Experience being in medical school as a first generation university student

[MemeQueen]

I'm wondering if anyone is comfortable sharing their experience as a first generation university student in medical school, particularly in Canada? Even in undergrad, I still get subtle the feeling of being an "other" which can be really uncomfortable and I'm curious as to whether this gets better or worse.

For added context, keep in mind that I do have some privilege by being a "basic white girl" but part of the issue is that my experience of being from a working class family that moved around from one sub-optimal rental to the next I don't identify with the upper middle-class suburban lifestyle like a lot of my friends do.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[When is graduation again?]

I'm wondering if anyone is comfortable sharing their experience as a first generation university student in medical school, particularly in Canada? Even in undergrad, I still get subtle the feeling of being an "other" which can be really uncomfortable and I'm curious as to whether this gets better or worse.

For added context, keep in mind that I do have some privilege by being a "basic white girl" but part of the issue is that my experience of being from a working class family that moved around from one sub-optimal rental to the next I don't identify with the upper middle-class suburban lifestyle like a lot of my friends do.

Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with medical school. Part of it is what you've alluded to. Being a 1st gen medical student is like being displaced. Every time my attendings host us or I'm invited to other students houses, I feel like I don't belong. I gawk at the sizes of these houses and the commonness of my dream kitchen in these homes and think about how these people have tons of family members in upper middle class life, while my mom is still struggling to achieve her goal of buying any house. It's really crazy, a little frustrating, and a lot alienating. Not to mention, the huge presence of frat and sorority types in medicine. People tend to be nice, but I've personally never connected to frat types. There's also an expectation that you can afford to do things like take trips places and vacation and often it's just not the case. I'm pretty uncomfortable spending loan money on these things and I don't have parents or family friends with beach houses or mountain cabins.

I don't think it'll ever "get better" to be honest. Though depending on your specialty, the people could be less materialistic or less overtly pretentious. Plus by the time you're in residency or an attending, you'll pretty much be middle class, so in a lot of ways you'll be more like them. I was able to find a few people I could connect with over the last 4 years of medical school. Though to be honest, there weren't too many.

 

[tellme_areyoufree]

Hi. I'll give you a little of my background, and then tell you about my experience in med school.

I grew up poor. On food stamps, with housing assistance, etc. I often like to phrase it as, we lived in a trailer park and we were so poor that the other kids in the trailer park made fun of us for being poor. Life was incredibly hard, we were homeless a couple times, I've known hunger - not just wanting to eat, but having gone without and knowing there won't be any food any time soon. Neither parent went to college, hell neither graduated high school (my mom attended 9th grade and dropped out, my dad dropped out in 6th).

In high school, I almost didn't apply to college. I was convinced to do so by one teacher, who told me about a scholarship I'd be eligible for at the state university. I got in, got the scholarship and sort of just ... kept going. Master's degree, worked for a number of years, and got convinced to come to medical school. Now an M4 hoping to match in March.

The entire time - from the first day in college - I felt like an outsider. College was a completely foreign concept to me. So was medical school. Repeatedly I found myself second guessing myself, letting the feeling of being an "outsider" kind of take over. Most recently, I struggled with this feeling once or twice during residency interviews... hard to interview at a "fancy" program without having those feelings.

Here's the thing... you'll never feel completely like an insider. And that's kind of ok. Those feelings can be a stumbling block, yes, but they can also give you an opportunity to look at things from a completely different perspective. It can be a weakness, but it can also be a strength.

I guess my point in sharing that is to say that it's a hard path to take... but we're used to hard paths. Aren't we?