Medical students and the pressures

(Baonghean.vn) - Entering medical school and becoming a good doctor means going through a long journey of studying, training, stress and pressure. That is what many students studying at medical universities share.

The medical profession not only requires heavy study but also requires students to have good health to cope with pressure and continuous work intensity.

Nguyen Thi Cam Tho, a 6th year student majoring in general medicine at Vinh University of Medicine, who won the January Star Award, said that becoming a doctor to help patients has been her dream since childhood. As a child, Tho was a sickly girl who often had to be hospitalized, but thanks to the dedicated treatment of doctors and nurses, Tho was able to go to school and live a normal life. And especially after experiencing the incident of her grandmother having a stroke in high school, Tho was even more determined to pass the medical school entrance exam so that she could both take care of her family's health and help many people.

Nguyen Thi Cam Tho, a 6th year general medicine student at Vinh Medical University, is examining a child patient. Photo: Chu Thanh

As a senior preparing to graduate, Tho has experienced almost all the emotions of a medical student. Unlike students at other universities, from the first and second years, medical students have to face study hours, a rolling exam schedule with thick books as their study materials, studying all night long, and only daring to sleep 2-3 hours a day.

Talking about the exams, Tho said, the most stressful part is probably the station running exams, the exam in which each student will move to each station with the exam questions placed on the table and answer them within a certain time, then quickly move to another station to complete the exam.

Taking advantage of his free time, Tho went to the library to study for the upcoming exam. Photo: Chu Thanh

Starting from the third year onwards, the lives of all medical students can be summed up in a circle between going to school, going to the hospital and going home. Tho shared that her daily schedule starts with clinical practice at 7am at the hospital. After asking patients about their health or participating in the injections with the nurses, Tho and other students will listen to the doctors' lectures. However, because the doctors have many patients to treat, the lectures often take place around 11am or 12pm. In the afternoon, medical students return to school to continue learning new knowledge before returning to the hospital at 7pm until 7am the next day if they have a duty schedule.

Although still sitting in the lecture hall, medical students still stay up all night with doctors and nurses to provide emergency care for patients. Or there are days when so many emergency cases come up that medical students don’t have time to eat or even go to the toilet, or when they get sick but still wear masks to go to the doctor… these have become a part of daily life that has gradually become a characteristic of medical students.

On Saturdays and Sundays, medical students do not have much free time because most of the exams fall on these two days. In addition, medical schools do not have time off for students to review for exams like other schools, so Tho and other medical students have no choice but to study anytime, anywhere as long as they have free time.

Students of Vinh Medical University participate in emergency blood donation - Photo: My Ha

Thinking back to the memories during the 6 years of studying, Tho and all medical students will never forget the times participating in autopsies, haunted by the smell of formaldehyde, witnessing the moments when patients were saved or sent back to the hospital after emergency operations to snatch life from the hands of death for patients...

Tho confided that at first, Tho often felt helpless, confused, and afraid that he was not brave enough every time he witnessed the moment, the boundary between life and death of a patient. At that time, Tho understood the saying "a doctor can cure the disease but cannot save the patient's life". Later, when he gained experience and studied higher, those feelings gradually disappeared.

Although the life of a medical student is stressful and difficult, many students who study medicine like Tho do not regret their decision. Because just seeing the smiles of patients and their families after treatment is enough motivation for future doctors, nurses, and caregivers to continue on their path to pursuing medicine./.

Chu Thanh