Chapter 2 : Getting ahead of time ( 1 )

2.1 Can I study and lead a reasonable life at the same time?

It depends on how you define a reasonable life. It being able to go out every weekend and dining out every evening is your definition of a reasonable life, then you have to be an extremely bright medical student because you would only have two hours of time for studying after your lecture hours. Otherwise, this kind of lifestyle will lead to difficulties in passing your exams welldoing well in your studies.



Planning and prioritising is key. A smart student will know how a study effectively and will not waste time on unnecessary activities such as chitchatting on the Net or watching television in the evening. From my experience, I have not seen any of my colleagues who led this type of lifestyle and made it through medical school with good grades within the required number of years. Many of them who had a ‘good life’ in the early years of medical school, struggled in the later part and became clinicians who are not confident with their clinical skills.

An Arabic saying states that ‘ a person who does not stand now will never be  able to sit later’. This means that a person who does not work hard in their younger life will never have a relaxed life when they are older. Everything in life has to be earned and all of us have to pay the ‘tax’ whatever our achievement is. I am sure that for you to achieve the good grades required for entry inti medical schools, you have paid your ’tax’ in the form of many late nights, hard work and maybe blood, sweat and tears.

You must have the determination of achieving something and rewarding yourself later. For instance, be sure to complete your tasks such as revising lectures of the week before watching a movie or going shopping. The important factor here is to learn to prioritise your daily activities according to its importance and urgency.

 2.2 How do I manage my time and plan an effective study schedule?

Time manageme about setting and following a schedule of study in order to organize and prioritise your studies in the context of competing activities of work, family, etc.

According to Davidson (1977) and Wetmore (1999), the 7 divisions of time are family, society, health, finance, spirituality, work and self-development.

i. Family

Ensure that you contact your parents at least once a week. By doing so, your parents will be happy with you and so will God. They will pray for you and of course things will go smoothly.

ii. Society

Be sensitive to the people around you. This includes your roommates, classmates and those you come into contact with. Should someone gets into trouble, try to help him or her even if it means some taxation on your time. The time spent helping others will be repaid by God in that you will save time on other things such as being able to understand certain subjects in a shorter time than usual. Have faith.

iii. Health

A healthy mind comes from a healthy body. Even though you are young with no illness. Make sure that you maintain you health by having a balanced meal, enough sleep and adequate exercise. Never skip breakfast as your brain will have to work harder for the rest of the day without the energy and nutrition at the start of the day. Do you know that exercise produces a lot of alpha waves around you, whinch allow you to study better? Do not try to save time by not having a proper meal and just surviving an cup noodles. Be sure to take nutritious food for good health. Having a good night’s sleep is also essential for physical and mental health. It is the common practice of medical students to stay up late studying late into the night. It is better to get the rest you need at night and wake up early to study.

iv. Finance

Take some time in a day to organize your spending and ensure that you keep at least 10% of your income as saving for emergency purposes. Remember, do not try to cut down your spending on academic material. For example, if you need to photocopy articles, do not try to save money by choosing a cheap photocopy machine which gives your poor quality prints or by reducing its size, which will tire your eyes reading them. Consider them as an investment for future success.

v. Spirituality

This is an important component to spend time on because spirituality has to be well maintained as it influences your attitude to life as a whole. For the Muslims, apart from the five prayers, ensure that you go to weekly religious group meetings where you would be reminded of your behaviour and deeds according to the Holy Book. By enhancing your spirituality, you seek the blessings of the Almighty, and God, being the ruler of the whole world will show his rewards by ensuring that your life runs smoothly. Being spiritually healthy is essential to calm the mind and the heart, especially when facing difficulties or stress, besides easing the process of learning for the brain.

vi. Work (study)

This of course takes the priority as you are given five years to complete your duty as a medical student and you should be able to achieve your targets. The key factor to achieving this is by adapting the correct attitude in your studies as have been discussed in the previous chapters.

vii. Self-development

This is important as you are actually developing yourself every time you study. As a doctor, one very important skill that you must possess is communication, in order to make yourself understood by patients. Students must know how to communicate with patients. They must know what to say, and when to say, and how to say it.

Scenario from my real experience

A student was not able to answer a vital question in an exam, which could have failed him. When I questioned him whether he had contacted his parents to pray for him for the exam, he told me that he had not contacted his mother for a month. So I told him that I was sure his mother was upset with him. As a result, God too was upset with him. The lack of blessing from both his parents and God might have resulted in him forgetting the simplest but crucial fact. (The question was : What is the one investigation you must do before performing lumbar puncture in a patient with papilloedema. Answer : CT Scan) 

Note :

Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.

 (How to become a good & successful medical student; Muhaya Hj Mohamad)