In this post, you will learn about the top 5 most important things to know before choosing to study medical courses.
The urge to get into the medical school system has always been on the rise, especially with the desperation on the side of youngsters who intend to study medical courses because of the high paying standard of the profession around the world.
The competition in recent times has become second to none, looking at the statistics of applicants who choose these courses annually, Medicine & surgery, and Nursing Sciences to be precise.
The desperation is heightened by pressure from their peers, parents, and society in general. This is why many parents can do anything, be it good or bad, in a bid to ensure their kids get a slot to study any medical course, even when it is against the child’s will and potential.
Too many important factors are not put into consideration before they get into the medical school system, and this is one major factor that really works against these lots.
The design of the medical school system is filled with many intricacies you won’t see from the outside. Nobody can give a perfect image of what goes down there. Albeit, you can still learn certain things to know before choosing to study medical courses from the few you will read about in this post.
Checkout: the top 5 most lucrative medical courses in Nigeria
Table of Contents
Things to know before Choosing to Study Medical Courses:
Below are the necessary facts that may dawn on you after you got into the medical field, therefore it is important you get to know about these things now before you chose to embark on this journey.
Find out below this section the top 5 most important things to know before choosing to study medical courses in a higher institution;
1. Nobody Has the Monopoly of Success
In a typical medical school system, you can never predict what the outcome of any examination can be, Irrespective of how brilliant you are, the results released after every academic session might always send chills down your spine in most instances.
However, that shouldn’t get you scared of studying any medical course of your choice. If you are smart, calm, and perseverant enough in the place of learning, you will beat every odd against you.
In your medical school journey, those you least expected to fail are usually the ones that get withdrawn at the earliest phases of this journey, while those struggling might eventually top the class at some point. This is because most students chose to isolate themselves and believe they have the answers to every question, whereas, “nobody does”
Some chose to act this way because they believe they definitely can buy their way in and manipulate any examination scores (guaranteed means to success), whereas, in medical schools, the reverse is the case as you have to earn your own success story through hard work and resilience studies. Do not expect an everyday win situation.
As the going gets tougher, you will witness losses and wins at every stage of this journey. However, the experience is beautiful and worth every challenges it comes with.
Related: How to Pass Examination without Engaging in Malpractice
2. Brilliance is not enough
One of the most important things to know before choosing to study medical courses is that brilliance is not always enough. Many brilliant folks still get kicked out of the medical school system in the long run. These guys are obviously intelligent hard workers who never understood what they were getting into.
Brilliance alone won’t sustain you through medical school. At some point, you will be questioning why you even chose to study a medical course. The reason isn’t far-fetched from the fact that you will be faced with achieving much within a limited timeframe. This alone may put you under duress and tension. It might at some point even look mystical to you, but “common! Do not give up”.
The sustenance factor that will fuel your vehicle of success in the medical school voyage is your passion and smart work. As an average student, you can still survive studying a medical course if you are smart enough to maximize your little potential.
Do not allow anyone to bully you into believing that the medical school system is reserved for the most intelligent minds alone. So be informed of the task ahead and get yourself prepared already.
3. You Must be Ready to Act Fast
Ever heard of fast and furious? I think you may need some of the action and fast learning skills used by the actors in this movie in your medical school journey.
There are times you’ll need to be very rapid with how you can process and interpret information. If not, you may not go far. You will need a great deal of precision skill when acting on whatever information is disseminated in the classroom.
This will go a long way in helping you deal with emergency situations in the larger world when you eventually graduate. Although, your precision skills must always or most times be properly thought-out before acting upon them regardless of how fast you chose to be in your head.
If you are a procrastinator, you may not survive the rigor of studying a medical course looking at how demanding these programs are.
Nevertheless, if you are willing to handle situations with the required amount of urgency needed, you should fare well all through the course of your study.
4. Punctuality and a Good Behaviour Would Save You on Many Rainy Days-
I emerged as one of those who had very high scores during an end-of-clinical posting assessment. I aced this test as a result of the intentionality and resilience the clinicians saw in me. They really didn’t base the grading on academics only. If it was purely on academics, I wouldn’t have scored marks that high.
During this clinical posting, I made the decision not to miss a day in attendance. With the help of God and my level of determination, I achieved my goal.
Unruly behavior is a serious red flag in the medical school system. If you want to survive the system, you’ve got to stay humble and be very open to correction. Do not joke with attendance, lest you get yourself into unnecessary troubles with your lecturers and fellow students, even with your studies.
You must be punctual and well-behaved, this is an important factor to consider when choosing to study medical courses, I can guarantee you that these two attributes are an asset that will pave way for you. It will work out some tough situations, even when you don’t understand what is going on. If you imbibe these in medical school, you have in no way little helped yourself walk your way up.
5. Don’t Be a Loner
At a point or the other in the course of your study, you’ll need others to help you wade through the harsh realities you will be faced with.
These interpersonal relation skills will help you cultivate lifelong relationships that may lead to close friendships, marriage, and even more after you graduated.
As it is often said, ‘’No man is an island of knowledge’’. This was what helped me aced many tests and exams. You will have to get yourself involved in tutorials and group discussions as well as the study of past questions, either passively or actively.
These will help you more when you have taken your time to study. Nonetheless, in the course of doing this, you need to understand what works best for you. Do not imitate others. You must remain yourself if you really want to survive in a system everyone dreads failing.
For this reason, nobody is really after taking the first position. That is some puerile mentality that wouldn’t help you grow properly in medical schools. Stay close to those who will help you move a step closer to your dream as you make attempts to advance in life each day.
These are the top 5 things to know before choosing to study medical courses, we believe if these tips are taken into consideration before you embark on your medical journey, you might be prepared for whatever task ahead.
Top 3 Basic Reasons Many Students Choses to Study Medical Courses:
After we’ve learned about the things to know before choosing to study medical courses, let’s quickly take a look at the reasons many students opt to study medical courses in this section. the top 3 reasons include:
1. Diversified Medical Career Opportunities-
The medical field is endowed with many career opportunities to choose from. And it is a known fact all over the world how respected and reputable these courses are.
As a medical student, you can specialize at the end of your career in medicine & surgery, dentistry, pharmaceuticals, nursing, and physiotherapy to mention a few of them, and guess what, they are all equally reputable.
2. High-Pay status of the Professions Involved-
There is no gainsaying how lucrative a course that preserves living being lives can be. I mean, the relevance of medical courses in our society is incomparable, hence the reason, the medical practitioners need to be handsomely rewarded.
However, the high-pay status of these professions is another reason the medical courses are in high demand. This is not encouraging anyways, every medical practitioner needs to be a part of the profession with the primary mindset to preserve lives.
3. Job Security-
And lastly, the fact that medical practitioners are in high demand anywhere in the world is also one of the numerous reasons many students opt to study medical courses at the university. It is most likely that they don’t get into the streets searching for jobs after graduation.
Some may even get recruited into the teaching hospitals in their institution upon graduation, while some get themselves established at the end of their learning period.
Conclusion:
The medical world is a great place to be. You can have it smooth if you put things in order before choosing to study any medical course of your choice. I can assure you that you will meet great minds. You will also have life-changing experiences that will mold you into being the person of your dreams.
For more recent news about medical research and discoveries, you can visit the Nigeria Medical Association Official Website
Do we hope you find our top 5 tips on things to know before choosing to study medical courses useful? For more questions and lecture guide in any of the courses in the medical school, write to us in the comment section below or contact us at kaysage96@gmail.com
