Time management is crucial to surviving medical school. How do we allocate our time between studying, friends, family, church, and relaxation? I often wish that I had a formula for achieving the balance. Indeed, only one person in history used his time perfectly. Peter Saunders considers Jesus' flawless example of time management and he distils valuable lessons from the Gospels (pp27-33). He explains how Jesus' top priorities were to love his Father and to spread the gospel. Are we willing to approach our medical school years with those same priorities?

Some of you may already know what specialty you want to pursue after graduation. I have no clear idea yet, although it's something I've been praying about. So I found Sam Leinster's testimony of his career path to be a challenging yet reassuring reminder of God's sovereignty (pp34-37). I need to acknowledge that God is in control while I wait for him to lead me by his timing. After all, I have yet to encounter a number of specialties. My next placement is in obstetrics and gynaecology, which will be exciting given my two year break from clinical studies!

The hospital is often a stressful learning environment. Sarah Bingham says, 'I can feel worthless when I am completely ignored in hospital and treated like I am at the “bottom of the ladder”' (p40). That resonates with my own experiences of being tempted, by fears of worthlessness, to climb the ladder for its own sake. But it is sin to serve the idol of success. I thank God for the many times I have been unsuccessful in life, such as when I failed my third year OSCE exam. It is because of God's mercy and incredible patience that, through incidents like these, he humbles us to repentance and faith in Christ alone.

At first glance, faith runs contrary to the scientific tenets of medicine. After all, medical practice is meant to be evidence based. But so is our faith! Chris Knight presents a convincing hierarchy of evidence that is helpful for consolidating and sharing our faith (pp14-21). Nevertheless he concludes with the caveat that intellectual knowledge is not enough, 'Ultimately the Holy Spirit works in people as he wills. We can only try to work with him to play our part in helping others to consider the evidence that leads to a solid faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.'