This week in anatomy I spent minutes trying to find my pulse…yes that thing that I can normally feel without any grief whatsoever. I thought I was dead for a split second, but swiftly told myself that this was probably not at all the case. I persisted on until I found it, and when I did I felt my pulse was pretty elevated. I had been anxious over not finding my pulse when it was pretty clear from the start that I was going to have one.
I think it just reflects my mind set at the moment…and a lot of first years I have spoken to. We are getting so stressed so quickly. I’m even writing this article because I couldn’t sleep and woke up to revise!? Things are building up and work is starting to hit us all. I have really noticed a change in priorities of my friends and I as we have all started to get into real revision mode now. It is pretty scary.
We are heading into our first exams as medical students and that is always going to get us all anxious. On top of that there is varsity, elections and day to day stresses. More people are looking exhausted in lectures (that’s if they even make it to them!). And this is where I feel that those interview questions like “how do you deal with stress”, “how do you manage your time well” and “ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO MEDICINE?” come into play. They asked these questions for a reason…to check we will be able to cope when the workload hits. We need to remember that we all can deal with stress, we all can manage our time well and we all really do want to become doctors.
I have learnt a lot in the past few weeks about managing my time and dealing with a heavy to do list. It has been very fun but I have made mistakes along the way. I am very grateful to my friends and loved ones when they support me and pick me up after I make these blunders and keep me going. Just like a lot of the people here I do aim very high and expect a lot of myself…and we all need to take a step back and look at the big picture. I am currently talking to alumni in the Imperial Telethon and I have received some sound advice from graduated doctors. Sometimes we lose sight of the big picture when doing pre-clinical years, but talking to doctors actually makes us keep in mind the end goal and will keep us motivated during MCD revision.
So if you are reading this and are currently as overwhelmed by the prospect of Easter as I am, remember that you really can do it. It has been a fun year but it is time to get serious and prove ourselves. To those of you who have offers from Imperial, don’t let yourself down. A Level results are the final hurdle before you get to walk into medical school and it would a pain to fall down now after all these years of prep. Motivate yourself and don’t give up- whether you are a prospective student or a current student you can work hard and get where you need (and want) to be. We all have the opportunity to succeed no matter how hard things seem, but how well you do is ultimately down to you.
Good luck to everyone in exams, elections and finding your pulse!
Mala Mawkin
P.S. This blog is really turning into a teen magazine column…I should really stop writing blogs at 2am.
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