I love medical school

[mmmcdowe]

You guys are in for such a great ride. Self actualization was an inside joke when I wrote it in my PS, but boy is it true for me. Not a day goes by when I don't get a thrill from something I see, something I learn, or something I do. Seeing Argyll Roberston pupil, finishing your first complete physical exam, being able to take a younger student into the anatomy lab and show them the easy way to skin. What a rush.

You don't have to hate medical school. At its worst it can be tolerable, and I have yet to see anything but the best time of my life.

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[ksmi117]

Very motivating and exciting. I can't wait to start!

 

[Don Draper]

Well, I'm happy for you.

Glad you are enjoying it. Pay it forward.

 

[drizzt3117]

You guys are in for such a great ride. Self actualization was an inside joke when I wrote it in my PS, but boy is it true for me. Not a day goes by when I don't get a thrill from something I see, something I learn, or something I do. Seeing Argyll Roberston pupil, finishing your first complete physical exam, being able to take a younger student into the anatomy lab and show them the easy way to skin. What a rush.

You don't have to hate medical school. At its worst it can be tolerable, and I have yet to see anything but the best time of my life.

sorry to hear about the syphilis, did the penicilin work?

 

[476515678234896]

congrats man, we're glad you're happy

 

[mmmcdowe]

sorry to hear about the syphilis, did the penicilin work?

Truthfully it was psuedo-argyll robertson pupil from long term diabetes .

 

[NTF]

Have you been huffing formaldehyde again?

 

[searun]

You guys are in for such a great ride. Self actualization was an inside joke when I wrote it in my PS, but boy is it true for me. Not a day goes by when I don't get a thrill from something I see, something I learn, or something I do. Seeing Argyll Roberston pupil, finishing your first complete physical exam, being able to take a younger student into the anatomy lab and show them the easy way to skin. What a rush.

You don't have to hate medical school. At its worst it can be tolerable, and I have yet to see anything but the best time of my life.

P & S, Columbia, New York City and all that NYC has to offer, in the full bloom of your manhood or the female equivalent in your mid twenties, sounds good, what is not like?

What is not to like is that new "Sex in the City" film. Otherwise, yeah, you got it good.

 

[drizzt3117]

You see some weird stuff in med school/hospitals, my first day in the wards we saw some dude recovering from sjs/ten. Pretty nuts. Welcome to med school I guess.

 

[chman]

Have you been huffing formaldehyde again?

 

[morning]

It's really refreshing to see a positive post!

 

[MilkmanAl]

Yeah...anyone for whom this is a thrilling experience had a pretty terrible life beforehand, whether they know it or not. I'm not saying med school is the worst thing ever - I actually enjoy it - but the alternatives are infinitely better. For every "Hey, that's cool!" moment, there are 5-6 "I have no freedom whatsoever" moments, and the latter are only that scarce because, after a little while, you start to tune out how much what you're doing sucks compared to what most 20-somethings are up to.

 

[476515678234896]

Yeah...anyone for whom this is a thrilling experience had a pretty terrible life beforehand, whether they know it or not. I'm not saying med school is the worst thing ever - I actually enjoy it - but the alternatives are infinitely better. For every "Hey, that's cool!" moment, there are 5-6 "I have no freedom whatsoever" moments, and the latter are only that scarce because, after a little while, you start to tune out how much what you're doing sucks compared to what most 20-somethings are up to.

by the time you have the kind of freedom most 20-somethings have now, you'll be in your mid to late 30's and early 40's

.....at least you'll be making bank

 

[GoSpursGo]

You guys are in for such a great ride. Self actualization was an inside joke when I wrote it in my PS, but boy is it true for me. Not a day goes by when I don't get a thrill from something I see, something I learn, or something I do. Seeing Argyll Roberston pupil, finishing your first complete physical exam, being able to take a younger student into the anatomy lab and show them the easy way to skin. What a rush.

You don't have to hate medical school. At its worst it can be tolerable, and I have yet to see anything but the best time of my life.

+1

Truthfully, I think there is some variance between medical schools, and even within a class based on each school's curriculum and each student's outlook. But I truthfully believe that I could not be having a better time anywhere else.

Seriously, guys. Get excited. You don't have to think of med school as being horrible

 

[metallica81788]

I like this thread.

 

[ksmi117]

Yeah...anyone for whom this is a thrilling experience had a pretty terrible life beforehand, whether they know it or not. I'm not saying med school is the worst thing ever - I actually enjoy it - but the alternatives are infinitely better. For every "Hey, that's cool!" moment, there are 5-6 "I have no freedom whatsoever" moments, and the latter are only that scarce because, after a little while, you start to tune out how much what you're doing sucks compared to what most 20-somethings are up to.

Debbie downer.

 

[rlplucien]

Yeah...anyone for whom this is a thrilling experience had a pretty terrible life beforehand, whether they know it or not. I'm not saying med school is the worst thing ever - I actually enjoy it - but the alternatives are infinitely better. For every "Hey, that's cool!" moment, there are 5-6 "I have no freedom whatsoever" moments, and the latter are only that scarce because, after a little while, you start to tune out how much what you're doing sucks compared to what most 20-somethings are up to.

What most 20-somethings are up to? It may be tough, but you are doing something incredible with your life. Most 20-somethings are working boring jobs sitting at a desk where the highlight of the day is a break at the water cooler. Think about it. You are doing something far more interesting than most 20-somethings can ever imagine.

 

[Hood2HarvardMD]

Yeah...anyone for whom this is a thrilling experience had a pretty terrible life beforehand, whether they know it or not. I'm not saying med school is the worst thing ever - I actually enjoy it - but the alternatives are infinitely better. For every "Hey, that's cool!" moment, there are 5-6 "I have no freedom whatsoever" moments, and the latter are only that scarce because, after a little while, you start to tune out how much what you're doing sucks compared to what most 20-somethings are up to.

so true...dude...yes medical is awesome...yes you learn a lot...but hell, i could think of a helluva lotta MORE FUN things id like to be doing right now than memorizing what different cytokines do....so true about TUNING OUT...the more you dwell on how much youre missing out, the less happy you are. you have to come to this point of self denial where you believe that what you are doing is just as fun as what the rest of the people youre age are doing...you start not to care about the days that go by where all you do is go to class, study, maybe gym, eat and sleep...you start to justify to yourself that it is worth it...when you get to that point you reach the delusional state of happiness that mmcdowe has reached...im actually almost there myself...unfortunately i have close friends from undergrad with whom i keep in touch who remind me how my life is ****....but its **** im willing to put up with to reap the benefits in the future...and maybe save a patient or two.

 

[MeRLin443]

You guys are in for such a great ride. Self actualization was an inside joke when I wrote it in my PS, but boy is it true for me. Not a day goes by when I don't get a thrill from something I see, something I learn, or something I do. Seeing Argyll Roberston pupil, finishing your first complete physical exam, being able to take a younger student into the anatomy lab and show them the easy way to skin. What a rush.

You don't have to hate medical school. At its worst it can be tolerable, and I have yet to see anything but the best time of my life.

I think I've read about this phenomenon.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

What most 20-somethings are up to? It may be tough, but you are doing something incredible with your life. Most 20-somethings are working boring jobs sitting at a desk where the highlight of the day is a break at the water cooler. Think about it. You are doing something far more interesting than most 20-somethings can ever imagine.

I don't know. I have a friend who works <30 hours per week, way a lot o' money, and is able to attend parties on demand.

 

[Flapjacks]

And what happens at the parties? You get drunk, play some game or talk to your friends about stuff that can be said in a phone call or text.


Cool party, bro.

 

[riceman04]

+1

Truthfully, I think there is some variance between medical schools, and even within a class based on each school's curriculum and each student's outlook. But I truthfully believe that I could not be having a better time anywhere else.

Seriously, guys. Get excited. You don't have to think of med school as being horrible

LAKER HATER!!!!

seriously...med school is NOT horrible. It is just hard

 

[TooMuchResearch]

And what happens at the parties? You get drunk, play some game or talk to your friends about stuff that can be said in a phone call or text.


Cool party, bro.

I don't imagine you have many good friends.

 

[riceman04]

And what happens at the parties? You get drunk, play some game or talk to your friends about stuff that can be said in a phone call or text.


Cool party, bro.

psssssssssssssh...we party hard SON!

 

[Cleavername]

I don't know. I have a friend who works <30 hours per week, way a lot o' money, and is able to attend parties on demand.

only if its 6 figured , in my opinon.

 

[Flapjacks]

I don't imagine you have many good friends.

That's all you can refute with? Please, tell me what happens in your crunkfests.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

That's all you can refute with? Please, tell me what happens in your crunkfests.

Uh...

 

[Flapjacks]

Colloquialisms. Maybe you can find a definition for that and then decipher my message.

 

[ButImLETired]

I think I find myself somewhere between Milkman and mmmcdowe. My happiness has been entirely class-dependent. During biochem/molecular bio, I was happy (working hard but still having a life, getting to know my classmates, getting a lot of shadowing in, etc. During anatomy...I've never been so miserable in my life. After 4 months of it I was absolutely ready to quit. There were a number of factors: I hated the class (I have zero interest in it, and I'm awful spatially), had one horrendous person in my lab group that made lab awful, never had time to go out because I was always behind, and performed poorly on the tests even though I was putting in tons of hours.

After anatomy ended, and micro started, I became happy again, and the past couple of months have been awesome. I've had to study hard, but I performed very well, understood the material, enjoyed it, and got a lot out of it. Now it's the summer and I'm doing research and it's a blast because most of my classmates are still here.

So yeah, it's been a roller-coaster ride. No, med school isn't inherently miserable. You have to get a lot of pleasure out of learning to enjoy it, and have to not mind putting in the long hours. Some classes will work for you, some might not.

The main thing I want to say is that it's ok to be unhappy.Med schools often are filled with either fakely rah-rah people and people who feel they have to seem happy and in control. There's nothing more dangerous than being unhappy and still pretending everything is great. If something isn't working, admit it to yourself and tell someone (friends, counselors, whatever). It's funny, the day that I admitted to a friend of mine how much I hated the class we were in, he admitted the same thing and others followed suit. It was nice to get it off our chests and we helped each other get through it.

 

[muhali3]

Uh...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Crunkfest

 

[FrazzleSnazzle]

I will be matriculating at the same school as the OP this fall so this thread is just getting me even more pumped up than I already am!

Also, I guess this thread would be a good opportunity for me to thank mmmcdowe on behalf of all the P&S applicants this year for the awesome job he's done helping us! Seriously dude, you've literally been our eyes and ears through the entire process, from writing the secondary to getting off the waitlist. THANK YOU!!!

 

[radiodoc99]

Who doesnt like to sit and study. medical school is fun if studying is fun and for all of us, it is.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

cool story, bro.

=)

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Who doesnt like to sit and study. medical school is fun if studying is fun and for all of us, it is.

I mean, work is sitting in front of a computer for 8-9 hours a day, so I still don't see how life is so much radder when you have a job...

 

[45408]

What most 20-somethings are up to? It may be tough, but you are doing something incredible with your life. Most 20-somethings are working boring jobs sitting at a desk where the highlight of the day is a break at the water cooler. Think about it. You are doing something far more interesting than most 20-somethings can ever imagine.

It won't seem quite as interesting when you're studying for the 57th hour for the week, or when you're scrubbing into your 12th butt pus case. Med school was a good experience for many reasons, but there are plenty of things that would have been more enjoyable, especially in the short term.

 

[45408]

I mean, work is sitting in front of a computer for 8-9 hours a day, so I still don't see how life is so much radder when you have a job...

Most jobs aren't in front of a computer all day (the alternative to medicine isn't just working in a cubicle), and most people aren't actually WORKING that entire time. Plus, you get PAID. That tends to assuage a lot of otherwise bad feelings.

 

[JoshUNCW]

And what happens at the parties? You get drunk, play some game or talk to your friends about stuff that can be said in a phone call or text.


Cool party, bro.

Haha parties never change. Honestly I've been partying hard since high school. To all you talking about how much your missing out in your 20s, maybe you should have lead a more exciting life up until that point. I've traveled, partied, been with girls, and I'm ready for something more serious in life.

I don't need to party every weekend for the next 10 years. I've been doing it for the last 5 and I'm tired lol. You can still party in med school. Just not every night. But seriously guys, get it out of your system in high school/undergrad. Then you won't be so upset.

Edit: For every positive post on SDN there's about 40 negative rebuttals. So I guess we can expect a lot more "med school is hell, get out while you can, I'm a martyr" posts.

 

[sideways]

Edit: For every positive post on SDN there's about 40 negative rebuttals. So I guess we can expect a lot more "med school is hell, get out while you can, I'm a martyr" posts.

The pattern you'll notice on SDN is as follows:

Most med students telling you how medical school sucks the humanity from you, with a smattering of med students, like the OP, giving their hoorah fist pump about how amazing it is. The pre-meds then jump in and defend the OP, using a lot of and , because in essence they are just defending their own decision to pursue medicine. The reality is these pre-meds are entirely ignorant to what it feels like to be in medical school, and their decision to join the team of the isolated OPs while ignoring the chorus of other medical students that are generally in hell is nothing more than selective listening and self-justification.

The reality is that medical school IS enjoyable for a select group of people. And these people, almost by definition, have personality disorders. You'll see them when you get to medical school. Excited about things they really should not be excited about . . . preferring to shovel random lists of facts into their heads rather than just enjoying the mental space of relaxation . . . having no sense of intellectual creativity or capacity to discuss something other than biochemical pathways.

If you then ask me, why am I putting myself through this, well, it's because I have an end-goal. Medicine happens to allows me to meet this goal. But make no mistake, if you have even an inkling of normal in you, you'll be a year into med school, read the OP, and start changing your emoticons to and .

 

[MilkmanAl]

To all you talking about how much your missing out in your 20s, maybe you should have lead a more exciting life up until that point. I've traveled, partied, been with girls, and I'm ready for something more serious in life.

This is one of few professions where you have to choose between the two. Plenty of people have both a successful career (which would presumably qualify as "more serious" than the frat boy lifestyle you alluded to) and the ability to chill out in their off hours.

For every positive post on SDN there's about 40 negative rebuttals.

Perhaps there's something to that, eh? Again, med school isn't terrible at all, but it's also no cakewalk. Most people should not expect to be enamored with it.

edit for ninja: Mostly agreed with the above. I'm not sure I'd push it to the "all people who like med school are crazy" level, but it's pretty close to that - close enough that creating such a stereotype would probably be justified.

 

[guyski79]

I will be matriculating at the same school as the OP this fall so this thread is just getting me even more pumped up than I already am!

Also, I guess this thread would be a good opportunity for me to thank mmmcdowe on behalf of all the P&S applicants this year for the awesome job he's done helping us! Seriously dude, you've literally been our eyes and ears through the entire process, from writing the secondary to getting off the waitlist. THANK YOU!!!

+1. can't wait to meet mmmcdowe and frazzlesnazzle in august

 

[JoshUNCW]

This is one of few professions where you have to choose between the two. Plenty of people have both a successful career (which would presumably qualify as "more serious" than the frat boy lifestyle you alluded to) and the ability to chill out in their off hours.

Perhaps there's something to that, eh? Again, med school isn't terrible at all, but it's also no cakewalk. Most people should not expect to be enamored with it.

edit for ninja: Mostly agreed with the above. I'm not sure I'd push it to the "all people who like med school are crazy" level, but it's pretty close to that - close enough that creating such a stereotype would probably be justified.

Your first point is completely true. But I believe every premed knows that a job with good pay/hour exists, at least they should if they're half as smart as I hope you need to be to get into med school. But it is a conscious choice, not something forced upon you, when you decide to go the medical route.

My point is, for some people, losing the crazy partying years isn't as big of a deal as others. Some people already got the craziest part of their lives out of the way and are ready for a more serious life.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I think I find myself somewhere between Milkman and mmmcdowe. My happiness has been entirely class-dependent. During biochem/molecular bio, I was happy (working hard but still having a life, getting to know my classmates, getting a lot of shadowing in, etc. During anatomy...I've never been so miserable in my life. After 4 months of it I was absolutely ready to quit. There were a number of factors: I hated the class (I have zero interest in it, and I'm awful spatially), had one horrendous person in my lab group that made lab awful, never had time to go out because I was always behind, and performed poorly on the tests even though I was putting in tons of hours.

After anatomy ended, and micro started, I became happy again, and the past couple of months have been awesome. I've had to study hard, but I performed very well, understood the material, enjoyed it, and got a lot out of it. Now it's the summer and I'm doing research and it's a blast because most of my classmates are still here.

So yeah, it's been a roller-coaster ride. No, med school isn't inherently miserable. You have to get a lot of pleasure out of learning to enjoy it, and have to not mind putting in the long hours. Some classes will work for you, some might not.

The main thing I want to say is that it's ok to be unhappy.Med schools often are filled with either fakely rah-rah people and people who feel they have to seem happy and in control. There's nothing more dangerous than being unhappy and still pretending everything is great. If something isn't working, admit it to yourself and tell someone (friends, counselors, whatever). It's funny, the day that I admitted to a friend of mine how much I hated the class we were in, he admitted the same thing and others followed suit. It was nice to get it off our chests and we helped each other get through it.

Very true, especially the last paragraph.

I will say there are some of my classmates who are NOT having the time of their lives, and that's perfectly fine too; you shouldn't have to pretend everything's great when it's not. What I was trying to convey is that you don't HAVE to be miserable in med school. It seems like sometimes, everyone talks as if medical school is just a terrible experience where you work all the time and don't have any enjoyment whatsoever. For some people that may be true, but not for all--at the very least, you shouldn't come into med school EXPECTING to be miserable, because that can easily turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The part about happiness being very class-dependent is also true. I hated anatomy and histology, but now that I'm in Neuro, I'm finally excited about coming to class on most days

 

[sideways]

Your first point is completely true. But I believe every premed knows that a job with good pay/hour exists, at least they should if they're half as smart as I hope you need to be to get into med school. But it is a conscious choice, not something forced upon you, when you decide to go the medical route.

My point is, for some people, losing the crazy partying years isn't as big of a deal as others. Some people already got the craziest part of their lives out of the way and are ready for a more serious life.

Two things:

1) No one forces medical school on you. But once you begin medical school, you are basically forced to stick with it. The further along you go, the crippling debt will indeed force you to continue.

2) We're not talking about giving up sipping 40s, doing lines, and scamming on chicks. We're talking about giving up a normal life. Spending time with your friends and family. Watching a movie. Going to the beach. Medical school is an incredibly emotionally unhealthy life choice to make.

 

[mmmcdowe]

This is what I've noticed about happy and unhappy medical students. Happy medical students are able to recognize why many medical students are unhappy and sympathize. Unhappy medical students, in general, tend to utterly refuse that anyone could possibly hit a stride that lets them enjoy themselves extensively unless they add a negative modifier like having no life or being mental. They insist that no sane person with a normal life before medical school could possibly be happy in their situation and continuously justify their own misery by insisting the inevitability that medical school will beat you down and you should look forward to four years of flogging. I understand that medical school can be tiring and depressing. There have been times where after five hours of studying I can't do it any more, but there have also been times where after five hours of reading a good book I had to put it down too.

I was happy in college, why can't I be happy in medical school without a personality disorder or having had a bad life (I've had a very blessed life I'd dare say)? I've done three plays, sang, gone out to many fine drinking establishments, done research, maintain a healthy relationship with my girlfriend, volunteered weekly at clinics and in educational settings. I have good friends and a strong mentoring relationship with multiple physicians who sincerely look out for my best interest. I may be a little exaggerated in my extra curricular activities compared to most, but kids here at Columbia are mostly happy and many find time to go out almost as much as they did in undergrad.

 

[RunningKing]

For the first two years of medical school, the amount of fun you have is inversely proportional to your board score. That is not a joke, its the cold, hard truth.
The second two years are dependent on how big of *******s your attendings are.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Most jobs aren't in front of a computer all day (the alternative to medicine isn't just working in a cubicle), and most people aren't actually WORKING that entire time. Plus, you get PAID. That tends to assuage a lot of otherwise bad feelings.

If you have extensive work experience where this is untrue kudoos to you, sir (or madam). But I've worked at two different companies in "serious," career-style jobs, and I'd say 95% of the people in those companies spent 7+ hrs/day in front of their computers. The other time was spent in meetings or on conference calls which are equally mundane.

That's not to say there aren't jobs out their that don't involve a computer. But the perennial SDN favorites of engineering, law, and business all spend large portions of their days at a desk looking at a screen.

As for not working all the time, I'm not sure how much guiltily reading SDN while looking over your shoulder for your boss really makes the day that much awesomer. Besides, I see plenty of med students who are on this site, so it's not like you don't get a chance to goof off on the Interwebs from time to time, too.

As for pay, I dare say it's not that amazing, especially when about 4/5 of it goes to your basic living expenses.

 

[MacVA]

I am not a medical student or anything but, my medical student girlfriend and her friends are some of the biggest partiers I know...

 

[drizzt3117]

Interesting how most of the med students who are really happy are 1st years...

Generally I think there's been a lot of things about med school that have been cool and a lot that really suck. In my experience, it's a lot better than the grind that is the first couple years of ibanking though fwiw.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Interesting how most of the med students who are really happy are 1st years...

This is a fair point

 

[JoshUNCW]

Two things:

1) No one forces medical school on you. But once you begin medical school, you are basically forced to stick with it. The further along you go, the crippling debt will indeed force you to continue.

2) We're not talking about giving up sipping 40s, doing lines, and scamming on chicks. We're talking about giving up a normal life. Spending time with your friends and family. Watching a movie. Going to the beach. Medical school is an incredibly emotionally unhealthy life choice to make.

That's funny. My friends in medical school still can watch movies, come visit me at the beach every couple weeks, and see their friends/family. Maybe they're just smart. Idk.

As for your first point, maybe you should have gotten an undergraduate degree in something that pays better. I know I can quit med school after two-three years, and still be less in debt than some of my friends who went to Duke.