Counting Down (Or Not)

The countdown to our first semester exam has begun for many. Personally, I'm trying not to overly stress myself by not commencing an actual countdown, but am just keeping some vague awareness that the exam is looming on the horizon. Strangely enough, people were counting down about a month ago, when it was something like ten weeks until the exam. In my undergraduate degree, if we had ten weeks left until our exam it would have been practically the beginning of the semester. In med, having ten weeks remaining until the exam appears to be a signal that it's time to begin some hard-core exam preparation.

And how has med been going, you may ask? Up until the week that has just passed, I've been loving it. It has all been so interesting, and I've loved learning about how underlying biological processes produce clinical signs. The last week has been tough, though. I'd say it was my first experience of hitting the wall. It has been a long semester so far, and the workload is incessantly demanding. If you are an aspiring med student, be warned: no matter how much you are sure you want a career in medicine at the time being, once you are in med school you WILL question whether all the hard work is worth it. And I'm sure that I will question it many times more before I am done.

The redeeming factor for me was knowing that I am not the only one feeling this way. Several other in my PBL group were at the same point this week, and it was helpful to know that it's normal to go through this. Thankfully, the phase has passed, and I once again feel motivated. Hope this feeling lasts!