Becoming a more knowledgeable person

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I know this is a really general question. I feel like, throughout college, I've really only been focused on studying for my science classes and doing well. I don't feel like a very 'sophisticated' or 'scholarly' person; like I couldn't talk with people about current political/social issues. I think it would be helpful, not only for interviews, but for building relationships with people, if I learned more. What kinds of books/newspapers should I read to try and build this ability over time?
Also, I don't really have a sense of current healthcare issues/politics/social side of medicine. Maybe I should learn more about those things.

Are most people applying to med schools expected to have this knowledge? Or are there a lot of other students like me?


To be honest, I don't really have a good reason for becoming a doctor. Sure, I like science and I want to help people, but those are general. I'm guessing, with some more thought put into it, I will be able to expand upon my extracurricular activities and build some sort of theme. I'm thinking that building up my general knowledge of things will help with this.
 
I like milton friedman and thomas sowell.....if you want to go a lot less academic but still thinking, the jocko willink podcast is really interesting

none of those are health related
 
I think this is a really approachable youtube channel on geopolitics: https://www.youtube.com/user/CaspianReport

Regardless of your opinion on the validity of his arguments, it is the way he makes the arguments, and their content, that can serve as a springboard to learning more about the world.
 
I'm going to try to phrase this in a non-insulting way, you can let me know if I succeeded. The notion of proper adults being sophisticated with refined tastes and overflowing with political views and theories is a bit naive and silly. Once you're at the stage of life where you're making a steady salary, own a house etc. then often you naturally start caring more about government policies and how your community (large and small) is being run. And if you enjoy reading, then as you age you'll become more and more well read. If you genuinely want to read Dante and Tolstoy that's great, but don't do it just because you think it'll turn you into a mature and intelligent person. If you don't particularly care how your state is being run, that's fine. Forcing yourself to read opinion pieces on every potential bill so that you'll seem more informed is equally silly. If something piques your interest then you can do that, but don't feel guilty if you currently don't care.

Learning about the health care system is a good idea for interviews (and to know what you're getting yourself into), but don't worry about the rest. You don't have to make a huge effort to turn yourself into Frasier. The vast majority of people your age don't relax at night by putting on their evening gowns and swirling a glass of 150 year old port while discussing metaphysics.
 
Cracked.com's unusual lifestyle/disease/job interview-style articles are pretty cool (I'm not being sarcastic, many of them are genuinely enlightening and focus on topics not generally covered in mainstream news sites). They have several about healthcare workers and researchers. They have a really neat one about a guy who works in a brain bank in the UK.

This American Life is always good for learning about people who aren't like you (I'd usually endorse NPR too but I'm not a fan of the recent uptick of clickbait articles on NPR.com)

John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight has some really good health related pieces.
 
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National Geographic
The NY Times
Time magazine
The Economist



acetylmandarin said:
I know this is a really general question. I feel like, throughout college, I've really only been focused on studying for my science classes and doing well. I don't feel like a very 'sophisticated' or 'scholarly' person; like I couldn't talk with people about current political/social issues. I think it would be helpful, not only for interviews, but for building relationships with people, if I learned more. What kinds of books/newspapers should I read to try and build this ability over time?
Also, I don't really have a sense of current healthcare issues/politics/social side of medicine. Maybe I should learn more about those things.

Are most people applying to med schools expected to have this knowledge? Or are there a lot of other students like me?


To be honest, I don't really have a good reason for becoming a doctor. Sure, I like science and I want to help people, but those are general. I'm guessing, with some more thought put into it, I will be able to expand upon my extracurricular activities and build some sort of theme. I'm thinking that building up my general knowledge of things will help with this.
Click to expand...
 
NotASerialKiller said:
I'm going to try to phrase this in a non-insulting way, you can let me know if I succeeded. The notion of proper adults being sophisticated with refined tastes and overflowing with political views and theories is a bit naive and silly. Once you're at the stage of life where you're making a steady salary, own a house etc. then often you naturally start caring more about government policies and how your community (large and small) is being run. And if you enjoy reading, then as you age you'll become more and more well read. If you genuinely want to read Dante and Tolstoy that's great, but don't do it just because you think it'll turn you into a mature and intelligent person. If you don't particularly care how your state is being run, that's fine. Forcing yourself to read opinion pieces on every potential bill so that you'll seem more informed is equally silly. If something piques your interest then you can do that, but don't feel guilty if you currently don't care.

Learning about the health care system is a good idea for interviews (and to know what you're getting yourself into), but don't worry about the rest. You don't have to make a huge effort to turn yourself into Frasier. The vast majority of people your age don't relax at night by putting on their evening gowns and swirling a glass of 150 year old port while discussing metaphysics.
Click to expand...


Thank you, this was phrased well. This is exactly what I was trying to ask

There are certain days where I drink a coffee, and then I feel extremely motivated to learn about things. This only happens on certain days though. And the feeling fades when the coffee has run its course
 
acetylmandarin said:
Thank you, this was phrased well. This is exactly what I was trying to ask

There are certain days where I drink a coffee, and then I feel extremely motivated to learn about things. This only happens on certain days though. And the feeling fades when the coffee has run its course
Click to expand...

Place an iv in yourself and run a caffeine drip
 
acetylmandarin said:
Thank you, this was phrased well. This is exactly what I was trying to ask

There are certain days where I drink a coffee, and then I feel extremely motivated to learn about things. This only happens on certain days though. And the feeling fades when the coffee has run its course
Click to expand...

Oh how I miss learning during undergraduate. Learning new things is probably one of the greatest feelings especially when you teach yourself something.
 
acetylmandarin said:
I know this is a really general question. I feel like, throughout college, I've really only been focused on studying for my science classes and doing well. I don't feel like a very 'sophisticated' or 'scholarly' person; like I couldn't talk with people about current political/social issues. I think it would be helpful, not only for interviews, but for building relationships with people, if I learned more. What kinds of books/newspapers should I read to try and build this ability over time?
Also, I don't really have a sense of current healthcare issues/politics/social side of medicine. Maybe I should learn more about those things.

Are most people applying to med schools expected to have this knowledge? Or are there a lot of other students like me?


To be honest, I don't really have a good reason for becoming a doctor. Sure, I like science and I want to help people, but those are general. I'm guessing, with some more thought put into it, I will be able to expand upon my extracurricular activities and build some sort of theme. I'm thinking that building up my general knowledge of things will help with this.
Click to expand...
No don't talk about politics. That's one of the worst conversation topics. Talk about basketball or a tv show or fishing w/e.
 
Goro said:
Just go to Incognito or Private mode, and you evade the paywall.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's how it works. Incognito only hides your browsing history from people who want to snoop through your physical computer. Your IP address is still visible to the website you're visiting.
 
You would be surprised how many pre-meds feel this way. Being knowledgeable about a lot of topics requires interest in those topics to begin with. It's hard to feign interest in a topic because that deception is usually apparent very quickly. Kind of like talking about sports. If you act like you love watching football but actually never watch a game, then it'll be pretty evident when someone says, "Oh yeah, remember that great catch last year at the Super Bowl??" and you stare blankly at them or give them a generic answer.

So you have to develop an interest in healthcare at least because it is the career you are considering and you will eventually have to face these issues. It's not a smart idea to choose a career without any idea of the day-to-day realities one would have to face during that career. So you should think about why you want to pursue medicine - think about why your experiences have led you to medicine and not other professions. Then think specifically about why physician and not nurse, PA, dentist, etc.
 
Goro said:
It works for me. Try it.
Click to expand...

I have NYTimes so I don't have a paywall but the reason why I got the subscription was because there wasn't a way to get past paying. It wouldn't make any sense for incognito mode to get you through that because the paywall is on their end and from their end, you appear identical whether you use incognito mode or not. That's different from using a VPN, which would get you 10 additional articles but you would still hit the wall after that.
 
Don't take it as seriously as you take those science classes. That'll just leave you burned out. Save the heavy philosophy/politics/sociology reading for when you're nearing retirement. Most people only have a superficial knowledge of these kinds of things anyway, even the ones that seem super sophisticated and cultured. I have Google News as my homepage. Scroll through it a few times a day, and click on whatever interests me. After doing that for a few years, I can hold my own talking about most current events. Obviously I couldn't write a dissertation on it, but as long as you don't act like an opinionated jackass in conversations, it's enough. Podcasts - just go through the popular ones on itunes, and listen to them in your car. Certain subreddits can have a lot of cool contributions by different people. There are some really good educational youtube channels. You don't get to the level of "well read" overnight, but a bit of this stuff sprinkled throughout your day can get you on the right track over the years. And its much more easily digestible, leaving the bulk of your brainpower for what matters most: your studies.
 
I don't have a NYT subscription, but it works for me, 10 articles at a time. Everyone I turn on Chrome or Internet Explorer, and go to private, I start over with 10 articles


Try it


aldol16 said:
I have NYTimes so I don't have a paywall but the reason why I got the subscription was because there wasn't a way to get past paying. It wouldn't make any sense for incognito mode to get you through that because the paywall is on their end and from their end, you appear identical whether you use incognito mode or not. That's different from using a VPN, which would get you 10 additional articles but you would still hit the wall after that.
Click to expand...
 
Goro said:
I don't have a NYT subscription, but it works for me, 10 articles at a time. Everyone I turn on Chrome or Internet Explorer, and go to private, I start over with 10 articles
Click to expand...

No idea why it works for you because that defies what private browsing really is but I tried it for a local paper that has a paywall and it doesn't work. Do you clear your cookies and cache before you do that?
 
Doggo said:
Cracked.com's unusual lifestyle/disease/job interview-style articles are pretty cool (I'm not being sarcastic, many of them are genuinely enlightening and focus on topics not generally covered in mainstream news sites). They have several about healthcare workers and researchers. They have a really neat one about a guy who works in a brain bank in the UK.

This American Life is always good for learning about people who aren't like you (I'd usually endorse NPR too but I'm not a fan of the recent uptick of clickbait articles on NPR.com)

John Oliver's show Last Week Tonight has some really good health related pieces.
Click to expand...

I have seen a lot of flat out incorrect information on Cracked. John Oliver is awesome though.
 
You are approaching this the wrong way. To become a more sophisticated human being, you don't learn to appreciate things but to despise because what separates us from the animal is our ability to inhibit our instincts. So worry not about whether you can appreciate the opera, the ballet, the various discourses on esoteric topics etc. but concentrate on developing a distaste for everything the common man enjoys.
 
aldol16 said:
No idea why it works for you because that defies what private browsing really is but I tried it for a local paper that has a paywall and it doesn't work. Do you clear your cookies and cache before you do that?
Click to expand...
If they are using cookies to keep track of how many articles you read a month it should work.
 
acetylmandarin said:
I know this is a really general question. I feel like, throughout college, I've really only been focused on studying for my science classes and doing well. I don't feel like a very 'sophisticated' or 'scholarly' person; like I couldn't talk with people about current political/social issues. I think it would be helpful, not only for interviews, but for building relationships with people, if I learned more. What kinds of books/newspapers should I read to try and build this ability over time?
Also, I don't really have a sense of current healthcare issues/politics/social side of medicine. Maybe I should learn more about those things.

Are most people applying to med schools expected to have this knowledge? Or are there a lot of other students like me?


To be honest, I don't really have a good reason for becoming a doctor. Sure, I like science and I want to help people, but those are general. I'm guessing, with some more thought put into it, I will be able to expand upon my extracurricular activities and build some sort of theme. I'm thinking that building up my general knowledge of things will help with this.
Click to expand...
1. Expand your horizons make acquaintances or develop friendships with people very different from yourself.
2. Travel.
3. Cultivate and feed your sense of curiosity about the world.
4. Read widely and broadly to satiate the hunger you have from step 3.
5. I will disagree about reading a lot of news papers. Rather than talk about current events talking about ideas broadens one's worldview.
Did I say be immensely curious about how the world works why things are the way they are. Never stop asking why and how and don't accept answers at face value.
 
I have been wondering lately about how does the rate of knowledge that I am gaining compare to what I am forgetting. Is all my work to gain more information actually paying off or am I just spinning my wheels
 
sliceofbread136 said:
I have been wondering lately about how does the rate of knowledge that I am gaining compare to what I am forgetting. Is all my work to gain more information actually paying off or am I just spinning my wheels
Click to expand...
tumblr_lncatrGZVc1qg51mgo1_400.gif
 
Take an Art History course. The history of our world was never interesting to me, or concrete, until I took one on a whim thinking it would be an easy A to fulfill an elective. It was one of the hardest courses I've taken (but you may not be as lucky - that was due to the professor being phenomenal), and I ended up changing my curriculum to dual degree. B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Art History. If I could do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing; I'm learning so much in both areas of study. A few years ago, I couldn't tell you anything about the 150,000 year history of mankind, and the origin of Christianity, Islam, and the foundations of European borders and government. You can gain so much perspective about modern society by studying ancient art history (and culture) through the Renaissance.

Edit: My art history survey course was a 300 seats freshman elective. After the first exam, there were around 100 F's and less than 10 A's. The class got a lot smaller rapidly.
 
Goro said:
I don't have a NYT subscription, but it works for me, 10 articles at a time. Everyone I turn on Chrome or Internet Explorer, and go to private, I start over with 10 articles
Try it
Click to expand...

I've been doing the same thing for over a year now haha.
aldol16 said:
No idea why it works for you because that defies what private browsing really is but I tried it for a local paper that has a paywall and it doesn't work. Do you clear your cookies and cache before you do that?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing it's how each site sets up their paywall. NYT apparently does it based on your cookies/cache or whatever, because if you clear those you get 10 articles again without having to go incognito.
 
acetylmandarin said:
To be honest, I don't really have a good reason for becoming a doctor. Sure, I like science and I want to help people, but those are general. I'm guessing, with some more thought put into it, I will be able to expand upon my extracurricular activities and build some sort of theme. I'm thinking that building up my general knowledge of things will help with this.
Click to expand...

Reading about general knowledge will not answer why you want to be a doctor. I didn't really challenge myself until I was about to interview. In short, sure yes, I DO WANT TO HELP PEOPLE, but what is cliche is just leaving it at that. I expanded, saying that being a first generation in the states, my family didn't have the same opportunity as myself to study, and I wanted to maximize my potential to have a positive impact on people. I expanded into talking about my experience in health care as a hospital volunteer and ER scribe, saying how I enjoyed helping people there, but did not enjoy how limited I was in my role to help the people I saw.

It's fine to say that you "just want to help people" but you need to expand and put some thought into it so that the admissions actually believes you when you say this. No article is gonna answer this for you. You need to do some meditation and really sit down and think about it.

Hope this helps.
 
raf1ki said:
Take an Art History course. The history of our world was never interesting to me, or concrete, until I took one on a whim thinking it would be an easy A to fulfill an elective. It was one of the hardest courses I've taken (but you may not be as lucky - that was due to the professor being phenomenal), and I ended up changing my curriculum to dual degree. B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Art History. If I could do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing; I'm learning so much in both areas of study. A few years ago, I couldn't tell you anything about the 150,000 year history of mankind, and the origin of Christianity, Islam, and the foundations of European borders and government. You can gain so much perspective about modern society by studying ancient art history (and culture) through the Renaissance.

Edit: My art history survey course was a 300 seats freshman elective. After the first exam, there were around 100 F's and less than 10 A's. The class got a lot smaller rapidly.
Click to expand...

+1

Art History has really shaped my view of the world - past/present/humanity. I cannot say enough good things about the TYPE of thinking one is required to do in an art history course, and it saddens me that many people turn away simply because they don't want to memorize. Memorization is an important part of most art history courses, but it's certainly not the most meaningful part.

OP - I think if you're thinking about this, you should just give it a good try and see how it goes. I'd recommend taking a course, if you can, in an area that's somewhere in the middle of "very foreign" and "possibly interesting" categories. It might be hard to select your own reading materials at first, but maybe you'll find something as you go along. Good luck!
 
I was listening to right wing talk radio in my early 20's. Everyone I know still does. I'm the first in my family to go to college. I still wear $5 walmart solid color camisetas (no pockets). Sophistication will get you strange looks in some parts.
 
Sometimes its hard for me to settle down and read an article, so I tend to listen to lots of podcasts (doing dishes, in the shower, getting ready for the day). I find that listening to things in story form makes them more memorable to me...and prompts me to learn about topics I wouldn't normally go looking for on my own.
Try: "Planet Money" to learn about the economy (it's really fascinating, I promise), "More Perfect" to learn about how Supreme Court rulings affect our lives, "Hidden Brain" and "Invisibilia" to learn about research on thought and social science.
 
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