lot better in terms of stress and intensity.  They were right.  First semester was full of anatomy and anatomy labs, which is what made it so time consuming.  I guess it didn’t help that I wasn’t used to that kind of material, but it’s not really a big deal.

The difference with second semester is that there are no mandatory labs, and subsequently, there is more time off (for example, I keep getting quite a few Tuesday and Thursday afternoons off, which is awesome). 

Also, by now, you start understanding the way you learn and what works for you.  Not everyone will gain value in going to lecture as opposed to watching it online later.  Not everyone will gain the same value out of seminars for various reasons.  Because most things don’t have mandatory attendance, there is more flexibility in choosing how to learn the material and when you want to.

Yesterday our clinical skills session was delivered by a second year medical resident.  As a side note, from my limited experience, medical residents are extremely knowledgeable, approachable, and helpful.  I think it might be because they have recently gone through what you have and understand your perspective.  Whatever the case, they are a great resource for information, and every time I’ve met one they’ve been more than happy to answer any of my questions and in both a kind and frank manner.

Anyways, one of the things he brought up was how if he could go back and do medical school all over again, he probably would have skipped half of the lectures because he realized he just wasn’t an auditory learner and got so much more out of learning the material more on his own (self-directed learning:  a skill you will need as a physician for life, as no one is going to be telling you what and how to learn for your entire career).  This is coming from a guy who was clearly ridiculously knowledgeable.

I know some people believe that as future practicing physicians we have the moral obligation to attend every lecture, seminar, etc – and so there is some guilt felt when lectures or seminars are skipped.  I disagree with that completely.  The only moral obligation I feel we could possibly have is to do what is necessary to graduate as competent physicians, capable of serving the population.  How we get from point A (beginning of medical school) to point B (graduating as a competent physician) is up to us.

Simply going to lecture or seminar is not going to make you a better physician.  If you’re going to lecture and end up just sleeping, listening but not absorbing, or whatever, perhaps that time could have better been spent doing something else.  Some people can’t learn at 9 am.  Some people just can’t sit still in a lecture hall.  That’s fine.  Do what works for you.