Thank you for dropping by.
First and foremost, congratulations to all of you for passing the interview. But don't get too happy or overly excited, that interview was barely a beginning. Life as a medical student begins when you start to learn how to adapt. Adapt to what? Well... basically everything. Starting from...
#1 WHAT YOU'LL READ
You'll be reading textbooks that are thicker than your fav 200 pages novel and what not. For the first few months, you might struggle to understand almost every sentences and pronounce half of the medical terms you encounter wrongly. It is COMPLETELY normal, although the books might bore you faster than your novel though.
#2 HOW YOU STUDY
It is true that everybody adopts different ways of studying. However, it is important that you don't freak out or get intimidated when you find out one of your colleagues actually memorize the whole book somewhat like overnight. And yes these kind of people exist in your circle of friends. The most important thing is that you need to know yourself in and out. What are your weaknesses and how to turn them into your advantage or strength. What are your strengths and how to utilise them optimally. If you can't study for long, then that's okay as long as you are able to grasp and understand the concepts. Remember, people who study longer are not necessarily smarter and vice versa. Everyone has their own weakness and strength. You just have to figure out how to study smart instead of study hard and this applies to everyone except geniuses. Okay scratch 'geniuses'. There are no geniuses in medicine but I am not saying that there are no 4 flatters. If you don't know something that simply means you are not reading enough. If someone appears to be like a genius he simply reads a lot. Simple. So guys, strap yourself and read. Haha. Kidding. But seriously though, read. And by reading I assume you understand what you've read.
#3 CIRCLE OF FRIENDS or COLLEAGUES
Like being said earlier, there will be a lot of smart people with various backgrounds. You will find that some of them are weird and not to your liking but you have no choice but to embrace the differences and weirdness. Heh. Because you will have to work in a team with them one day for assignments, etc. One thing about medical schools is that they love jumbling us up into groups with random people. Again, adapting. It is all about adapting. In any case possible, don't get yourself into trouble with anyone. Be nice to everyone regardless of races. This is essentially important. When you are out of med school you can't choose to work with Malays or Chinese or Indians only. Health is for all and we are chosen by God to be blessed with this knowledge to serve PEOPLE. And the term 'race' doesn't pretty much cover definition of people. I personally love my friends from other races because they are fun and loving. Of course we have had our differences but that's what makes us unique.
#4 SLEEPING PATTERN
This changes a lot because you have so many things to do and yet so little time. We don't always study. We do have fun and sometimes do crazy things to loosen up because med school can be challenging emotionally and physically and it will take its toll on you. So take some time off on the weekend to treat yourself. Treats can be anything like getting yourself a favourite food, or as simple as treating yourself to a good extra 2 hours sleep in the morning ! I always treat myself with the latter. Always.
While changes in sleeping pattern in the preclinical years are not obvious, things will be more hectic in clinical years and you'll only get 3-5 hours sleep at night unless on weekend of course.
I think that's sufficient to provide you an insight of what med school might be. There are other things as well but I leave them for you to explore. Where's the fun if I tell you everything ? Anyway, I listed some of the textbooks below that have been useful to me and perhaps to you too.
Basically you'll be learning a few modules through out pre-clinical years. But I don't wanna burden you with unnecessary things right now. So I'll take you straight to the point and the things that are important to prepare for a first year medical student. The followings are the modules that you will be learning in the first year.
1st YEAR
SEMESTER (I)
1. Cellular Biomolecule
2. Tissue of Body
3. Membrane & Receptors
4. Metabolism
SEMESTER (II)
1. Genetics
2. Infection & Immunity
3. Mechanism of Diseases
4. Musculoskeletal System
I keep mentioning the importance of reading your textbooks earlier on. So I have listed textbooks that have been helpful to me when I was a first year medical student and I hope you will find them as useful. You can buy them at Kamal Bookstore near Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). Good news is that this bookshop accept Baucar Buku 1 Malaysia (BB1M) and I strongly advise you to use them to buy your textbooks because these books aren't as cheap as you think eventhough they may look thin.
DORLAND'S Pocket Medical Dictionary
You'll be needing this medical dictionary to understand the medical terms that you don't understand. But by the end of first year, you won't be using it as much because you'll start to understand the meaning behind those medical jargons.
Marks' Basic Medical Biochemistry
This books is the main textbook used in cellular biomolecule and metabolism modules. So you might wanna grab hold to it. It might be wordy and you might not understand the first time you read it but you will eventually. So don't give up understanding this book and keep reading. Haha. Basically in metabolism module, you'll need to finish and memorise this book. No one says it's easy but it's not impossible. The better it is your understanding, the easier it is to remember. So the key is really to understand. And if there is really anything you wanna know, Marks' has it all and it is perfect for biochemistry newbies.
LIPPINCOTT'S Biochemistry
This book contains a lot of charts and illustrations and it is a simpler version of Marks' Biochemistry. I bought and read both of them. This book is good for refreshing, reinforcing and recalling your memory. But for you to really understand, I strongly suggest you to buy both.
This book is enough for us to understand histology. Text and atlas means that it has histological illustrations with explanation. You really don't want a histology book without atlas because histology is all about what you see under the microscope. And you don't really want a histology book without text also because for newbies like you, you'll have no idea what it is that you see. So it is of vital importance that you buy book that have both atlas and text !
WHEATHER'S Histology (Text & Atlas)
You can also buy this book but I think it is too advanced. It has good atlas and lengthy explanation. Or maybe you can compare both books and pick the one that suits you.
SHERWOOD Physiology
This book is AWESOME! You MUST have one in your possession. Seriously! Good illustrations and excellent explanation. A MUST BUY !
KATZUNG Pharmacology
Katzung is a thick book just like the others. And yes it is wordy but it is used by lecturers as a reference in lectures.
LIPPINCOTT'S Pharmacology
And as usual, we have a book with simpler version to help you remember better. Although it is thinner, it is not exactly thin.
SNELL Clinical Anatomy by Regions
Snell is the main reference of the lecturers. It is systematic and easy to remember. Plus, it is definitely thinner than LIPPINCOTT'S Clinically Oriented Anatomy.
LIPPINCOTT'S Clinically Oriented Anatomy
This is thicker. I am not saying that this book is not helpful but this is just too thick and too boring. At the end of the day, you will not touch this book and it will be left in your possession to collect dust.
This is the thickest book of them all. Haha. And again do not worry because they have a thinner version. Both versions are fine and useful.
There is one more book that is used in Genetic module but can't seem to remember. Sorry guys, I am getting old I guess. Hope that helps and see you around !
