Do you dream of becoming a doctor? We’re proud of you. However, completing a medical degree is not easy. You need to prepare yourself emotionally and academically to go through the rigorous 5-years.
A medical degree is like no other degree. Keeping your focus and learning up a certain level for 5 long years is not easy. Read on to know how you can ace this and find out tips by SEGi Dean of Medicine Professor Dr. Samiah Yasmin.
Be a lifelong learner
The education of a doctor doesn’t stop after gaining an MBBS degree. In fact, according to
Dr Yasmin, real learning starts once you step into the actual medical world. You will have to be prepared to be a lifelong learner. Every day, something new is being invented in the medical world and as a doctor, you need to be aware of this. Hence, you need to be ready to learn forever. You need to read journals, books, search the internet and keep yourself updated for the benefit of your patients and for making a mark in the medical world.
Have an inquisitive attitude
To be a doctor, you need to have an inquisitive attitude. You need to have the curiosity to know how a body functions the way it does. Dr Yasmin recommends every aspiring medical student to start by questioning the organs of their own body. You will be able to learn a lot by delving deep into the functions of each part of your body. Your curiosity will lead to a great deal of learning and will help you immensely in studying medicine. You need to have all the facts and figures at your fingertips.
Possess a caring attitude
The most important thing that any doctor should have is a caring mindset. You need to be caring towards your patients and their family. You need to have empathy to understand what your patients are going through to help them properly. You also need to understand what the family members are going through. There will be times when you will have to break unpleasant news to them – you need to do that gently and patiently.
Be ready for a hard life
If you feel that the 5-years of medical school is hard, life beyond can be harder. As a doctor, your patients come first. There will be situations where you will have to forgo your loved ones and family members to look after your patients. This should not feel like a burden to you. There are thousands doing this every day, you are not alone.
Develop communication skills
A large part of a doctor’s life entails communication of different kinds. Not only do you have to communicate with your patients and their families, but you will also have to communicate with other members of the medical fraternity and you might have to deliver lectures in prestigious forums. Hence, communication skills are essential. In fact, according to Prof Dr Yasmin, communication skills is the first thing they look into while interviewing a potential candidate for any medicine course at SEGi University.
Maintain a professional image
The moment you enter a medical school, you are no longer a student, you are in fact a student doctor and you will be expected to behave in a certain way. You need to dress properly, talk confidently, be presentable and should be able to handle difficult situations. You are about to become a doctor. People’s trust in doctors has a lot to do with their appearance. Everything – from what you say on social media to how you behave when you are in public will define your personality as a doctor.
How to choose a good medical school?
Choosing the right medical school for yourself is a life-altering decision and definitely not an easy task. According to Prof Dr Yasmin, the below-mentioned indicators are good measures of judging the worth of a medical school.
Accreditation: As per Prof Dr Yasmin, this is the most important criteria and no compromise should be made on this. The course should be fully accredited or at least partially accredited by the government of the country. Without accreditation, you will not be given a license to practice as a doctor.
Facilities: The medical school should have good facilities — as in good laboratories, good inpatient facility to learn from, exposure to a variety of cases, etc. In fact, if the hospital has exposure to a variety of patients, you will be able to learn by observing a great variety which will be immensely beneficial for your learning.
Faculty: The medical school needs to have a good array of faculty, not only with educational qualification but also real-world experience. This will have a vast difference in the quality of your learning.
Fees: With medical colleges mushrooming everywhere, there is no uniformity on the fees charged by them. Prof Dr Yasmin mentions that no matter how much you pay for a medical degree, finally during housemanship, everyone is paid equally. Hence, be careful of how much you spend.
With the right mix of sympathy, empathy and discipline, you will be able to establish your career as a learned doctor whom patients will trust. Be caring, and everything else will fall into place.