Schooling is an important process that imparts knowledge and develops skills. Most people associate learning with formal education. While education typically ends after one graduates university, learning doesn’t stop after formal education. Learning is not confined to the four walls of a classroom but takes place throughout life in different environments.
Lifelong learning in the medical field
In my world, approximately half of what I have learnt at University is not valid today. In the medical field, facts have short half-life. The knowledge we considered as fact several years or a decade ago expires with new discovery.
Prior to 1982, the scientific community considered stress and lifestyle problems as the main causes of peptic ulcer disease and gastritis. Dr Marshall and Dr Warren challenged the medical doctrine and rejected the existing knowledge at the time considered as fact. Their curiosity and relentless pursuit to learn resulted in the discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. The pair’s finding radically changed our understanding and overturned previous view. Dr Marshall and Dr Warren jointly won the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2005 for their discovery.
Doctors are lifelong learners who dedicate their time to enhance their understanding and be up to date with current knowledge. They ask questions, reflect on existing knowledge and sometimes challenge the status quo. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of the rapid changes in scientific knowledge which require constant learning. New articles on the SARS-COV 2 virus are published in peer-reviewed journals weekly. A doctor needs to know the latest scientific knowledge to practice evidence-based medicine.
How to become a lifelong learner?
The opportunities to further one’s knowledge and develop new skills throughout life are endless. We can learn from reading journals and books, listening to podcasts and watching educational videos. You cannot learn to swim by reading a book and staying dry. You got to dip your body in the water. Learning is an active process and there is no substitute to personal experience. We learn not only from our experiences but from the experiences of others.
Surgeon William Halsted is believed to have introduced the maxim: “See one, do one, and teach one”. Halsted’s traditional method of learning is still in use in the medical field. In other words, the three steps of acquiring a new skill involves:
- See one-observation of someone performing a procedure(Shadow)
- Do one-perform the procedure under supervision (Direct feedback and experience)
- Teach one-teach others reinforce the teacher’s learning (Understand the How and why and pass the knowledge on)
Conclusion
Learning is an enriching process that has infinite upside. The road to success is lifelong learning. Successful people are lifelong learners who are always improving themselves. I’m going to let Charlie Munger conclude this article on lifelong learning with one of his brilliant quotes “Go to bed smarter than when you woke up.”
