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New Era; A distance learning course
As the great philosopher, Mike Tyson has stated: “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth”. It was not a throwaway remark. He was discussing the importance of resilience and endurance. When a boxer steps into the ring he has a plan and objectives. At some stage during the bout even if things are going to plan the fighter will face the unexpected or face an unexpected fight back. It is how the fighter meets this disruption that will determine if he can get back on plan and achieve his objectives.
As I metaphorically got myself prepared last week for stepping into this course, I could feel my confidence beginning to ebb away as the first session commenced. My plans for organising and scheduling study time started to look inappropriate when now faced with the reality of actually doing it. Small things like getting stuck in traffic or unexpectedly having to get the dinner ready now are having a direct impact on my plan to be a super student.
The first thing that helps is that there is an immediate collegiate feel to the course and with other participants. The lecturers are interested in the subject and appear enthusiastic for people to facilitate students and help them to succeed. This week’s lectures have been general, but already I have learnt something. The story of Frances Kelsey and the FDA was a bit typical American superhuman ‘folksy’ however; it did highlight the importance of delivering safe pharmaceutical product to patients.
I know whatever the plan I will meet numerous obstacles. I know that there will be times when I will not be able to fulfil the tasks in a manner that I wanted to. My regret from a previous study I participated in was not being organised sufficiently and not having a workflow that will work no matter what is occurring outside my realm of control. These last few days I have made practical steps in setting up a Dropbox folder with a simple scheme to help me manage my research and notes. I have set up a sync system between my various devices so that I can easily access my files at any time. Most importantly I have practised annotating and coding which was my biggest weakness before. Finally, as I have little experience of regulatory affairs I have asked to become an Observer on the local site’s CE implementation project.
As an active observer with the site regulatory team, I am hoping that I will be able to blend my learning with actual work experience. By keeping structured and disciplined in my study approach I hope that it will allow me to focus on the learning aspects of the course. It now depends on me and when that punch those land that I will just get straight back up.
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