The Lonley Process

[Plan B.]

Hey everyone,

Wow, am i glad that i found you guys. i'm new to this site, but you'll be seeing more of me around. anyway, i have a question that probably has nothing to do with helping to move you ahead in this crazy process, but i'm curious on how many of you may be experiencing what i've been experiencing during this whole thing. a brief introduction as to where i am: first of all, i love medicine. that's why i'm here. i'm doing my postbacc work right now at a local state school here in LA and i'm working about 50 plus hours a week at a pretty major hospital (with good letters of rec potential). i'm about 2 quaters into my premeds and my schedule is kicking my a$$. i'm finding that i spend most of my time studying or working right now which i don't mind. i know it needs to be done. however, i'm finding that i'm having a hard time getting the help i need on campus. i've had to take night classes so that i can work and it's starting to get difficult because i can't make it to office hours, nor have i really been able to meet people to have study sessions with. it's getting to be rather frustrating because i'm having a hard time getting some concepts in my classes but i really don't have people that i can work with to help me understand. my instructor is alright, but (as i'm sure you've probably ran into a couple in your college career) he's not really personable and doesn't explain things very well, to put it lightly. so this leave me with hours on end trying to struggle with these problems when i could be cutting my time in half by getting help and maybe even getting a better hold on the concepts.

i'm also finding it hard to find people on campus who are in our position. the campus does have a postbacc program, but it's catered to students trying to strengthen their applications, not first time premeds. transferring schools is not an option for me given my work and living situation. i pretty much know the med school process inside out, so getting info about it is not a problem. i'm just worried that if i try to handle my classes alone, i may not ever get a chance for an interview. i partied my a$$ off my whole school career so as you can imagine, i wasn't the best student. i'm learning how to be one now and keeping focus. no problem. but with all the focus and determination, nothing changes the fact that i'm not a genius and that i really need help to learn this stuff.

okay, so let me cut this short. i guess what i'm asking is, do any of you ever feel this as being a "lonley process"? if so, what do you do to get by?

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[relentless11]

There are many alternatives to finding help for your classes. If you can't make it to office hours, then you call up the professor to schedule an appointment. I have never met a professor who was unwilling to meet outside their designated time to help their students. If you still don't get it, then go borrow/buy additional text on the subject area to help improve your understanding of the subject. As an undergrad, I actually purchased 3 OChem, 2 GChem, 2 Biochem books, and 2 Physiology books. Each book had its strengths and weaknesses...so I found having more than one book had a synergistc effect. If that doesn't work, then use the internet.... it is a wonderful thing. Including friends who have instant messaging, or telephones. So there are always ways to contact people for help, if you are willing to use it.

Ultimately you should NEVER rely on any outside help (e.g.: office hours, study sessions, etc), because those may not be available in the future. It is far better to know your strengths and weaknesses, and develop countermeasures to minimize these weaknesses. Otherwise, it will be a very bad time when you move forward to upper division science classes, or the MCAT. If it takes you hours to figure out problems, then you should take put in more hours to study ahead of the lectures so you can ask questions IN CLASS.

You will need to be aggressive, and play it smart. The road ahead is long, regardless of where you start. It only gets tougher, concepts will get more complex, and external assistance may become more scarce. Although do your best in finding others that can help you, you should put in as much effort in reflecting on your own abilities as a student, and how to improve upon it.

There is this common misconception that we "need" to have external assistance to do well in school, but the person that takes the test, and the person that is responsible for remembering it all is you the student. You can have all the help in the world and still not do well in a class because you didn't learn in the most efficient and effective way for you as an individual. Each person has their own way of studying, and remembering. Therefore I suggest, in addition to using those methods I described in the first paragraph, you should also reflect upon yourself and see what you can do to improve yourself as a student, and ween yourself off of this desire to get help from others in acadamia. Good luck!