doing well but not super motivated

[MSc44]

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ok i have a question and dont know if this is the correct place to post it but here it goes

I graduated with a 3.8 UG was super motivated, i guess the gunner type, and played college lacrosse so well rounded, was offered a free masters degree in biology with a conc. in cancer biology (3.85 grad ) i will finish in may. My who life i was so enthralled (cant spell) with the idea of going to medical school and being a doc ( my dad is a doc) now for the last year i have been unmotivated about the whole thing, although still doing real well and chugging along. It makes me feel more unmotivated about having to study for the MCATS even though im sure i would do well. The thing is i cant picture really doing anything else so i feel like im stuck inbetween a rock and a hard place, with the occasional thought ...how will i deal as an ms1 if im unmotivated now...just wondering if anyone at all has ever experianced this type of thing

 

[DoctorFunk]

just wondering if anyone at all has ever experianced this type of thing

I think most of us have experienced something like this at one point in this process or another. Are you currently doing any clinical activities? I always found that patient contact helped me refocus on why I was pursuing medicine and brought back my motivation.

 

[BaylorGuy]

Perhaps you may be getting burned out?? possibly a little extra time off would be helpful??

 

[TruTrooper]

Perhaps you may be getting burned out?? possibly a little extra time off would be helpful??

Sounds like your typical burnout, especially if you spent your whole life pursuing academic excellence. I was burnt out big time after undergard and took a year off.

Once I got to med school, I was more than motivated again but after the first 2 years, I was burnt out again and really felt like I was hating med school and felt trapped like I was in prison or something. I felt like I was in prison because there wasn't much I could do about it at that point. All I could ever see myself doing was medicine.

So figured I could feel burnt-out and do what I want to do or not be burnt out and do some alternative i.e., not living my dream. I chose to continue to pursue my dream. Again, many of medical students have felt what you are feeling and kept trucking.

 

[skypilot]

Why don't you take a couple of years off and join the Peace Corps or teach English in Japan or something. Get some perspective on why you are pursuing medicine. With your stats you will have no problem getting into med school no matter when you apply.

 

[zeloc]

Picture yourself as a physician, wearing a white coat, seeing patients, etc. If you can focus on your goals, it will be easier to get through whatever you are doing now. Another thing that's worked for me is reading an intellectually stimulating book. I always get excited reading something by Richard Feynman...

 

[MSc44]

Picture yourself as a physician, wearing a white coat, seeing patients, etc. If you can focus on your goals, it will be easier to get through whatever you are doing now. Another thing that's worked for me is reading an intellectually stimulating book. I always get excited reading something by Richard Feynman...

thanks all, i am thinking about taking some time off to relax a bit i am slightly burnt since i have been obsessed with medicine my whole life, so u could imagine how i put all my extra effort right into my university library night and day
zeloc, i hear ya on the white coat seeing pts thing cause i remember feeling that for SO long and i think it was a large part of what kept me going but now that im getting older...23 ......i feel that that was a bit of a idealistic way of looking at how medicine comes accross. I am beginning to see that medicine is way more then just walking the hallw with a white coat and steth. Maybe im growing up and realizing the realities or medicine, where when i was younger i was just impressed with the way dad looked with the white coat and how everyone would be like "thats mike, Dr So & So son

but i still want it