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Med School Minutes
Med School Minutes is where we discuss all things related to medical education. Provided by Saint James School of Medicine, this podcast tries to educate students on selecting and successfully completing a medical school. Our topics are fun and educational, and our hosts are knowledgeable and fun.
Med School Minutes
Med School Minutes- Ep. 49- The Surprising Benefits of Being a Tutor
Tutoring isn't just about teaching—it’s a game-changer for mastering medical school! In this episode MD4 student Anazuo Ohieku-Ajanaku shares how tutoring has strengthened her understanding, helped fellow students, and made studying more effective. Learn her top study strategies, time management tips, and insights on thriving in an accelerated MD program.
00:00 - Introduction & Guest Intro
02:36 - Medical School Expectations vs. Reality
06:01 - How Tutoring Helps in Med School
10:17 - Top Study & Time Management Tips
26:22 - Overcoming Test Anxiety & Self-Doubt
38:10 - Career Goals & Giving Back
44:18 - Final Advice for Medical Students
#MedSchoolMinutes #SJSM #MedicalStudentLife #Tutoring #MedSchoolTips #FutureDoctors #StudySmart #MedicalEducation #USMLEPrep #MedStudentSuccess
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Med School Minutes podcast, where we discuss what it takes to attend and successfully complete a medical program. This show is brought to you by St James School of Medicine. Here is your host, kaushik Guha.
Speaker 2:Welcome to another episode of Med School Minutes. Today we want to talk a little bit about a day in the life of a student. We got a lot of questions on what's it like? How do students study? How is it possible to finish MD in an accelerated program. So today we want to garner some insights into how does an individual go about cracking the code of basic sciences, and for that we have a very special guest. Her name is Anazu. She's a current MD4 student, she's on the Dean's List, she's one of our best tutors and she has given back so much to the general St James diaspora by helping as many students as she can. So, without further ado, let's welcome Anazu. Thank you so much for making the time. You are a current MD4 student and I know you're very, very busy with all the lectures and all of that that we have going on, but we really, really appreciate you making time. So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey?
Speaker 3:Okay, thank you for inviting me on. I'm really glad to be here. So my name is Anazwa Ohiakwa-Janaku. I'm from Nigeria, currently in MD4, like you mentioned. So I have a bachelor's degree in public health and a master's degree in public health as well. I have four siblings I'm the oldest one. My journey to medicine started like over 20 years ago now because, you know, when I had my little sister, she was really sick while we were young, so she was always in hospital. I was always going to the hospital with my mom because she couldn't leave me at home. So, like, I've really always been in that and I really love being in the hospital, unlike many children, you know, everyone is scared of being there, but I, for some reason, just really likes to be there. So this is always something that I've known I wanted to do. Like it has never changed for me. So finally doing it now, over 20 years later, so never too late right, right, you know, better late than never.
Speaker 2:So tell me a little more about your experience that. So this is obviously been an aspiration for, I'm guessing, better part of more than half of your life. And now that you're in it, in the thick of things, have you been disappointed in any way? Have you been surprised in any way? Have you been uh surprised in any way? Have you been uh pleasantly surprised in any way with the material, with the content, now that you're actually going through the rigors, is it too hard? Not too hard, much easier than you.
Speaker 3:Tell us a little bit about that okay, that's a really great question because before I came I was really worried like, will I be able? Worried, like, will I be able to? You know, will I be able to understand the material? Will it stick? Will I do really well on my exams, on my tests?
Speaker 3:I was really worried and I was, like, you know, the first semester is my test. If I'm not able to manage, I'll just maybe, maybe that means it's not for me, you know, but surprisingly I found it means it's not for me, you know, but, um, surprisingly, I found it I won't say easily, but like easier than I expected, because I'm going through it and I'm not having as much or as many like struggles, especially with the material, as I thought I would. It's coming easy to me, I'm understanding what's going on. I think a part of it is because I love and this is what I wanted to do. So, like I'm happy to be, be there, I'm happy to dive deep, I'm happy to, you know, have my test, I'm happy to study. So I think that plays a very huge part in my um experience so far, which has been good. So excellent.
Speaker 2:So that means it almost sounds like you're alluding to the fact that your temperament, on how you're approaching things, really matters, because we do get this a lot. Oh, I don't want to study too much, the studying hours are too long, but, as you mentioned, you seem to be very happy to put in the hours and happy to take the tests etc, etc. So it seems like the temperament is the main focus, and obviously you have a great temperament. But one thing I do want to ask you is that you have a master's in public health, and masters in public health, um, it's not a very uh it's, it's more of an administ. It prepares you for the administrative role and the administration of larger public health programs in hospitals and governments. It's not learning about histology, it's not about learning about various pathologies, it's not very technical at all. So, coming from a master's in public health, do you think that that gave you any sort of edge?
Speaker 3:I wouldn't say so because, like you mentioned, it's very much administrative. My master's was in health policy, sort of edge. I wouldn't say so because, like you mentioned, it's very much administrative. My master's was in health policy, so it's really paperwork, law, ethics. You know, I did take a little bit biostats and epidemiology because that's really a big part of public health. So that helped me in MB3 when I had to take epidemiology and biostatistics. But I wouldn't really say it really prepares you much, because it's very different. I didn't learn any anatomy, any physiology, like it's all pretty brand new to me. So it's yeah, no experience in that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:All right and obviously you're doing very, very well. You are on the Dean's list and, as you mentioned, the concepts seem to be coming very easily, or relatively easily, to you, much easier than you had expected. And you're not just studying for yourself but from what I hear, you're also giving back to the best of your abilities at this point and obviously you're going to get many, many more opportunities to do that, moving forward and as you finish your MD and become a full-fledged doctor. But can you tell us what you're doing now to help as many students as you can?
Speaker 3:Okay, so right now I'm actually a tutor and mainly I'm tutoring for physiology and epidemiology and biostatistics this semester. Last semester I was more focused on histology and biochemistry and genetics. So that's really what I'm doing now in terms of giving back, because I think that I want to help people succeed. I want to see them do well and I really I been teetering since I was in high school, so it's like it's not new to me and it really gives me joy seeing other people do well, because it's not nice to see people around you struggle when you know you understand the concept. So why not help others?
Speaker 3:Because this is an accelerated program, we go through things really quickly, so some people just need like an extra one on one time, you know, just to explain certain things that may be difficult, because you know making it as simple as it can be is really the key, because that's how I understand things the same flights, it's explained, the easy and quick it is for me to now, you know, move to the more complex stuff.
Speaker 3:So tutoring right now is, yeah, I'm doing that and I really enjoy it. In fact, after this, our podcast session right now, I have a session after, so it's something that I enjoy doing and it also helps me, you know, go back to those concepts that I have already done. So I have to go back review because before the students have the meetings with me, I always ask them what topics they want to go over so that I can go do my own review and learn more, and I find that that really helps me. There were some concepts in biochemistry that weren't my strongest, but when I had to teach someone else it forced me to go back and really understand those things and that was very important to me that's excellent.
Speaker 2:So would. If you know and honestly I'm going to be very frank with you a lot of students are like you know, I really don't have time for that, I can't tutor what? What would your response be to some of your colleagues in school who are saying that I really don't have time to tutor? What would your response to that be?
Speaker 3:my response would be like would be that tutoring is actually studying, because everything we learn from mb1 to mb4 is going to come back, so you really need to revise those things. Most of the time we're focusing on the current semester subjects that we're learning while forgetting that the things we did last semester, the semester before, we still need to know those things. So whenever I have sessions, I just see it as this is time for me now to go back and kind of review those sessions. So when it comes MD5, when I'm taking comprehensive exams, I will already have, you know, studied those portions and I wouldn't have to go back again for you know another time, maybe just a quick review. So really it's helping yourself and helping the other person. It goes both ways, I think. So I really suggest or like encourage people to do it because it's really helpful.
Speaker 2:Okay, so is there any kind of student who you think would not make a good tutor Is?
Speaker 3:there any kind of student who you think would not make a good tutor? Um, maybe someone who isn't able to take I wouldn't say take correction. But, like you know, when you're tutoring someone, you don't want to act like you know everything. You need to be a little bit humble, because and you need to be patient as well, because sometimes you might have to explain something in different ways and you ways, and multiple times before they understand, and you don't want to make anybody feel like you know, feel less of themselves. So you really need to be humble, you need to be patient. I think that's two very important things. So if you aren't able to do that, then maybe tutoring isn't for you.
Speaker 2:I see, and, generally speaking, do you think you know? As I mentioned, a lot of students are talking about time constraints. Can you tell me a little bit about how you're managing your schedule, Because obviously you're on the Dean's list, you're doing very well, you're still making time for other students but at the same time, you seem to be in very good control of your schedule. Are there any tips or tricks that you would recommend in order to manage schedules?
Speaker 3:how do you do it really that's the question after eight hours of classes doing tutoring and still acing your exams so I would say try to make as much and I've been saying this since mv1 try to make as much as you can out of the class times because, yeah, we're in class almost eight hours almost every day, so you have two hours per lecture, so you really want to make sure you're assimilating the information that's being given to you. And that's how I, when I'm learning as an actively while I'm there, and then after school I can focus myself on questions and then not like going back to the slides, because going back to the slides after class is really time-consuming.
Speaker 3:I've personally never been able to do that, so trying to make the most of being in class and then afterwards do the questions. If there are concepts I see myself constantly getting wrong or not understanding, then I go, you know, watch few videos, read a few books, and that's just how I manage my time, because there's really no time. But you really need to make the most of the little time that you have and also rest, sleep. I sleep. I don't lose sleep as much as people would think, because I think it's very important for the memory. That's probably another secret. I have make sure you sleep because not sleeping will make you forget.
Speaker 3:I sleep a lot and it keeps my memory intact, I think that's.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So unpack that statement about making the most of class a little bit more. How do you make the most of an eight hour class?
Speaker 3:Well, just trying to. If you're following along with the slides or you're trying to listen to what the professor is saying, just try to understand at least the main thing that you're talking about. You don't have to remember every single point. Because I think the mistake people make is that whenever the teachers tell you you you're learning 80 of your learnings in class, they feel like you need to know 80. But the truth is, after most lectures I don't like when the questions, because a lot of the times the professors will have questions after class and half of the time I can't really answer the questions in that moment. So like it's not like you
Speaker 3:have to know what you just learned, but try to at least assimilate some things so when you go back you don't, because to me, reading a slide that someone else made when they haven't explained it to you is very time consuming, unless you won't read their slides eventually. But that's what I mean by making it most of the time you have, because it's not like I'm sitting in class and I'm like after the lecture, I know everything, I'm answering the questions, the opposite. I'm always like what's happening right now. But then I go back and while I'm doing my own personal study, what I've listened to and what I've learned comes back and I'm like, okay, now this makes sense. I take it at my own pace, I see.
Speaker 2:And do you do any preparation before attending the classes?
Speaker 3:Sometimes, but not often, because I try to, but not as much.
Speaker 3:But that really helps especially in classes where it's things like biochemistry, where you're learning pathways, I have suggested to many people to at least watch a 10 to 15 minute video before class. That's what I did in biochemistry. That's probably the one class, and maybe pharmacology as well, because now I'm taking pharmacology and it's something you kind of have to have an idea of some of the drugs that are going to be mentioned and a little bit about how they work. So watching videos before class at least to get your mind ready to hear what you're going to hear, especially if it's something you have no idea about, because, like I said, like two hour lecture to go over a whole something that's probably taking people in other school maybe two, three days to go over. So you need to really make sure you have an idea before you go to class. Don't go to class completely blank, especially when you notice that you're having a hard time following. They know there's no time, but there are short 10 15 minute videos, just you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah okay, and and what about during class, when you're assimilating all this information? What do you mean by assimilation?
Speaker 3:well, sometimes, when you're listening to the professors, try to understand what are they actually saying and if you have questions you can ask, or ask during office hours. A lot of people don't really use the opportunity of going to meet the teachers after. So, like, if you're not understanding something, you're trying your best, you can ask them after. But what I'm saying by assimilates is I'm trying to understand what is the main point of what they're trying to say. So when we're learning something like, let's say, glycolysis for instance, and she's trying to tell you all the enzymes and how they're working with each other, the main points of that class is really to know your regulatory enzymes and when they are deficient. So when someone has a deficiency in a certain enzyme, how will they manifest, what signs will they show and what, um, how will they present? So things like that. You need to know what's the main point of this class.
Speaker 2:try to understand that and it will help you okay, and and while in class, do you have, do you actually take, or are you just entirely paying attention to the teacher?
Speaker 3:So I take, I take notes, but, um, trying to understand, for then I'll take a note. Just, you know, sometimes highlight some key points, but taking notes if they're explaining something and you are like not sure, so just trying to write down what they're saying, so you go back and read it yourself, because sometimes you can understand, I'll remember this, but you need to put pointers next to the notes. So you know. Okay, this is how I understood it in this moment, because sometimes you know you learn something and when you go back you're like wait, what does this mean?
Speaker 3:you knew it before, but you need to, you know right okay, I understood it in xyz way and then that will help you for your reviewing.
Speaker 2:So you're basically saying that you're not sitting there while the professor's teaching, you're not taking feverish notes, you're really actively listening and then really jotting down the main issues and then, when the class is over, essentially you go back that evening and then you kind of review those topics that you thought were noteworthy and are essentially doing a deeper dive into those particular topics. Uh, is that an accurate representation?
Speaker 3:yes, but at the same time, you know, it's a little bit different for each class. I'm thinking now about what I'm doing now. What I'm doing now, that is what I'm doing now. But in md1, when I took histology because the professor was explaining it's in a very simple way, so I was trying to write down everything he said, because annotating or transcribing what he was saying was really helpful for me.
Speaker 3:And then something like microbiology, where there's a lot of information. You also want to make sure you are capturing a lot of those bacteria and viruses and the drugs. So it depends on the class, things like that. Yes, I'm taking feverish notes, but the other things, like physiology, for instance, instance, you really want to understand how it works. Taking notes might not help as much. You really want to understand how it works. But when it's a class where it's information you're getting giving and you're being given and there are no, it might not be on the slide or it's something that if someone has asked the question and something comes up, you do want to take note of those important things if you can. It just depends on the class. Really, it's okay, yeah so.
Speaker 2:So, if I heard you right, it almost sounds like you had a particular strategy to approach classes in md1 versus an md4. Your strategy is different yeah and so your strategy went for taking lots of notes in the beginning classes to more active listening at MD4.
Speaker 3:Yes, is that right, mm-hmm?
Speaker 2:How did you decide that your strategy needed to change?
Speaker 3:Um, how did I decide? Well, md4 just started, so I just decided because I was now I know more. I think by MD4, you know a lot more, like the person I was in being of MD1 is totally different person now, like I know more, so I don't really have to take as many notes of every single thing because you know more, so you can just focus on paying attention, refreshing your memory, because now, learning pathology, we're learning a lot of the genetic disorders which we already learned in MD1. So it's more like a refresher and I don't have to be writing down everything because these are things that you already kind of know, which I like. Like a lot of the classes we always talked about clinical correlates, so now with pathology, they are almost like a revision to those diseases that you've already learned about Nice.
Speaker 2:And that's very interesting because you know I mean, I'm going to be very honest A lot of students, when they come into an accelerated program like ours, are usually struggling Not usually, but a lot of them are struggling and I think the things that you pointed out are very, very mindful and deliberate, in the sense that those strategies seem like generic enough that they will help everybody, but surprisingly, not everybody does that. And again, I've dealt with a lot of students. A lot of students will probably come to class and do something that is completely irrelevant to the class that they're sitting in for. So, for example, if they're doing a histology class, they might be doing a whole different subject or they're not focusing on the chapter. Do you think that that's advisable at all?
Speaker 3:honestly, I don't know, because I don't really do that, but I do see people doing that and I think it's the fear that you don't have enough time.
Speaker 3:Maybe the one time I would do that is, let's say, I have a quiz that day and I'm in another class and you're like you feel like you're not fully ready and you might want to like be looking at your other class notes for the quiz you have after this class. So I see why you could do that, but I think it's the fear of falling behind another class and you're like you just have to do what you have, I guess. But I would not advise it.
Speaker 2:I rarely do that unless I have a test and I'm still unprepared for Well if there was any irony, I think that is it that you have the fear of falling behind. As a result, you're not paying attention in class and then you really fall behind in that particular class. That's a very interesting take on things. So, going back to tutoring, how much time do you allocate to tutoring?
Speaker 3:So it depends. I usually have my hours open from five to seven on most days, except Sunday. I don't have any sessions on Sunday, but I usually have it five to seven on most days, and except the days where I have a quiz the next day. So I only block out the days where I have a quiz the next day. So I only block out the days where I have a quiz the next day, or maybe I just want that like that evening off. But on average, let's say, two hours a week. It's not really as much as it seems, but recently, this semester, I've had more sessions booked. I think I've already done 11 in three weeks. So 11 hours in three weeks is about almost four hours a week, which seems like a lot, but it's really not, because it's like one or two a day and then you're done. So generally I would allocate maybe if I do eight hours, eight hours is quite a lot. Let me say, four hours a week is probably going to be my max. So that's what I would allocate.
Speaker 2:All right, and is there typically any compensation with tutoring associated with tutoring?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so for each session, which should last 45 minutes to an hour, we get $15 off tuition. Yeah, so per hour, $15.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that's amazing. So this is not just free. You actually benefit a little bit by reducing your tuition burden. It's almost like a scholarship, if you will. But again, I mean, as I mentioned, a lot of students just don't want to do tutoring because they keep saying that, no, I don't have the time, et cetera, et cetera. But you're saying the tutoring has really, really benefited you to assimilate or consolidate some of the concepts that you might have had a hard time with Now. Have you had any regrets doing all this tutoring?
Speaker 3:No, not at all. No, not at all. And it's given me the opportunity to get to know some of these students at a better time. Because you're in your class most of the time, don't really get to know people in other MD levels, so it's given me the opportunity to get to know some other people, which is good.
Speaker 2:Okay, so the other thing that a lot of students really want to know and they always talk about is work-life balance, or study-life balance in your case. Can you touch upon that a little bit and tell me, number one, what that really means to you and, number two, how are you doing in achieving a study life balance?
Speaker 3:Well, I don't go out much, but my life balance is that I like to sleep, so when I'm not, yeah. So if I'm sleeping, yeah, I need to sleep. And I don't know how I do it. Let me think yeah, I just okay. The only time where I would come back from school and probably be like maybe not to an all-nighter, but stay up even when my body is telling me I need to sleep, is a day, two days before my test. Normally, I sleep at least seven, six, seven hours every night that's not a whole lot of sleep.
Speaker 2:By the way, you made it sound like you're I mean we're meant to trust me.
Speaker 3:Some people are sleeping like three hours, I don't know, like I don't know. I actually don't know how many hours I sleep, but I do sleep a lot. I don't wake up like groggy or tired. If I'm feeling sleepy I will go and lay down, but I think that you just need to make a tiny table. I have a tiny table, like I will write down each day, because you, I really can't do multiple things in a day. I focus one day. I'm gonna focus on this subject or this course tomorrow.
Speaker 3:I'm going to do this. I first of all put down all my exam dates and then I will organize it in such a way that when the exam date is coming up, then I will start to focus on those lectures, but then in between I'm trying to catch up on the other things that I have to do, so that I don't wait to the very last minute. And then it's like everything's you know, I don't know, piled up. So I always write make a schedule. I make a schedule for everything. Like I don't know piled up, so I always write. Make a schedule. I make a schedule for everything. Like everything to the hour. Six to seven. I'm going to do this seven to eight. I'm going to do this just to keep myself on track so that I can, you know, try to be on time.
Speaker 2:So it seems like there's a lot of self-discipline, and how do you enforce that with yourself?
Speaker 3:I just tell myself that you know this is what you wanted to do like and you just have to make it. You have to make it out.
Speaker 1:You have to yeah.
Speaker 3:So when you think about how much you really want to do something, you just want to keep going and you want to be done as soon as you can, so let's focus on the goal. Focus on the goal.
Speaker 2:You know.
Speaker 2:That's very interesting that you say that, because I've I deal with a lot of students, I deal with a lot of practicing physicians, I also deal with a lot of alumni as well, and I also deal with some students who aren't successful and and I and I think I've always said this that it seems like intelligence is what it is.
Speaker 2:I mean, and you do need obviously some basic intelligence, but you don't need to be a Mensa member or something like that to do well at anything, not just medicine, but at anything. But it seems like most people who aren't successful as students are students who really haven't prioritized achieving their goals. And I think that's exactly what you're saying, that students who are on the island and are thinking that you know what, I'm going to take a nap, when I don't necessarily, you know, need to, or I'm going to do everything else because this particular chapter is too hard and I want to avoid it. But it seems like you definitely have that self-discipline that you're forcing yourself to go through it just because you have your eyes on the prize, so to speak, which is obviously becoming a licensed physician. And I think what you're saying really echoes my observation, which is, the only students who aren't successful are students who aren't prioritizing their goals and their careers.
Speaker 3:Rina.
Speaker 2:Pardon.
Speaker 3:I'm glad there's something you mentioned and I'm glad you did, because it's reminding me of something you said. Sometimes some people would want to take a nap when they don't want to face, be like, okay, this chapter is too hard. I want to just not focus on that right now. And I think a big part of why people don't do well is fear and feeling like they're not good enough, because I've heard a lot of things from people like talking about you know, maybe I'll take comp like three to three times. Or, you know, a lot of people don't think they will pass the first time, which I feel like you shouldn't be saying that to yourself.
Speaker 3:Even from MD1, people were already to the point where they know they won't pass it the first time. You can't say that to yourself, and I think that that's something that I've never thought. I've never thought that you know and not good enough to do this. I mean, people have done it, so you can do it too. Is the fear like sometimes I feel scared too, but I have to push myself because the fear okay, the fear is going to be there, but I'm the one that's going to face the consequences of succumbing to that.
Speaker 3:So it's the fear. I know a lot of people are really scared and they don't believe in themselves. That's really what it boils down to.
Speaker 2:Right. So I want to talk to you about something. I don't know if you've ever heard of this term, but have you heard of the term manifestation?
Speaker 2:Yes, but have you heard of the term manifestation? Yes, it's almost like if you're planning to take the exam multiple times. You're manifesting, you know, failure and not manifesting success, whereas you, on the other hand, are manifesting success, and I think that that's a very, very big difference. Constantly telling yourself I'm not good enough, you know what. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you end up not being good enough, whereas somebody like you, you're coming in guns, a blazing, saying you know what? I'm here for a job, I'm gonna get it done, I will, you know, relax and I will take it easy when I achieve my goals.
Speaker 2:And I think, generally speaking, that is a very, very, uh, very good advice. And I think, uh, in your tutoring sessions, you should really talk about that do about students and how to study, because I sometimes feel that a lot of people, given the volume that you have to go through, get overwhelmed and they're like you know what, I'm not even going to do, that I'm going to go take a nap, or you know what? I'm just going to go out and have a drink with my friends and maybe things will get better the next day. But if you're not chipping away at it, things aren't getting better, they're probably getting worse.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's very, very interesting. When you do tutor the students, do you ever really talk about study techniques and not just the actual material they had?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I try to. I also give them links. I try to tell them what works for me and, you know, try to help them out in the best way that I can.
Speaker 3:But you know, and I also tried to give them pep talks too, because sometimes it's, yeah, they do feel overwhelmed. I let them know you don't really have to be, you know, shouting the answer out in class, like I never did that, because I mean now I can, because I know more, but in the very beginning, um, yeah, it was all new. So you're just trying to, you know, learn as much as you can. Don't feel, you know, discouraged, don't feel like you can't do it, because I kind of had a little bit of no, I won't say self doubt. But, you know, coming into a school and half of your classmates are either nurses or paramedics or physician assistants, like, and then I have no medical experience or anything of that sort. So it almost got to me. But after the first test I did really well and I was like, oh okay, so I can do this. But even if you don't do well in the first one, you don't give up, don't feel less than because you're here for a reason and you just have to keep going.
Speaker 2:All right, in your way you look, in your world view, do you really think that there are? So I should caveat my question by saying most people who go to medical school have a certain degree of motivation, typically a motivation that is greater than the average person. That's why they're in med school to begin with. Now, in your worldview, do you think that there might be some people who shouldn't be there at all because they don't have the right temperament, they don't want to, etc. Etc. And be honest with your answer.
Speaker 3:I mean, yeah, of course there are a few people who you know well, for whatever reasons, I'm not sure what the motivation is, because I feel like for you to come here, a lot of us have, you know, we have degrees from before or you know a few years out of college. So to me I feel like everyone brought themselves here, but at the same time, you don't really see the motivation in some people. It feels like someone forced them to be there, which I sometimes find very difficult to understand. But yeah, you really can't tell anyone where they should be or where they can't be.
Speaker 3:But at the same time, the system will end up taking out those who aren't probably able to do it or aren't motivated enough, because you really need a lot of motivation, not just for med school. After you finish, you still have to do residency, which is its own beast, so it's just how it is.
Speaker 2:And I will let you know that residency is really just the beginning because once you become board certified, that board exam if you think USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 or the NBME exams are hard, the board exams are much, much harder.
Speaker 3:It's much.
Speaker 2:And these are things that you have to take. These exams are exams that you have to take practically lifelong. As long as you're going to be practicing, you'll be taking exams. So fortunately or unfortunately, I think medicine requires you to be a good test taker. The good news is that med school, with the number of exams that you are taking, you will become a good test taker by the end of it. Speaking, you will become a good test taker by the end of it. So, board exams the content is a lot more dense than what you will ever see in step one or step two, but at the same time, by that time, you're so honed and so polished that the exams are relatively feel easier, but content wise there aren't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, speaking of yeah, go ahead Sorry.
Speaker 3:I agree with that. That's so funny because I was thinking about it a few days ago, about how I have maybe four or five classes. Each class has four quizzes, two exams, and it's like when you calculate it, it's like I have 20 something tests in four months and it feels normal now, but if you think about it it's actually not normal. Like you said, being in med school forced you to be a good test taker. My test anxiety has drastically gone down, because how many times am I going to be anxious before I go in for a test? I'm taking this so much that I'm just like you know, it's 150 questions, okay. Whatever I'm just going to go in, it's 150 questions, okay. Whatever I'm just going to go and sit down, do my questions. It's actually yeah, that's probably the biggest shocker for me the amount of tests and the amount of questions it is going to do. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:Okay, so tell me this Anizu, at any point did you have test taking anxiety?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I still do to an extent a little bit, because you know you want to do the best for me. It's because I want to do really well, so I'm like I have to put my trust best foot forward. Am I going to remember everything that I've studied? So that's where my and I think I also have. I wouldn't say I push myself. I try to push myself a bit too much. I put so much pressure on myself sometimes. So for me now it's not just about passing, it's about like I want to get an A in my classes. So that's why I'm, I'm, I'm anxious, yeah.
Speaker 2:OK, but, but I think that that's a good kind of anxiety that you know. Oh my God, these questions. I'm looking at these. I don't know that I will get a perfect score but I might get, you know, like a B but not an A, but that's any day better. But that's a different sort of anxiety, to the point where, like and this is post-pandemic, to be very candid with you exam-taking anxiety seems to be an issue not just with St James students but just students across the board, and I know a lot of universities and I go to a lot of conferences. Everybody talks about this. That, especially post-pandemic.
Speaker 2:The management of anxiety, and exam anxiety in particular, seems to be getting harder and harder for a lot of folks. And this is not generational, it's not a Gen Z or a issue or a Gen Alpha issue at all. This is across the board. People seem to be having a lot of anxiety issues, a lot of anxiety issues, and it's really heartening to hear that you had something on those lines. To whatever extent it might have been, but through hard work and really repeated practice and really focusing on the tests, you have done better and better. So that's really, really impressive and I think, as you seem to have a very, very good plan about tackling and you're very systematic and methodical about tackling these things. I mean, you know, as people say, that you know even the ocean is made with a single starts, with a single drop of water.
Speaker 2:So I think and that's kind of the approach that you've taken and no matter how big the material, you're going to take small baby steps, focus on that baby steps, build the foundations and then keep going up and up and up, which is exactly what you've done. So now, speaking of you know we talked about board exams and residencies. Why don't you tell us a little bit about where your aspirations are?
Speaker 3:Okay, so I really want to go into cardiology, however that may be, if it's, you know, being an interventional cardiologist or a cardiothoracic surgeon, but anything to do with the heart is where I would like to be, mostly due to family experiences. So, yeah, I lost my father. He had, he had a heart attack. So now the cardiology thing is really like very personal for me. So I would really want to do that, you know, in honor of him and to also help other people other people, okay, and um, do you have a plan?
Speaker 2:do you know? So, since you are from nigeria, do you want to go back to nigeria? Do you want to stay in the united states? Do you want to stay in the caribbean? Do you want to go, uh, the, uh, the united kingdom? Do you have any? Have you thought about this? How how have you laid this out in your, in your mind?
Speaker 3:I mean for training purposes. I would prefer to be trained in the United States and just, you know, possibly practice there and also, you know, go home for more pro bono work, because that would be the best route for me.
Speaker 2:Okay, so our clinical dean, who is an alum from St James, dr Gujarati. He's in internal medicine, so most of our students do get into internal medicine and I think that that's the typical pathway to become a cardiologist pathway to become a cardiologist. So at some point I would highly recommend reaching out to we have over 800 graduates practicing medicine across the United States and Canada. Reaching out to them, as many of them as you can, talk to them about the pathway, and I genuinely think that that'll open some doors for you. But I do think that that's a very noble aspiration and, in fact, once you come to the United States, I will introduce you to some of our clinical faculty who have done exactly what you just said.
Speaker 2:They've come from different parts of the world. They have practiced in the United States, they're making good money and what they're doing is they're giving back by starting up, not for profits, in their local regions, whether it's Africa, whether it's South Asia, whether it's some of them. Even, you know, one of our board board members went back to rural america and started setting up practices there and just giving back, and I think that that is truly the thing that sets students from st james apart from the, the, the rest of the students who and I'm going to be honest, a lot of students, especially the newer group of students that are coming into medicine really want to do this for the money, because apparently it's for them. It's a quote unquote easy way to make like a huge salary which is not easy and.
Speaker 2:I think, and that's what I keep telling them. You know, I mean this is not an easy way, but a lot of people don't see that. A lot of people will watch a couple of movies, TV shows, maybe a couple of personalities on television, and are like, oh you know what that sounds great. I'm just going to do it without much thought to it. But I think what you've done is obviously you've thought about this, You've planned it out and the way you're tackling everything. I can almost guarantee and I'm no soothsayer and I'm no clairvoyant, but I can tell you that you have an exceptionally bright future just because of the way you're approaching the methodical and systematic approach of taking huge portions of a curriculum and breaking it down and mastering it. Thank, you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being so methodical about this and thank you for being a tutor where you're passing this information and this knowledge on, because, I'm going to be very honest with you, in a lot of the conferences that I go to, a lot of the educators say the same thing that, especially with the changing times, with how we ingest information, where everything is 30 seconds, that you know that, that expectation that I'm going to be able to focus better and essentially set their expectations right, because studying medicine, as you pointed out, with the amount of hours that you're putting in with tutoring and classes and studying afterwards, it's not a 30 second video, it's not watching a couple of Instagram threads. This is hard work and it takes a lot of energy and you have really gotten it down to a science and you're really encouraging other students that you're tutoring to follow the same. So thank you so much for that and I'm sure all the students that you're helping out really appreciate that a lot.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, anizu, for giving us such an insightful view into the day in the life of a student at St James, and what's particularly heartening is that you really don't seem to be afraid or fearful or apprehensive of the coursework and course material, and you really break it down into small pieces, master those small pieces and keep building on it, and I think that truly is the secret to success. But thank you so much for providing us that glimpse into how to prepare and how to study for medicine. If you liked the content that we shared today, please do not forget to give us a like and a follow. It goes a long way for us and if you are interested in more content, please feel free to download more episodes of Med School Minutes from any of your favorite podcast platforms. And remember, before signing off, there's no shortcut to being an MD.
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