I used to complain relentlessly about how bad my memory is (in my defense, it's pretty horrific, I can't recall three items fifteen minutes later). I still hate that I'm not able to recall things as easily as most of my classmates, who rattle off lists of criteria and lab values like it's no big deal.
People with photographic memories (also called eidetic memories) are amazing. If you google "photographic memory," there seems to be a consensus that this doesn't really exist, but having known many people who could recall very long random lists after a single glance, I beg to differ. (Disclaimer: we have different definitions, of course.)
People like me with "regular" memories rely on other clues, spacial relationships and mnemonics to remember things, but those with photographic memories don't use any of that.
When I was younger and presented my mom with "disappointing" grades (my opinion, and usually this meant low 90s), bemoaning how my friends had photographic memories, she would always remind me that a photographic memory hinders outside-the-box thinking.
If you have a list of a thousand symptoms memorized, for example, and a prototypical patient walks in with every symptom of Lyme disease, voila! You're a hero. But what if you see a rash, and you think of the 100 differential diagnoses for that, but fail to consider the rash may be unrelated or atypical for that disease? Or if the Lyme patient comes in with an atypical presentation, say, with only a joint ache? Would you forget to include Lyme disease in your differential?
That aside, I've decided on my own opinion. Having witnessed a lot of tragic accidents, sick people, dying people- I realized that I take for granted the one thing I always hated about myself- my horrible memory. I've developed a mechanism that allows me to consciously forget those horrible images, feelings and emotions, which is definitely a protective mechanism. Especially for surgery rotations, stupid answers in class, how difficult an exam was, and the like.
Embrace your weaknesses! They're probably a blessing in disguise.
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