What do you do when you feel burned out

[Greyangel6]

Already the 5th week into summer semester of D2. I feel like dental school made me redefine my limits. Before dental school, I thought that hard work pays off. It doesn't feel like it when I put so much effort yet for very little change in grades. And even when I do good in one test, the 2 exams on the next day will suffer. And the cycle continues. I tried changing habits, changing diet, changing sleep patterns, to no avail. And when I become anti-social because I have to focus on keeping my passing grades, sometimes I just question why I'm in dental school.

Is this burn out or is this psychosis talking?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bjpenn]

Ha I felt the same way. The good news is that D2 will eventually end. Just do your best, get rest when you can, go eat something really good, exercise, take it ONE DAY AT A TIME. Lots of things are out of your control, but just do your best. (i know it sounds cliche), but if I got through it, you can too.

 

[spazway]

I feel you. I'm almost done with summer D2 [just finished D1]. Something feels different going from making mostly As in undergrad to making Bs and Cs in dental school, even though you're definitely working a lot harder. And I know that depending on your ambition and goals, that might not be where you want to be. But as one of my favorite professors said, remember that you're in professional-level courses and that making the grade--satisfying the course requirements for a C--means that you ARE demonstrating competency, and sometimes you just need to feel proud of yourself for passing. That might not be what you want to hear right now, and I'm sorry if your dream is/was to be the world's most renowned oral surgeon, but it seems to me like you just need confidence. You don't and shouldn't need to be getting a 4.0 in dental school to be proud of yourself. What's more important than GPA now is developing the skills you'll need to do good quality and efficient work.

 

[derbear]

The way I see it, as long as you are passing you are competent. 99% of your dental education will occur after you graduate and step into the real world. I prefer to have a good balance in terms of studying and the rest of my life. At least in my D2 class there are two groups of people. The first group of people study non-stop, constantly send snapchats of them studying and are always talking about school work from morning to night. The second group of people tend to study only when they need to, tend to have more social freedom however may not be as kept up with the material (I fall into the second group of people). However, come exam time, I always find that these two groups of people preform very similarly and it the end it just comes down to what works for you. Don't kill yourself over low grades because most people will be in the same boat as you.

 

[wujiegve]

The second group of people tend to study only when they need to, tend to have more social freedom however may not be as kept up with the material

 

[Greyangel6]

Thank you all for the encouraging words. I definitely walk down the self-blaming lane too often for these failures just because I was starting to be that guy that studies all the time and barely passes lol. I'm making a few changes (like only practice sim lab until I meet certain goals for that session, take it one day at a time,etc.)

Hopefully I pass the boards come May and then D3 will be less about studying/test-taking and more about treating patients.

 

[NMC2010]

After you finish your boards and start D3 it gets better. You still have work to do, but so much less stress than D2. You can breathe and not feel like you're going to be ground down to nothing left of the person you used to be. And you'll come out stronger because of it, and with a better work ethic. Hang in there.

 

[Cello]

Is this different for students who take boards after D1?

 

[480640]

.

 

[Daneosaurus]

Who has time to be burned out?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Blake1e]

Already the 5th week into summer semester of D2. I feel like dental school made me redefine my limits. Before dental school, I thought that hard work pays off. It doesn't feel like it when I put so much effort yet for very little change in grades. And even when I do good in one test, the 2 exams on the next day will suffer. And the cycle continues. I tried changing habits, changing diet, changing sleep patterns, to no avail. And when I become anti-social because I have to focus on keeping my passing grades, sometimes I just question why I'm in dental school.

Is this burn out or is this psychosis talking?

What I do when I start feeling the burn is start cutting things out of my life, at least temporarily. Lessen other responsibilities, only attend class if its important and not just regular lectures, hang out with a smaller social circle and make time to do something truly fun once in a while