Motivation
• Posted by Mana on June 21st, 2007
I’m sure that for many students this is not a problem. yeah not really actually… Everyone always says it is hard to get motivated. Some are human. The rest are lying.
recently i have seen/used these ways of motivation: (have you noticed I like posting lists?)
1. (the most common) “If I don’t study, I’m gonna fail!”
2. “If I don’t get an A, I’m going to fall behind…”
3. “Oh damn. everyone around me is studying like crazy. I should be too…”
4. “I want to be with my friends next year…”
For all you med wannabes out there these must come as a shock because these were not included:
“I like learning medicine”
“I need to know this to be a good doctor”
“I want to do the best I can possibly do”
well, this kind of is the reality in med school. Yes I do want to be a good doctor. Some people are already assuring themselves of this:
“I’m a good doctor!” - Jim
Sadly the altruistic part of me that says I want to do medicine to save lives and improve people’s quality of life, though it still exists, has taken a back seat in my mind to the competitive part of me that got me through high school with a dismally low UAI that pales in comparison to basically everyone I know. Even Dodgy Dan as he is now affectionately known went better than I did. This competitive part of me is constantly going “you’re gonna repeat year 1 and then watch as all your friends speed ahead of you and watch as you don’t graduate the same time as them and watch as you no longer get to interact in the same way as you did when you were in their grade”. I guess I can empathise with those people that have had to repeat any grade at school ever, or repeat a year of uni. Yeah it must suck.
The altruistic part of me is still alive and kicking though. Even through exam preparation I am willing to help people out if I can, especially if it is exam-related. (yes, that means, you can call me if you don’t understand something.) At least that shred of my humanity is still there.
I guess throughout application to medicine I put myself in the position of being someone to share in people’s pain and suffering, like “The Receiver of Memories” in that book The Giver. I convinced myself that I was going to work like crazy to be the best doctor I could be and make as big a positive difference as I possibly could. Through reciting all those things for the interviews I convinced myself they were real. Choosing medicine over dentistry has got to be the biggest spontaneous change in decision I have ever made in my life (yeah, I wanted to be a dentist all the way up to year 12 and was even undecided when offers came out. Much of this may have been due to the realist in me realising that being a doctor is stressful, that they work odd hours sometimes, they have a hard life, and require lots of study. And then compare this to being a dentist - which my dad suggested I do. Though I have never been one I can see why he would want me to make that decision and why it may have been the best thing for my life. And who wouldn’t? Working hours I determine. Financial stability. Time for friends and family. Time for life.)
Yeah that’s right. I made a decision that I knew was possibly not the best thing for my life. I know I will be stressed out a lot in the future. I may have to deal with gory images and suffering people. I will have to immerse myself in it all until I can take no more. and what for?
The difference. A life’s worth is measured by the lives it saves and the lives it makes a difference to.
I want to sit by a dying patient and share in their memories.
I want to stand by the grieving family and share in their sorrow.
I want to watch and share in the happiness of a mother who has just delivered a healthy baby.
I want to see miracles happen.
and that is my motivation, peoples, for wanting to pass these exams. If I don’t pass, that’s just a year longer I have to wait before I see those miracles happen.
I know that for many of you this is also your motivation. And you will be the people I share the experiences of miracles with.
Watch this space in five and a half years!
Yah, but remember, we’re going to also see worse things ;(
moi said this on June 21st, 2007 at 4:14 pm
so there ARE still people with such motivations, namely yourself. that’s good to know, and i hope we’ll all keep reminding ourselves of why we are in this course and what we will be able to give others, rather than what we can ourselves achieve. maybe that’s the trap that a lot of medical students find themselves falling into?
i think my motivation for exams is out the window… but i am motivated to be able to do well and know things when i’m presented with them in a hospital. this is kind of at the same time as i want to make myself better, not necessarily because i want to use that knowledge to help others. this is a problem…
it’s a good thing you didn’t do dentistry- rather than a life looking at gruesome images, you’d spend a lifetime looking at teeth…. at which point you’d much rather just go back and look at gruesome images again… haha
your quotes are becoming quite a mainstay, hehe
Those are my motivations as well. Its just that it kinda gets lost hectic part of life
moi said this on June 22nd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
The main thing that made me not want to be a dentist was in DT (Design and Technology, where you make stuff out of other stuff)…
i was trying to soulder a lead onto some alligator clip, and failing dismally because the clip was too small for me to keep stable, and if you have one hand holding the iron, one holding the wire, what are you stabilising the clip with -_-
In the end, screw dent… the mouth is too small of an area to work in, no room to move =P
Pantsman said this on June 25th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
lol
I remember doing stuff like that in electronics. except that I was quite good at it if i say so myself. i got bored a lot of the time though and so i just got some wire and solder and made some shapes and figures and stuff.
And didn’t you have little alligator clip weight things that held your stuff for you while you soldered? Those are SO useful…
That was quite an eye-opening post…
You in Year 12 pretty much reflects me right now. And I’m still not sure about the whole med/dent thing. Who knows, I might even end up making the same decision you did…or not. I don’t really know. Great blog btw!!
L337 said this on July 2nd, 2007 at 12:06 pm
[…] be applicable, because no-one ever watches Blade Runner anymore. I really should go back to my post regarding motivation and read it over and over again. and […]
adelaide medblog » Blog Archive » Getting back to work said this on July 17th, 2007 at 2:08 pm