Treatment: PO Glucose 50g PRN, and a friend

Nothing can really HONESTLY prepare you for the workload of med school. At least, nothing had prepared me. Not the YouTube videos, not the high school alumni that came and spoke to us, not even my sister that was in med school at the time! I couldn’t see anything clearly in my rose-coloured glasses. I mean, I was going to become a doctor! ‘How hard could it be? I’ve always been really good with school anyway,’ I thought to myself foolishly.

Then I joined first year and boy, was that an awful slap in the face. I’d never received so much new information without as much as a bat of an eye. They expected me to instantly understand the Henderson-Hassel Bach’s equation, draw the chemical structures of amino acids and know what an aponeurosis is. I remember going home after my first day of classes and telling my parents there was no way I was going back to school. I could not understand how I was not immediately good at it

In first year, I was roommates with one of my classmates. It was nice having someone going through the same troubles as you so close. We would study together, keep each other accountable with regards to school work and encourage each other. When exams drew closer and closer, we would joke how a pure glucose diet would be the only thing that could give us enough energy to fight it through. You can imagine my surprise when she showed with two packs of glucose one day. It was hysterical. It became our little running joke; when it’s exam season, we must have a pack of glucose nearby.

Eventually, we moved out of school hostels but the glucose tradition remained, only now, it wasn’t reserved for exam season. Any time either one of us felt frustrated, we would simply say we need glucose and that is enough communication. It provides us a space to vent our frustrations, to have a peer advise you on what seems to work for them, and to have someone remind you that you’re not going through it alone

It very easy to get lost in your own mind in this field. Everyone seems to have it all figured out. People seem to have social lives and academics all at their fingertips and it can be frustrating when you feel like you have nothing in order. That’s why I feel it’s important to have a support system. Med school comes with a lot of challenges. New complex concepts and skills to learn, joining university, dealing with intense pressure and stress, the list is endless. Having a support system provides comfort, encouragement and motivation. It also helps you feel less isolated and alone. It can also be a source of guidance and advice. In short it keeps you grounded. So find a friend, a classmate, a mentor, someone who you can talk to without fear of judgement all lay out all your woes. A problem shared is a problem half solved, right?

Caroline Njue

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