Big hand 12 little hand 3
As I looked up at the clock on the wall, it said big hand 12 and little hand 3. The second hand was one of those that had a distinct ratchet like movement. I liked the ones with the smooth automatic movement like a flowing river, but what would a Rolex clock be doing here? Thankfully, no sound emanated because that would have irritated me to no end. As I glanced about, I saw two wooden walls enclose on one side. What kind of feeble prison was this? I could easily escape from the other side. I looked down and I saw this carrier bag emblazoned with a logo that at any given moment had the immense power to catapult into an ecstatic journey into the stratosphere or cast into the deepest abyss. It said Arsenal Gunners, the finest football team in the world. I’ll let the laughter subside. It housed my pens and pencils. Beside it rested an imposing hard cover text that read Contemporary Orthodontics by William R. Proffit. In it lay essential requirements for anchorage, the optimal force for rapid palatial expansion and the ideal Curve of Spee. In case you’re scratching your head, let’s just say the power to change your life. The human body is a remarkable structure and paired with nature’s earthly laws, it can transform a buck toothed smile into one that would make Angelina Jolie envious. And the power to transform a teenager teased mercilessly into one who attracts admiringly glances from all. I have seen these metamorphoses take place numerous times, which is one of the most rewarding things in my dental profession. Back to my story.
A glance downwards would divulge possession of one of Phil Knight’s finest. You know the one with the swoosh on the front, otherwise known as a Nike knapsack. Lifting it might cause you to ponder why I would be transporting an anvil in my carry bag. A quick glimpse at the clock would reveal the time as 3.05am. AM !!!!!! Where am I and what could I possibly be doing here? The venue, the Medical and Dental Science library at
Western University in Canada, the knapsack filled with dental books and along with my roommate Dave Jasey and close friend Dan Ceccacci we were at a party called “burning the midnight oil”. It was Hades time. Dreaded by all dental students, 16 three-hour exams crammed into two weeks. Studying health care is never a walk in the park. Cramming monumental amounts of information into minuscule time frames that would cause any Mathematics expert to scratch their head is essential if you are to be called Doctor. We all knew that when we started.
While playing sadistic games with your psyche, you adapt and learn to manage your time accordingly. 3AM study nights become the norm and all nighters are sometimes essential. But does staying up all night help you to get a better mark? First, let’s analyse the average college students sleeping habits. As you might have already guessed, most college students do not get adequate sleep. But here are the shocking numbers. During a typical semester, 70%-90% of students sleep fewer than eight hours of sleep on weeknights. Over half of college students sleep less than seven hours a night and incredibly 47% of them report daytime sleepiness. SIXTY PERCENT of students meet the clinical criteria for poor sleep and hold onto something tightly here because an unbelievable 27% ARE AT RISK FOR A SLEEP DISORDER. These numbers are even worse during final exams. Not only do students not get enough sleep but because of the disrupted patterns, the sleep is of lesser quality. There is increased stress, use of caffeine stimulants to stay awake, exposure to the blue light of cell phones and computer screens, all of which disrupt our circadian rhythms. Sleep deprivation has a number of undesirable effects including impaired immune function, increased risk of depression and of course impaired cognitive performance. Studies suggest cognitive performance may be impaired by 25%-40%. Creative ability, memory and logical reasoning are all impacted and all essential to perform well on a final exam. So what do the experts suggest? While getting eight hours sleep the night before is great, it is rather recommended to get eight hours sleep five days before the exam for maximum benefit.
The idea behind this is as follows. Our brain cycles go through different stages of sleep several times a night. Each cycle, which is two hours long, includes light sleep, deep sleep and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and back again. With each cycle, we spend more time in REM sleep and less time in light sleep. When you cut sleep short, you spend less time in REM sleep. And here is the key.
REM sleep is the stage where we dream the most and our brain PROCESSES AND STORES NEW INFORMATION TO MEMORY. REM sleep is critical to cognitive performance and when students miss sleep they miss out on REM sleep, which they need the most when studying for the finals. In the final year of medical and dental school, students are tested on EVERYTHING they have learnt so it is impossible to commit all of that information to memory and students are forced to do all nighters. If you haven’t studied and you are busy enjoying lots of REM sleep, you may only be committing to memory how delicious that vegetarian burrito at Prince Albert’s Diner was. Managing time is key for students. Oops my alarm went off. Not to wake up, but to tell me it’s time to sleep. I need eight hours. Good night.