how to survive anesthesia school

TexasGas · Apr 27, 2007

Take what people ahead of you say with a grain of salt. Although the next semester may be more intensie in study and might even increase in difficulty, peopl ehave made it. And they did it by doing what you have done this last semester. They dedicated themselves to learning and mastering the material. Whatever school you are attending had enough confidence in you to complete their program. There is a reason you are there, just finish this semester strong. get some sleep between the semesters, and gear up to do it again.

Just try to never get behind. I don't know your study habits, but this first semester should have demonstrated to you that most weekends and evenings belong to school. But after this hard dedication will come the fruits of your labor. Hang in there!

japaho41 · Apr 28, 2007

I feel your pain, being that I am almost done with my 1st semester as well. I think that the 1st semester is about adapting and that is putting that mildly, coping with your anxieties, and convincing yourself that you have the ablility to do this. I think the fear of getting kicked out sometimes overshadows our ability to succeed. Getting B's is about survival, 80 is par on this golf course.

jessi78 · Apr 30, 2007

hey - i totally feel your pain. and believe me, it will get worse before it gets better. HOWEVER, look to your classmates for support. i guarantee that most of them, if not all, are feeling the same exact way. the students in my class are so close and we push each other along. if i didn't have their support, i don't know where i'd be. reach out - you're all in it together. study groups are helpful as well as a few venting phone calls. no one understands better than someone going through the same exact thing. it feels like it's never-ending. but when we started this we knew it was about sacrifice and that this program would be one of the biggest challenges, if not the biggest, that we'd ever have to overcome. i KNOW that it will be all worth it in the end. keep on keeping on!

flightgirlrn05 · May 4, 2007

I'm not sure if this will work for you, but I found making up questions and putting answers on the back of index cards has helped me immensely. I take those cards everywhere I go. Just writing out the info makes it more permanent in my brain. Also, studying with others, bouncing things off of each other, and making up "quizzes" for the material has been great. I find that is what has worked for me and I have 3 children and getting good grades.

Good luck!

anyone have any advice that they might like to share on how to survive anesthesia school. i am almost done with my first semester and i feel that i have studied more in these 4 months than in my entire 4 years in undergrad. dont get me wrong i am enjoying it, but it is exam after exam after exam, and non stop studying to get B's. my confidence has completely hit rock bottom and now they are telling us that our next semester is even worse.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks

confused1234 · Jul 15, 2007

dont take this the wrong way, but studying more in 4 months than you did in your 4 years of undergrad? How are you enjoying this?? Im just wndering because I like your honest comment, but it makes me nervous..Im not sure if I want to go for it.....

japaho41 · Jul 15, 2007

I think that that is probably a good approximation of the amount of time that it requires. What you have to keep in mind is that the time committment varies from person to person. If you are one of those people that can read something once and you know it than you probably don't have to put in as much as someone that needs to drive in their brain with repetition.

I think that you need to prepare yourself for the worse case scenario oppose to being blown away and underestimating the time this is going to require. Ask yourself if you are willing to study most nights after you have already put a ten hour day of school. Are you willing to give up most weekends to catch up on work that you didn't have time to get to during the week? You need to have an attitude that you will do whatever it takes to get through this despite the agony you may have to endure along the way.

jessi78 · Jul 16, 2007

a graduate anesthesia program is total culture shock - and yes - you really will work harder than you ever have before in your life. make sure it is something that you want and be prepared for temporary but major, sacrifices.