Teamwork

You cannot survive medical school alone. In the previous post I wrote that you could not expect instructors to teach you all the material that you need to know. I also wrote that ultimately, it is up to you, the medical student, to teach yourself. That, however, is not the whole story.

To get through medical school, it is best to work as a team. In my case, that involved meeting weekly (and later, bi-weekly) with two classmates to review the week's lectures. Every week, we assigned ourselves lectures to present, and we made sure that we covered all of the main points. Being part of the team also involved taking notes for the class as one of ten class note takers. Additionally, it involved picking up an extra handout for friends that may have been absent on a given day. They, in turn, would do the same for me. Being part of the team also meant checking in with fellow classmates. If I saw or heard someone near me having a hard time with something, I tried to help them as best as I could.

One of the distinguishing qualities of the medical school I attend is the student body's teamwork. Within the class we help each other out. Between classes we help each other out. At times it feels as if we are more than a team. We are a family. A dysfunctional family at times, absolutely, but generally we support each other on our journeys toward M.D.'s.