A day in the life?

[Biffer]

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hey everyone,
I was wondering if any of you could enlighten me as to how horrible and bad med school really is... I'm currently taking a year off in lieu of a masters and will be applying to medschool this summer. I must admit that becoming a doctor is certainly a dream I wish to fulfill, but the sacrifices necessary sometimes seem daunting. I'm young, fresh out of undergrad, and naturally want to flaunt my independence...get a job, right?? haha, what's keeping all of you motivated for the long haul when, with your excellent stats and brilliant minds you could have made a run for the biotech job market, landing a 50k(9-5) position with benefits + promotions? At times I find it difficult to imagine sitting through another 4-5yrs of grueling classes and endless library seclusion only to be greeted by the light at the end of the tunnel in my late twenties. Med school social elite, has there been time to experience your fellow classmates and surroundings or does med school live up to its one dimensional stereotype?

please throw me some much needed sunshine,
biffy

 

[maxheadroom]

Med school is just more school. Sure, there are times when you're inundated with material to learn and exams to study for, but if you're smart enough to get in, you'll be smart enough to do the work. As an M4, I've had plenty of time to play during my education. The first two years are just school, albeit a bit more intense than undergrad. Given that, there's plenty of time to go out with friends, travel, pursue hobbies, do research, have a part time job (with flexible hours), and be involved on campus or in the community. There will be times when you'll have to cut back on your social life (a couple of weeks before exams and Step I), but you'll be surprised at how easy the first two years are.

Third year is time intensive, just because you're expected to work as if you're an intern/resident. Surgery required ~110 hours/week, medicine probably required 70 hours/week. The others were probably 50-70 hours/week depending upon the service. The big shock of third year is rounding on weekends and taking call in the hospital.

Fourth year is a paradise. You take electives that you're interested in. I did a tropical medicine rotation in Central America for a month where I WAS the doctor. You also do visiting electives at residency programs that you're interested in.

What it all comes down to is your love for the job. If you really want to be a physician, then med school should be mostly fun and very satisfying. If you're thinking of medicine for money (bad idea, compensation is dropping and malpractice premiums are rising), glory (not many people are impressed that you're going to be a doctor), or an easy life (most attendings/community docs work >60 hours/week), find another field.

 

[AznTrojan]

pass/fail = no stress = plenty of time to play 😀

 

[Smurfette]

It all depends on the person and on the school's system.

I go to class and then spend the rest of the day secluded off somewhere studying during the week before an exam. (This is very different from college for me!) Otherwise in non-exam weeks I take it easy and have time to myself and it is more like college.

Unfortunately, when I have exams scheduled several weeks in a row I feel like I'm living in a cave 🙄 But this is due to the VOLUME of material I need to sift through, not due to difficulty or homework. I have a short attention span so I have to take a lot of breaks if I want to retain anything I've read.

Classmates of mine who keep up better than I do (I am a procrastinator) manage to maintain a pretty normal life.

 

[oneironaut]

Yeah, its a hell of a lot of work, but really nothing too diffiicult to wrap your mind around. Its not as bad as I thought, not as bad as they made it seem in that PBS video about the Harvard kids. Its actually fun (maybe in a masochistic way) and face it: you get to study and do things most people never can. And yeah, we all goof off still- we're still grad-students my god. (technically anyways). Its no so bad.

 

[doepug]

Medical school is not nearly as bad or as intense as urban myth would have you believe. Med students are not given unreasonable amounts of work and are not held to unreasonable expectations.

I have gotten eight hours of sleep nearly every night since medical school began. If you can budget your time effectively, med school won't be a terribly stressful experience.

Good luck,
doepug (MS III)

 

[8744]

Absolutely right.

The key is budgeting your time and not falling too far behind.

Additionally you need to know what to "blow off" and what to really study. Memorizing chemical pathways like the Krebb cycle is "low-yield," for example and should only be attemted with great reluctance. Physiology, on the other hand, is more important.

A lot of people complain about the first and second year work-load but I think this is because they have never worked at a "real" job."

 

[Mutterkuchen]

Originally posted by Biffer
haha, what's keeping all of you motivated for the long haul when, with your excellent stats and brilliant minds you could have made a run for the biotech job market, landing a 50k(9-5) position with benefits + promotions?

These jobs don't really exist for new graduates. 50k just-out-of-college jobs with only a bachelors in Chem or Biology are very rare. And the ones that do exist aren't 9-5. It's more like 7-6 ish, at least if you want the promotions.

Becoming a doc involves many sacrifices, but don't think that the world outside of medicine is always rosy, either.

 

[Katie]

hey, I really don't think that med school is extremely stressful so far.. the only classes that I found to be difficult to manage at times were anatomy, pharmacology, and neuroscience, and with time I got better at organizing the material so I could learn more efficiently. My two bits of advice would be to pay attention to any underlined text and "most common" statements and not freak over every single bit of minutiae, stop worrying about grades and just focus on passing and learning what you need to for your patients, and don't allow your classmates and other SDNers to psych you out. And pick a school where you think you will be happy, and not base your decision solely on reputation and/or in-state tuition.

 

[wack]

To the op. It is great that you are looking at this situation objectively. You should consider all of your options carefully because I have seen a lot of miserable docs. I am a non-trad student and have worked as an engineer for the last two years. I am "enjoying" my mid twenties but you also need to have a more long term perspective. You will probably have 8 years of twenties after you get out of school but after that you will have 10 years of thirties, 10 years of forties, and 10 years of fifties and maybe 5-7 years of sixties. In other words what are you going to do thith those years? Those long productive years. What happens when you are 35 and making 65k a year, with little to no promotion opportunities, no control of your own destiny, and no opportunities at work to actually reach out and help someone in a fundamental way. There are many rewarding careers medicine certainly doesn't have a monopoly. However, when you choose a career try to look for something more than a check. Look for something that will give you some kind of satisfaction because for most drinking beer and chasing girls/guys only lasts for the minor portion of your life. Albeit an important and extremely fun time. If you want to contribute to others but just can't bear the long training consider teaching, nursing, physical therapy, social work, or socially responsible technical jobs.

 

[chef]

Originally posted by doepug
Medical school is not nearly as bad or as intense as urban myth would have you believe. Med students are not given unreasonable amounts of work and are not held to unreasonable expectations.

I have gotten eight hours of sleep nearly every night since medical school began. If you can budget your time effectively, med school won't be a terribly stressful experience.

Good luck,
doepug (MS III)

hi doepug, r u getting 8 hr sleep/day in 3rd yr? wow that's awesome.. u are at hopkins right? how rough is the 3rd yr there?

 

[doepug]

Originally posted by chef
hi doepug, r u getting 8 hr sleep/day in 3rd yr? wow that's awesome.. u are at hopkins right? how rough is the 3rd yr there?

Yep. Most clerkships really aren't as intense as you'd think... I actually managed to get my sleep during medicine, peds, and a handful of other rotations. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to stay awake longer during surgery (which begins on Monday) since I'll have a little overnight call. The demands on time really aren't that bad, and if you learn how to read books actively to retain information (I do it by reading out loud), there'll be time to go out with your friends and sleep at night.

I really think that Osler was right; he said that aequanimitas (extreme calm, composure, unflappability) was essential to the character of a physician. In other words, if you never let anything stress you and take an easygoing yet serious approach to medicine, you'll go far. I'm doing my best to remain stress-free.

Third year at Hopkins really isn't rough, but it's not easy either. Although expectations are high, all the housestaff and attendings I've encountered have been very friendly toward students. The opportunities they give us here are nothing short of incredible.

Best,
doepug

 

[Biffer]

wack:
I absolutely agree with everything you've said. As you noted, I do enjoy weighing my options as time runs thin and decisions become somewhat final... I've always had moments when I've wished to pursue a less stressful, more potentially lucrative position==ie biotech/pharm entrepeneur...etc.(med definitley has a glass ceiling and skyrocketing insurance fees help little) Yet, in the end, I always return to medicine for the same reasons you highlighted. I can't imagine a more satisfying and fullfilling way to spend the MAJORITY of my time for the next 35yrs. By stating the opposite, I tend to get a boost of motivation from rereading my and others' posts.

thanks,
Biff