A Day in Medical School (Second Year) - Wish You Were HereThe following is my day in medical school as a second year medical school student. Second year is supposedly the worst of the four years, so I guess it can't get any worse than this: Darn Alarm Goes OffToday is Friday. I woke up at 7:00 AM and I leave for class at 7:30 AM. Class begins at 8:00 AM. I am lucky enough to live close to school so I could sleep in a bit later and make it on time for class.First Class - Clinical Medicine (8:00 AM - 10:00 AM)My first class is clinical medicine. I am going to learn about Alzheimer's disease and dementia for two hours. I really do not want to go to class because I just had a pathology exam the previous day. When I arrive, I see that many of my fellow classmates decided to skip class. I guess they had too much fun after the exam.I sit in my usual spot -- back of the room in the right corner. I pull out my laptop and download the PowerPoint slides for class. I convert them into pdf format so I can take notes on the slides. My friend walks in and sits right next to me. The teacher walks in and tries to start the presentation. He cannot work the computer and needs some assistance. The IT representative from my class opens the presentation for him.
After the presentation is opened and projected onto the big screen, the professor begins class. For my clinical medicine class, I get different professors for every lecture. If I find the professor boring, I would zone out and do something else, such as reading non-medical books, studying for an exam, or even working on my website. But in this case, he was ok. This one is actually interesting and I pay attention and take notes. Second Class - Pathology (10:00 AM - 12:00 PM)After the two hours are up, pathology class begins. The class will cover CNS (central nervous system) neoplasms and hydrocephalus and will take two hours as well. For this class, I actually study better on my own rather than attending lecture. However, since my friend likes to attend lectures, I stay. I do my own thing while sporadically take notes if something the professor says sticks out to me.My Favorite Part of Medical School - Lunch (12:00 PM - 1:00 PM)Afterward, it is 12:00 PM and lunch begins. I generally do not eat lunch. Instead, I would either work out or hang out with my friends. Today, I opt to chill with my friends.Third Class - Physical Diagnosis (1:00 PM - 2:00 PM)Lunch lasts for one hour. Next, physical diagnosis class begins. This is a required class unlike my previous two classes. Therefore, the room gets quite packed with people. The professor pulls up a PowerPoint title "The Neurological Examination." As you probably have noticed by now, I am currently in the neurological block so everything is brain-based.Since this class has a pre-class quiz, I am forced to study the material before class begins. My day in medical school actually begins the previous night which consists of my preparations for the pre-class quiz. And since I know the subject well enough, I do not pay attention and continue to read about my non-medical-related interests. Physical diagnosis class comes with a mandatory lab. Class takes one hour and lab takes another hour. Since my lab schedule is from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, I have 2 hours of free-time after class. I decide to work on my website. Fourth Class - Physical Diagnosis Lab (4:00 PM - 5:00 PM)At 4:00 PM, I head to lab. It was actually fun. I am learning things which will be useful when I practice medicine. Since this is the last class before the long labor-day weekend, the professors decided to speed up the class slightly so everyone can enjoy their freedom.After Class PlansWhen this day in medical school is finally over, it is 5:00 PM. I am not going to study today because I have all labor-day weekend to catch up. So this day in medical school was actually quite light. However, I know that I have lots of review work ahead for me. I expect to spend at least one full day on the weekend to catch up on all the materials covered throughout the week.It is very common for me to study until midnight, even on non-exam days just so I can catch up with my daily work. I work hard for most of my days in medical school. But other days, I am having the time of my life. The hard work makes my fun days all the sweeter. Hope you enjoyed this day in medical school. Return to the beginning of
A Day in Medical School
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