My Last Semester As A Pre-Med Student

It always begins like this:
"Oh, Mr. Sim, your son is doing medicine! Which year?"
"2nd year," I interjected.
"Oh, so you should have studied all the anatomic parts lah?"
"In Taiwan we do 7 years (showing 7 fingers). The first 2 is called pre-med (flex 2 fingers, remaining 5 fingers). 3, 4 and 5 is fundamental medical education years (flex 3 more), and the last 2 years are clinical years."
"Oh, so what are you studying now?"
"Very basic (boring) stuff - biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry..."

One more semester to go and I will be a full-fledged medical student. However, due to reviews about the immense pressure of starting anatomy on Year 3, the school has back-tracked anatomy to the second semester of Year 2 (the subject cleverly named 'Overview of Human Structures'). We haven't really started anything yet, as of last week, but the textbooks alone is enough to frighten anyone off.

Ever wonder where the name of the flirtatious TV series come from?

The big brother - medical students eat, sleep, work, study, perform dissections, travel, and even go to the toilet with it.

We have no time for histology until the 4th week of school. So this could go in the refrigerator for the time being.

The pillar - don't underestimate the uses of a dictionary

MCB is supposedly the major this semester, now overshadowed by anatomy.

While most seniors advised us that a hardworking Year 2 would be a good start for the terrifying Year 3, and that this semester is not bone-crushing and brain-squashing yet, a few of our classmates had had all the big guns drawn out - medical dictionary, Chinese-English translation devices, flashcards, and emptying almost all time meant for co-curricular activities for anatomy. While we are not in position to comment on striking a balance and being an all-rounded student, I hold true to the principle what will happen will happen. It would be a show of extraordinary courage to challenge faith and strive for the impossible once in a while, but one day we would still have to believe everything is arranged. What we can do is just to move on and enjoy every bit of it.
As a saying goes - if winter comes, can spring be far behind? Though if you think of it there's nothing sparkling for you to look forward in life, especially with a career of medicine, but this saying goes very well when we're in deep waters - everything will come to an end sooner or later. So, hang on!