The irony in Medical School
It is ironic how willingly you pay a million to fund medical school, to become the hero who saves life. Yet the supposed future health care professionals were never given the opportunity to take care of themselves. They submerge themselves to thousands of pages, every single day. They cannot go through medical school without having several mental breakdowns. Sleep is a luxury that they could never afford. They are expected to learn proper nutritional recommendations to patients. Yet they can barely have adequate nutrition for themselves. They have no time to cook a healthy dish. They have to resort to fast food meals, which clenched the appetite and so is cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
If you miss just one chapter and you are labeled to be a disappointment, a tardy student who fail because of being irresponsible. You can never be understood from another view. You could have been ill, or is undergoing a tough time. But that is never given importance. Never did they once allow students to have time for their physiological needs. And this includes having the time to heal their mental self. After the examinations, they go back to normal classes the next week, like they were not mentally tortured just days ago. And as the victims - the students - of such torture have been stripped off their rights to say something against such practice. The uninvolved simply tell them to toughen up, that this is just the start. If you cannot survive the four years of torture then you can never handle the adult life.
They never once ask themselves why students are one of the clusters who experience stress often and severely. This objective data says something. But instead of finding the rationale behind the results of the study, they point the blame on students. The point here is, they are the hope for the future. How could they mend to a better place, if they need healing themselves and never given the chance?
Imagine having the lives of people depend on you when you barely have sleep. These students trusted the institution their future, whether it's their decision or from other factors. They spend a lot of money just to lose the passion for what they supposed to love. They stop seeing the light which leads them to believe in themselves, to believe in the profession. They gave years of lives for this. And in return, they are given never-ending self-doubts, an everyday Impostor syndrome chasing out their peace of mind. And so students feel like they are in a cage, in that four-cornered room. They lose their passion. And they began to see it as a mere responsibility, a burden.
If only this would be taken seriously. The educational system today is not worth a penny. But here we are admitting the children without coercion. Because no diploma means having no validation from respect. And I do not write to wash my hands from such accusations. This is an act to spread awareness to those who may reach this. I am a willing, too, despite how it has been placing my health at stake.
Measured through numbers
It is heartbreaking to see students give up their stethoscope and white coat dream because grades dictate pursuing of the otherwise. And something should be done. At some point, everything undergoes change. But one that stood tell through the course of time is the desperation to comply with the grading system. The number of students who undergo depression because of not being good enough. They try to nurse the wounds by assuring themselves that grade is just a number. In reality, a 74 is a failing grade, away from passing and towards the removal exam. See, the grading systems attack in two ways. Those who never measured to its worth by failing, even if they could have been excellent in the profession. If only it was not dictated of how plenty they could memorize. And the overachiever who struggle too. They are never satisfied with passing, or for just being that. They continuously strive to be the best. Because only the best are retained in memory. Only those who excelled receive acclaim and respect from their classmates and the faculty. The rest is just the others who do not get to be called by their names. Instead, they are addressed as passers or irregulars.
People need to be stopped being judged by numbers. Instead, there should be a new basis to know if they deserve it. They should not just be downsized to the general weighted average attained. There should be a more effective way of evaluating these students. The outcome-based program should be further implemented. This allows students to make use of their practical skills. At the same time, their evaluation should be measured by words and not my numbers. This allows professors to evaluate the fullest potential of students beyond 3.0 GWA.
Never changing the educational system
Education needs to be like fashion. There should be constantly evolving. They can freely choose the clothes which they comfortable. They should study for comfort, not to abide by just one law, when they have the world to choose from. Students in the four-cornered walls is a fashion style never changed. A lot has evolved from the world. It has become more modernized. And yet it is barely evident on the educational system. The students should be offered different options to utilize for her education. In reference to Psychology, there are many ways to which students can learn ranging from kinetics to visual learning. And the different needs of the students should be a concern. It is has been an urgent matter for a long time but never regarded with importance. They should not just be forced oblige to just one method of learning. The problem would always be the late innovators. They would never yearn for the change. They would try to fight it by telling students it is their responsibility to attend to whichever learning style they attend to their needs. The struggle in academics would prepare them in real life problems, in their defense. They should not stop seeing it this way. Instead, they should view the matter as a real-life problem, as well. The young minds have already been too exposed to problems and stress, and there seemed to be a no way out, but just to comply and keep a shut mouth. There may be different platforms that offer students learning through different methods. However, there still remain those who have no access to this luxury. The effort to innovate education is now, more than ever. And it is the responsibility of all those who affiliate; parents, students, professors, school head, and educational units. Diving into those thousands and thousands of pages has long been over as fashion trends. Why be stuck in the four-cornered room, when you could be studying at a trampoline?
Educate oneself with application
With those problems put under questioning, it is time to make the change that educational systems long for. First of which is to accept it as a problem. This begins taking the complains and difficulties of students as a serious matter. The preceding generations should stop calling them a diva, and the weaklings incapable of survival. Second is to promote the interventions. This is done by producing different educational systems style to which students can choose from. This should be readily available to students of all sectors, regardless of their financial upbringings. The intervention should also including giving more mental breaks to students. By giving them a long time to rest after their intensive examinations. The additional weekly breaks can be replaced by having less free time during summer breaks. Because two months of summer vacation is highly unproductive. Students dread for the start of classes, and yet when it finally resumes. They long for summer breaks because school becomes too stressful, without having adequate time for rest. The change that the educational systems depend not just to students but those aid in making it possible. But the question, "Are we ready to begin the change?"
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