Patty:
Perhaps I shouldn't be replying to your post, I don't mean to taint others' responses with what I have to say, and I don't mean to discourage them from replying either. Everyone has a right to their own opinion.
As George has already pointed out - my 'chant' at exam time is "6-0 and GO!". Yup, that's right, I only need 60% on each of my exams to get through to the next part of my training. Is it what I aim for? Of course not! But it's about the only thing that keeps me sane enough to be able to cope in weeks building up to the exam.
I've obtained two degrees already - a BSc (Hons) in Genetics, and an MSc in Microbiology. My marks were obviously in the top whatever precentile they needed to be in --- otherwise I wouldnt be where I am now.
Medical school is like nothing I've ever experienced before. I was in one of the most demanding undergraduate science programs my university had to offer, but it was a walk in the park compared to this. I have lectures or labs or tutorials or clinical practice from 9 to 5 everyday. In one hour intervals we're taught by the best in their field, which inevitably means they've lost the ability to speak about their discipline at an beginner's level. There's too much to be able to preview all the material the night before, and even if I sit down at my desk as soon as I arrived home everyday, there's
no way I could review it all each night. This is something I did regularly as in undergrad. Again - to keep my sanity I don't even try anymore.
While most people know that medical school is 4 years long, they fail to realize that we only spend two years of that doing book learning - we spend the other two practicing the little knowledge that we've accumulated. So that means, we attempt to learn everything about each body system in two years! There's no way that you can learn it all in your first run-through ... and I'm sure the marks reflect that to some degree. Keep in mind though - that we learn it all now, then we do it all over again in a clinical setting
and then we do it all over again for a period of 2 - 5 years in whichever discipline we've chosen.
If you wanted me to post my transcript along with my degree in my office, you'd be disappointed. My school (like most other Canadian universities) is on a pass/fail system. At the end of it all my transcript will indicate only that I've passed. The faculty does it in an attempt to alleviate some of the unbearable stress they impose on us. Furthermore they do it to try to eliminate the competition between classmates. Of course it's still there - but (hopefully) it reduces some of the cut-throat tactics that would otherwise ensue if each of us were still clammering for the #1 spot.
What's more is that I'm not convinced that marks are all they're cracked up to be. Good marks on standardized tests needed to get into medical school beget good marks on exams throughout medical school, and those in turn beget good marks on standardized liscensing exams at the end of it all. Howver, It's been shown time and time again, that these sorts of marks are more a representation of socioeconomic status than of knowledge or ability.
Interestingly, good marks on these standardized tests are inversely proportional to clinical performance evaluations through clerkship years.
Further irony is that while everyone talks about how my own medical condition will ultimately make me a better physician, it's contributed largely to my lower than usual grades over the last couple of years. If my school did give letter grades, and I was required to post it on the wall, sadly, it wouldn't come with the addendum that might make people think twice before they left my office.
Regards,
Jeanna
It is on the edge of a petal
that love waits - WC Williams
