Multi-tasking in medical school

The first test of the semester is done. But the higher-ups are testing our multi-tasking skills by throwing at us two concurrent courses: Disease and Defense (this morning's test), and Blood and Lymph. The first test for B&L is coming up this Thursday, which means that I won't be getting as much relaxation and decompression time as I would have liked for this weekend.

It's interesting to compare my classmates' different strategies for this juggling act. Some people focused intensely on preparing for today's D&D test and resigned themselves to falling behind in B&L. The lecture hall was very empty this week. Others managed to keep up to date on both courses even though it means that they didn't have as much time to cram for the D&D test.

I hate falling behind for many reasons and chose not to miss lecture this week. My compromise was that I just didn't spend as much time preparing for the lectures as I normally do. Because of that, and because my mind was drifting off into the land of antibiotics and bacterial toxins during lecture, I'm not sure if my compromise was necessarily any better than not going to lecture at all. We'll see if I'm brave (or foolish) enough to try that option the next time we have a double-header.