Important life lessons that studying Medicine has taught me.

There will always be a greater and lesser person than us. 

This fact has always been painful. From being the honor student that you were in pre med. To barely passing an exam. I saw my classmates brokedown. I saw them disappointed numerous times. They would often ask themselves "what happened to me?" I myself is a victim. I broke down two months in medicine. I questioned if what I have sacrificed was worth the pain. However, it is not everyday that you will feel defeated. There were days that you can become the greater person. With me being a Nursing major and an ICU Nurse before entering medicine I was able to understand some concepts easily. For it was the same with what we study in Nursing. I was able to answer a lot of medication questions from our professors. I do not spend too much time studying when we have return demonstrations for I know a lot of the skills by heart. And with that being said it became my personal responsibility to help some of our classmates. This taught me humility more than anything else. This also sparked unity in our batch. So if we feel lesser in some days do not hate it. Look for the lesson that it is trying to teach you. And when we feel greater that would be that time that we need to share more to others.

Your heart is stronger than you think

There were days that I feel like shit. There were days that we feel like shit in front of the class. Being roasted regarding a topic that you were not able to master because of several reasons. And here you are trying to keep yourself together. With a smile and composure. And little by little you become more confident. Little by little it hurts less. And one day you will see all the struggles behind you. In anatomy, we know for a fact that our heart is a muscle. And a muscle gets stronger the more you use it. 

Forgive yourself

Back logs, manuals left undone, shifting failed and reports crammed. Yes, it is your fault. Own up to your short comings and be accountable. But despite all these, always remember to FORGIVE YOURSELF. Do not dwell on it. Just make sure not to make the same mistakes again. Do not be so hard on yourself. In this journey that we commit into, we need to be our own hero. Learn to cheer yourself. 

No man is an island

Cliche' but so true. In Medicine or any other disciplines we need to learn how to collaborate. We need others. We cannot put all the weight on our shoulders. There are people around us that are willing to help. We just need to open our minds and heart to the idea that we need it. Pride won't help us in this race. Team work played a vital role for me in surviving first year. From reports to transes and exams( not cheating though). This is a good practice. We need to start early because this profession thrives so much on referrals.

Your dreams are valid no matter who you are.

There were days when the mentors and the people around us starts to question our choices. And when I say choices, I mean our dreams. It has a lot of variations. Some would question our dream of becoming a doctor because we do not reach to the criteria of their exams. They would also ask us if we would just like to work because we do not have the financial stability needed for this journey. These questions would hurt. Like a lot. Why? because it is a direct assault on our core. It is a direct attack on what we want to do with our lives. Some may mean well. Some just wants to shake us. These words may sometimes make us think "what if really I am not worthy?" or "what if they are correct?". But here I am, writing this blog. Telling you that no matter what, at all cost. Do not yield to their words! Do not drop that dream! Hold on to it. To have that kind of dream in your heart is God given. As long as you feel the passion. Even in the slightest sense. Believe in it. It is God saying "That dream is for you".

Persistence

One word. One word that is so hard to do most of the time. When all our strategies fail, to be persistent becomes difficult. My professor in Physiology told us "Sige lang ng sige, aral lang ng aral, magugulat ka na lang doctor ka na". That statement means pure persistence. Keep going, I know that sometimes it is a struggle but it is not impossible.

Ora et Labora ( Hard work and Prayer)

This is proven. Stronger than any of the strategies ever devised. This is our only refuge when all else fails. We can never go wrong when we work to the best of our abilities and with a heart full of prayers. God hears us. We are never ignored. However, we need to do our part. He listens and grants us more when he sees how much we want it. It shows how deserving we are when we exert effort. God doesn't want us to be the best. He just wants us to try. 

One day we will all walk down the hospital hallways wearing our white coat and the people around us will greet us "Good morning doc". The journey to that day is hard. But it is doable. With the right amount of hard-work and prayers we will all be the Doctor that we want to be.