Repertoire and Synthesis

Title: Repertoire and Synthesis
Important: Learners and Teachers, Anybody

Concept: The focus of this entry is the way we collect information (intellectual, factual, emotional, etc.) and how we process it and use it, and then how we synthesize information. By synthesize, I mean putting seemingly unrelated parts together.

Examples of this are taking what you learn in Physics class and applying it to what you learn in English class, and then coming up with a (sometimes novel) conclusion. A strong example of this would be Barry in medical school. I use Barry here because he is starting out. Daniel will come later, he's a year ahead of Barry. Drew will come even later because he's a year ahead of Daniel. David just graduated, he's a more special case, we'll see later.

Barry must learn information that has been collected and refined from the last 160 years or so. He is not to make his own ideas of what medicine is at this current stage. He is building his repertoire of information about biochemistry, micro-anatomy, gross anatomy, patient behavior, etc.

What he must do in addition is make secondary and tertiary connections. This will be assisted by two things:

1) Bigger repertoire (larger knowledge base)
2) Intimacy with said repertoire

The sooner he learns and becomes intimate with the medical knowledge of ages past, the more secondary and tertiary connections he can make. It's like playing Clue. Instead of rooms, you have disease, instead of weapons you have treatment, instead of characters you have specialties (this analogy is actually a rough one, excuse the incongruencies). A simple secondary connection would be connecting of information learned in micro-anatomy (striated muscle cells in histology) with that learned in gross anatomy (muscle tissue). A more complex one would be connecting biochemistry (Kreb cycle) with liver biochemistry, organic chemistry and gross anatomy. Connecting these three with pathophysiology (2nd year Med) is still a secondary connection, albeit more complex.

A tertiary connection is a connection made between two secondary connections. This takes work. But is necessary for Step I boards. (Yeah, that's you, Daniel.)

There are some classes that transcend mere collection of information. These classes are similar in fashion: law, writing, math, to name a few. These are fundamental, but lexicon is still necessary.

Then there is history. It is a meta-analysis of sorts. In effect, it has potential for us to look at the way we look at medicine. (That's why the 'meta'.)

Ok, that being said, the BEST example is Words:

For our first few years, we learns sounds (we cooed, and giggled and ahhhed), but when we spoke intelligible words, our parent's eyes lit up and we kept doing it until we spoke. Go, ball, me, yes, NO! all single syllable items of our repertoire. And before you know it we were putting two items together in a repertoire. We were synthesizing, if you will. No remember (back when you were 2 years old) that you didn't need a large repertoire in order to begin synthesizing. It simply happened out of need for efficiency and communication. I... want ... food. The synthesis of these three items of repertoire (vocabulary words) produces a clear communication to the listener. What is less clear was the cry you emitted 1.5 years early, when none of us except our mothers could figure out what it meant, were you wet, hungry, tired, sick?

So as our repertoire of words enlarges, we can make secondary connections better: we form sentences. Then it gets more complex. We must move to tertiary connections. The idea of a sentence (secondary connection) must connect with the idea of another sentence. Why so? To be clear(er). We make connections to understand and be understood. One of the most difficult and lonely places to be is to be in the middle of a group of people and not be understood, especially when you have a need like a tooth ache or think Appendicitis in Tanzania, unless you're fluent in Medical Swahili, you're stuck.

But it get's better. Not just a mere connection of words (sentences, secondary connection of items of repertoire), but now their aesthetic, words choice, diction, all must communicate not just intellectual information but a sense, a feeling. Two examples: John, Adri. (if you want to add more repertoire, take these two as well, Christy and Lauren, they've added photos.)

Poetry and Prose, complex feelings of gratitude and humor, nebulous ideas in our collection of The Human Experience, that is necessary to share, else we would die of solitary confinement. This idea is something we all CRAVE: Intimacy, to know and be known. It is the final product of love in its truest sense:

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." -  I Corinthians 13:12

Remember, looking at words and understanding its connection, we can apply that to every other way we learn information (emotional, intellectual, factual). Barry, Daniel and Drew, MUST learn their repertoire and synthesize. All of you getting your Bachelor's, you are learning your repertoire. Graduate Students must, and begin to senthesize. Parents do it inadvertently. We all do. We just don't take a meta-glance at it the way we're doing here.

Which brings us to the reception of Spiritual Truth.... stay tuned...