Mistakes done by MBBS Student in first year!

Not being focussed enough

A lot of first year medicos take it for granted that because they cleared an entrance and got into medicine, things are going to be good henceforth. But no, it's just a myth our parents have been feeling with us since we were kids: “Finish 10th, you can chill. Do well on 12th, you can chill. Get into a nice college, you can chill.”

But you can never chill. Maybe after you retire.

So a lot of them feel because they've got into medical college, it's going to be a cakewalk, and that they're entitled to a medicine degree. No doubt it's taken a lot of hardwork and brilliance to get into medicine, but it's much more. The real game has just begun.

A lot of them tend to lose heart. Imagine, you're the topper of your class, with around 100 students max. People have had expectations from you all your life. You also meet those expectations. You prove your worth. You get into medical college. And what happens next? You have people like you in the whole class. Each one has been a topper in his/her class. So it's the creme de la creme of your graduating batch, all under one roof. It gets hard, to meet the competition. Everyone wants to do well.

Added to that, there's no more spoon feeding. You want to learn, learn; you don't want to, get out of class. No one really cares. Added to that, there's pressure from parents to score well. Imagine you've gotten nothing less than 95% throughout school and suddenly even passing becomes a herculean task. Marks are not given lavishly.

Plus you have a new environment, new teachers, new set of friends (maybe, maybe not), new way of life, new way of studying. Everything is new. You tend to lose focus. You want to have fun after that two years of grind. You want to let go.

And just like that, by the time you get adjusted, your first year is gone. You haven't studied from standard books, your teachers weren't that good(not all ofcourse), you don't know a lot of things that you're ought to know. You some how cram up all the information and take your exams. You pass, maybe get a first class or a distraction even.

And boom, second year. You realise a lot of it is actually an extension of what you learnt in first year. But you again chill.

So basically you mess up your basics in first year. And it takes a lot more time to learn those when you're in second year or third.

This is about a majority of medical students. A few of them are focussed and get their priorities right. But eventually, everything falls into place. If you've started early, it takes less time for things to fall in place. If not, then maybe more :)