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As a non-trad med student, what was the most difficult thing in med school?
For me the most difficult thing was going from being a senior grad student and chem instructor with adult responsibility and a skillset hard-acquired over a decade, back to being a freshman again. It was a culture shock, and it meant re-creating a whole new sense of identity. The same thing happened to some extent upon starting residency, but it wasn't quite as bad. I think it's partly because I knew what to expect and partly because being a resident is more like having a job than it is like being a student.
This, after having taught organic chemistry to all of those premeds who each year looked ever so much younger than me, I'm not looking forward to. =)For me the most difficult thing was going from being a senior grad student and chem instructor with adult responsibility and a skillset hard-acquired over a decade, back to being a freshman again. It was a culture shock, and it meant re-creating a whole new sense of identity. The same thing happened to some extent upon starting residency, but it wasn't quite as bad. I think it's partly because I knew what to expect and partly because being a resident is more like having a job than it is like being a student.
I consider this very implausible. I had to study plenty for most courses in middle school and high school. Students who said they didn't have to study, even back then, were either saying untrue statements or getting lower than a B. I got some Ds in fourth grade and have been a studying student since fifth grade. I have read biographies of people who did things like won the Nobel prize, and they all had to study for undergraduate courses and high school, and probably before that also. Physicians are not dumb, but I doubt they are that much smarter than me and other known studiers.
Patchy - I definitely studied for maybe one or two tests in high school, and about half in undergrad. I tend to remember details really easily and have an eidetic memory (in the true sense that I can visualize the item I want to recall even out of its original context). It's not perfect and it does fail me sometimes, but that's what I have. I'm not the smartest person - I was average intelligence for my top-50 school. But don't knock people just because it's not how you learn. Everyone is different, and pulling people down will not help you up.
I consider this very implausible. I had to study plenty for most courses in middle school and high school. Students who said they didn't have to study, even back then, were either saying untrue statements or getting lower than a B. I got some Ds in fourth grade and have been a studying student since fifth grade. I have read biographies of people who did things like won the Nobel prize, and they all had to study for undergraduate courses and high school, and probably before that also. Physicians are not dumb, but I doubt they are that much smarter than me and other known studiers.
Sorry, but this just isn't true. I have rarely had to study for any college course, and I never studied for anything outside of Spanish and a couple science courses in high school. I am certainly not bragging, because my abilities are nothing I worked for, just a God-given (or randomly genetically bestowed, if you prefer) gift, and I have no motivation to lie as this is an anonymous internet forum. I am sure in your experience, regular studying was the only way to succeed, and I am positive in medical school I will have to regularly study myself, but saying no one gets a B or better without regular studying, from middle school on, is pretty ridiculous.I consider this very implausible. I had to study plenty for most courses in middle school and high school. Students who said they didn't have to study, even back then, were either saying untrue statements or getting lower than a B. I got some Ds in fourth grade and have been a studying student since fifth grade. I have read biographies of people who did things like won the Nobel prize, and they all had to study for undergraduate courses and high school, and probably before that also. Physicians are not dumb, but I doubt they are that much smarter than me and other known studiers.
Academically: going back to being a full-time student. Needing to learn and retain for exams, without the crutch of being able to look something up if I forget.
Socially: feeling like I'm not able to connect with others as much as I'd like to. It's probably more just in my head, and it's probably due to my introverted tendencies; perhaps if you asked one of my classmates they wouldn't agree with my perception at all (especially because I don't look older than they are), but it's a feeling I can't shake, regardless.
You'll get used to it.This, after having taught organic chemistry to all of those premeds who each year looked ever so much younger than me, I'm not looking forward to. =)
Definitely agree with #1,3,4. Step studying was some of the worst time of my life, and I'm very introverted (matching into path - hopefully!), so the start of each new rotation was torture...as was each time I had to knock on an exam room door and greet a new patient. I'd overcome it, but I could never quite get rid of that knot in my stomach.The worst days of med school:
1) step 1 exam
2) first anatomy exam (I suck at memorizing laundry lists of terms, and don't care what the names of every extensor in the hand are)
3) step 2 CS and CK -not because they are difficult, but because I have issues with being locked in to any space for longer than an hour. I don't care much for long flights, either.
4) First day of any new rotation -because I hate not knowing what is going on, and you inevitably feel that way on the first day (or 2 or 4) of any new rotation.
For me the most difficult thing was going from being a senior grad student and chem instructor with adult responsibility and a skillset hard-acquired over a decade, back to being a freshman again. It was a culture shock, and it meant re-creating a whole new sense of identity. The same thing happened to some extent upon starting residency, but it wasn't quite as bad. I think it's partly because I knew what to expect and partly because being a resident is more like having a job than it is like being a student.
Ditto for me. I was talking with my wife last weekend about how the hardest thing for me is the perpetual state of guilt I carry around. When I'm at the hospital I feel guilty that I'm not at home helping out with the kids and about the burdens my wife shoulders alone. When I'm at home I feel guilty that I'm not studying or preparing myself better for my patients. People who pursue medicine tend to be ambitious and are used to expecting a certain level of excellence from themselves. And it's been difficult to often carry around this feeling that I'm shoddy at everything (being a father, husband, and medical student) because I don't have the time to give myself to any one endeavor to do it proper justice. I try to make my peace with it and do my best to realize that nothing will ever be perfect. Nothing will ever be 100% but I can at least ensure that it's never 0%.The guilt.
For those of you reading this thread with spouses and/or kids:
As an MS2, wife, and mom of 3 kids under 5, the hardest part for me has been finding adequate study time (during which I'm not fighting sleep). I've managed to ward off guilt by keeping the husband and kids at the top of my priority list and trying to limit my study time to when I'm on campus (generally 8-4) or at night after the kids have gone to bed. I do normal mom stuff in the evenings: I cook dinner, do laundry, play with the kids, chat with the husband. It works as far as family stability and life balance go, but I've had to get over the strong urge to be jealous of classmates who get to study whenever and wherever they want. Do my grades suffer? Yes, but they are still good and I'm still learning what I need to. Well worth it, in my opinion.
The money situation is tough too. I had a good career before med school and it has been hard (perhaps more so for my husband than for me) to adjust to having very little disposeable income + the addition of new debt every year.
The key is to remember to preserve your relationships - your family will be around well after you are done with school/residency, and it's easier to fix problems as they arise rather than save a failed relationship once it's too late. Life happens, and it doesn't care that you are a medical student. Also, this is only temporary. You will not be a poor, busy student for the rest of your life!
Good luck, Non-trad premeds! If I can do it, you can do it.
... Everyone says it, no one is really prepared, but a 22 year old cell bio major is frankly much better prepared than a 30 something ex humanities student, even one who aced premed classes. Such is life....
I was accepted to medical school in October 2010, after a few attempts.
Unfortunatly, about a year ago, my consulting career really took off, too (I became the second in command of the hospital management practice for a very large firm). I jetted across the globe in first class, got to do some really interesting work, travelled to some of the most amazing cities on the planet, and had a great paycheck and stock options (and the autonomy that came with it). I had no debt, no family, and really no worries.
I also was dating a nice TV actress, too.
I was dreading making the move. In the end, I enrolled in school. I am not sure why. Fate has a very sinister way of testing you, it seems.
Nedless to say, it has been a huge adjustment. I am not sure if it was the right move quite yet.
I'm also a little itty bitty pre-med, but had a question.
For those of you who went to medical school a non-traditionally older age, was it hard for you to fit in? Did you feel somewhat out of place?
If I'm lucky, I"ll matriculate at the age of 36. I'm social and love making new friends but always wondered how receptive young medical students were to the idea of an older classmate.
From the perspective of a younger classmate, I don't want to hang out socially with older guys that don't have a PhD or something cool to add to the conversation.
However, in class and such, I treat people equally, so unless your goal of going to med school is to socialize with younger people, I suspect that many of your future classmates would treat you with the same respect in-class.
Not an issue at all, unless you go out of your way to make it one.For those of you who went to medical school a non-traditionally older age, was it hard for you to fit in? Did you feel somewhat out of place?
If I'm lucky, I"ll matriculate at the age of 36. I'm social and love making new friends but always wondered how receptive young medical students were to the idea of an older classmate.
I'm also a little itty bitty pre-med, but had a question.
For those of you who went to medical school a non-traditionally older age, was it hard for you to fit in? Did you feel somewhat out of place?
If I'm lucky, I"ll matriculate at the age of 36. I'm social and love making new friends but always wondered how receptive young medical students were to the idea of an older classmate.
... Except they thought I brought far better study food than the younger classmates did.
When I'm knee deep studying for exams and trying to cram a sea of trivia into my brain that I know I will quickly forget hours after the test, I frequently think how happy I was with my previous career and paycheck and lifestyle. Why did I purposefully put myself through this again?
That constant lingering doubt in the back of your mind if you made the right choice--THAT is the hardest part for me so far.
I think questioning your decision sometimes is pretty normal for everyone in medical training, let alone for nontrads. You're making a huge change in your life at a high financial and personal cost. Some of your nonmedical friends (or even your spouse) may be wondering why you're wanting to put yourself (and them) through a decade of upheaval. You go from being comfortable and competent in your old life to being incompetent and out of your comfort zone. Every time you start to get the hang of things, they change the rules on you. For every amazing moment of "wow, this is cool!", there is an equally awful moment of "what did I get myself into!" I'm not at all saying that it's not worth it or that people shouldn't do it; that would be pretty disingenuous of me. But it's also true that you have to be just a little insane to do it, and especially to do it as a nontrad with a spouse and family in tow.Seriously? I found it the opposite. A ton to know, but at least you are always learning, moving forward, keeping those neural nets forming in your brain. And throughout med school and residency you periodically stop and step back and realize that you are accomplishing something very few have the opportunity to do, and do things others will only experience in movies/TV. How many people have experienced dissection lab, or autopsy? How many people have gotten into the OR? How many people get to handle someone's heart, or sew back on a mangled ear, or drill a hole in someone's head, or put a big needle into someone's spinal canal? You get to do this kind of stuff. Your friends are all sitting in cubicles shuffling papers and talking on the phone all day. Really nothing to doubt yourself about. You only get to go around in life once, and while playing it safe has it's benefits and is easier, you kind of miss out on the opportunity to do a lot of cool things first hand that most people have to imagine.
Ditto for me. I was talking with my wife last weekend about how the hardest thing for me is the perpetual state of guilt I carry around. When I'm at the hospital I feel guilty that I'm not at home helping out with the kids and about the burdens my wife shoulders alone. When I'm at home I feel guilty that I'm not studying or preparing myself better for my patients. People who pursue medicine tend to be ambitious and are used to expecting a certain level of excellence from themselves. And it's been difficult to often carry around this feeling that I'm shoddy at everything (being a father, husband, and medical student) because I don't have the time to give myself to any one endeavor to do it proper justice. I try to make my peace with it and do my best to realize that nothing will ever be perfect. Nothing will ever be 100% but I can at least ensure that it's never 0%.
...But it's also true that you have to be just a little insane to do it, and especially to do it as a nontrad with a spouse and family in tow...
Seriously? I found it the opposite. A ton to know, but at least you are always learning, moving forward, keeping those neural nets forming in your brain. And throughout med school and residency you periodically stop and step back and realize that you are accomplishing something very few have the opportunity to do, and do things others will only experience in movies/TV. How many people have experienced dissection lab, or autopsy? How many people have gotten into the OR? How many people get to handle someone's heart, or sew back on a mangled ear, or drill a hole in someone's head, or put a big needle into someone's spinal canal? You get to do this kind of stuff. Your friends are all sitting in cubicles shuffling papers and talking on the phone all day. Really nothing to doubt yourself about. You only get to go around in life once, and while playing it safe has it's benefits and is easier, you kind of miss out on the opportunity to do a lot of cool things first hand that most people have to imagine.
Isoprop, hang in there. A lot of people don't enjoy the preclinical years, where what you're doing is very far from what you'll be doing as a physician. But it does get better.
Substitute "residency" for "med school" and "four months" for "three months", and amen, my friend.Thanks. I'm hoping I survive and get there soon! I've been in med school for 3 months now, but I already feel like I've been in here forever.
As a single guy (aka zero expenses), probably the change in standard of living. Going from buying what you want, whenever you want, as much as you want to sticking to a strict budget. Going from eating out every night, to eating out once a month. Going from elite status on airlines/hotels to never traveling anywhere.
It's a big transition once you've lived the high live to go back to being a poor college student.