The rumors were true: there is a lot of material to power through in medical school. One typical day consisted of five hour-long lectures:
-Signal transduction
-Disorders of hemoglobin
-Specialized epithelial glands
-Introduction to radiological techniques
-Interpreting radiological images of the spine
I'm impressed with both the depth and variety of topics discussed--we often have just a ten-minute break before we switch subjects entirely.
Following the lecture is usually a challenge--the material comes flying fast and some of us get lost partway through. Committing the information to memory is another trial. Whether or not I do a good job of assimilating the day's material (and I currently doubt that I am), the next day arrives and brings with it a whole new set of lectures.
The rigor exceeds that of my undergrad, which I felt was quite demanding. But it's awesome that med school offers an additional motivation to learn the material cold: the diseases our professors lecture us on may well present in a patient we see. Learning it properly may be the difference between bad care and good care, sickness and health.
