Preventing Med School Mind Mush

Post by Maglin Halsey
Prior to starting medical school, many people told me what it’s like to be a medical student: the late nights studying, the excitement of working with patients, the sadness that comes with seeing a patient struggle, and the joy of succeeding. I was grateful for these insights, but found them hard to relate to because I wasn’t in medical school. Now that I am, I have chosen to share with everyone my experiences in the life of a medical student to explain the enthusiasm and innovation of USC School of Medicine Greenville. While my experiences are still fresh and somewhat innocent, I finally understand the things people told me about medical school and see how this school is making great strides in educating future physicians.

Each day I wake up from a dream about something I read from one of my textbooks the night before. I spend some time contemplating what in the world would make me dream about that before I move on to thinking about all the reading I might not have finished for that day. (I apologize to all my professors for that.) I grab the lunch I made the night before as I head out of my apartment to school. My drive to school is the 15 minutes of the day that I let my mind go blank. I turn on the radio and just drive. But as soon as I walk in the doors of the school, I start thinking about what I will be doing that day.

The most wonderful part about USC School of Medicine Greenville is the balance between the basic science classes and the more clinically based classes. The curriculum gives us a chance to gain experience with patient interaction, which is, for me, the draw to becoming a doctor. Being able to develop those skills so early keeps me energized while I study other material.

The schedule of classes varies each day, but each week consists of a mixture of basic science and clinical classes. The basic science classes include Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Radiology, Embryology, and Histology. Our other classes are known as “Clinical and Diagnostic Reasoning” and “Medicine and Society.” The names are truly indicative of what we learn. A highlight for me so far has been doing patient interviews and learning to do IV’s! These are things that medical students often do not experience until later in their educations.

By the end of each day, I can feel my brain turning to mush. I hope that this feeling is simply a function of my brain not being conditioned to so much studying and that it will pass, but I have a feeling that I will be chronically aware of how much I still have to learn over the next few years. After class, many of us spend a little time decompressing, whether it’s through exercising, napping, playing or listening to music, but then it’s back to work for the rest of the evening on most nights.

Each night when I crawl in bed, I spend a few seconds (which is all I have before I fall asleep) reflecting on how much I learned that day. Even though I can feel completely overwhelmed and underprepared, I realize each day that I know more than I did the day before. And when I realize how much I’ve learned since starting school at the end of July, I’m truly amazed.