Hello all,
Just writing a post to offer some advice. I used to follow and read SDN quite a bit back when I was in medical school and it was really helpful. Good to see its still going strong.
Just wanted to offer some advice/insight for what I wish I was told to expect. I'm many years in and now becoming an attending soon so here it goes for those who are applying or are about to go into medical school. The summary is at the bottom if this is too long
1) This is a marathon
That is an understatement. From the all way to the MD application process to applying for training, to finishing training, its really an endurance test. Particularly in my field, your patience, stamina, perseverance...it will all be tested. I had some insight into this before going to medial school and so I certainly tried to keep the big picture perspective. My colleagues would often miss important events out of fear it would interfere with their next test, studying, project, presentation whatever.
Point is, life will go by with or without you. Its up to you to try to be there SOME important things in life and understand its a marathon and not race. Pick your spots to be intense because going full throttle for 9-10 years really takes a toll on you.
Medical school is just the beginning. Its much more taxing that undergrad or other jobs I had, but training/residency is a whole different ball game. The responsibility, expectations, the hours, the need to study in your field etc...It felt like not only it never ended, just intensified as you became more and more senior in your training. So it becomes even more important to pace your intensity
2) Take on as little debt as you possibly can. With some exceptions, go to the cheapest medical school you can.
I did't take this advice when I started. Popular sentiment on the internet at that time was go to your "dream" school etc...Although going to an ivy league school is helpful, grades, research, designations were far more important and certainly not worth extra 100K. And although I had a great time at my medical school, I should've gone with the cheaper option. I would much, much rather have 100K less debt.
Given how long we train for how little before we get our first real jobs, this is even more important. Learning how to efficiently handle your finances early, getting on a budget etc... This applies to you too as a doctor just like everyone else. These principles will not only help you in your personal life but also if/when you help run a practice etc. If you can get a head of the game, get on a budget, learn how to save and invest and understand your finances, you will have power and more say in how/when/where you practice. I unfortunately learned this late, but glad I did at least at some point. Which leads to point #3
3) Economic forces apply to you too, and its OK that it does
This is more for medical students assessing their careers. It baffles me how my colleagues going through this and even now still feel entitled to be immune to economic forces. Example, in my field if you were to work in NYC/SF/major city you would make 50% less than a medium sized city. People in training often find this infuriating and complain constantly.
For our field, unlike say bankers/tech, some of the best opportunities are outside of big cities, in essence where there is more demand and less competitive force. If you choose to do primary care and want to make a very good income, you can have both if you simply move to a place that provides that, often rural. If you insist on big city XYZ, then the same economic forces will apply to you.
4) Its OK to "fail"
I don't mean that in grading sense as in fail your classes. Much of what gets you into medical school is being at the top of everything. Few get a sense of what failing at something is and then picking yourself back up. In other words, failing at ANYTHING can feel catastrophic and feel like your world collapsing. Some completely lose their confidence, some double down and become defensive and try to hide their insecurities. Unfortunately, you MUST fail several times throughout your training, getting things incorrect all the time in order to learn. If you are humble and work hard, those will be the most helpful experiences. Getting out of the mindset that its bad to get something wrong is the worst culture in medicine I see. Rather, being incorrect is often the pre-requisite step to learn something for a lifetime.
This extends into future life. If you don't necessarily land the job in hot/flashy subspecialty and amazing city XYZ, for some its a feeling of failure. This is utter craziness I know but you won't believe it until you're there and you see yourself and colleagues talking about this like I've described. From the outside you would think we're all doctors, but on the inside, the competitiveness and insecurities can continue to haunt us. And that insecurity of not being the expected city/specialty etc can ruin an otherwise amazing experience of being a doctor which leads me into..
5) Despite everything, its awesome
Exhausting call nights questioning if you made the right decision in life or if you're crazy, constantly being in debt, never ending training, politics, paperwork, mid-levels blah blah blah. It can wear on you. But after some sleep and when I reflect, I've seen, done, experienced more since I've begun medical school and especially in residency/fellowship than I could ever have imagined. Resuscitating someone back to life and watching them walk out the door, placing your first tube into someones pleural space, putting a camera in someone belly, delivering a baby!, on and on...People at other jobs don't get to see what we see, do what we do in a lifetime and we forget that because its not unique amongst everyone in the hospital/clinic you surround yourself with. But we do things which to the public sees in amazement and we forget that.
Anyways thanks for reading this long post if you got this far. I hope this advice/rambling helps for someone
TL;DR
1) This is a marathon
2) Take as little debt as you can
3) Economic forces apply to you too
4) Its OK to "fail", in fact its almost required
5) Despite everything, its awesome
Just writing a post to offer some advice. I used to follow and read SDN quite a bit back when I was in medical school and it was really helpful. Good to see its still going strong.
Just wanted to offer some advice/insight for what I wish I was told to expect. I'm many years in and now becoming an attending soon so here it goes for those who are applying or are about to go into medical school. The summary is at the bottom if this is too long
1) This is a marathon
That is an understatement. From the all way to the MD application process to applying for training, to finishing training, its really an endurance test. Particularly in my field, your patience, stamina, perseverance...it will all be tested. I had some insight into this before going to medial school and so I certainly tried to keep the big picture perspective. My colleagues would often miss important events out of fear it would interfere with their next test, studying, project, presentation whatever.
Point is, life will go by with or without you. Its up to you to try to be there SOME important things in life and understand its a marathon and not race. Pick your spots to be intense because going full throttle for 9-10 years really takes a toll on you.
Medical school is just the beginning. Its much more taxing that undergrad or other jobs I had, but training/residency is a whole different ball game. The responsibility, expectations, the hours, the need to study in your field etc...It felt like not only it never ended, just intensified as you became more and more senior in your training. So it becomes even more important to pace your intensity
2) Take on as little debt as you possibly can. With some exceptions, go to the cheapest medical school you can.
I did't take this advice when I started. Popular sentiment on the internet at that time was go to your "dream" school etc...Although going to an ivy league school is helpful, grades, research, designations were far more important and certainly not worth extra 100K. And although I had a great time at my medical school, I should've gone with the cheaper option. I would much, much rather have 100K less debt.
Given how long we train for how little before we get our first real jobs, this is even more important. Learning how to efficiently handle your finances early, getting on a budget etc... This applies to you too as a doctor just like everyone else. These principles will not only help you in your personal life but also if/when you help run a practice etc. If you can get a head of the game, get on a budget, learn how to save and invest and understand your finances, you will have power and more say in how/when/where you practice. I unfortunately learned this late, but glad I did at least at some point. Which leads to point #3
3) Economic forces apply to you too, and its OK that it does
This is more for medical students assessing their careers. It baffles me how my colleagues going through this and even now still feel entitled to be immune to economic forces. Example, in my field if you were to work in NYC/SF/major city you would make 50% less than a medium sized city. People in training often find this infuriating and complain constantly.
For our field, unlike say bankers/tech, some of the best opportunities are outside of big cities, in essence where there is more demand and less competitive force. If you choose to do primary care and want to make a very good income, you can have both if you simply move to a place that provides that, often rural. If you insist on big city XYZ, then the same economic forces will apply to you.
4) Its OK to "fail"
I don't mean that in grading sense as in fail your classes. Much of what gets you into medical school is being at the top of everything. Few get a sense of what failing at something is and then picking yourself back up. In other words, failing at ANYTHING can feel catastrophic and feel like your world collapsing. Some completely lose their confidence, some double down and become defensive and try to hide their insecurities. Unfortunately, you MUST fail several times throughout your training, getting things incorrect all the time in order to learn. If you are humble and work hard, those will be the most helpful experiences. Getting out of the mindset that its bad to get something wrong is the worst culture in medicine I see. Rather, being incorrect is often the pre-requisite step to learn something for a lifetime.
This extends into future life. If you don't necessarily land the job in hot/flashy subspecialty and amazing city XYZ, for some its a feeling of failure. This is utter craziness I know but you won't believe it until you're there and you see yourself and colleagues talking about this like I've described. From the outside you would think we're all doctors, but on the inside, the competitiveness and insecurities can continue to haunt us. And that insecurity of not being the expected city/specialty etc can ruin an otherwise amazing experience of being a doctor which leads me into..
5) Despite everything, its awesome
Exhausting call nights questioning if you made the right decision in life or if you're crazy, constantly being in debt, never ending training, politics, paperwork, mid-levels blah blah blah. It can wear on you. But after some sleep and when I reflect, I've seen, done, experienced more since I've begun medical school and especially in residency/fellowship than I could ever have imagined. Resuscitating someone back to life and watching them walk out the door, placing your first tube into someones pleural space, putting a camera in someone belly, delivering a baby!, on and on...People at other jobs don't get to see what we see, do what we do in a lifetime and we forget that because its not unique amongst everyone in the hospital/clinic you surround yourself with. But we do things which to the public sees in amazement and we forget that.
Anyways thanks for reading this long post if you got this far. I hope this advice/rambling helps for someone
TL;DR
1) This is a marathon
2) Take as little debt as you can
3) Economic forces apply to you too
4) Its OK to "fail", in fact its almost required
5) Despite everything, its awesome
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