Amidst COVID-19 outbreak, The Med Addict encourages you to stay indoors. No doubt its really difficult to stay at home 24/7 but unfortunately its the need of hour.
Children are facing a difficult time sitting at home during summers instead of monkeying around and playing with their friends. Med Students are thinking of ways and means to bunk the digital classes and sneak into their blankets to watch their favourite episode of THE GOOD DOCTOR & of course MONEY HEIST.. Workaholic daddies are having a really bad time, lol! Who could have thought that a minute virus which is hard to see with the naked eye could create such an imbalance and affect the lives of everyone in such diverse ways? This tiny microorganism has changed the definition of “humans being social animals” to “humans being caged victims”.
I am going to share with you how I plan to spend my days at home by limiting my use of social media and optimizing this time into spaces of growth this quarantine. So here it goes-
Starting A Side-Hustle:
You have been procrastinating on learning a new language, moving that calligraphy pen flawlessly, editing a video or becoming an expert at photoshop? Start a journal or blog. Sure, it can be about the coronavirus, but it could also be about a specific interest from chess to cheese.
Meditate:
Meditation is one of the best things you can do right now to relieve stress and improve your well-being. Try lying down with your eyes closed, palms up and while focusing on your breath. Or spend 20 minutes sitting cross-legged and repeat a soothing word to yourself in your head.
Study:
During this unprecedented time, when people around the globe are finding themselves home-bound for weeks at a time, things have to be done differently. You may be home by yourself, or quarantined along with your partner or entire family—either way, study preparations for an exam like the MCAT will need an adjustment to allow you to fully focus. Before the pandemic, it was easy to escape to study at a coffee shop or library (or at least somewhere silent), but we’re now readjusting to a new normal in which home studying is the only option.
Take a virtual trip at home:
With travel basically at a standstill, it’s time to embrace a new way to see the world — virtual travel and virtual tours. Thanks to the World Wide Web we can go pretty much as far as desired — all without a passport. Below we’ve rounded up the very best ways to experience the world outside our homes from the comfort of our couches, all broken down by different activity types to make it easier to get going.
Staying fit and healthy at home:
Gyms and workout studios are closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun by staying healthy while trapped indoors. Hotels are sharing their best workout tips and tricks while celebrity fitness instructors are taking to social media to do the same.
Taking care of your mental health during quarantine:
This list is full of things to keep you entertained and smiling while stuck at home, but the truth is we’re all dealing with the stress of living through a global pandemic. Now, more than ever, it’s important to take care of yourself, your mind, and your emotions.
Learn a new language:
Want to know how to say, “quarantine stinks” in five other languages? Now is a great time to learn or practice a new language. Duolingo is an easy-to-use, totally free app that gives daily lessons in 35 different languages.
Go for a walk or run:
In most places, unless you are under a strict stay-indoors mandate, you are still allowed to go outside for exercise while still following self-quarantining rules. (Not in groups and while staying at least six feet away from others, of course.) This is something you should take advantage of daily as exercise and sunshine are two of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health.
MCAT/MDCAT is actually a MCQ's based entrance test for the students who want to secure admission to MBBS & BDS Courses in various Medical Schools around the country. The word MCAT/MDCAT has always given chills to pre-med students but this time don't you worry because I have got your back.
But here are few tips on how to prepare for MCAT/MDCAT in a long run.
Now students just get only a few months for the preparation. Therefore PURI JAAN LGAA DO. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. First of all, you need to do all your text books very thoroughly. Biology,Chemistry, Physics, English; you guys need to have full command on all these subjects
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2. FOR BIOLOGY:
1st year, 2nd year both biology books should be on your fingertips. Learn each and every word by heart. Do all classifications, nomenclature everything ache se. Literally books ki lines as it is yaad kr lein.
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3. FOR CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS:
You need to do everything except the detailed derivations and numericals. Skip them. Do the rest ache se. Learn all the formulas and also brief numericals. There are few tips and tricks to solve mcqs, do learn those. ⠀
4. FOR ENGLISH:
Learn the basic concepts of grammer. Do the vocabulary achay se. If possible, do give your textbooks a read. This will help you in solving some of the MCQ's that are picked as it is from the textbook. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
5. Okay after doing text books, go for a MCQs BOOK. Choose one. I repeat CHOOSE ONLY ONE MCQs BOOK and do practice. Keep practicing. Don't go for so many books. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
6. In chemistry particularly, you need to do the equations thoroughly especially that Organic Chemistry as its confusing for some students. But I loved it lol. Also, the short numericals too. Theory to sari hi important hai.
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7. Study everyday. Be Focused. Don’t give up. I know it’s difficult to manage your routine especially during the Ramadhan. But keep yourself motivated. ITS NOW OR NEVER. Its a game on only few days then you will get there. Your dream your wishes will come true. Your parents will be so much happy. You get the prefix DR. with your name. It worths all your hard work.
8. Most importantly, never panic on the day of that Grand Test. This will give you no benefit at all. Stay focused, believe in your hard work and trust on Allah Almighty.
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9. Be strong you all. I’m always always here to help you. Hope this was helpful. If you have any question, you can ask freely.
Short answer: Yes! it is.
It’s hard in many different ways. It’s hard to feel like there’s always something to study. It’s hard to schedule your life around exams and rotations. It’s hard to keep telling your family, “No, I’m sorry, I can’t attend [insert smaller family event],” over and over again, until they stop asking. It’s hard to relate to people who aren’t studying medicine sometimes, and vice versa: it’s hard to feel alone, like that those outside your med school bubble just can’t understand. It’s hard to watch friends earn money and save up for a house or a family, while you know you’ll continue to be unemployed/in debt for the foreseeable future.
But it’s also easier than I could have imagined. For the first time in my life, I feel like there’s a purpose to my daily activities. I love what we study, so I wake up knowing that I’ll be expanding my current knowledge with each passing day. Looking forward, I know I’ll be gainfully employed in an incredibly rewarding field. Most days, medical school doesn’t feel like a nuisance or a sacrifice. Passion is the driving force, and a desire to be better and do better, not only for my sake, but for the sake of those future patients.
Please refer to the past papers for a general overview of the types of questions asked, topics covered, and the marks allocated to the topics asked.
Read the questions carefully. Each question has different segments. For example if you are asked to define, give factors involved, and discuss the mechanism of any relevant topic, definition will have its own marks (usually 2), factors will have marks of 1 or half per factor (depending on the number of factors, and their importance), and the remaining goes to description. 2-4 marks are allocated for diagrams (if relevant).
You may think that you have covered all the aspects of the topic, but still when it comes to marking, you don't get the expected score... it might be because you missed some points... or maybe the examiner couldn't see them...
To rule out the option of 'points missed by the examiner', make sure that each and every key point is adequately highlighted... Use colored markers... Write in the form of points (numbered or bullets) instead of paragraphs... If writing in paras, underline the key points...
There is absolutely no harm in attempting the entire paper with markers [yes, use pencil markers, not board markers :)]
I hope you know this by now, attempt the questions you know the best, first... it doesn't matter if each question is to be marked by different examiners... Examiners do see how you performed in other questions... so, its still a good idea to attempt the best ones first... moreover, it gives you a moral boost up that helps you attempt the questions you do not know...
Don't panic and I mean it, even if you don't know a single question, you still may be able to attempt the whole paper... just don't panic... Start with the question that you know something of.... even if you don't know anything of a question, write something, at least the definition and whatever you remember about that topic... You will be credited for that... no matter how less credit you get, its better than a zero...
And please be neat, at least your headings should be clearly legible...
And last, but not the least... Pray... Pray and Pray... that's the key to success in medicine... we have seen miracles happen :) Trust us... But don't rely on prayers alone... prayers work when you put in some effort... ;)
My Top Tips on How to Keep Going
1. Find your intrinsic study motivation
No one, except you, can motivate you. People come to me looking for study motivation, but sadly this motivation has to come from within yourself. Here are some tips on how to discover (or reignite) your intrinsic drive.
- Flicking through motivational quotes: “Remember why you started,” and “I didn’t come this far to only come so far,” are some of my favourites.
- Gratitude: when I remember how lucky I am to be where I am, studying what I am, it really puts everything into perspective.
- Envisioning your future, the goals you’re working towards. What you do today will get you closer to that, I tell myself. And it helps, as I imagine interactions with my future patients or answering questions correctly on the wards.
2. Staying away from
distractions
Addiction
to Social Media :
The use of social media has
been multiplied in recent years. Social media addiction has gotten to the
point where some people prefer Facebook over sex, do status
updates from the bathroom or upon waking at night. But a
new study finds that social media distraction in the classroom interferes with
visual, but not auditory, learning in college students. The paper is published
in Advances in Physiology Education. So, it surely has detrimental effects on
one's studies. Almost half of all college students use social
media for an estimated two to five hours a day. Previous research suggests
that unless social media activity in the classroom is related to
academic work, "distractive multitasking" on social media sites
leads to a lower grade-point average and poorer overall academic performance.
This is largely because students who focus on mobile devices during class are
not likely to fully acquire lecture information delivered visually.
However, whether or not they are able to retain information presented verbally is
less clear.
10 ways social media is distracting:
- You
seemingly have to watch what everyone else is up to: liking posts and
following the live feeds. Otherwise you might miss something – right?
- You find yourself stalking people…
wondering what they’re up to at any given time…
- You get drawn into content that might
be interesting, but isn’t relevant to your studies or purpose.
- You end up taking Wiki walks, even if
you didn’t mean to. (Randomly following Wikipedia links (or others) and
reading articles, which ends up wasting a lot of time) The longer the
walk, the more unrelated the articles become.
- You end up watching each account in
case anyone contacts you directly
- If anyone does contact or mention
you, you drop everything you’re doing and respond instantly to any
comment or communication that comes your way.
- There are too many accounts and feeds
to focus on.
- There are too many people to follow.
- You find yourself wandering the
social mediasphere aimlessly, looking for relevant content.
- You ended up looking at what your
friends were up to all day instead of doing your work.
Sound
familiar?
I know
people who have punted and just said no to using social media. While that is a
solution, it’s not a very relevant one for those of us who do want to be
effective in connecting with people near and far. A better one is making a
conscious choice about how you use your time moment by moment. Here
are some actions for avoiding social media and personal technology
distractions:
· Turn off alerts and notifications (do not disturb for iPhones and there are apps for Android users).
· Check e-mail only three times a day.
· Use a second monitor (to decrease window-switching time).
· Schedule regular blocks of time to turn off your phone.
· Try creating a “3 Most Important Things for Today List” at the start of your day. Then at the end of the day, look at it, reflect on what you did – and plan for tomorrow. The hard part is to not go online or check email until you get your three things done. We can practice this in session.
10 ways not to be distracted by social media:
- Close news and social media sites: A helpful tip is to create an aggregated feed of all your favorite news sites. This helps you avoid wasting time wandering the Internet for headlines and updates.
- Close your Internet browser when you’re working: The precious seconds it takes to load the browser when you feel tempted to go online may be just the moment you need to become conscious of the time you’re wasting. If you must be logged in on a continual basis, try restricting yourself to three or four browser tabs for work-related sites. Close everything else.
- Plan times to interact with it: You may need to schedule when you will use social media, check Facebook or post selfies. If you allow yourself scheduled time each day to do this you can focus more on getting your work done instead of wondering where that time went. Stick to those times!
- Stick to the plan: Be disciplined, trust your plan, stick to it and review how it’s working, when you said you would. (It’s ok not to be on IG (Instagram) all day, really!)
- Reflect and adjust: You will want to closely monitor yourself on a daily and weekly basis and make adjustments. You should regularly ask yourself the following questions. While these are related to your studies and how to better acquire new skills, you could just as well use them in any work or life situation.
- What is my main goal?
- What is my goal for the week?
- What do I need to do today?
- Where am I at the moment?
- Is this technique/schedule/place/relationship/situation working?
- Is it worth improving? How can I improve it?
- Find the right place to study or work: Picking the right place to study is crucial because it has a major influence on the efficiency of the learning process. While you might like to study in your room, you’ll easily be distracted by TV, video games, or fashion magazines lying next to your bed. A coffee shop might seem like a good option but it can be noisy at times. Be sure to find a quiet and well lit place. If you are planning on spending long hours working or studying, it’s a good idea to make sure that your chair and desk are ergonomically designed for greater productivity. A bad physical setup can mess up both your posture and your work efficiency. And don’t forget snacks!
- Managing Physical Space. When you see clutter in your physical work spaces, try to take that as a sign that you need to hit a pause button. Usually it is because you are doing too much.
- Try online quarantine. For extreme measures, install Freedom, Anti-Social, SelfControl, or RescueTime, which put a temporary barrier on your access to certain websites on the net. Add all your social media sites to the blacklist. We can do this in coaching!
- Cut down. Choose and use the right types of social media. You don’t have to have or use every one.
- Just Say No (#YOLO). Maybe you are going to say no to social media for a day and go to meet with people, read a book, or take a walk. When I’m feeling most overwhelmed, I take a break. Even if it is just to get up and walk around my desk. The important thing is to disconnect every now and then so you can re-center & focus.
Social media is awesome but when it starts interfering to the point that your grades are suffering, you can’t or aren’t getting anything else done it is time to try some of the above techniques. If you feel your social media use is to the point where it is really out of hand (see below for a few signs) please let me or someone else you feel comfortable with know.
Some Signs Your Social Media Use is Out of Hand
- Losing track of time online
- Having trouble completing tasks at work or home
- Isolation from family and friends
- Feeling guilty or defensive about your Internet use
- Feeling a sense of euphoria while involved in Internet activities
3. Take a guilt-free break
If you can afford to, take a break and enjoy it. Watch a movie, spend a few hours binge-ing a TV show, get a drink with a friend. Try your best not to overdo it (don’t stay up late and ruin your sleep schedule, or waste a study day with a bad hangover) but enjoy yourself. Eat some yummy food, work on your hobby, or read a book.
The next day, you’ll be as good as new: well-rested and itching to get studying. Remember, forgive yourself. Everyone needs breaks.
4. Listen to inspirational music
I prefer not to constantly listen to music while I’m studying, because studies have shown that even a bit of multitasking can be detrimental. But if I find myself losing focus or feeling demotivated, music can really lift my spirits.
5. Find a study buddy
Misery loves company, didn’t you hear? Humans are social creatures and spending hours upon hours in solitude can be draining. If you’re able to study well with a friend, call them up and ask if they’re up for a review session. Or just simply sit and study in the same room, taking breaks together — the laughs we have over lunch really re-energize me for the afternoon study session. Whenever we feel like life is too monotonous and we’re in severe need of study motivation, my med school friends and I schedule a cafe study day that we know might be less productive, but way more fun.
6. Change the scenery up
If you can’t study effectively in someplace other than a library, for example, consider switching rooms, or even desks. A small change can make a big difference.
7. Reward myself (Pre- or Post-Study)
Studying day-in, day-out is incredibly draining, so I find ways to keep my morale up. This often comes in the form of food (which isn’t the healthiest, I know) or delicious coffee. It’s much easier to talk myself into getting started with a revitalizing, yummy coffee in my hand. Since I’m an “instant gratification” kind of person, I usually reward myself PRE-study session, before I’ve even gotten anything done, but it still works.
8. Plan my to do list before going to bed
Somehow, this works almost every time. When I plan my day out the night before, I actually envision myself studying and I usually get excited to make that vision a reality. Then I go to sleep having something to look forward to: an ultra-productive day, and that positive outlook goes a long way.
It’s also helpful because when I wake up refreshed, I don’t have to spend precious energy on determining where or how to start: I’ve already got my game plan, all ready to go.
