Enjoy the process-Success is the journey NOT destination
Nicholas Cheong MBBS Batch 15
Medicine – the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries. When someone walks up to you and tells you that he is training to be a doctor, you almost instantly develop admiration for him. Undeniably, there is some sort of magnanimousness connected to the profession. There is, I believe, some elements of nobility tied to it.
When I say nobility, I am not talking about the state of being of noble birth nor am I saying that we (doctors-to-be) are a privileged class holding hereditary titles. Nobility here simply means the state of having high and exalted character, a certain character the public expect all medical professionals to possess. The time spent in medical schools is not just about the grades. And NO, it’s definitely not about finishing top in class each academic year. It’s not about trying to be smarter than every other person, which of course is not possible since different people excel at different things. I am not saying that securing good grades is of no importance – it is! But, so much emphasis is placed on getting good grades that people tend to forget to enjoy the whole blessed learning process.
By enjoying I am not asking you to put on your partying boots, I am just reminding you of one of the great joys in life – to be a student, to be a learner. Learn how to learn. Learn how to accept failure. Learn to accept that everything that happens throughout your life as a student is meant to add colors and joy to your life. It happens to all of us. You miss classes intentionally or unintentionally. You sometimes get up in the morning feeling extremely reluctant to get out of bed. Occasionally you have this compelling urge to run out of lecture, not because you are any smarter than the one who is reading the lecture but more because you are unable to absorb whatever is taught, as cephalic saturation is imminent. There are times you get frustrated because you feel like the amount of hours you spent studying and your test results do not tally. Do not be disheartened. On our path to become a doctor, you will face ups and downs, there are good and bad times. This is absolutely normal if you ask me. I call this the learning curve. What is more important is that you enjoy the whole learning process. And when you get there, it does not matter how many times you have taken a tumble, what matters is you are there. A certain someone once told me that the end is what justifies the means.
If you are happy doing what you do and more importantly, if you enjoy it, there is no doubt that you will be good at it. It is my belief that a great learner makes a great person. So when someone asks me what makes a great doctor, I’d say: a learner.
Source: AIMST University Faculty of Medicine Newsletter Volume 2 (August 2010 – Febuary 2011)
