Relevant Irrelevancy

We cram a lot of information into our heads in med school. I think most of us hope that information will be useful for more than regurgitating during exams, but I get the impression that many of us are skeptical about this. There is a pretty-much-constant chorus of, "Do we really need to know that much detail?" reverberating through tute rooms, lecture theatres and labs. I'm the first to admit that I do my fair share of complaining about the amount of seemingly-random facts we're expected to know that it is doubtful will be relevant once we are in clinical practice - and apparently we of the PBL-era have it easy compared to those in courses with a more traditional format. I mean, I find it unlikely that knowing the ins and outs of the molecular mechanisms behind beta-thalassaemia is going to be particularly relevant to your standard GP.

Does that mean that a lot of our first year (or two) of med school is a waste of time? Despite the amount of whinging I do, I don't think so. Yes, I think I will forget a lot of the minute details I've committed to memory throughout the year. But what I won't forget is just how complex those details are, the fact that I did know more than I can remember, and the fact that there is much more to know about each of these topics than I will ever learn. With the whole "I am a god" mentality that is apparently so prevalent in medicine, I think it's important for us to be reminded that we will never know it all. And while we can be told this time and again, nothing really drives the message home like actually having to learn a vast amount of information, to only have this slip from your memory a few months later.