Time management for medical students

1. TIME MANAGEMENT FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS
Dr.T.V.Rao MD
In the modern times of the world TIME has
created lot of importance in progress of the world, in
particular in a competitive world, where so many
people from own rank and cadre waiting to go forward
overbeating you. When I was a student there is little
importance of TIME everything is taken casually, and
there was not much competition for my progress and
my needs were very few. The world of competition has
gone beyond imagination if we do not progress with
TIME and make our presence we are lost in the race.
After being in Medical Profession for more than 4 decades,
I realise TIMEis a resource that must be managed in a
forward-looking way. It is not like money that you can put in
a bank and use at a later time. You must be prepared to use
it when the available time arrives.Actually, learning to
manage time so that you can get your work done at the
level of quality that your desire is an essential skill to learn
in medical college so that your practice of medicine can be
productive and satisfying while allowing time for other
important activities with family, friends, or simply to pursue
your own interests. Human by nature are lazy and work
when necessary. However Darwin’s theory proved that only
fit would survive rest will perish. Hope you do not disagree
with me asno one really wants to work any harder than
necessary to get the results they want. SIR WILLIAM
OSLER said essentially the same thing to medical students,
back in 1892, Medicalcurriculum is fixed with regulations of
Medical council of India, as we cannot alter to our
circumstances as a view at what you are supposed to
learn.Courses in Medical collegerun for a prescribed period
of time. Presently, basic science courses are a semester in
length while clinical clerkships are 4 weeks or 8 weeks in

2. length. You have to plan your time to adjust with frequent
change of postings Lay out on a monthly planner the dates
of all-major due dates and evaluation periods. Also place on
this planner the holidays, recess days and times that will be
occupied by family events or other essential events. The
basic sciences are most neglected in learning as every one
wishes to be clinical specialist how ever I always tell the
students you cannot progress unless you have a good
knowledge in basic sciences, even to get a seat in a post
graduate institution. Those of you in the basic sciences,
plan the times when you will be studying each major course.
For those of you in the clinics, the task is more complicated.
You will need to plan time when you can read about your
patients during the day, and, during other free time, to begin
to read about diseases for which you will be evaluated in the
examination.Now is the time to prioritize by giving yourself
more time to do the high priority topics. One task will be to
figure out when and how you learn best. The "when" is
important since all humans go through diurnal variations in
energy levels and the ability to concentrate? The "how" is
important since the proper "how to learn" will also be the
most efficient way to learn in each learning experience.
Remember that good learning involves planning your
approach and the use of PROVEN SKILLS. All our
students are grown up individuals you might try grading the
effectiveness of each study period on a +1 (not effective) to
a +4 (very effective) scale.Over time you will gain a sense of
what times and methods of study are the most effective for
you. You will also need to experiment with the amount of
time that you study outside of class. There is no magic
numbers and do remember miracles will not happen in
medical learning. The answer is getting the maximum yield
of learning while maintaining a reasonable balance in life it
is important to develop a routine, but it is also important to
keep a flexible attitude about how you use time. You may
not finish a task in the time allotted, or you may finish
sooner than anticipated. Things may come up that you

3. cannot predict. When you use an effective time
management plan with built-in flexibility, your stress level
will decrease. When your plan is too rigid and you worry
about being off schedule, your stress levels will increase.
Most students who were not regular cannot cope with
schedules and are stressed at the time
ofExaminationsleading to many failures is an essential part
of Wasting of time management plan. Learning to manage
stress is actually "preventive medicine"for both your
physical and mental health. The little of the TIME will help
for your progress. Learn to know the secrets of TIME. If you
can salvage ten minutes an hour, you can basically add an
extra day to your week. Ten-minute study periods are
excellent for a quick reinforcement of some principle or
concept that will move the information from short term to
long-term memory. The teacher’s should be mentors in
organizing the student’s skills in particular TIME
management and to be familiar in objectives in teaching and
learning,it is important to determine what it is you want to or
need to learn. Not everything is of equal importance.
Objectives help focus on the more important information. In
most cases teachers provide objectives. Few textbooks
contain learning objectives. Other times learning objectives
may not be explicit, and you will need to determine what is
important to learn. Some suggestions on how this might be
done are:
1. Pay close attention to the Teacher lectures, handouts,
and other learning material supplied.
2. After you identify a topic or concept that is important,
ask a series of questions about the topic or concept,
that, when fully answered, will provide essential
information necessary to understand the topic or
concept.
NEVER FORGET THE TIME LOST IS NEVER GAINED
Email

4. doctortvrao@gmail.com