“Throw away all ambition beyond that of doing the day’s work well. The travelers on the road to success live in the present, heedless of taking thought for the morrow. Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day’s work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your wildest ambition.”
~ William Osler

welcome to the First Semester Classroom at MUA. this shot was taken on a short break between lectures (usually you can see a lot more laptop screens) and i tend to sit about 2/3rds of the way back because the class is pretty full even when i arrive ~40 minutes early. there are 94 students in our class and this room is EXTREMELY well air-conditioned. like, think meat locker. today is Thursday, almost 830pm, and i am tired. tomorrow is Friday, which means i’ve survived my first week and lived to tell (type) about it.

here is our class schedule…

8-930am: Histology
10-11am: Embryology
11am-1pm: Anatomy
2-4pm (alternating days): Gross Anatomy Lab

unlike some other Caribbean med schools that i’ve heard of, attendance at MUA (especially pre-med and first semester) is very mandatory. show up for less than 90% of the classes and you automatically fail. the alternating lab days mean i can get home by 115pm several times a week, which is very nice. i’m (currently) predicting the rest of my day will look something like this…

430-630am: review yesterday’s material
7am: cycle to school
1-2pm (lab day): eat a delicious cafeteria lunch
1pm (off day): cycle home and enjoy a less delicious lunch
4pm: snack and tea
430-730pm: study that day’s material
8pm: dinner, interweb, email, etc
9pm: anatomy flashcards or colouring book
10pm: fall into bed exhausted

non-lab afternoons will potentially be reserved for napping, errands, and catching up with my extended online family.

please note that i’m not advocating this study schedule for anyone else, and i have barely tested it for myself, but i know i retain info best in the early morning. so we’ll see how it goes for this block* anyway. i may find i need more than 6 hours per day. i may find i need less.

if you are in your first semester, i would recommend similar experimentation. don’t necessarily stick with your undergrad techniques — they may not be successful in this new academic environment. the important thing is to remain flexible and don’t be too hard on yourself. success and motivation tend to be related in a weird way: it’s tough to remain motivated if you continue to fall short of your expectations and it’s tough to succeed if you’re not motivated.

logistics and boring schedules aside, how do i really feel about the first week? Jonathan went home to Vancouver this morning, so i am sad. but other than the fact that i had to kiss my beloved partner-in-crime goodbye and am left squealing over sudden cockroach sightings all by myself, i actually feel pretty good.

sure, there are already a few immature dramas on campus that i’m avoiding. sure, the flow of information is starting to feel like trying to get a drink of water from a firehose. sure, i can’t (or shouldn’t) actually use this site to really vent because it is so completely un-anonymous. and sure, my legs hurt in places i didn’t even know existed.

BUT, most of my classmates are actually very nice, helpful, friendly, and outgoing. you can get a good drink from a firehose if you turn your head at just the right angle, plug your nose, and squish your eyes shut tight. i know at least one MUA prof that will let me know if i write anything out of line. and i think i would be WAY grumpier in the morning without that little bike ride.

it’s good. i am so happy to be here. have i mentioned that yet? the grin on my face while i’m sweating up those 4 km should really say it all.

next up, thoughts on cadavers and the Gross Anatomy Lab.

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*med school terminology: 4 month semesters are divided into 4 block exams (~3 weeks apart) and 1 final exam. block exams tend to be worth 15-20%, with the cumulative final usually worth 25%.

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