It will only get harder

TLDR; you should take learning into your own hands now because it will only get harder in the future. Here are some tips to get you started:

Broaden
1, Read the national paper for your profession, in my case Fysioterapi, or FysioScience which compiles current studies (costs a bit) or check out Forskning Pågår
2, Read a general paper on medicine, for example Medicinsk Vetenskap from Karolinska Institutet
3, Read books that cover large swathes, such as FYSS 2017 or Rehabiliteringsmedicin

Deepen
1, Read specialized papers, such as Manualen for OMT
2, Learn instruments, also called “Mätmetoder” that pertain to what you’re interested in and then look at the sources (You need membership to view the content of the link)
3, Read course literature which usually delve much deeper into subjects than we are required to learn for our exams (Physiology of Sport and Exercise for example)

General advice
Join the union Fysioterapeuterna.se to get Fysioterapi and the paper from one specialization for free, as well as other benefits such as Mätmetoder 2.0 mentioned above.

And on to the other part:

It’s almost all on you

Last week I wrote about a feeling that something was missing from our education. Our education system has many ways to improve, that much is true. But I don’t want it to sound like the system holds the complete responsibility. I want to put the onus on You to take your education into your own hands, because it’ll only get harder if you don’t.

I’ll reiterate that there is a difference between depth and breadth and you should know that difference. The former means you deeply understand a subject, its details always available for you to use, and the latter means knowing a little about a lot of things, for example knowing how to spot certain ailments to be able to refer a patient to another health expert — but not necessarily how to treat.

It is my opinion that a base education is around 75 percent breadth and 25 percent depth. It follows of course, that you will have a big hole in your knowledge and it’s important for you to know that this hole exists. Not being curious about your lack of knowing is a greater danger than the lack itself. And while I know for a fact that KI could do better, I think it’s possible for us students to take more of our educations in our own hands than we are currently doing.

On a more “systemic” level, you could join Fysiostyrelsen or the student board for your education, start or join a student paper, write a blog about your experience or report injustice/flaws when you see them — in an effort to improve the education. And on a personal level you could start to seek out more information on the things you find interesting.

Since the basic education gives a lot of breadth I would personally suggest taking the route of deepening your knowledge but if you don’t know what you really want I think you should dive a little into many subjects. You can start by looking at the list I began this blog with, or find your own way.

The important part is to right now learn to seek out and absorb information from sources other than the ones that are spoon fed to you by your university. It’s like a muscle that needs to be exercised continually to grow strong. And you do have time now, because let’s be real: you’re not putting 40 hours into your studies every week.

When you do have a full time job, do you think seeking out new information and keeping up to date on what happens in the physioworld will be easier than it is now?

/Noa Greén