shocked

I could hear the collective inner groan as we saw the special lecture topic was about *insert drum rolls here* Shock.

There's nothing wrong about the lecture topic itself. Shock was something we all needed to learn by heart. Hypovolemic shock. Traumatic shock. Distributive shock. Cardiogenic shock. Signs & symptoms. Management. Prognosis. Blah blah blah.

But the thing was, we probably had the same lecture over and over and over again by different lecturers. I don't know if it was a mistake or if they really meant to drill every single thing about shock into our thick skulls. Or maybe they just wanted to torture us.

But when she started talking about Shock, well, we were shocked.

She talked at lightning speed (she reminded me of the teaching videos), had a wry sense of humor, delivered punchlines with a straight face, and said "ummm" only twice. (I counted.)To sum it all up, she was brilliant. I was starry-eyed with admiration.

And I think at least 70% of the material actually penetrated my thick skull.

She was a huge contrast to another lecture we had that morning. I won't say anything more except that I know he knows his material (or he wouldn't be standing in front of us) but that he wasn't an effective lecturer. I spent the whole time daydreaming. (Which makes me guilty, now that I have confessed about it.)

Another lecturer we had recently must have been really good with her field and understood what she was talking about. We just wished she'd look at us while she talked instead of staring at the LCD screen the whole time. Anyway, everybody felt it was a waste of time and nobody listened.

My point: Most of the time, I blame the lecturer. If I didn't listen, it's because the lecturer was boring. But then again, it all boils down to me in the end. They've been through all that already. I haven't. And if I don't listen, it's not their loss. It's mine.

x_x

Reminder to self: Listen to lectures. Even if you're bored to death. Even if you're falling asleep on your chair.