Off the Cuff: Lifelong Learning

I managed to graduate high school and college without ever taking a foreign language class. Where I went to undergrad, you had the option of two semesters of a foreign language or one semester of an Intro to Linguistics. I obviously chose the latter. Learning another language was something I was curious about, and for years wondered if I was even able. Ich lerne Deutsch. For a little over a year, I've been plugging away at learning German using the Duolingo app. I had this particular app on my phone for years. It was recommended as something I might like, but I hadn't ever opened it after downloading it. What started out as just a fun little distraction has become a nightly habit of doing a couple lessons to learn a few new words and phrases, and review ones I've already learned. I'm not very good at German yet, but I'm trying.

When I was a third-year at SCCO, we were in the clinic studying for our last final exam ever. We were discussing how relieved we were going to be not having to constantly study. Dr David Sendrowski overheard us and said something that still resonates with me to this day. (Actually, he said many highly memorable things being the amazing professor that he is.) On this day, he interjected, "You can never stop learning. This is just the beginning." At that moment, it felt as if my entire learning paradigm shifted. Ending were the days of panic studying and cramming to pass the next exam just to purge, rinse and repeat to get to the next one. Opening before me was the process of lifelong learning, of curiosity, and learning for learning's sake. The reality was that finishing professional school wasn't the end of my educational career, but in fact, was just the foundational piece for what was yet to come.

Our continuing education requirements contribute to our base knowledge, essentially serving as an extension of our formal education. Clinical practice supplies the inspiration with new instruments, tests, and medications that necessitate staying current for the ultimate driver of lifelong learning about patient care. Our patients present as puzzles—some are simple and straightforward, others hypercomplex and multidimensional. How well we are able to help our patients solve their puzzles largely depends on how well we've maintained our knowledge base and integrated new information. Though formal exams ended years ago for most of us, it shows how right Dr. Sendrowski was in that we never stop learning. Vielen Dank, Herr Sendrowski.

 

Shannon L. Steinhäuser, OD, MS, FAAO Chief Medical Editor ssteinhauser@gmail.com

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Write to Dr. Shannon L. Steinhäuser, OD, MS, FAAO at ssteinhauser@gmail.com. The views expressed in this editorial are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Jobson Medical Information LLC (JMI), or any other entities or individuals.