10 Tips to Be Successful in Medical Schools in Zambia

One of the major concerns of many medical schools in Zambia is student attrition. This makes many accrediting bodies to consider attrition as a factor to measure a medical school’s performance. Having understood this issue, medical schools have begun to focus on reducing attrition rates.

The primary reason for attrition is academic difficulty, followed by absenteeism, isolation, personal problems, psychological problems, and financial problems.

Traditionally, medical education is expensive compared with other degrees. Dropping out from a medical school has substantial financial implications for students. The student also faces a major setback in life. Society loses a valuable medical professional from its workforce. In most cases, the medical schools in Zambia fail to address and eliminate this issue with proper initiatives.

It is observed that students drop out because of the academic intensity of the program. Hence, medical schools must pay more attention to screening students, both academically and psychologically. Medical schools should also create a keen student support system and academic mentoring to minimize dropouts.

Tips to be Successful in Medical Schools

If you are aspiring to become a doctor and choosing to study medicine in Zambia, the following tips are for you to know how to be successful.

1. Stop Comparing

Yes, medical schools are competitive, and your peers are often smart and as capable as you. It does not mean that you need to compare yourself with others. Such comparisons will spoil your inner peace and lead you to develop anxiety and complicate how you see your peers.

You are unique in your way and have a lot to achieve in the medical profession. Therefore, do not waste your time comparing yourself with others. Spend your time on learning medical skills and gaining knowledge that will definitely take you to excellence.

2. Learn Continuously

Allow us to let you in on a little secret. No one can learn everything. Medicine is a broad and complex discipline that takes decades to master, so don’t sweat it.

However, you need to keep learning as it lasts a lifetime, especially when you are in a medical profession. Therefore, don’t overburden yourself; learn continuously.

3. Never Hesitate to Seek Out Help

Medical school is demanding; it requires a lot of patience, focus, and determination. For the uninitiated, this may be an overwhelming endeavor. If you ever find yourself in need of help, feel free to reach out to a professional as it might make a world of difference.

4. Spend Some Time on Yourself

While pursuing a professional degree like MBChB, you may have to work excessively to get better grades. However, you should learn to balance your timing. Allocate time accordingly to work and play. It would be best if you had some time to relax to keep your mental health and spirit up.

5. Make Good Friends

Making friends is vital to having a healthy social life, which will result in a healthy mind and soul. Spending time with friends will balance your life inside and outside the medical world.

6. Have an Open Mind and Don’t Forget to be Humble

The process of learning may open up to new concepts and gain a new outlook on many subjects and issues. It helps if you are open-minded and humble while attempting to learn and open up a lot more to learn and explore on and off your academic world.

7. Assess and Reflect on Yourself

Apart from leisure activities, you should also set aside time to reflect and assess your mental health. This practice will be vital during times of pressure, as it will allow you to address issues you might be having.

8. Relax; Don’t Pressure Yourself!

The whole point of human life is experiencing it with a broad range of emotions and feelings. Hence, loosen up and don’t be hard on yourself all the time.

9. Find a Mentor

Finding a good mentor is critical to a successful learning experience. A mentor can be your professor, senior, or even batchmate as long as you have something to learn from them. Mentors help you by being the third eye. They help you by identifying your shortcomings, passing down their experience, and guiding you toward the desired path.

10. Don’t Forget to Exercise and to Have a Healthy Diet

This fact goes without saying Eating healthy and maintaining good physical health is just as important as your mental health as it directly correlates with your overall well-being getting some time out for physical exercise every day.

If you are vigilant while choosing your school to study medicine course in Zambia, your learning experience will be great. There are better medical schools in Zambia like Texila American University that offer best-in-class medical education with international standards. By providing support and care to the students, such medical schools in Zambia has helped students pursue their dream course. Do extensive research before enrolling in a medical school.

There may be plenty of reasons to quit but find one reason to hold on. Remember always why you started this and keep up the spirit. With this, we hope that you will be able to better understand the reason for attrition rates in medical schools. Overcome them with the above simple yet effective tips to be successful in your medical career.