Excellence in studies for an aspiring medical missionary

I have written this for my student friends – simple strategies that helped me to be a good student:

I am sure we all want to study well. Somehow it does not seem to happen. We open one of the reference books (Gray’s Anatomy or Harrison’s Medicine) and read a page. When we have gone through the first 3 paragraphs, our eyelids start to droop and we find ourselves unable to proceed (an effective cure for insomniacs !). The next day we start off at the same spot, maybe progress onto the next page and then find the same thing happening all over again…

I was not interested in Medicine (I wanted to be an engineer) . When I finally joined for my MBBS (at Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai in 1981), I found it all Greek and Latin! I was also embarrassed by the lack of my knowledge in the first class test in Anatomy (whereI obtained the lowest mark and was humiliated in front of the whole class by the professor). I resolved that I would never be embarrassed again and began to study hard. I had a few other friends who studied hard with me and we did very well and took top positions during the MBBS course (many of these were Bible Study group members). I followed the same strategies during my MS (at Madurai Medical College in 1990) and M.Ch (at Christian Medical College, Vellore in 1997). Even though I joined for my M.Ch after many years, God helped me to gain the first rank in the university in the subject! Let me share some of my thoughts with you in the folllowing 10 points:

1. Anyone can do well at studies. This is not reserved for the geniuses. We need to be bookworms. How do we become one? It starts by declaring that we are a bookworm. When you meet friends, talk about the subjects you are studying. You will soon be labelled as a bookworm! Other bookworms will join you and you will soon find yourself firmly established as a member and it ill be difficult to leave the group. Pray – God has promised his help – James 1:5.
2. If you have 1 year for the exams in a particular subject, choose a good textbook and read through the entire book in 9 months. This is the first revision. Revise repeatedly till the exams.These succeeding revisions take lesser time.
3. If you need to read 50 pages a day, read through these in 15 minutes first. This will extablish in your short term memory what the book says about the topic (for example if you look at  diabetes: there is a definitiion, natural history and presentation, acute and chronic complications, investigation, management of the disease and complications and some special points – like the Somogyi effect and insulin resistance). Then read through the text once more and underline the key points to these headings. Write them out on the top and sides of the text in the book (this may disfigure your book, but you will find it easy to have your notes already in the textbook and you need to have only one book for both – reference and notes). This discipline has to become routine (like having a short quiet time of Bible study and prayer in the morning). If you want to take a break for a few days, make sure that you have worked harder on the previous days so that you are still on schedule when you come back after the break.
4. You will notice that some of what you learn is logical – that fluid deficit , hyperglcaemia  and electrolyte disturbances are corrected in the management of ketoacidosis and treatment is also directed at the cause. However some have no logic – the names of enzyme deficiencies that cause various inborn errors of metabolism. We should underline and write out the points that are not easy to remember.
5. We find it reassuring to reread the areas we know well (just to remind ourselves that there are some parts of the syllabus we know well!). However, this is a waste of time. From the first revision onwards, we should concentrate our efforts on the points that we cannot remember. As we learn more and more, we will find that the time taken for each succeeding revision becomes shorter and shorter. At the end, we can look at the chapter, mentally recollect its contents and move on to the next without reading.
6. I feel that the brain shifts memories from short to long term by:

ñ  Repetition – if we keep repeating something long enough, we can’t forget it – a good strategy for the illogical points.

ñ  Reward – if learning is associated with a good feeling (like winning a prize or commendation from someone or even showing yourself that you know the subject better than others) we tend to remember what we learn. This does not happen when we just go through the subject for the sake of doing it.

ñ  Association – if what we are learning can be associated with something already known (already in long-term memory), it is easier to add it (the ‘flesh to bones’ technique).

1. Discuss with your friends. You will find that as you discuss, what you studied becomes more clearer to you as you learn from another person’s perspective.
2. Teach students who are poor at studies. This is not just social service! You will find that when you have explained the reasons for the various components of auscultatory findings in mitral stenosis to someone who is finding it difficult (for the tenth time!) you will not be able to forget it anymore (you have used two strategies – repetition and reward)
3. Write all the prize exams (if you are eligible). There is nothing to lose. Since these are held before the main exam, they are like a dress rehearsal and you will find yoursef much calmer when you go for the main exam. You may even win the prize! (the reason why some people keep winning prizes – they write the exams!)

10.Reward yourself when you have completed a target – you could read your favorite book or spend some time on the internet looking at Facebook. Remember that God has put you in medical college so that you will be an excellent doctor – one day the difference between life and death for a patient in a remote area may be because you remembered something you studied years ago. You can (and should) get involved in other healthy activities at college but you should not forget that studies take a high priority. When you are confident with your studies, you are better able to enjoy the other activities.

This discipline will ensure that you do well in studies throughout your life. You will pass all your exams with ease. You will get into good postgraduate courses without  a struggle and you will be excellent doctors. You will also find that when you are a busy postgraduate student or a busy doctor later, even small amounts of free time are enough to keep up with studies. They will be a joy and a satisfaction to you. May God be with you.

Dr.Vijay Anand Ismavel MS, M Ch

Medical Superintendent – Makunda Christian Hospital, Assam

P.S. – you can contact me on ivijayanand@yahoo.in or on Facebook “Vijay Anand Ismavel’. Our hospital is also on Facebook “Makunda Christian Hospital” with some interesting case discussions. Please also look at our websites www.makunda.in and www.eha-health.org

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