Pseudomonas aureginosa. Staph aureus. Group B strep. Shigella. Treponema pallidum.
This is the world of microorganisms we live in. I’m currently in my second module of medical school called Attack and Defense. This is the module of immunology and microbiology. The second years were not lying. It’s a flood of information most of us have never seen before. Now that we’re done with immunology, we’re in the middle of micro, and we’ve just finished two weeks of bacteriology. The memorization is brutal and all of us scrambling to find the best books that dumbs down the concepts for us and salivating for really great flashcards.
Walking home with a friend, we talked about all of this. How we’re going to get through these next couple weeks. The end of the first semester is so close, but yet so far. A week until Thanksgiving break or cram-for-anatomy-break. And then one last week of Attack and Defense and then the anatomy final and then BAM, the attack and defense final…and then we’re done. Woah.
A good point was brought up in our conversation. “We have to love this information. Study it. Love it.â€
And those words are harder in action. You kind of lose sight of the big picture when you’re in a room just flipping through a bunch of cards and memorizing bacteria after bacteria and their exotoxins. Regardless, they are very true words.
I personally like this information so much more than the biochemistry we learned in our first module. Infectious disease is one of my areas of interest, and finally getting to learn the organisms and the pathophysiology behind them has been an interesting process. When I take a step back from the myriad of info, I see how fascinating all of this is, and how amazing these tiny organisms can take over the human body and cause devastating effects.
So what am I trying to say? Perhaps having a more optimistic outlook toward your studies will help. I know it’s helped me recently. Feeling intrigued and then elated when the bacteria just clicks in my head has made the studying process 100x better.
So love the info. As best as you can, of course. Take some enjoyment out of what you’re studying. We’re going to be studying for a long time, so might as well enjoy some of the ride.
Snippets of my life:
Thank you, thank you, thank you to my family and friends and my amazing support system here at UTHSCSA. Don’t know where I would be with you all.