Burnt Out,what Should I do?

[vandetehlk]

I've been in medical school for about a month and I'm already burnt out. I am supposed to be studying around 6-8 hours a day after class every day, but seriously how is this possible if we finish at 4 every other day? We don't even have breaks so when I'm done with classes I'm done. I had a really balanced undergrad life with work, social life, and extra curriculars. Now I do nothing but I still can't manage to study. I don't want. I'm not in the mood most of the time and even though becoming a doctor is my goal, I can't seem to be motivated enough to pull long hours of studying every day. We have an exam every week... I need your advice...

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[mjl1717]

I've been in medical school for about a month and I'm already burnt out. I am supposed to be studying around 6-8 hours a day after class every day, but seriously how is this possible if we finish at 4 every other day? We don't even have breaks so when I'm done with classes I'm done. I had a really balanced undergrad life with work, social life, and extra curriculars. Now I do nothing but I still can't manage to study. I don't want. I'm not in the mood most of the time and even though becoming a doctor is my goal, I can't seem to be motivated enough to pull long hours of studying every day. We have an exam every week... I need your advice...

Id say see a counselor, advisor, clinical psychologist (seriously) no matter what you call them.. Vent to them express your feeling and get insight and advice..Its ok to vent..

 

[SQUmedic]

Its the same issue with everyone.. Push urself to the extremes. When you exert harder, you get more capacity to study etc. Sometimes it takes more than a month for students to adjust themselves. Dont panic, ask advice from your school seniors. Dont bother going to profs because they actually dont understand.
Sacrifice or give up some of your favourite things and PLAN PLAN PLAN ! every single minute of ur day.

Its worth it !

 

[EBI831]

hey OP, when i was a first year (last year) we weren't done til 5:30 or so, then you add waiting for the bus, etc and we didnt get home til like 6 pm. what i found that worked (since i felt the same lackluster attitude toward studying when i went home) was especially right before tests, i'd wake up a little earlier in the morning (ie maybe at 6 if class started at 8:30 and get like 1.5 hours of work in) and get some work done. also, i'd devote all saturday day and sunday day to catch up, etc. so my evenings most weekdays (except like pounding thru flashcards as i watched tv shows or worked out) were mine to do what i liked and i had weekend nights too. try that out. it worked for me.

 

[Instatewaiter]

I've been in medical school for about a month and I'm already burnt out. I am supposed to be studying around 6-8 hours a day after class every day, but seriously how is this possible if we finish at 4 every other day? We don't even have breaks so when I'm done with classes I'm done. I had a really balanced undergrad life with work, social life, and extra curriculars. Now I do nothing but I still can't manage to study. I don't want. I'm not in the mood most of the time and even though becoming a doctor is my goal, I can't seem to be motivated enough to pull long hours of studying every day. We have an exam every week... I need your advice...

6-8 hours of studying per day during first year is a bit excessive. try and get through the material at home each day. Other options are to skip class and study on your own if you have good note sets.

you will start to get into a groove and begin to cruise through first and second year once you figure out what works.

Third year is a different beast. On some clerkships you will be excited when you get off after working only 12 hours. What's worse is that when you get off for the day you then have to go home and study until you fall asleep so that you can pass the shelf exam. You'll see, each stage of the game seems daunting but after a while you get used to it and can go with the flow.

 

[albe]

I have a book called Study without Stress by Kelman and Straker. It was put together by these people who used to run workshops for medical students, so they have a decent idea of what type of studying works in med school and why some of our habits from college are inefficient. Since you're getting out at 4pm, your time management is DEFINITELY KEY. After going through the first chapter of the book, I found out that while I thought I studied many hours in the day, my actual efficiency was much less. There are tips in there to help you monitor this and make better use of your day.

You might want to check the book out. There are also chapters that teach you ways to make the act of studying more efficient. I think overall the advice makes sense, but my complaint with the book is that they don't really address the fact that most schools use Powerpoints. Thus, I don't follow everything they advise.

The other thing about this book is that you actually have to do the exercises in there to get any benefit. The activities do take a bit of effort and are somewhat troublesome, but I think the extra effort pays off in terms of retaining info for longer term/test purposes.

I feel like in your situation, you really need to pace things (I remember people saying med school is a MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT). This quote might sound lame, like the fire hose analogy (which is more the case for 2nd year), but it makes sense. I feel like it's normal to have to skew the balance towards academics and away from extracurriculars/social life (you have too much to learn in the time you're given), but it doesn't mean you have to totally eliminate fun things. In fact, if you "study" 6-8 hours (where you spend most of the time staring at the book), that information isn't going to sink in anyway, and it may be time to just not stress over it and take a break. Then come back when you can focus.

 

[DrJosephKim]

I would echo the comment made earlier about seeing a counselor. They are there to help.

 

[EMmedic]

The beginning of first year can be really overwhelming. Keep your chin up! I think one of the most important things is to balance. You said that during undergrad you were able to balance your social life with your schoolwork and now you do nothing but study. It shouldn't be this way. People make it seem like you need to study every waking hour of the day, but this is not true - and is actually, in my opinion, detrimental. Make sure you schedule in some things that you love to do and make time to socialize with the important people in your life. You have to study a lot in medical school, but the key is quality over quantity. If you are able to spend some time doing what you enjoy, when you hit the books you will be able to be more focused and efficient. If all you do is study, you will become very unproductive. Keep up, review every day, have some strong study sessions on the weekends and work your butt of before exams. But please, hang out with your friends, watch tv, go running (whatever you like to do). You will figure out this balance as time goes on.

 

[FreshOffTheBoat]

hey i feel ur pain....im not done wit my day until after 5.....n then after that im soooooo tired. n i don feel like doin homework n studyin..n im soooo hungry b/c i do not eat all day only in the night if i can get chance.

maybe what u could do is find a study sanctuary? n straight after school go to it...if u kno that u can focus better then go straight to it....try that see how it works.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

There is really only one piece of advice I can give you:

harden the **** up

Everyone else is doing it.

 

[badasshairday]

If you are really burned out, just chill out on friday night and all day tomorrow. Let youself relax. Then get back into it on Sunday.

 

[vandetehlk]

I entered Med because that was the right thing to do. I took the required premed courses and took the MCAT and was thrilled for my acceptance. I've been in med school for a moth now but I'm not so thrilled any more. I'm depressed most of the time and I'm not into studying. I know all of you will try to pull out. You will tell me to find my motivator. But I'm a burnt out and I'm not in the mood to study all this information. I don't having anything else to do but I am through spending my days depressed, sad and forcing myself to study.

I am lost and I'm not sure what to do. I have tests ahead and again i am too emotionally tired to study and I have this " I don't care any more attitude". It's like I suddenly discovered that I don't want to study any more and I am through with studying after my BS degree. I find myself thinking about how everything is not worth a moment of my sadness or depression.

I am listening guys and I ready for anything you might post.

 

[Disambiguation]

Remember that everything you do is unique and special. Whether you decide to stay in Medical School or drop-out for the sake of your sanity, remember that this choice is completely yours and that you take something important from the experience. The problem many hard-working students face in any environment is the fact that we don't "have enough time." We focus and obsess so much over perfecting our craft that we sacrifice some other elements within our lives such as time for personal reflection, musical leisure, and 20/20 eyesight. It's also important to note that the more we sacrifice, the more meaning that specific object has and the more gratifying it feels once we obtain it. Unfortunately, it gets into cost-benefit analysis when we have to weigh whether or not it's worth it and whether the sacrifices begin to pile up.

Test scores are not a valid indication of human worth. Everyone is special in their own sense and has lived a life that no one else has lived. No two people are exactly the same. And it is due to this fact that I believe humans are inherently special and should value themselves as much as they can regardless of societal connotations.

I apologize for not giving you solid advice. I just wanted to help you emotionally so that you can make an accurate assessment of where to go from here.

 

[FutureInternist]

But I'm a burnt out and I'm not in the mood to study all this information. I don't having anything else to do but I am through spending my days depressed, sad and forcing myself to study.

I am lost and I'm not sure what to do. I have tests ahead and again i am too emotionally tired to study and I have this " I don't care any more attitude". It's like I suddenly discovered that I don't want to study any more and I am through with studying after my BS degree.

That's your answer right there. It's going to get a lot harder in 2nd & 3rd year & if you are this depressed about having to study now, it is going to get that much worse later on. Can you seriously see yourself doing this for the next 3 years & then another 3-5 for residency & then ANOTHER 2-4 for fellowship
Cut your losses.

 

[SomeDoc]

I entered Med because that was the right thing to do. I took the required premed courses and took the MCAT and was thrilled for my acceptance. I've been in med school for a moth now but I'm not so thrilled any more. I'm depressed most of the time and I'm not into studying. I know all of you will try to pull out. You will tell me to find my motivator. But I'm a burnt out and I'm not in the mood to study all this information. I don't having anything else to do but I am through spending my days depressed, sad and forcing myself to study.

I am lost and I'm not sure what to do. I have tests ahead and again i am too emotionally tired to study and I have this " I don't care any more attitude". It's like I suddenly discovered that I don't want to study any more and I am through with studying after my BS degree. I find myself thinking about how everything is not worth a moment of my sadness or depression.

I am listening guys and I ready for anything you might post.

I strongly suggest that you use the school's available resources (academic advisor or a counselor at your school). Medical schools want to see you succeed, as they have a huge vested interest in students.

 

[GreenShirt]

I'm sorry to hear that your feeling that way. If you look at some of the recent threads on this forum you'll notice that your not the only one who has achieved the dream of going to medical school only to discover it may not be as great as you had hoped. It can be very discouraging to find that after all those years of studying, you just have more studying to do. Try speaking with an adviser at your school about your situation. Maybe you went to school too fast and needed more time to decompress after UG. A leave of absence for a year might be beneficial. If you think you still want to trudge your way through the year, try finding things to do outside medicine or try to get some experience in a clinical setting through volunteer work. It might help keep you motivated for the long run. I too became sick of studying in my first year. Now that I'm doing clinicals in my second year, I feel more excited about my decision to stay in school. I also made the mistake of not doing anything but studying in my first year and burnt out quickly. This year I am taking a sculpture class outside of school and making time for friends. Good luck!

 

[dienekes88]

What's making you depressed about studying? It might be a matter of mindset.

Some of this stuff is actually kinda cool if you let yourself think about it outside the context of medical school. I'm not sure I actually believe this, but I go into each 2-hour study block thinking that...

My view: at least I ain't selling shoes anymore.

 

[scotties123]

for the first month of med school i pulled a good 60-70 hours per week of studying. did great on my first set of exams. after that first set of exams i just had a complete "screw it" attitude about studying anymore. nothing about learning 200 pages for one course for each exam is supposed to be fun. But hey, if you want to be a doctor, grind it out. it gets tougher and more annoying later on. you already paid tuition for the first semester, so just stick with it and see how it goes. Bust your butt all week studying. Go out friday or saturday night for a few hours. lather, rinse, repeat. You can always find at least a few hours every weekend to go out and enjoy yourself. Yes, every weekend.

 

[GoLakers310]

I take about three days off each week, haha. However, I do go to class everyday though. After each lecture, somehow I absorb and understand much of the concept. On weekends, I just go and memorize the minute details that are associated with the concepts. I am not in top 15% of the class or anything like that, but I have been getting mostly A's and B's so far.
Overall, I don't recommend people do this, since I nearly have a heart attack a week before each exam.

 

[bcat85]

I think the best advice I've received thus far is this:

Don't ever think that people who aren't in medical school have it better than you.

Enjoy it. It may be a mindset thing.

 

[xx216xx]

Honestly I think your problem is that you never really wanted to be a doctor. Your goal seems like it was to be a medical student and now you realize that becoming a student isn't really a great goal because students have to study. So now you need to ask yourself if you actually want to do what it takes to be doctor. If so, then buckle down and tell yourself there is light or just realize you reached your goal and move on to another one.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I entered Med because that was the right thing to do. I took the required premed courses and took the MCAT and was thrilled for my acceptance. I've been in med school for a moth now but I'm not so thrilled any more. I'm depressed most of the time and I'm not into studying. I know all of you will try to pull out. You will tell me to find my motivator. But I'm a burnt out and I'm not in the mood to study all this information. I don't having anything else to do but I am through spending my days depressed, sad and forcing myself to study.

I am lost and I'm not sure what to do. I have tests ahead and again i am too emotionally tired to study and I have this " I don't care any more attitude". It's like I suddenly discovered that I don't want to study any more and I am through with studying after my BS degree. I find myself thinking about how everything is not worth a moment of my sadness or depression.

I am listening guys and I ready for anything you might post.

Some of the advice you're getting in this thread is good, some isn't. I'm not sure what you mean when you say that going to medical school was "the right thing to do." Do you mean career-wise, or you wanted to devote your life to serving others - what do you mean?

However, you would have had to have a very good reason to go to medical school in order to endure the pre-med classes, taking the MCAT, and going through the application process. Whatever your reasons were, I imagine that you've lost sight of those reasons during the first month of medical school.

Adjusting to medical school is a huge shock. It can be extremely difficult emotionally. Lots of posters on SDN make starting medical school look very easy - and it's not. I had a small nervous breakdown in October of my first semester of medical school - I had been having non-stop panic attacks and having a very difficult time studying. I needed some help - and went to my school's counseling center and got some brief therapy and some meds that stopped my panic attacks very effectively after a few weeks.

My advice: don't get into some agonizing arguments with yourself about whether you do or don't want to be in med school. This is the wrong time. As a previous poster said, you've paid for your first semester. Just make up your mind that you're going to do the best job you can studying - and, if you're so depressed or upset that you need help, do it. Your medical school undoubtedly has a counseling service because LOTS of new med students need help with the shock of adjusting to your new world. Try not to figure out what you want for the rest of your life now - there's no way you can see things clearly for the long-term right now, even if you think you can.

Do the best job that you can - and plan on reassessing your situation at Christmas break, when you'll have three weeks off and much lower stress. Again, if you need some help (and you definitely sound like you do) - go get it.

In October of my first year, I would have done anything I could have to get out. In fact, I actually did "quit" and told our Student Services coordinator that I was going home. Fortunately, the assistant deans were out of town at a convention. After a day at home, I decided to suck it up and go back. Now - well, I firmly believe in all of the reasons I originally had for going to medical school and, although life isn't easy, I'm having a great time and looking forward to the rest of my training and my life.

I hope you'll listen carefully to someone who was exactly where you are now - and who came within a hair's breadth of quitting.

 

[GZA]

I think the best advice I've received thus far is this:

Don't ever think that people who aren't in medical school have it better than you.

Enjoy it. It may be a mindset thing.

Hear, hear!

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[WellWornLad]

Fortunately, I don't have a problem with motivation. If I don't get my MD and get into a good specialty, some banker is going to rip out my spine and hang it over his fireplace, predator-style. I guess that's not a problem for you, however, so...

Sounds like you could have used a year or two off before starting school. Well, it's probably too late now but you can always talk to the dean and see what your options are.

Honestly though - someone mentioned it earlier - don't ever think that you're not in a privileged position. In a period of my life I'd rather forget, I worked in a factory for 2 years. Spending every day from 7:30 am until 5 pm (on a good day) working your &*# off in a job that no one respects really gives you some perspective. It still blows my mind that people I worked with there will probably spend their lives there, raise families on that tiny bit of money. The vast majority of people in this world have it very, very rough, and I can't complain when I look at the chances I've been given. Med school may be difficult sometimes, but I will never call it rough.

 

[cpants]

It sounds like you may have some issues with depression. I recommend you see a mental health counselor. Your school can set you up with one with no questions asked and nothing in your school records.

As far as the work goes, I agree with what other posters have said. Plenty of people bust their asses every day in dead-end jobs. Many work longer hours than med students. Many make little money, have little hope of career advancement, and have no job security. Few will do work that is as rewarding as medicine. So even if you can't take a leave to try a real job for a while, maybe you could get some perspective by talking to some working class people about what their lives are like. For all their complaining, med students have a pretty great deal.

 

[dienekes88]

lol

I used to sell water. Just for a few months and then I quit abruptly. No way I'm going back to that!

Oh yea... this stuff is a lot more easier to get through if you are interested in the subject matter. I liked bacteriology and thought it was so cool learning about the PLAGUE, anthrax, and TB. I HATED Parisitology until I saw pictures of a dude with worms crawling over his cornea and one with dead worms in his brain. I hate biochem with a passion... that made me pretty depressed.

It sounds like you may have some issues with depression. I recommend you see a mental health counselor. Your school can set you up with one with no questions asked and nothing in your school records.

As far as the work goes, I agree with what other posters have said. Plenty of people bust their asses every day in dead-end jobs. Many work longer hours than med students. Many make little money, have little hope of career advancement, and have no job security. Few will do work that is as rewarding as medicine. So even if you can't take a leave to try a real job for a while, maybe you could get some perspective by talking to some working class people about what their lives are like. For all their complaining, med students have a pretty great deal.

To temper this, though, medicine is hardly the path of least resistance. A faculty member, at the end of a lecture, told us not to undervalue ourselves. There is a tendency to approach this work as a martyr and sacrifice everything for pennies.

Medicine is difficult. It's just a different kind of difficult. I'm not trying to lessen the OP's suffering, because any low point is a legitimate low point. It's relative. Furthermore, we don't know anything about your specific situation. The view from the outside may be completely different from the way things actually are. Case in point. I had some pipe dreams about getting paid to race a bike. I almost got there - I still may get there, but the training/dieting/traveling was freakin' brutal. I tell people about it, though... and they think it was a freakin' party.

Selling shoes wasn't great, but at least I had time to do other stuff... like try to get my Cat. 1 and get a stipend to race.

 

[RisingSun]

The key to getting through and even enjoying med school is setting a realistic study schedule and keeping to it. Studying erratically all throughout the day leads to a feeling of being overwhelmed and is counterproductive.

My advice: get up early and study before class starts. Go somewhere away from your house - I go to SB and drink coffee and listen to music. Try and make it at least somewhat fun for yourself. Get it all (or most) done then. Then actually enjoy class because you are familiar with the material and you won't be frantically trying to take notes, etc. When class is over, enjoy the rest of your day. Trust me, you'll be much happier.

Believe me, first year blows big time and nobody likes it. So far second year has been way better, and then 3rd and 4th year are in the hospital and maybe more your style.

Take home point: Study efficiently and effectively so that you stay sane and keep from being overwhelmed. It gets much better in later years.

 

[OncoCaP]

Study less and do more of things you enjoy. One of several things will happen: You will either fail out but enjoy life while doing so or ... you will figure out that you are willing to do a lot of boring studying not to fail and suffer through it or ... you might find out that you can enjoy enough of life in medical school and be successful. Good luck to you no matter what you decide to do with this part of your life.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Be cognizant of efficiency when you study. Once you figure out what works for you you'll be able to fit everything in nicely. It all just takes some time. Then you'll enter second year and have to do it all over again.

Adjusting is really, really hard for everyone. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. For me it came around January.

 

[NeuroDocDO]

I found weekends as the best time to catch up, that way you keep from burning out during the week.

 

[shreypete]

Best advice I ever received on SDN: Take a day or 2 off and then get back to studies. do what you like and try not to think of school or anything...or go out for a long drive if you have the time!!! you'll get through it...we all do at some point (well not all exactly).

 

[78222]

Don't go to class. It's a waste of time.

 

[TMP-SMX]

lol

I used to sell water. Just for a few months and then I quit abruptly. No way I'm going back to that!

Oh yea... this stuff is a lot more easier to get through if you are interested in the subject matter. I liked bacteriology and thought it was so cool learning about the PLAGUE, anthrax, and TB. I HATED Parisitology until I saw pictures of a dude with worms crawling over his cornea and one with dead worms in his brain. I hate biochem with a passion... that made me pretty depressed.

Nice. I love micro and I think I got a 100% today on my last exam and practical. My test before I got a 97%. I haven't had honors on any class yet in med school and I have a chance in micro. I hated biochem and I did crappy. I subscribe to this desire to study the subject yields higher grades. Having the right materials and texts when the notes are crappy helps a great deal.

 

[JacobSilge]

Nice. I love micro and I think I got a 100% today on my last exam and practical. My test before I got a 97%. I haven't had honors on any class yet in med school and I have a chance in micro. I hated biochem and I did crappy. I subscribe to this desire to study the subject yields higher grades. Having the right materials and texts when the notes are crappy helps a great deal.

Same thing applies to rotations, as I am quickly discovering.

 

[Lopyswine]

Nice. I love micro and I think I got a 100% today on my last exam and practical. My test before I got a 97%. I haven't had honors on any class yet in med school and I have a chance in micro. I hated biochem and I did crappy. I subscribe to this desire to study the subject yields higher grades. Having the right materials and texts when the notes are crappy helps a great deal.

so what would recommend as the best micro text? micro supplement? ridiculously simple?

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[TMP-SMX]

so what would recommend as the best micro text? micro supplement? ridiculously simple?

I used Mim's as that's the recommended text for our course. It wasn't that long in the tooth and was a pretty easy read. I also used CMMRS as it helps you keep the bugs straight. Last I used BRS for mostly the end of chapter charts of bugs and an overview of everything else. Last I did our practice tests and went through our notes twice. So seeing everything in different ways helps recall for the test and especially for a lab practical when you've seen it every time and the associated lab characteristics.

 

[PreMedMommy]

Sorry if this has already been said, slap me, I didn't read the whole thread. If you study effectively, and "attack" your stuff when you study at home, it shouldn't take 6-8 hours a day after class is over. I don't have that much time, I have other responsibilities. So I study aggressively for 1-4 hours an evening depending on the circumstances, and much more time on the weekends. If your school does video of lectures, utilize this tool. Most of my classes do this, so I can watch a lecture on double speed and it takes half the time, plus I get better notes because I can pause it. Also, depression is common among med students, so go see someone for this. It is a huge transition to enter med school. Don't lose sight of who you are or what you enjoy. It will make these next years miserable if you do.

 

[WorkaholicsAnon]

In preclinical years of med school, I found most lectures a COLOSSAL waste of time. We got preprinted handouts of the lecture material at the beginning of each course block, and basically, lectures consisted of the lecturer reading those handouts back at us. Some people are audio-learners, so this helped them, but I am a totally visual learner.

So about a month in to MS1, I too was feeling like the whole day was wasted in lecture, and there was practically no time left to study. So, I started skipping lecture and studying in the library instead. Our first course was anatomy and had 2 exams--I went to all the lectures for the first one, stopped going to lectures for the 2nd one. My score on the 2nd exam ended up being much higher, too.

Thereafter, I went to maybe a total of 5-6 lectures throughout MS1-2. I had tons of time to study and for free time, sleep, exercise, etc. I wasn't always as disciplined as I could have been, but still did solidly. If you're disciplined about studying, the sky's the limit and the burnout will resolve.

Enjoy MS1 and 2 while you can because once MS3 hits, you become a slave to the hospital for many years to come. If i had to do things over again, the one thing I would change is I would have felt less guilty about skipping lecture and I would have relied less on the oftentimes error-prone handouts. Medical knowledge is medical knowledge. It's all in the textbooks and review books. There is nothing that the lecturer will tell you that isn't in the books, said in a much clearer and more standardized way. One thing you guys will come to see is that different people will tell you different versions of info (sometimes contradictory). Basically, what is in the textbooks or most sources is what will be on the boards.

Note: In MS1-2, I did go to every small-group PBL session, though, because those were actually useful and fun--I still remember some of the cases to this day (it's been 5-6 years now!). PBLs prepare you for the medical thought process, which is key. So, dont skip those.

I miss med school! (feeling some residency burnout these days. . .)

 

[theunderdog]

I've been in medical school for about a month and I'm already burnt out. I am supposed to be studying around 6-8 hours a day after class every day, but seriously how is this possible if we finish at 4 every other day? We don't even have breaks so when I'm done with classes I'm done. I had a really balanced undergrad life with work, social life, and extra curriculars. Now I do nothing but I still can't manage to study. I don't want. I'm not in the mood most of the time and even though becoming a doctor is my goal, I can't seem to be motivated enough to pull long hours of studying every day. We have an exam every week... I need your advice...

you know, honestly, you have to time manage.

i did the math too, and questioned myself during 1st year of med school -- how the hell can i possibly do anything if i get out of class at 4pm and have to sleep at 11pm???

you just have to turn the OCD off and take breaks. otherwise, your brain will take breaks for you while you're reading or studying. in my 1st year, blocks were like 7-8 weeks long. i wouldn't start studying until 4 weeks into the block. i basically vacationed for the first 4 weeks, while reading little here and there.

i got burned out at the end of 1st year and then again during 2nd year. the key is to stop studying for the night and do something fun. call up a friend to talk and remotivate yourself. sometimes, you study so hard that you lose yourself. it happens to everyone, even those that don't admit it.

to be honest, fear of failing was my ritalin. so if i didn't do squat for 4 weeks, my sympathetics would kick in.

 

[alan06]

You need to take break in between...and small naps....

 

[montessori2md]

HY version of this thread so far:

1) see a counselor -if dropping out/taking time off is even slightly appealing to you, you NEED to do this for yourself
2) Try to change your perspective a little -maybe this isn't as bad as you think.
3) Change your daily routine -study differently, take more time for yourself, skip lecture -if it's not working, change it!

What is your goal here? Are you studying like this because you are struggling, or because you want a ROAD specialty, or what? I personally can't imagine studying 6-8 hours daily. If you are studying that much AND struggling, you really, really need to see a counselor and get some help. I cannot emphasize that enough.

I try to break my studying into stuff I like to do and stuff I hate to do, and do the stuff I like when I'm grumpy/tired/bored, and the stuff I hate when I'm rested and ready to conquer. I also do busy work when tired (like check my schedule to see what I need to do next week, organize my notes, etc), or go for a walk -even just around the block can make you feel better.

I think ALL medical students sometimes hate studying and don't care. Eat that elephant one bite at a time, don't look too far ahead, especially when you're not having a good day.