help pls

[Idont_]

I am a first year medical student. I study hard but I don’t get the results for it.

today I had a test and I prepared a week in advance for it. It was out of 5 and I got only 0.5… what do I do?

[sunshinefan]

Can you talk to your professor and ask them what else you can do to improve? Can you get a tutor? I'm sorry you are going through this.

[Idont_ in reply to sunshinefan]

Unfortunately, this subject has a different professor every week and I cannot talk to anyone. Preparing and yet getting bad marks or even worse failing is preventing me from working for my other subjects

[tommy2toes]

Is there anybody in your orbit who can help? Specifically, I am thinking of a class mate or perhaps a senior student if you live in residence? Does your university have a study skills service or academic counselor? I ask that because, obviously being a medical student, you have the aptitude to learn. However, in that you are a 1st year, perhaps you just haven’t got your ducks in a row. In saying that, I am thinking about when I was a senior in a university residence who was directly responsible for making sure that the 1st years on my floor got their act together with their academics. Whatever the case, you need to go on the front foot regarding this issue.

[Idont_ in reply to tommy2toes]

It’s not just about this particular test… I’m always going through this. I work hard but don’t always get the result for it. The others who study lesser than me actually get better. And my feelings get worse when they admit that they didn’t study well yet managed to score well and that they have good luck.

[tommy2toes in reply to Idont_]

A couple of comments. Medicine as a study and career choice is like that. It is a magnet for very gifted students. If you get through, your profession will mean that you will also encounter a lot of very serious, smart and methodical people. You need to know that off the bat. Likewise, you should realize that just getting a seat at the table to begin with means that you are smart enough to be there. What I am saying is that you don’t have to constantly worry about everyone else, all you need to get sorted are your own study skills so that when the buzzer rings in the exam setting you, can come out swinging and hitting your target. Put in a different way, because you claim to be putting in the hours, and because you are only in 1st year, I think it would be rather a safe assumption to assume that you are either revising inefficiently or psyching yourself out. You need to address such issues immediately, because unlike high school, university (at least when I went) was all about doing it for yourself, and the devil take the hindmost.

[Idont_ in reply to tommy2toes]

Thank you so much

[tommy2toes in reply to Idont_]

You are more than welcome.