Archive for August, 2009

5 Simple Tips to Start Off the School Year Right

Posted by medaholic in Studying, Thoughts on August 26, 2009

Whether you are just starting university or just beginning medical school, there are simple things every student can do to ensure their school year gets off on the right foot. Most of this advice is generic and old, but despite how many times you have heard it before in the past, it’s always good to take wise advice and put it into practice.

School is more than just getting good grades. It is a place where you can grow and mature as a person, pursue your interests and experience life. And by preparing yourself for an academic year, it is possible to have good marks and a good time at school. So here are just five tips that I always consider when September comes around. I hope you find them as useful for you as it has been for me.

  1. Set Goals

    2. If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.  ~Lawrence J. Peter

    One of the most important activities that anyone can benefit from is frequent goal setting. If you don’t have an end destination in mind, life often takes you whichever way it wants, often not to your liking. Do you want to achieve a certain grade point average? Do you want to get to know a few professors that could write you references in the future? Do you want to live healthier, socialize more or try something new? Without setting concrete goals down on paper, goals rarely actualize by themselves.

    If you’ve never picked up this habit of setting goals, one effective system to follow is the SMART Goal Setting. Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Success doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a focused and concerted effort to actualize your dreams.

    So if you haven’t so already, take a few minutes and a piece of paper to jot down your top three to five goals you want to accomplish this school year. Be realistic yet strive to do your best. You’ll find your goals will change from year to year, so I always have a few short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. I adjust them often. Goals act as a compass for our actions. Often when we’re lost or confused about what to do next, all you have to do is to look at the goals you have set out to do to realize where you should go next. Read the rest of this entry »

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A New Beginning

Posted by medaholic in Economics on August 24, 2009

So starts my second year in the long arduous journey of medicine. In the last year, I feel as if I’ve definitely changed as a person; to what extent I still do not know. But I also find myself more focused now and a bit more certain about the kind of future I want to make possible.

And as usual with the start of the school year, I will be getting back into a routine and running this blog/website will definitely be a part of my schedule. Many changes to come including adding ads and sponsored links. I hope my readers won’t mind. It’s still a pretty big experiment for me but the whole idea came from a book I have just finished reading called Free: The Future of a Radical Price

Basically, the premise is in order for things to be “Free” – especially for web content – there should be a model that ensures it is possible. And for digital information, the advertising model is one of the best and most effective ways to do so. In fact, to a point where customers (readers) actually prefer to have them on websites as it helps bring relevant information to them.

I don’t know if what I’m doing is the right move or readership-suicide, but it’s something that I’m going to try and if it doesn’t work out, I can always revert back.

More updates to come!

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Why the MCAT is Necessary

Posted by medaholic in MCAT, Medical School on August 2, 2009

A lot of people complain about the MCAT. I know I wasn’t too keen to study for it. I hated grueling through long verbal passages and needing to practice writing “MCAT-styled” essays. But in the back of my mind, I always thought of the MCAT as an essential and important test to have taken regardless of your score.

The Journey, not just the destination – I’m a firm believer that the process matters just as much as the results in anything we do. There is always such a strong emphasis of getting a good score in the MCAT and needing to meet cut-offs and school requirements that not many pay attention to how they study for the MCAT.

I can only speak from personal experience but I know that studying for the MCAT definitely made me a better student. And it wasn’t because I got a “good” score. Instead, it was during the process of preparing for the MCAT that I was able to develop effective study habits and disciplined time management.

More than another hoop to jump through – Many people see the MCAT as just another obstacle between them and medical school. It’s a thing you just do to get it over with. I urge you to take this opportunity to improve yourself and become a better student and hopefully one day a better doctor. With every challenge and difficult circumstance we face in life, there is also an opportunity for change and growth.

Really analyze how you study, how you learn and what peaks your interest. Find your strengths and weaknesses and nurture and compensate for them. If you were never the type of student to have a focused time-schedule, now may be the best opportunity to try it out. I know I played around with several different learning styles before I settled down on the best one for me.

Life-long Skills - Build your stamina and endurance. Practice learning and reading for fun. Learn something new each day. Learn how to tolerate stressful situations and doing things in a limited amount of time. One practical habit I acquired after writing the MCAT was to read the news everyday. I started out reading the news to get ideas for the MCAT essay. I now read it to learn more about our world.

A lot of premeds always ask me how to get into medical school. And when I tell them about the MCAT and what type of a test it is, the majority fear or dread writing the exam. They wish they would rather not have to write it. I disagree.

The MCAT is as much of a discovery process as it is a proof of your critical thinking abilities and test readiness. It’s the type of test where you CAN study for and prepare yourself accordingly. It’s not just testing your inherent intelligence but also how much you prepared to take it. If you haven’t taken the MCAT, I’m not sure if you are ready for the rigors of medical school.

Up to that point, how many 5 hour exams would you have written? Would you know how to study effectively and efficiently? Would you have the endurance and persistence that medicine requires?

That’s why I think the MCAT is not only necessary for standardizing scores, it is an essential part of the medical school admissions process. It’s a badge of honor, a reward for your hard work. Work hard for the MCAT and I guarantee that you will learn more than just physical sciences and biology. In partaking in this exam, one of which thousands have gone before, you are completing another rite of passage of medicine. Cause face it, there will be many more exams after this one, you might as well get the most out of it.

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