Finally Done: Reminiscing Through 9 Years of Being A Medical Student (Part 1).

My last posting in medical school

Last day of pre-clinicals in 2018

Last exam day with my short coat

Hey, beauty.

I’m clearing out the cobwebs here because it’s been a hot minute! It was for a good reason, as your girl is finally done with school! Did I hear screams? You better scream for joy on my behalf, lol!

I had this long written in my head, and it’s been four weeks since my last paper as a medical student in medical school. The last exam paper I had was on 20th April 2023. My exam lasted ten days, from 11th April to 20th April 2023.

Sharing the news with you was also nerve-wracking because I wasn’t sure where to start. That’s one of the reasons this would be a three-part series. This is the first. The second would be my gratitude list, and the third would be my graduation story.

When I say those were the most stressful days of my life so far, I’m not even joking. What made it stressful was that I had been preparing weeks ahead with more hours assigned to studying compared to other things I enjoyed, like movies, hanging out with friends and sleeping- oh, my precious sleep!

While the world is quick to move on to the next accomplishment, I’m learning to step back and take a moment to absorb the significance of a dream come true. I’ve been stuck “planning” the next thing to do and not realizing the significance of my latest experience.

Our last day of “normalcy” before the pandemic in 2020

Someone I know mentioned how “life” was starting and the ton of exams and stress after finishing medical school. I agree, but one thing I won’t do is let this accomplishment dwindle because of the work to come. Let it come. Others have done it, and everything good will come just in time.

Honestly, it hasn’t felt like things have been in time. For starters, this degree of 6 years took almost 9. I hate when people try to do suffering contest with their responses;

“Oh, just 9? I spent 11 years in medical school.” That is a ridiculous response to give someone confiding in you, but that’s beyond the point of this post.

God worked it out, and while I’m done reeling from the stress emotionally and physically, I just had to give a breakdown of everything!

In 2014 I filled out the JAMB (Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board) form and eagerly put in medicine and surgery. My matriculation was on 23rd January 2015, and a few weeks after, I resumed college.

Would you believe that every year since I resumed in 2015 was marked by at least one academic or non-academic strike?

By 2016, I had moved to the College of Medicine, where I was supposed to spend five years. My time as a medical student was filled with volunteering, serving as the welfare secretary of my association and Yearbook class, attending and planning outreaches, taking a break to enjoy non-medical stuff, and I even fell in love with and started content creation in school!

Meanwhile, studying medicine was not rosy. I was aware of that fact but bruh! The humbling experience was seeing scores I had never dreamed of being a reality for me😂 Fast forward to my first clinical year in 2018. Typically, it takes about two years to be done with clinical, and I was excited at the near end.

Then COVID happened in 2020, and things went from bad to worse.

Symposium Day

It’s a different ball game going through the days, minutes and seconds of those years with uncertainties, questions from family and loved ones, doubts, ugly tears, fear and faith. I share a bit of the struggle on my last birthday post here.

On the 11th of April, 2023, my finals started, and 17 days later, I saw all my results!

Final results day!

I’m glad to be over with this phase. It still feels like a dream, and while I know there’s so much work to be done, especially as a graduate and with adult-ing, I’m grateful to God that it’s another chapter in my life!

The second part of this series is my open letter to those on my gratitude list. These are people who made my journey easier and my load lighter.

Here’s a look, and you might see your name there!

Please share what you would love to see on the blog as well!

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