Which skill is the most important in medical school?

[nysegop]

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Which one would you say is the MOST important?

 

[Masspremed]

Critical thinking.

You can know everything about the anatomy of a finger, but I'd like my doctors to be able to think on their feet.

 

[Tolbert]

Critical thinking for medical school imo. I don't really care about interpersonal skills; as long as they can tell what's wrong and have some degree of empathy and sympathy, i wouldn't really care.

 

[nysegop]

What about memorization?

 

[Tolbert]

idk tbh; i think it's important, i think it's really both but I had to pick one 😛

 

[nysegop]

Yeah both is probably good. haha

 

[Didierdrogba]

i'm a current medical student, just swinging by. I'd say 100% memorization. There is nothing for you to critically think in med school, perhaps in the clinic it wil be different, but for now, good memorization skills are gold.

 

[Eilat87]

Which one would you say is the MOST important?

Patience.

 

[BABSstudent]

I would say time management is the most important.

 

[Dharma]

Staying cool under pressure. Not freaking out and just taking care of business are necessary in this world. So, like Samuel L says in Pulp Fiction in the diner scene: BE COOL B!+CH! This definitely requires solid time management and the ability to decipher what is worth your time and what isn't (i.e. certain minutiae that are low yield for your boards).

Memorization is also necessary... but it comes much easier when you're constantly making associations and connections. So it's not rote memorization per se. True learning should be the goal, but nifty mnemonics will go a long way as well.

 

[DrYoda]

Memorization for sure. Then as you progress (clinical years-->residency--> rest of career) interpersonal begins to become more important.

 

[Narmerguy]

It's amusing (disappointing?) that what it takes to succeed in medical school can be vastly different than what it takes to succeed as an actual physician.

 

[Dharma]

It's amusing (disappointing?) that what it takes to succeed in medical school can be vastly different than what it takes to succeed as an actual physician.

But you can most definitely practice working on the interpersonal part as well as critical thinking while in school. I don't exactly buy into the whole just memorize bit. It's necessary to achieve a certain degree of proficiency in rote memorization (which improves with practice) but IMO it's not enough; making the connections, seeing the patterns and developing an understanding of the intricate interplay of the various systems (and at various levels, e.g. biochemically, histologically, physiologically and up to the gross level) is where the real interest and challenge lies.

Now, many are not going to demand that of you at the preclinical stage of the game, at least not beyond a certain point. I find that "memorization" of the necessary material is a lot easier when one is critically thinking and applying the information to clinical scenarios. Plus it's a lot more fun and allows one to actually enjoy the process instead of constantly focusing on results (grades). Doing well on an exam does not mean one truly grasps the material and grades should not be the ultimate motivation.

Just my take though...

 

[docB]

For getting into and through medical school good test taking skills are paramount. They continue to be important but recede as you transition into clinicals. However they will always be needed due to the licensing exams, the inservice exams and the board exams which you will have to take periodically forever