Kgothatso Legong, fourth year medical student at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, shares survival tips for general surgery.

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In my fourth year, general surgery rotation was feared as the most demanding clinical rotation in fourth year, and I was sternly advised on the consequences of rotating in it as my last block. By the last week when I was preparing for its End of Block (EoB), I was beyond overwhelmed with the amount of content I needed to study.

Here is how I survived the general surgery block:

1. Attend all classes

I was surprised when it was announced that we had to attend class at 7am on a Monday. According to me, this was totally uncalled for as the last time I had to wake and prepare to attend class that early was in high school. It required a lot of mental rewiring on my part to align myself with such responsibilities required of me. Even though it seemed like hell, those morning classes before wards proved to be important and very useful when the time for assessments came. 

2. Revise daily

The amount of material you will have to learn in surgery is huge. To avoid panic attacks and mental disaster a few days before assessment, it is vital to revise your work while it is still fresh in your head. After class you can peek at your notes and try to recall, without looking, at what you still remember.

Revising when you get to your place of residence is also just as important if not more. At the end of the week, you can practise with question papers related to the topics which you have already done just to keep yourself on your toes. This will prove beneficial as a few days before you write your EoB you will have much less workload to revise. 

3. Evidence-base your knowledge

Surgeons like to keep up to date with the latest research. The textbook you use might be outdated when it comes to some aspects of literature; therefore, it is very important to visit journal articles on the topic relating to your patient’s disease to learn in depth and to evidence base your management of that disease on the latest peer reviewed information available. Doing so will impress your consultant as it will show dedication to learning. 

4. Procrastination is good for your metal health in the short run - not in the long run

A lot of times I struggled with switching on my laptop or opening my textbooks and studying. The reason was because I came back from the wards tired and all I wanted to do was to login on social media or sleep.

Be warned, the only thing procrastination brings is a slow-moving hurricane of stress which ensures obliteration once it hits the land. Try to get started. What I have realised in my studies up until so far is that once you start you have done half the work. The hardest thing to do is to start. And that is the only way to beat procrastination, just start.

After six weeks of my surgery rotation, I was ecstatic to be done with the most demanding block of all time. I sure will reuse my advice when I go back to rotating in it in fifth year.

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