I'm doing a one year AEGD that starts in July. I'm playing around with the idea and reapplying and doing another year else where, possibility at a VA just to get more exposure to a "different" way of doing things and also serve that particular population.
I had some significant family bumps over the year few years. I think I became more resilient in some ways. I mean its hard to stress about plastic teeth final practicals when your mom is in the hospital, you know? A while back a friend of mine broke down crying as they hugged me, claiming they never failed anything before, and here I was happy that I was able to make rent for the month because of some significant family difficulties. For better or worse, I had to juggle two lives emotionally and physically. I think it improved my outlook on life in some ways, maybe me more comfortable and relatable to patients and some of the issues they have. You'd be surprised on how easy they open up to you. It definitely made me more stress tolerant in clinic.
What I would change? more clinic time in 3rd year and more removable experience. Trim the fat a bit in terms of didactics.
Like I said above, my personal issues made me not really have an "ideal" school experience. Like for example, my mom got into an accident a week before d1 fall finals, waas also hospitalized during d2 fall finals. Not to mentioned significant finical issues in-between. I still took my finals on time and did just fine(3.0 GPA). Did school suck? sure, but it wasn't what I was stressing about and more often than not, was my emotional escape.
I do think school got progressively easier each year but its hard to differentiate the changes to my stress tolerance and the actual work load. First year was just boring for me and didint enjoy all the sciences. Everything I found tolerable/enjoyable.
I don't see color
We had a good number of lunch and learns from various interests, not always just corps. I never went to them and always ate at home to decompress. most of my class is doing residency. about 10% private practice.
1st : It gets easier. Most of the stuff you will learn is needed for boards and never again. Take the punches and try not to complain. Exercise, find a hobby. Have fun and try not to beat your self up. Theres always going to be someone smarter. Just compete with your self.
2nd: Get as much advice on your projects as you can. Different eyes, different views. Don't be stubborn and learn. Enemy of perfect is good. Multitask, divide time appropriately between classes/projects that weigh a lot and very little. Don't get tunnel vision. Feed back is more important than countless hours of practice.
3rd: Listen and look at your patients. You're their advocate. Get to know them, don't always go straight to business. Listen to positive/constructive feedback from faculty, leave out the negative and don't take it personal.
4th: Learn as much as you can. Dabble in everything and have more of a life now.
Celebrate your successes, no matter how small. Stop and enjoy the view every now and then. More often than not, if you looked at my station during the start of a practical, I was just staring into space and enjoying the moment for a few minutes. Its going to be a draining 4 years, but theres far more worse things going in the world. If you try and maintain that perspective, you'll be happy/successful.
