Senioritis, are there any cures?

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"Senioritis, from the word senior plus the suffix -itis (which refers to inflammation but in colloquial speech is assumed to mean an illness), is a colloquial term used in the United States to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers"(Wikipedia).

 

I don't know about you but I sure had a bad case of senioritis when I was in high school, and even now in my last year here at UNI I am having a relapse, all the symptoms are coming back and I have found myself with an almost more severe case. So I am wondering where my motivation went, and if schools have an answer for their students who suffer from the same condition.

 

Here is an article about a medical school that has realized that students can have trouble with motivation during their final year in classes. They stated in the article that making the fourth year for medical students more of an option should be up for debate. Now they spend their fourth year not on learning anything medical related, but more of a general education year. What do you think about this? Would you want medical students to have the optional fourth year? Or would you want them to be required and maybe not put as much effort into their studies?

 

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/25/fourthyear

3 Comments

I don’t think that they should change the fourth year of medical school to more general education classes. It does not make sense. It seems that motivation will wax and wane throughout a person’s life, especially during their years of education, no matter what. Senioritis, in my opinion, will occur regardless in the final year so why should the college alter the curriculum? They are creating doctors it should be hard. It should be medical. The first two years of medical school are book learning and memorization and the next two are spent primarily doing rotations in different areas of the medical field. My brother is in his third year of medical school at the University of Iowa right now and has learned more in his third year than he did in the previous two.

They say that grades take a hit in the fourth year but from what I know about the grading (at Iowa) is that it is only part testing of the knowledge gained and the other part is evaluations from doctors, residents and nurses. Therefore, a person’s grades can be heavily influenced by whether or not they have an amicable relationship and how a doctor views students. Furthermore, if one is concerned with finding a befitting residency than it is logical that other aspects of one’s life might receive less attention especially if they are nonconsequential in the process of achieving one’s goals. I understand that residents make little money for several years following graduation; however, they chose this profession. They chose to become doctors, knowing that the education is costly, the hours are long, and the information and research is always evolving. I don’t think they have a right to complain. The system has been set up for over a hundred years, there is a hierarchy, and it usually does not bend to the will and concerns of the students (bottomdwellers). I believe it works and I would not want to see doctors sent out before they are ready, four years only allows so much absorption of material. Do they honestly think that general elective courses will solve the problems that they are facing? It doesn’t even seem as if they have conclusive evidence to state that lack of motivation is the reason grades are dropping. Anyways, how would changing the curriculum reduce costs?

I definitely don't think Medical students should have a option fourth year of school, I don't think anyone should no matter what you plan to do. However I do think that by the fourth year, it should be more hands on education rather than sitting in a boring classroom. One of the main reasons I'm not going to grad school right now is because my motivation to go to school is drained, I need a break. Part of being a doctor and going to school to be one is pushing your limits and having others test your drive. Let's face it no one wants a doctor who doesn't give a crap. They want someone intelligent, hard working, and motivated to find a cure for their patients. I agree with Jackie when she says, "they have no right to complain" they chose the long hours and hard work. I also agree with Lerman (from the article) when she says the program needs to be revised so it's more useful and beneficial. On the other hand I think it's partially a teachers job to keep students motivated and interested in the subject they are teaching. Especially when it's a class we are required to take because half the time it's something we would never choose to take! Like in residency you need to make sure the students understand why they did something wrong instead of just yelling at them or whatever it may be. On the note of reducing costs of the program, this needs to be done everywhere. I recently read an article saying that since 1980 or so the price of college has gone up around 90%. That is absolutely ridiculous, we need to be encouraging people to stay in school and get an education not discouraging them.

I found the article extremely interesting. I did not even know there was this type of debate going on about a student’s senior year. I don’t think that they should make the fourth year at a medical school optional. I think that they should still have some core classes that they have to take their senior year along with some electives of their choosing so that they are still motivated and are still learning something; I also agree that they could have more hands on type classes. With a hands on type class it would be very difficult for a student to not put forth the effort and actually learn something. I think that a doctor who is going to be taking care of human lives should have as much training and schooling as possible. As a senior this year I really understand senioritis, and it really is a hard thing to overcome. This year though I still have classes that are required for me to graduate and that in of itself is a huge motivation to continue going to class and doing the homework. If I only had electives that were easy and something that I really did not need, I know at this point I would be skipping those classes. I agree with Jennifer that a teacher also needs to help keep a student motivated through their teach style. However, a student is in control of their own future and what they decided to do and how much effort they put into is up to them.

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