From Student to Teacher

From 1989 to 2003, I was a student at the University of California, Davis where I did my undergraduate work.  I spent a majority of my free time while studying very hard.  I recall logging long hours in my dorm room or at the library memorizing and learning what I thought I needed to know.  So where did it all get me?  It got me a high “B” average and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology.

Was I satisfied? No.  I just spent 4 years of my life studying hard to basically end up with a “B” for college.  I was not happy with that so I vowed to change things when I got into Chiropractic college.  I evaluated a lot about my college experience before I started at PCCW.  I wanted to go in and really do well academically.  My reflections on my studying yielded one fundamental concept:  I was studying harder but not smarter.  Allow me to explain in the advice that I give you.

1. Know your learning style.  Each of us tends to be stronger with audio, visual or kinesthetic (feeling).  Audio learners may do well taping the letures and listening to them later.  Visual learners may get a lot out of their written notes or study guides.  Kinesthetic learners may want more of a hands on or tangible way of learning the material.  Of course we all have some affinity for all three methods of learning, but we usually stress one above the others.

2. Understand the teaching style of the instructor as it gives you an idea of how they will test.  We take classes to learn information, but we take tests to see if we are understanding the instructor’s teaching style.  The teachers will usually indicate which areas of the material they are stressing or believe are important.  Old tests or sample tests are of good help here as well.

3. Study for the type of test that is being given.  If you are studying for a multiple choice test by memorizing every piece of information you are being tested on, then you are working too hard.  In a multiple choice test, the visual or retrieval cues are right there on the page.  You may only have to be familiar with the material to be able to recall the information you need.

Conversely, if you are just skimming the material to prepare for a fill in or a written test, then you may be underprepared.  Find out what format the test will be given in and you will know how hard or which way you need to study for it.

4. Learn from the mistakes you make on the midterms and quizzes so you can redeem yourself on subsequent exams or on the final.  Don’t throw in the towel if you bomb one of the tests because you can learn from your mistakes. This allows you to not make the same errors on the final.

5. Talk to your instructors.  I cannot tell you how many of your instructors really have no idea who you are.  Go to office hours, introduce yourself and ask them questions. These people are very freindly and smart.  Many of these teachers are very willing to help you when you show the initiative. 

I ended up changing the way I studied for PCCW and it paid off for me.  Remember, grades and doing well in clinic were important to me.  That does not make it right or wrong, it’s just the way I saw it.  I studied smarter and I ended up doing much better at PCCW and I was very pleased when I graduated.  If you want more details, you will have to e-mail me and we can talk about it.

The title of this entry seems like a simple yet infinitely complicated sentence.  Do you have goals for where you want to be in your personal and professional life?   Do you have hopes and dreams for who you want to be once you have graduated? Have you ever thought about getting these goals organized to see how they all fit together?

 We have all learned at some point in our lives that having goals is a wonderful thing.  Actually writing goals down on paper, however, can be an powerful instrument through which you can visualize the successes of your life and actually experience them.  Writing down your goals can seem like a daunting task, that is why so many people never bother doing so.  Here are a few ideas on how you can map out your future:

1. Divide your goals into professional and personal.  Sometimes these areas will crossover with one another, but by and large, keeping them separate will keep things from getting too confusing.

2. Give time limitations to all of your goals.  For example, you may choose to have goals for the next month; quarterly; 6 months; 1 year; 5 year; 10 year; 15 year or whatever you choose to do.  This helps to quantify a finite amount of time that you actually want to accomplish your goal.  Simply stating, ” I want to open my own practice” is too vague and open ended.

3.  Write everything down that comes to your mind, no matter how crazy or far fetched you think it sounds.  You may have multiple drafts of your goals so when you get ideas in your head, write them down.  You can always modify them later. Some of your aspirations or desires may be forgotten if you don’t put them on paper.

4. Have a reward system once you have reached a goal.  If your goal was to simply “study for Microbiology midterm” and you accomplished that goal, then reward yourself.  I am not saying go out and buy yourself something expensive, but make it a reward you look forward to.  It may be getting ice cream, watching television, playing your video games, or whatever.  Just make it fun once you get to your goal.  The bigger the goal you are striving for, the bigger the reward might be.  It’s your choice.

5. Re-evaluate your goals on a regular basis.  I tend to review my goals every six months.  Sometimes I may not get to it for one year.  When you are looking them over, you might be surprised to see how many goals you have achieved faster than you thought you would.  Then you can set new goals and adjust your time frames accordingly.

 The most important thing to remember about goal setting is to try and make it enjoyable.  You are challenging yourself to shoot for the stars and be the best you can be.  Think of your goals as a road map to where you want to be some time in the future.  Put them down on paper, visualize and achieve your dreams.  Have fun out there!

Are there ever mornings you wake up and feel like not showing up for your first class?  Are there ever things like labs, review sessions or extra technique hours that you just blow off because you think it’s no big deal?  Obviously for the classes you take, attendance is counted by almost all of the teachers.  In some way, this attendance tends to be tied to your overall grade in the class.  So missing will usually end up hurting you in some way in the end.

Another way to think about showing up faithfully to class and your other committments for school involves developing your mindset for your professional life.  Now, I realize that many of you have developed your study habits and attitudes toward school in the days of middle school, high school and college.  Some of those habits are good ones; some of them may be not so good.  It is never too late to change or modify a habit to make it better.

When you are out in practice, rarely will you be able to wake up one morning and decide that you either don’t want to go in or you want to go in late. Generally, pateints do no appreciate if you arrive late at your office while they have been waiting for awhile for you to arrive.  

I am trying to motivate you to stay motivated about school and your classes.  I know full well how difficult and tedious classes and labs get after awhile.  Sometimes, it is hard to stay excited when you are bogged down in studying.  It will get better, but having a great attitude about school and going the extra mile in what you do will help prepare you for practice.

Do you know someone who is chronically late where ever they go? We all know someone like this; it might be you.  There is nothing wrong with this in the grand scheme of things, but you need to figure out how you will eventually solve this problem.  Will you wake up earlier? Schedule patients later to give you ample time to make it in in the morning or back from lunch? When patients see that you are consistently late, they feel that you don’t value their time.  A patient’s time is just as valuable as yours. Work on making sure you are showing up on time for school related events.  Remember, it’s a mindset.

 One last thing, being present and on time also makes impressions not only on the patients who you will have, but the surrounding community and those who would be referral sources for you.  Being on time when you go to networking, referral group meetings or events in your community then give people the opportunity to talk to you.  When you show up, you allow people to get to know you on a personal level and people love to refer patients to the people they know.

 So the next time you wake up and wonder how important it is to get to class on time or if you should really go to that review or study session, do it!  Show up and be successful!