Any med students care to share why they LIKE med school?

[Luckygirlsadheart]

I am going to be entering med school in the fall. I'm getting myself all worked up about the stresses of med school, the sacrifices I have to make like giving up family and friends time, the financial debt I will be taking on, etc. I have also been reading tons of articles online about medical school and they have pretty much been all negative based. Anyone care to share some positive things about medical school? What can I look forward to?

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

It's interesting and I don't entirely hate it. That's a lot worse ways I could be spending my time honestly.

 

[samac]

I'm looking forward to clinicals as a second year. . . So there's that to dream for. . .
As far as in class work goes? Some of it is interesting? That's about all I got.

 

[Luckygirlsadheart]

I'm looking forward to clinicals as a second year. . . So there's that to dream for. . .
As far as in class work goes? Some of it is interesting? That's about all I got.

Still feel that medical school is worth it? Should I run away now?

 

[YCSD]

If you are going to a school that has non-mandatory recorded lectures, you have more flexibility to watch lectures and study when/how/where you want. If you prefer to study at odd times (for example I prefer studying late and sleeping late) you'll love this. Much better than college where most professors (in my case) made attending class part of your grade, and you had to drag yourself out of bed for an 8AM you wouldn't even pay attention in three times a week. But then again in college you could go back and sleep for half the day, med school means studying a majority of the time regardless of your choice to attend class, but I do like the ability to choose if/when I attend a lecture if I decide that's the way I'll utilize my time to learn the material best. If you're going to a school with mandatory lectures, sorry for wasting your time. On a day to day basis this is what I like best about the "school" part of med school so far, only a first year btw. Outside of the "school" part it's fun to go out after exams with my fellow physicians-to-be, you will meet people from all sorts of places and backgrounds and some of them won't be too annoying and you'll make friends. Enjoy your summer!

 

[Luckygirlsadheart]

If you are going to a school that has non-mandatory recorded lectures, you have more flexibility to watch lectures and study when/how/where you want. If you prefer to study at odd times (for example I prefer studying late and sleeping late) you'll love this. Much better than college where most professors (in my case) made attending class part of your grade, and you had to drag yourself out of bed for an 8AM you wouldn't even pay attention in three times a week. But then again in college you could go back and sleep for half the day, med school means studying a majority of the time regardless of your choice to attend class, but I do like the ability to choose if/when I attend a lecture if I decide that's the way I'll utilize my time to learn the material best. If you're going to a school with mandatory lectures, sorry for wasting your time. On a day to day basis this is what I like best about the "school" part of med school so far, only a first year btw. Outside of the "school" part it's fun to go out after exams with my fellow physicians-to-be, you will meet people from all sorts of places and backgrounds and some of them won't be too annoying and you'll make friends. Enjoy your summer!

Thanks for your response, fellow night owl! That is, if you're on Eastern Standard Time like me. I will likely choose to go to a school with problem based learning as opposed to lecture-based (good or bad decision? Thoughts?), so I likely won't be able to stay in my pajamas in the morning. Good thing is, though, that PBL only requires about 2 hours a day, not including lab

 

[YCSD]

Thanks for your response, fellow night owl! That is, if you're on Eastern Standard Time like me. I will likely choose to go to a school with problem based learning as opposed to lecture-based (good or bad decision? Thoughts?), so I likely won't be able to stay in my pajamas in the morning. Good thing is, though, that PBL only requires about 2 hours a day, not including lab

I'm afraid I would be the wrong person to ask the PBL vs. lecture-based question, I know very little about PBL. I'm sure there are good threads already existing on the topic, and more knowledgeable users lurking on the forums. Do what you believe is best for you!

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I am going to be entering med school in the fall. I'm getting myself all worked up about the stresses of med school, the sacrifices I have to make like giving up family and friends time, the financial debt I will be taking on, etc. I have also been reading tons of articles online about medical school and they have pretty much been all negative based. Anyone care to share some positive things about medical school? What can I look forward to?

I like working hard and being knowledgeable. Even though i study everyday, the progress is tangible and there is a nice little reward at the end of my schooling.

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

Thanks for your response, fellow night owl! That is, if you're on Eastern Standard Time like me. I will likely choose to go to a school with problem based learning as opposed to lecture-based (good or bad decision? Thoughts?), so I likely won't be able to stay in my pajamas in the morning. Good thing is, though, that PBL only requires about 2 hours a day, not including lab

You can't ask someone else whether PBL is good or bad; it's highly dependent on the type of learner you are. If you are self-driven and love reading you will succeed. Assuming you're referencing LECOM, they place huge emphasis on conveying this on their interview day and select for applicants they believe will be able to thrive in their curriculum.

And with regards to dressing up for PBL, it's only a couple times a week for two hours and your group may not even meet in the morning. I don't go there, but I interviewed at both campuses and heard the rundown for PBL twice.

Med school is obviously going to be a ton of work. If you don't like working hard or, don't like medical science, you'll probably hate it. If you don't mind working hard, and are a science nerd, maybe you'll enjoy it.

I personally know I'm ready and know it's the right decision because I've been over the moon with excitement to dedicate my life to studying to become the best physician I can be since being accepted. I know some days I'll hate it, but on those days I'll look back to working in the restaurant business (twice), working in a toothbrush factory, working in a position that gets yelled at by radiologists every day, and so many other times and think, "at least I'm not working some pointless sh** job like that anymore" and be thankful I was offered a seat in medical school.

Forget all the negative crap you read. If you are excited to study medicine and become a badass doctor, then you'll be fine.


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[samac]

Still feel that medical school is worth it? Should I run away now?

I mean if you want to do Medicine go for it. At this point all I have is a crippling amount of debt and sitting in classes. I would probably hate it a little less if we didn't have attendance in some courses. It's 2% bonus to our grade but I'm not a morning person and I don't have the best flow from day to day as I would if I was able to sleep in till 10 and study till 3.

 

[Carbon090]

I love it most of the time. Between learning the material and the end goal. And the feel of doing well on exams, etc.

BUT, there are times, just recently actually, where post-exam sometimes you're so burned out all you want to do is collapse and sleep, but following day you're slammed with more lecture, assessments, etc.

Endurance is key. Keep your health up and balance (hard, but so important).

 

[Mad Jack]

It's better than working some boring or mundane work 9-5 M-F. I actually hate it much less than my old job.

 

[Mad Jack]

I love it most of the time. Between learning the material and the end goal. And the feel of doing well on exams, etc.

BUT, there are times, just recently actually, where post-exam sometimes you're so burned out all you want to do is collapse and sleep, but following day you're slammed with more lecture, assessments, etc.

Endurance is key. Keep your health up and balance (hard, but so important).

Preclinical was hell. Clinical is pretty alright.

 

[AlteredScale]

Reason 1. The white coat.


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[poloboy]

Not even in med school yet, but I can already tell that it is most definitely not a spirit, but a marathon.

 

[Bynumite17]

Reason 1. The white coat.


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Some say...it's like a Superman's cape

 

[abolt18]

It's interesting. Could be happy doing other things, but I enjoy that this is intellectually stimulating every day.

 

[Mr Roboto]

Just gotta put in your time to get to the chicks, money, power, and chicks.

 

[ortnakas]

A reason why I like it? I can go to patients and say, "Hi, I'm ortnakas, the medical student on the medicine team taking care of you today, is it okay if I ask you some questions and do an exam on you this morning?" and they say okay. I recognize it as a privilege and it hasn't gotten old yet. Plus I like learning things.

Not that I'm happy all the time, or that I don't do my fair share of complaining about debt, studying, boards, and the time suck, because I absolutely do. But if you look for the things you like about it and hang on to that, you can get through the days/weeks/longer that are rough.

Edited: typo

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

It's better than working some boring or mundane work 9-5 M-F. I actually hate it much less than my old job.

Agreed, it's all relative. If you only know the undergrad world or had a great job before medicine, you might be groaning. But compared to most options med school is amazing. Just study interesting things all damn day. (relatively) no incompetent boss, no inflexible hours, no soul-killing meetings, you're a free man in M1-2 as long as you do well.

 

[Mad Jack]

Agreed, it's all relative. If you only know the undergrad world or had a great job before medicine, you might be groaning. But compared to most options med school is amazing. Just study interesting things all damn day. (relatively) no incompetent boss, no inflexible hours, no soul-killing meetings, you're a free man in M1-2 as long as you do well.

Well, there are soul-killing meetings. And hour flexibility depends on curriculum. And incompetent staff aren't unheard of at medical schools (though I've been fortunate to not find any). Overall tough, most things are better than a job by far.

 

[tux4]

If you are genuinely interested in the material and going into medicine to enter a profession, not just as a job, then it is awesome. I love learning stuff everyday and teaching to others. The sacrifices suck but worth it in the long run. I also delayed entering after college for a few years and partied pretty hard to get it out of my system... which also helped a lot.


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[Jinxapotato]

Can't say I like medical school - it's hard man. However in the end...the nature of job, the respect you receive...and OK fine I'll be that guy: the salary is pretty dam good -> we can complain all we want about being underpaid (which is true), but we still enjoy arguably the best salary/job stability out there.

 

[GUH]

Fourth year is pretty sweet. I took my last exam back in August and unless I screw up really badly I'll be a doctor in a few months! There's a lot to be thankful for.

First and second year are hard and there are no two ways about that. It helped to have made really good friends during that time though - mutual struggle seems to bond people closer together.

 

[deleted689233]

Before coming to med school, I wasnt even sure I wanted to do it at all. I threw in a late app, got accepted, and here I am. I felt myself getting sick of sciences and studying by the end of undergrad, which worried me, big time. Then I got here, and everything clicked.

Love what you learn. I do not believe there is a single better piece of advice for first and second years. Medical school is mentally stimulating, rewards your hard work, and you get to learn all the intricacies of that mass of flesh that your soul occupies. Dope.

In addition to that, I feel that I have tons of free time. I'm at a school that does not have much mandatory lecture... usually 10-15 hours worth of mandatory events (lab, TBLs, etc) per week. I just post up in gym shorts at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee in my hand, learn all day, kill an exam, then go out and forget it with new friends.

It's not that bad.

 

[Mabus3]

First year was cool because the novelty of medical school was going strong. Second year was depressing. Third year was cool because you actually start clinicals. Fourth year is way better because you realize that even though you thought third year was great it actually was "just ok" compared to 4th year. Now my complaints revolve around preceptors keeping me past lunch because I want to go home and do nothing whereas my complaints third year were that my preceptor wasn't letting me out before 5/6 because I needed to get home and study.

 

[OrdinaryDO]

I am going to be entering med school in the fall. I'm getting myself all worked up about the stresses of med school, the sacrifices I have to make like giving up family and friends time, the financial debt I will be taking on, etc. I have also been reading tons of articles online about medical school and they have pretty much been all negative based. Anyone care to share some positive things about medical school? What can I look forward to?

I don't want this to sound harsh, but medical students don't Sacrifice a dang thing. It is a priviledge and an honor to have this opportunity to go into medical school. A sacrifice is much more than going to school and losing time with your family to study. Soldiers sacrifice, Medical students embelish in the sweet glory of a rich career path ahead of them! haha

 

[Mr Roboto]

I don't want this to sound harsh, but medical students don't Sacrifice a dang thing. It is a priviledge and an honor to have this opportunity to go into medical school. A sacrifice is much more than going to school and losing time with your family to study. Soldiers sacrifice, Medical students embelish in the sweet glory of a rich career path ahead of them! haha

Spare me.

 

[samac]

I don't want this to sound harsh, but medical students don't Sacrifice a dang thing. It is a priviledge and an honor to have this opportunity to go into medical school. A sacrifice is much more than going to school and losing time with your family to study. Soldiers sacrifice, Medical students embelish in the sweet glory of a rich career path ahead of them! haha

I just threw up in my mouth reading that.

 

[SLC]

I had an awesome undergrad experience that prepped me well for med-school; so the coursework was not too bad for me. It probably helped that I was genuinely into most everything we learned; so the boredom was minimal. I do realize I studied a lot more than I feel like I did (my wife can attest to that), but it often didn't feel like work.

Med school is a grind, I think it helps to find something you are enjoying, or something you're working toward and latch on to that.

3rd and 4th year were awesome, for reasons similar to Ortnakas. You feel like a grunt next to the residents and attendings, but the patient's truly value you as a member of their care team and I met a lot of really cool people and really cool families along the way. It really was a great time.

Residency is even better. More work than medical school was, but the work is different. Instead of constant studying (though I still do a fair bit of that); I've got actual patient care duties that keep me busy. I'll see 17-18 people per clinic day now, and then have labs and imaging reports to follow up on, call patients to discuss, approve medication refills, etc. I'm truly my patient's PCP now, and that is a really cool feeling.

Just yesterday I had a patient that asked me how much longer I'd be at the resident clinic. I told him, and he followed it up with "and after that, do you have an office chosen that I could transfer to?". I told him I am heading out of state after residency, he was disappointed but wished me luck. These types of interactions really hammer home how much people appreciate and come to depend on their doctors and how much a therapeutic relationship can really make a huge difference for people.

If nothing else, keep something like that in mind to help you get through the tough times that will inevitably come your way during the next 4 years.

 

[Roxas]

I don't want this to sound harsh, but medical students don't Sacrifice a dang thing. It is a priviledge and an honor to have this opportunity to go into medical school. A sacrifice is much more than going to school and losing time with your family to study. Soldiers sacrifice, Medical students embelish in the sweet glory of a rich career path ahead of them! haha

Dude you are FOS. Just because a soldier sacrifices more doesn't make my sacrifice negligible. You sound like one of those kids that has daddy pay their way though med school.

 

[Goro]

My top students all seem to love learning.

I am going to be entering med school in the fall. I'm getting myself all worked up about the stresses of med school, the sacrifices I have to make like giving up family and friends time, the financial debt I will be taking on, etc. I have also been reading tons of articles online about medical school and they have pretty much been all negative based. Anyone care to share some positive things about medical school? What can I look forward to?

 

[pmarank]

The first two years are hard because they're are essentially trying to teach you as much of the medical literature in existence as they can in 2 years. If you pace yourself and consistently understand the weekly lectures you will most likely do well. It's about consistency and work ethic. Third and fourth year are cool because you get to see patients, learn cool procedures, and narrow down the specialties that you're interested in.

Intern year is a different beast. It's nice in that you wont have to constantly study and pass exams but you will still be putting in long/irregular hours. Residency is sweet because you get paid, actually help patients, and learn things you will be using during your career. Fellowship is pretty much a continuation of residency. And being an attending is sweet because you're finally making good money and get to work a nice schedule depending on you're specialty. ~3 years into private practice is where things really get awesome because the salary goes up while the workload remains stable or may even go down.

but i havent even started med school yet so wut do i know?

 

[IslandStyle808]

I don't want this to sound harsh, but medical students don't Sacrifice a dang thing. It is a priviledge and an honor to have this opportunity to go into medical school. A sacrifice is much more than going to school and losing time with your family to study. Soldiers sacrifice, Medical students embelish in the sweet glory of a rich career path ahead of them! haha

I couldn't take your words seriously then and I can't still take them seriously now...

 

[BurghStudent]

I love it because there isn't a single thing I'd rather be doing. Hands down.

 

[CCmetal94]

Not a medical student yet (will start in the fall). But as someone who has worked either part-time or full-time since I was 15 I am most looking forward to never having to work a dead end job again. I come from a family of pipe-fitters and carpenters. They were constantly being laid off and could be out of work for weeks to months. I am very fortunate that I will almost certainly never be in that position.

 

[SurgeDO]

i like medical school. i think deep down most people do.

i loved learning about the body during pre-clerkship. i loved anatomy. it was a privilege to get to dissect a donor's body for the future betterment of others. the challenge of finding the miniscule chorda tympani or the trochlear nerve was so exciting to me. in addition, i loved learning about the phys, path, and biomechanics behind all the structures i was dissecting.

board studying sucked a lot at first, but once you finally get in a groove, it became rewarding to get the correct answers on clinical scenario questions on UWorld. board studying was bittersweet for me.


then comes third year. you finally thought you knew something to find out you know absolutely nothing. you come to realize that the theoretical medicine you learned during preclerkship doesn't have much of a place in the real world...but after a couple months, you finally start getting the hang of it. you learn how to work-up the basics and how to effectively present to your attending/resident. you start to become less stressed. you learn how to truly connect with a patient. now you're the one learning these intimate details from the patients you see during pre-rounds (and sometimes pre-pre-rounds). it's a privilege.


And one of the best parts of medical school is falling in love with a specialty. whether you're going to be a future surgeon or pediatrician, i think everyone has one of those crystallizing moments where they realize what kind of doctor they want to become. i still remember putting my first burr hole in to start a craniotomy. i remember the first time i scrubbed a craniotomy and got to hold the bone flap.

then, there is match day.


i think you have a lot to look forward to. it is undoubtedly challenging, but it is worth it. put your heart and soul into learning medicine. really put everything you can into becoming the physician you want to be. i think the process really rewards those who do. best of luck.

 

[recycledpaper]

In all honesty, I like med school because I'm good at it.

 

[abolt18]

In all honesty, I like med school because I'm good at it.

I can get behind that.

 

[Aonyx]

I liked it because in large part, I felt like I was learning about stuff I actually cared about that would help me in my career.

In undergrad, I had to take plant biology. I like plants, but I couldn't care much less about what they look like under a microscope.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

the cruel reality is, if you are good at the game of med school and score consistently above average, the rigor of studying becomes fairly easy to stomach because of the constant positive reinforcements of good grades. on the flip side, school can seem hellish if no amount of studying puts you at your goal. it's soul crushing, and ive seen it break the most resilient of spirits.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

the cruel reality is, if you are good at the game of med school and score consistently above average, the rigor of studying becomes fairly easy to stomach because of the constant positive reinforcements of good grades. on the flip side, school can seem hellish if no amount of studying puts you at your goal. it's soul crushing, and ive seen it break the most resilient of spirits.

The problem is that the easy stomaching of your main classes can be just as easily sent into a bloody vomiting fit when other things begin to pile up, ex. OS, family or medical problems, etc.
I think that's one of the things I cannot forgive the curriculum for. I've seen too many good people drop out because life catches up to them.

But aside from that, misery is honestly as much a course in medical school as is biochemistry or anatomy.

 

[NotYou20]

I'm here for the DREs tbh

not srs

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

I enjoyed the vast amount of information I learned (though not always the rate at which I had to learn it) and many of the lifelong friendships I formed.


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[Giovanotto]

I find the way that the information is presented to be very dry. It goes something like this: "And these next few days we will learn about all the anemias" and so you sit down, open up pathoma, and start memorizing all the anemias...which you will then proceed to forget in the next few weeks. There is such little context to what you're learning that I find it utterly boring and difficult to be excited about. It's a constant cycle of memorizing and purging, but unlike undergrad, it's intense memorizing and therefore the purging is equivalent to an inflammatory diarrhea.

 

[68PGunner]

I find the way that the information is presented to be very dry. It goes something like this: "And these next few days we will learn about all the anemias" and so you sit down, open up pathoma, and start memorizing all the anemias...which you will then proceed to forget in the next few weeks. There is such little context to what you're learning that I find it utterly boring and difficult to be excited about. It's a constant cycle of memorizing and purging, but unlike undergrad, it's intense memorizing and therefore the purging is equivalent to an inflammatory diarrhea.

They need to fire all the pathology profs and clone Dr. Sattar. The man actually makes me like Pathology.

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

I find the way that the information is presented to be very dry. It goes something like this: "And these next few days we will learn about all the anemias" and so you sit down, open up pathoma, and start memorizing all the anemias...which you will then proceed to forget in the next few weeks. There is such little context to what you're learning that I find it utterly boring and difficult to be excited about. It's a constant cycle of memorizing and purging, but unlike undergrad, it's intense memorizing and therefore the purging is equivalent to an inflammatory diarrhea.

Agreed--at least for most of the preclinical years. The context comes later in rotations and residency. I found much of what I learned in the first two years made much more sense as I progressed through med school and residency. And I retained much more than I initially thought!


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[Giovanotto]

They need to fire all the pathology profs and clone Dr. Sattar. The man actually makes me like Pathology.

I find him overrated. I think the bigger issue is why in the world are we learning all of this pathology in medical school? When will I ever be looking at a PBS as a physician? And this is coming from someone that is heavily considering pathology. Looking forward to learning this during RESIDENCY.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Also get used to never having a "weekend".

It's more of a "week-beginning-to-look-at-everything-you-covered-over-the-last-5-days" or playing catch up.

 

[SLC]

I find the way that the information is presented to be very dry. It goes something like this: "And these next few days we will learn about all the anemias" and so you sit down, open up pathoma, and start memorizing all the anemias...which you will then proceed to forget in the next few weeks. There is such little context to what you're learning that I find it utterly boring and difficult to be excited about. It's a constant cycle of memorizing and purging, but unlike undergrad, it's intense memorizing and therefore the purging is equivalent to an inflammatory diarrhea.

This is exactly why I liked ATSU-SOMA so much. Everything was taught in a clinical context. There was very little rote memorization required, as all info was taught (and tested) in board-style clinical questions.

Plus, our Pathology professor was a rock-star, and the Maricopa County AZ Medical Examiner. He got us in to watch autopsies fairly regularly, and his lectures were entertaining (filled with wild stories of things he's seen over the years as a forensic pathologist), and everybody loved him.