In all faculties, the exam period is an obligatory moment which requires a good dose of concentration and preparation. The medical school seems to stand out for its voluminous syllabi which parade at revision time. Insomnia, fatigue or frustration, students must deal with it during the sessions. This blogger talks about how she is experiencing this period.
At the beginning of April, we see our exam schedule clearly posted on the notice board. We are entering the most difficult period ever where students, in this case medical students, are not allowed to be distracted. Some have already engraved the schedule on their profile or WhatsApp status to justify their absence throughout this period. I’m not alarmed, I’ve been discreetly preparing for combat for several weeks. However, I must be frustrated, because goodbye to outings with friends. Goodbye to small opportunities to earn a few pennies. I’m packing my bags and leaving home to study near others on campus.
Hard times
8am. I’m ready to blend into the syllabus. Each of us has a particular schedule for preparing our sessions. I spend more than ten hours a day sitting on the same bench without moving or blinking my eyes with the noble intention of assimilating all the material. My body and my brain make up their minds. The absolute silence and the focused heads that clutter the room have the power to ward off any evil spirits of distraction. After a quick lunch and a short nap, the ordeal continues until late at night while the rest of the population is probably snoring in their sleep.
« Have you been there without seeing it? » (Weren’t you conscious when you made the decision to enroll in this faculty?), my friends say ironically to me when I happen to recount my pain during the sessions.
Often, the courses are so voluminous that the closer the exam gets, the more we have to focus on the famous pipes (the standard tests which are used to prepare for the exams). Commonly called “Stick in the eye”, These are questions not to be missed, tickets to success. We bet and base our hope, our happiness and our honor on them. Imagine the disappointment and frustration when these tips don’t come up for review. The day before the exam, terror overwhelms all those who have not had time to delve into the syllabi of around a hundred pages each.
The fateful hour
What is tiring in the medical course during the sessions is this frantic memorization. On exam day, our brain threatens to fail as it flips through a multitude of pages to revise one last time. Some settle in corners far from everyone to be away from anything that could distract them. Prostrate in my corner, I look calm, but my body reacts to stress by sweating discreetly.
In a few moments, the die will be cast. I implore the universe to intervene on my behalf. Students are seen coming and going in places of comfort under the influence of anxiety.
When handing out the exam questionnaires, we impose yet another test on the brain. Joy is painted on our face when these are the tuyaux that we have revised which come back for review. Otherwise, it’s a disaster.
Regardless, most of us have one rule at the end of the exam: stay away from anything that even remotely resembles a syllabus. We allow ourselves a brief respite while knowing that the next day, student hardship awaits us.
In short, the sessions are not fun, including for me. In medicine, this equates to a period of isolation, fatigue and insomnia. We can’t wait for the end of the exams to get out of our lost hole and return to the world of the living. An end that will fully deserve to be celebrated and celebrated.
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2024-05-10 08:35:18