Anybody else finding second year horribly boring??

[BeastInfection]

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I'm honestly a bit concerned. I kind of floated apathetically through first year, and kept being told "second year is way better," but here I am, forcing myself to slog through material that is not engaging me at all. Even stuff that I found really cool in undergrad is really, really dull to me now. I can't tell if I've changed, or if MSII is actually just flat-out boring. I just really wish I could have a few of those "oh wow, that's really cool" moments that kept me motivated in UG, but can't seem to find them. Can't find an ounce of motivation to study and learn--I force myself to listen to lectures, then a couple days before exams my fear of failure kicks in and I study, but it's all rather mechanical and unsatisfying (I know, boo hoo...).

Anyone else in a similar boat, or is this something that indicates I should be evaluating myself?

 

[rigid]

i found it heaps boring too. Im in 4th year now, its the patient interactions and procedures that really interest me.

 

[tiedyeddog]

It has been more interesting for me. We some pretty boring stuff first year, like genetics, biochem, and micro. Second year has been hardcore diving into organ systems, which seems way more relevant than the first year stuff.

 

[DoctwoB]

I'm honestly a bit concerned. I kind of floated apathetically through first year, and kept being told "second year is way better," but here I am, forcing myself to slog through material that is not engaging me at all. Even stuff that I found really cool in undergrad is really, really dull to me now. I can't tell if I've changed, or if MSII is actually just flat-out boring. I just really wish I could have a few of those "oh wow, that's really cool" moments that kept me motivated in UG, but can't seem to find them. Can't find an ounce of motivation to study and learn--I force myself to listen to lectures, then a couple days before exams my fear of failure kicks in and I study, but it's all rather mechanical and unsatisfying (I know, boo hoo...).

Anyone else in a similar boat, or is this something that indicates I should be evaluating myself?

In terms of boredome:

1st year > family med rotation > 2nd year > 3rd year > 4th year

 

[DrSnips]

I'm honestly a bit concerned. I kind of floated apathetically through first year, and kept being told "second year is way better," but here I am, forcing myself to slog through material that is not engaging me at all. Even stuff that I found really cool in undergrad is really, really dull to me now. I can't tell if I've changed, or if MSII is actually just flat-out boring. I just really wish I could have a few of those "oh wow, that's really cool" moments that kept me motivated in UG, but can't seem to find them. Can't find an ounce of motivation to study and learn--I force myself to listen to lectures, then a couple days before exams my fear of failure kicks in and I study, but it's all rather mechanical and unsatisfying (I know, boo hoo...).

Anyone else in a similar boat, or is this something that indicates I should be evaluating myself?

I think most people would agree you haven't seen what medicine is until 3rd year, so making a decision about leaving before then would be ill-informed. The problem is, once you get to 3rd year, if you were to find you were still not satisfied, most people will tell you "you have come so far, you should stick it out and get the degree". This is pretty much true, but it also means that once you enter med school, there is basically no good time to leave.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the pathophys second year, but the third year clinical experiences blow it away. Fourth year seems unreal to me, since I have no shelfs to take😀

 

[wkbrdpro]

Does your school have clinical sim's second year? I usually feel the same way until it is all in a clinical context.

 

[Bangersandmash]

What else would you be doing if you weren't slogging through medical school material? I worry about not being captivated until I'm finally in residency, doing the specialty I most enjoy. I can't stand the thought of rotating through peds or family medicine, but then I realize that I've gone through boring undergrad classes and will go through rote memorization in medical school to finally do what I want to for the majority of my life.

If not, I'd be stuck in just another graduate program learning things that don't have much bearing on my job, then struggling through 40 years of work in a career that I picked because I didn't want to deal with medical school. That sounds even worse.

 

[BeastInfection]

I don't know, maybe my lectures are just uninspiring on top of somewhat boring material. Good to hear that some of you think third year is more fulfilling, since all I ever read is the negative "I hate third year" stuff. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons to bitch about third year, but I'm hoping things just "click" then, and it feels more right.

I'm honestly not seriously considering dropping out, and that's for the exact reasons you guys have said: I don't know how I could really know medicine is right for me until third year and, at the point, I'm too deep in the hole to turn around. I also don't really know what else I would do--I see and think about many other careers and think "oh that'd be cool," but ultimately I think that's all just typical grass-is-always-greener BS.

I think it also doesn't help that I don't have any concrete goals yet to work toward (other than generic "residency").

No, we don't really have sim lab here. We've done interviewing with standardized patients last year, practiced PE stuff on classmates, and will be doing pelvic/urologic exams on standardized patients in a few weeks. That's it, aside from occasional practice in clinical setting.

 

[NickNaylor]

In terms of boredome:

1st year > family med rotation > 2nd year > 3rd year > 4th year

Lol, love the specific and distinct inclusion of family med in your hierarchy.

(sent from my phone)

 

[FIREitUP]

The worst part about second year is the MD professors. We'll get a lecture on some disease that's 127 slides with every other side being a random list of signs and symptoms. Absolutely no pedagogic ability whatsoever, it's pretty pathetic, especially considering I thought PhD's were bad.

 

[KinasePro]

The worst part about second year is the MD professors. We'll get a lecture on some disease that's 127 slides with every other side being a random list of signs and symptoms. Absolutely no pedagogic ability whatsoever, it's pretty pathetic, especially considering I thought PhD's were bad.

+1. Never thought I'd miss PhD wankers until i had to sit through clinicians reading differential diagnoses off powerpoint slides for hours at a time. The surgeons are the worst tho.

1. Copy & paste anatomy image from netters into powerpoint.
2. Pimp class on obscure anatomy
3. ?????
4. Profit

 

[HumorMD]

Not uncommon at all to be bored. I found that knowing the end of my classroom career was only one year away almost made it even more unbearable. Learning about different bacteria in micro is one thing. Having a septic patient crash in front of you will NEVER make you bored.

 

[swamprat]

You hafta make a goal for yourself. I had a similar situation in that in UG i had an overall goal to get into med school so that even boring stuff I pushed myself through. I too am still undecided with what residency/field I want to go for so it makes going through the classwork horrible and boring (although I did find more of it interesting that you seem to let on). Make ur goal a good step 1 score thats what I did and it gave me a lot of motivation and it payed off in the end. When I opened up the score report I was like YES.. oh wait, do I even wanna do derm or ophtho? No..what a waste of effort.

 

[docnotsopc]

Im loving second year compared to first, but maybe its because we did Endocrinology and now just finishing up Cardio. We start renal next week, than finish semester with Resp......so maybe I wont feel the same way by end of semester.

First year at my school was biochem, anat, genetics, neuro, blood and lymph (interesting), psych and micro/immune which I found much more boring personally

 

[munchymanRX]

I'm honestly a bit concerned. I kind of floated apathetically through first year, and kept being told "second year is way better," but here I am, forcing myself to slog through material that is not engaging me at all. Even stuff that I found really cool in undergrad is really, really dull to me now. I can't tell if I've changed, or if MSII is actually just flat-out boring. I just really wish I could have a few of those "oh wow, that's really cool" moments that kept me motivated in UG, but can't seem to find them. Can't find an ounce of motivation to study and learn--I force myself to listen to lectures, then a couple days before exams my fear of failure kicks in and I study, but it's all rather mechanical and unsatisfying (I know, boo hoo...).

Anyone else in a similar boat, or is this something that indicates I should be evaluating myself?

Relax. A lot of people (myself included) are in the same boat. I got into medicine to help patients, and while an understanding and strong base in the material is absolutely necessary, a love of the material is not. Some of it can be chalked up to the way it's related to you, but in all honesty most of it is pretty dry.

Hopefully you'll get more excited during rotations. Besides, medical school isn't exactly famous for the number of phenomenal educators it attracts to its halls, or for being the best environment for intellectual development and stimulation. We're just jumping through hurdles now. You'll learn how to be a doctor and hopefully love what you're doing later.