Posted by alexandra_k on April 10, 2014, at 23:59:01
In reply to Re: test » Angela2, posted by alexandra_k on April 10, 2014, at 23:38:54
so: i'm really (really really really really) glad that i didn't do bio-med this year... that i sucked it up and took this year as foundational... to do foundational things... because while i truly tried my best to get a bunch of things sorted over the summer (e.g., getting printing services up and running etc)... things simply weren't at the state they needed to be in order for me to focus appropriately.
i do think that a lot of that year is about culling people who don't manage to focus appropriately. it is a fairly brutal year, actually. the very first test (just before break) is crucial... they don't give people a 'practice test' with a non-essential class, or anything... if you don't get some variety of A on that then... you are screwed... basically... so... this is typically when people's blogs start talking about 'work-life balance' and 'the importance of joining clubs'.
doing how well i've done in the class i'm currently enrolled in is... at the risk of being totally insensitive... a little like being the smartest kid in special school. which is to say... it is totally necessary and nowhere near close to sufficient for my doing well enough next year. if it helps any i'm seeing that i'm potentially miles ahead -- in certain respects. but that certain other respects... uh... floor me. totally.
e.g.,
today: it finally clicked to me for the very first time...
i had a bit of a spazz before about how they give us these 'lecture shell' notes (that we purchase as a book at the start of the semester) with... the crucial bits removed. that we must fill in during the lecture. the powerpoint notes are complete, however (with respect to the Most Important or Crucial Bits to Be Learned). But... They don't put those up until well after the lecture. They have all this crap about how these half filled in shells are the 'most effective way of teaching' and when I queried that they said 'student evaluations show students like them'. I was like: If you want to know how to effectively teach how about paying a little visit to cognitive psychology. The more exposure students have to condensed versions of crucial information... The more likely they will be to recall it accurately, basically. Something kinda sorta like that.
Anyhow... It kinda sorta just occurred to me during todays lecture: Forget psychology. Think English Lit. You, uh, write down every word. Well... Not quite. You develop your own shorthand... But you get all the Important Things. You listen... And you are the medium for your hand... And the lecturer speaks through you... Or what the f*ck ever. And, uh, well, it just occurred to me that med school is probably going ot be more like that. They aren't going to be so focused on their teaching. Probably not the good ones. Listen up and follow along or... F*ck off and die... Or whatever. You get the spirit. It is bound to be more like that.
So, uh, handwriting be damned. Of course. Anyway... I saw him smile today when my pen got busy. the rest of the class is still on the 'oh that meaningful pause is a cue for me to copy that sentence into my lecture shell' stage... They run things more like English f*ck*ng Lit (no f*ck*ng notes. write your own or f*ck off and die). the shell thing is just... them being sorta nice. Who woulda thunk????
Heh.
Next year is gonna be fun.
ooooh. in other news. i need to learn to draw. 3-d representations of molecules... structural arrangements. etc. my pen was floored: not good enough.
mid-semester study break is now. drawing. huh. whoda thunk?
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1058481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20140312/msgs/1064012.html