To All Those Who Just Don't Understand

Sometimes when you're a med student it's difficult to explain to the rest of the world that, yes, you really do have to study THIS MUCH!!!!

A friend of mine and I had very similar experiences lately. They went like this:

Non Med Student Friend: Wanna come to my BBQ tonight?

Med Student: Nah, I gotta really study, I didn't study to day to come to this thing we're currently at and I have to hit the books tonight... sorry.

NMSF: Study? You don't have to study. Your exams aren't for another 2 weeks. You've never studied this far in advance before. You'll be fine. It's only one night.

MS: Look, I'm really sorry, but this is the only exam we have on this material and it's the accumulation of 4 months of lectures. I used to cram in undergrad and then forget everything I've learned but I feel like I actually need to REMEMBER this stuff and it's a lot to memorize. I really do need to study tonight. I'm not the only one doing it. Everyone in my class is studying now.

NMSF: You'll look back on this time in your life and really regret missing my BBQ and all of the other good times you could have had while you were studying.

MS: Better that than standing watching someone die because I didn't study hematology. (Ok, maybe I didn't say this, but I wanted to!)

See, everyone else graduates university and goes on to a job where they go to work, come home, then sit on their patios/couches/arses and drink wine and eat dinner and laze the night away. Yes, there's the occasional weekend or evening work but that's not the norm and that work is productive, not sitting staring at a book trying to memorize the prodromes of all of the febrile exanthems. I, however, left my undergraduate degree, got a masters, and then entered this hell. It's a whole different ball game and I'm starting to realise that there are things about my life that non-medics will never really comprehend. I guess I'd better become OK with that.

Now, back to my febrile exanthems. First exam on Wednesday! Eek!

Oh, and we had our OSCE on Thursday. It went fine. If only all of our exams were that easy.

Oh! and Happy 80th Birthday Granny!