Feeling uninspired already...

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bumpy

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I know it's super early (just started M1), but is it weird to already feel uninspired and apathetic about med school? Maybe it's just the material (cell bio theme), but it's like nails on a chalkboard trying to get remotely excited about studying. Did fine on the first exam but have little interest in studying for the final. Also finding that, socially, med school feels like a repeat of high school or first year of undergrad. That was fine at the time, but it's weird to me how immature and cliquish lots of the students at my school are. Getting drunk at class outings is fun I guess but mostly meaningless. I'm sure things will change and hopefully for the better. I just feel really uninspired by the material and the social scene right now. Is this weird?
 
Drink every moment (even the boring ones) of this experience in! So many people dream of being where you are!
 
Sitting on the other end of the med school spectrum (M4 finishing aways and preparing ERAS), I can still remember the pre-clinical doldrums. Some things to keep in mind:
  • What you're doing now is not representative of what you will be doing in the future, but how you perform now can have a profound effect on what exactly you will be able to do in the future.
  • There are a lot of pre-clinical tidbits that are profoundly more important than you're able to realize now. Speaking of cell bio specifically, I just attended a conference lecture on advancements in cardiac resuscitation and there was great discussion of using electron transport chain inhibitors (rotenone, CO/CN, antimycin) to preclude the development of free radicals which contribute to reperfusion injury. We're talking about literally taking people who have been dead for 30 minutes and bringing them back to life without profound neurological deficits-- fascinating stuff routed in basic science.
  • Truly, the best thing that you can do is force yourself to see the parts of it that are interesting and nerd out about it. You never know what you'll need to know one day.
  • Cliquishness is very common but dies down over time. Just focus on your work, have enough fun to stay sane, and keep your chin up for the future.
Good luck, and we'll see you on the other side.
 
Jabbed said:
Sitting on the other end of the med school spectrum (M4 finishing aways and preparing ERAS), I can still remember the pre-clinical doldrums. Some things to keep in mind:
  • What you're doing now is not representative of what you will be doing in the future, but how you perform now can have a profound effect on what exactly you will be able to do in the future.
  • There are a lot of pre-clinical tidbits that are profoundly more important than you're able to realize now. Speaking of cell bio specifically, I just attended a conference lecture on advancements in cardiac resuscitation and there was great discussion of using electron transport chain inhibitors (rotenone, CO/CN, antimycin) to preclude the development of free radicals which contribute to reperfusion injury. We're talking about literally taking people who have been dead for 30 minutes and bringing them back to life without profound neurological deficits-- fascinating stuff routed in basic science.
  • Truly, the best thing that you can do is force yourself to see the parts of it that are interesting and nerd out about it. You never know what you'll need to know one day.
  • Cliquishness is very common but dies down over time. Just focus on your work, have enough fun to stay sane, and keep your chin up for the future.
Good luck, and we'll see you on the other side.
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This is good advice.

Also just learn to dismiss the importance of being inspired/motivated/whatever. Its not always going to be fun, sometimes you will want to stab your eyes out with an ice pick. Discipline is a virtue. Don't take this to the extreme and force yourself to be miserable doing something but just need to understand that no one cares about you being motivated or not, especially not in the real world when you have to show up and take care of patients every day. I also don't mean that as harsh/negative as it sounds, and I'm not saying you are that way but I know many of us have those feelings at times (myself included) early in their learning.
 
bumpy said:
I know it's super early (just started M1), but is it weird to already feel uninspired and apathetic about med school?
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No, it's actually great that you are learning at a young age. I'm an M4 and it wasn't until July of last year that I truly started to feel this way. Med school is designed to crush your inner self, to teach you that even when you do your best you will not be good enough. It will leave you questioning what went wrong, how could you have fixed that wrong, and why do you allow yourself to go through this.

Med school is a time when you gun for something for 2 years...put your hard work into becoming something and wake up one day with a score that either tells you to proceed with torturing yourself in gunning for that specialty or crushes you with the reality that there was no point to your endeavors anyway. Either way, it's a lose lose situation.

Does residency get any better? Unfortunately in every field there are horrible people. Sometimes they are the program director, sometimes they are assistant professors. Will these people take it out on you? You better believe it. These people are everywhere, and even when you seek out the kind hearted, you will still have to work with these faculty and residents. They make a good overall experience hell.

There is so much good in the work we do, but there is so much wrong with the field itself. It's a hierarchy built on tradition meant to destroy you and mold you into what "they" want you to become. The problem is you don't realize this until you are far too much into it.... Best of luck.
 
failedatlife said:
No, it's actually great that you are learning at a young age. I'm an M4 and it wasn't until July of last year that I truly started to feel this way. Med school is designed to crush your inner self, to teach you that even when you do your best you will not be good enough.
....

There is so much good in the work we do, but there is so much wrong with the field itself. It's a hierarchy built on tradition meant to destroy you and mold you into what "they" want you to become. The problem is you don't realize this until you are far too much into it.... Best of luck.
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QFT.

This is sometimes why I tell people who aren't really sure about the path to get off it. It's not just a job or debt.

Sometimes I wish I could be the person I was before med school, but she's gone and there's no getting her back. I suspect I would be so much happier now but I wouldn't even know it, because like so many posters I'd be stuck on what if. If a magic genie gave me the chance, I wouldn't do it again. But then I would pray that genie never found me.

It can change you into someone you wish you weren't but your current incarnation can't really go backward or even really wish to. Weird.

I wrote some long post somewhere about harassment at work, and basically getting so broke down you actually miss it. Stockholm's.
 
Christ, kids, I didn't mean to get like this here.

As long as you're sure you willing to go under the knife and wake up as someone you can't predict becoming (that's life anyway), besides grander questions of should you or shouldn't you do med school, smaller issues like feeling uninspired or like you don't have friends in the medical sphere will resolve themselves with time and the right exposures.
 
skiier54 said:
After realizing how much money and power and respect doctors have there is no going back. Even if I hate myself more everyday, and get wrecked on the daily by my attendings, I realize I have to make it. The feeling I get when an attending or resident complements my work or even just smiles at me is better than drugs/sex. And first year sucked ass. It was the most boring, useless crap ever but I regret studying poorly because I never ended up developing good study habits for second year.
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Methinks you're doing it wrong. :thinking:
 
skiier54 said:
The feeling I get when an attending or resident complements my work or even just smiles at me is better than drugs/sex.
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This sounds really unhealthy. We all like praise, but hopefully you have some other internal motivators to keep you going--getting through training using praise for sustenance is not sustainable.
 
Hey OP - hang in there! Make sure you take care of yourself during this big transition. It sounds like you worked hard the first week then burnt out. This is a slow, slow marathon so pace yourself - should bring some good feelings back to you.

Also, people are people. Your classmates are all going to handle this transition differently. Some people grip tightly onto each-other to feel better, some people drink and go crazy to not feel so down. I wouldn't worry about all that since you have your own way to handle things that you gotta remind yourself about or find.
 
Crayola227 said:
Sometimes I wish I could be the person I was before med school, but she's gone and there's no getting her back.
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Well said, I feel exactly the same way. Not to sound dramatic, but at the beginning of M1 I kind of had to go through a period of mourning for the life I left behind and the person I used to be. People always talk about how hard med school is because of how much work there is, but I think the hardest part of medical school for me has been how emotionally chaotic it can be.
 
Lannister said:
Well said, I feel exactly the same way. Not to sound dramatic, but at the beginning of M1 I kind of had to go through a period of mourning for the life I left behind and the person I used to be. People always talk about how hard med school is because of how much work there is, but I think the hardest part of medical school for me has been how emotionally chaotic it can be.
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Reading your posts hits me right in the feels so hard. I was always about embracing change. But this change is so permanent in so many ways it’s hard to get myself to accept it
 
Jabbed said:
Methinks you're doing it wrong. :thinking:
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mcloaf said:
This sounds really unhealthy. We all like praise, but hopefully you have some other internal motivators to keep you going--getting through training using praise for sustenance is not sustainable.
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Idk, I definitely get where Skiier is coming from and I love it when an experienced attending tells me I rocked a presentation or that he/she likes my plan. For me it's not so much about the praise itself, it's about knowing that after working to get into med school then busting my ass for 2 preclinical years learning seemingly random and useless crap that I'm finally able to actually do something for patients and am starting to become an actual physician. It's a sign that all the years I've put into my education are finally starting to come to fruition.
 
Crayola227 said:
I'll answer this

-Go to class.
-Sit by people. Make small talk during breaks.
-Ask questions during lecture - makes you stand out in people's minds (hopefully in a good way. We developed opinions about people this way). People might come up and talk to you about this after class.
-After lectures, go up and try to talk to the professors or pretend you're going to if there's a crowd, you can make small talk.
-Go to class early and stay a bit late to mill about with people.
-It's OK to ask people what they thought about tests or assignments or "gosh I just didn't get that one question" (no cheating, no specifics). Don't ask how people thought they did or scores.
-Bring a big bag or candy/easily shared snack pass it around near you in class.
-Small groups be active and participate. It wasn't an official thing but people would make a point of bringing homemade/bought treats for small discussion group where this might be appropriate.
-Get involved in interest groups, leadership positions, committees, elective courses.
-Ask people where they study. Hang out on campus. Hang out in the computer lab.
-Ask people if they want to study together, "hey I'd just be glad to have someone to read with" (because people worry that you'll want to yap the whole time when you both need to spend 3 hours silently reading. But this can make friends for breaks together, or to do something fun after studying. Bonus if you bring snacks. Catching a theme? Med students are hungry by definition.)
-Tell people you're headed to the cafeteria/coffee shop.
-Get into stuff where you can ask people if they want to do X this weekend (movie, come over to watch a movie, go to a bar, go to a cool food hangout spot, indoor rock climbing, rollerskating, local music scene, salsa dancing, meetup event, whatever)
-Lots of med schools will have various social events. Go to them.
-Start a social committee if this doesn't exist. People will sign up. Plan events - post-exam bar gathering (contact local bars you'll be doing this, can reserve tables/get discounts on snacks/drinks. Med school prom. Med school trip to some cool place. Organize a hike or camp trip and email the class for sign ups.)

You probably caught some themes above. Small talk. It's a skill to work on. Food. Being available and "hanging around." Going to social events. Getting involved in campus stuff.

If making friends in med school is out, make friends outside it. Look up strats online. There are meetup groups. Even OKCupid can be used to make freinds (really, just list that. Talk to people not of your sexual orientation and make it clear you just want to make friends.) Make a certain college bar your regular spot, some are conducive to studying even.

Hope this helps.
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Crayola227 said:
lol, I also didn't mention that medical school was also one of the best times of my life

partly because it was one of the worst, but also the best
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Exactly. I've had some of my worst days in medical school, but I've also had some of my best! And even on the bad days, there's nothing I would rather be doing.
 
I am really thankful for the reality check of this thread - downer or not. So often, all we still-premeds hear is "MS1 so so so so so hard" and it's "so so so so much work!" which to a non-trad is like 16 hour days? and the MS1 says, no like 10... pfft. Okay, so yes, it's a lot of work but otherwise, I hear how many friends people make and how many fun things there are to do...

Nice to see it's all not like Mary Poppins.
 
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Ad2b said:
which to a non-trad is like 16 hour days? and the MS1 says, no like 10.
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Haha to be fair, working a full-time job is, in my opinion, much easier than med school (obviously depending on what the full-time job is, although I'd guess very few people work 60-70 hours/week which is typical for med students). And when you're done with work, you go home and you have free time to live your life. But with med school, it kind of becomes your life. Plus, as a med student you learn about a million new facts every day, which is mentally exhausting and usually not the case for most jobs.
 
kegar99 said:
Well this turned into a real downer of a thread
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Life can be a downer and people change, especially when they go through particularly stressful events. Even more so when those stressful events last for years and become their life. Med school definitely sucks at times, especially before you figure out what works for you and you're freaking out. After a while you get your groove though and it's not so bad. The boards comes and it sucks. Then you get in a groove again. Then the match happens. Then you get a 3 month vacation/laid back period. Then it's over and you actually start getting paid.

cj_cregg said:
Yeah, I was a traditional student but my senior year of college I took 18 credit hours, had two part-time jobs and an internship, was finishing a research project, and volunteered which usually had me out of the house by 7:30 and back by 7:30 pm to study. Also had a summer job where I was on the road working 60-70 hours a week...med school was still harder. It's not just the number of hours, it's how exhausting they are. When you're studying, you wish you could be doing something fun. When you're doing something fun, you feel guilty that you're not studying. You hardly ever see people outside your class, so like the poster above said...it truly becomes your whole life.

Not trying to be contradictory or get into the pity olympics, just saying don't come in expecting med school to be manageable just because you've worked longer hours in the past.
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One of the first things the dean told us on our "family day" of orientation (aka the first day when parents and spouses were invited so the med school could basically tell them what to expect out of us), was not to expect too much out of us or get upset with us too much because we'll always feel guilty. When we're studying, we'll feel guilty that we're not spending time with family. When we're with family and friends we'll feel guilty we're not studying. Obviously we're not always feeling guilty, but there were definitely times that I had family events I skipped because of tests coming up that I felt terrible about missing and there were times that I went out and had fun that I felt like I should have been studying instead, but one thing you learn (if you haven't already) is that there's never enough time to do everything you want or even that you need. You have to just learn to do what you can and be alright with that.
 
cj_cregg said:
med school was still harder. It's not just the number of hours, it's how exhausting they are.

Not trying to be contradictory or get into the pity olympics, just saying don't come in expecting med school to be manageable just because you've worked longer hours in the past.
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Not saying that I do just that ... and I'm not going to get in a "my life experience" >>>>> than yours because what/how would I know!?!? 😕

Just know that when you're flying between 3 different continents across 2 major oceans supporting 3 of your global teams sleeping in the upstairs of a 747 for periods of time, accumulating 1,000,000 miles (seat miles, not frequent flier miles) on a major airline and working full time while raising a son (alone)... and being responsible to the SEC (the people that allow companies to sell stock and monitor everything) for the company I represented??

I'm used to dog tired and having to be "on" - how that will help/hinder/not help/not hinder med school? :shrug:

Hope to find out. Congrats on completing what had to be a most difficult senior year and get accepted to/finish (?) med school!:highfive:
 
bumpy said:
I know it's super early (just started M1), but is it weird to already feel uninspired and apathetic about med school? Maybe it's just the material (cell bio theme), but it's like nails on a chalkboard trying to get remotely excited about studying. Did fine on the first exam but have little interest in studying for the final. Also finding that, socially, med school feels like a repeat of high school or first year of undergrad. That was fine at the time, but it's weird to me how immature and cliquish lots of the students at my school are. Getting drunk at class outings is fun I guess but mostly meaningless. I'm sure things will change and hopefully for the better. I just feel really uninspired by the material and the social scene right now. Is this weird?
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Do you want to be a doctor?
oYes
oNo
 
I think it's completely normal to not be gung-ho about absolutely everything. Some subjects are vastly more interesting to certain people than they are to others. If you don't find any of it interesting there might be a bit of an issue, but I'm sure you'll find things that you enjoy, especially as you move past the nitty-gritty cell biology stuff.
 
cj_cregg said:
If you even think you might need help, reach out to a classmate, professor, upperclassman, student affairs person, academic skills center, counseling center, or whoever before things get bad instead of just trying to handle things on your own because you've done stuff before that's longer hours, busier, etc.
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Thank you for the suggestion and support. Have to get there first; no guarantee, especially given my "distance in life" 🙂
 
I went into medical school really dreading the fact that I'd be feeling guilty about not studying when I would be with friends as I had felt in my last couple of years of undergrad, but strangely I haven't felt that way all too much. Look, i'll thrown down 9:30am-6pm (with ~2 hours break) on the daily (most of the time, depending whether or not I have an OMM exam coming up and what not) and that's usually enough. The moment I step out of the library I don't even open my backpack. You can only ask so much of yourself.
 
Ad2b said:
Not saying that I do just that ... and I'm not going to get in a "my life experience" >>>>> than yours because what/how would I know!?!? 😕

Just know that when you're flying between 3 different continents across 2 major oceans supporting 3 of your global teams sleeping in the upstairs of a 747 for periods of time, accumulating 1,000,000 miles (seat miles, not frequent flier miles) on a major airline and working full time while raising a son (alone)... and being responsible to the SEC (the people that allow companies to sell stock and monitor everything) for the company I represented??

I'm used to dog tired and having to be "on" - how that will help/hinder/not help/not hinder med school? :shrug:

Hope to find out. Congrats on completing what had to be a most difficult senior year and get accepted to/finish (?) med school!:highfive:
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there is a unique interpersonal stress you get from your colleagues and patients that is not present in other fields

I have heard this from military combat veterans, airline stewardesses, lifeflight helicopter pilots, paramedics, and also someone who was a few steps below CEO of a company like SONY, their job experience echoed your own
 
Crayola227 said:
there is a unique interpersonal stress you get from your colleagues and patients that is not present in other fields

I have heard this from someone who was a few steps below CEO of a company like SONY, their job experience echoed your own
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That's as a treating, licensed, credentialed physician NOT a med student; to be clearer, I don't think the 22 yr old crowd (generally) has ever had to work 15+ hr days consistently for a lengthy period of time and consistently had to perform above and beyond as they do now in med school. I have... as a direct report to the Board of Directors of a company "like Sony" or not "like Sony" or smaller than "like Sony" - you get the idea, no doubt.

There is no doubt in my mind, either, that saving people's lives is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> stress than balancing financial reports for the SEC filings. None. Zero. Zilch. Financial peeps - we don't save lives or create blood or fix valve issue or mitigate stupid decisions like smoking/drinking/drugs. Nope, we just file the numbers with a federal agency and are done. No one generally dies because of what we do. And we don't even really have to be nice to anyone while doing such things and many, are not.

Licensed providers? All. day. long.
 
Ad2b said:
That's as a treating, licensed, credentialed physician NOT a med student; to be clearer, I don't think the 22 yr old crowd (generally) has ever had to work 15+ hr days consistently for a lengthy period of time and consistently had to perform above and beyond as they do now in med school. I have... as a direct report to the Board of Directors of a company "like Sony" or not "like Sony" or smaller than "like Sony" - you get the idea, no doubt.

There is no doubt in my mind, either, that saving people's lives is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> stress than balancing financial reports for the SEC filings. None. Zero. Zilch. Financial peeps - we don't save lives or create blood or fix valve issue or mitigate stupid decisions like smoking/drinking/drugs. Nope, we just file the numbers with a federal agency and are done. No one generally dies because of what we do. And we don't even really have to be nice to anyone while doing such things and many, are not.

Licensed providers? All. day. long.
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eh, those same people I quoted felt that stress even at the med school level - 3rd year is pretty damn stressful
a lot of it is because the expectations are constantly changing, and while lives aren't hanging on you, the stakes are still pretty high, as are the demands

combine changing and often capricious expectations, volume of learning, hours worked, chronic sleep deprivation, and it's a pretty potent mix of stress
plus a lot of malignant personalities under equal or greater amounts of stress (I'm looking at you, gen surg & ob/gyn!)

as you point out, it just gets harder intern year, and I hear the first year or so as an attending is pretty ass-puckering
 
Crayola227 said:
eh, those same people I quoted felt that stress even at the med school level
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I have no doubt med school at all levels is stressful!! Please don't misunderstand that... my hope is that I will be better able to cope with it and the amount of hours because of my life experience and only that.

Still have to get there and the jury is out but that "morbidly obese XX has not yet sung her last B-flat" 🙂
 
I dont know whats wrong with getting drunk with classmates if everyone is being mature responsible adults. Its been one of the best ways a large group of classmates to grow close with each other. For the people who dont like drinking there should be tons of other activities to know people and socialize with people who have the similar interest as you. Find what you like and build your social group from there, I love sports 70% of my social group is part of the intramural sport team .
 
Chelsea FC said:
I dont know whats wrong with getting drunk with classmates
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Or just go out and have a beer or two, be social and get to know them? Right? I will! If they won't mind the saggy old hag coming with them 😛 (promise to leave my cane and supplemental walker at home or in the trunk!)
 
Ad2b said:
Or just go out and have a beer or two, be social and get to know them? Right? I will! If they won't mind the saggy old hag coming with them 😛 (promise to leave my cane and supplemental walker at home or in the trunk!)
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I find older classmates to be super well liked if they dont get too preachy, especially those who have worked in differing industry etc...
 
Chelsea FC said:
I find older classmates to be super well liked if they dont get too preachy
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If I get in, will work very hard on losing this aspect of my personality. Given what I do for a living (I tell companies how to be more efficient, tighten controls, reduce risk, etc.), it's hard to lose that aspect.
 
I feel a bit odd posting in threads like these because my personal experience through med school was pretty darn idyllic. Residency has been more work with longer hours but still quite manageable and actually a lot of fun punctuated my occasional moments of misery.

One thing that is unique to the stresses of medical training is that you are basically trapped and can't really walk away without some severe penalties. The stressed out C-level exec can always lateral to another comparable position if things start going awry. The medical student and resident can't get out without completely starting over in some fashion. That's not a big deal if you're fortunate enough to be in a great situation, but I think it's what magnifies bad situations and makes them nearly unbearable. I can't easily think of another field that combines such prolonged training with the real truth that it's all worthless if you don't finish it.

So it's in that context we add in all the stresses and sleep deprivation and life and death stuff. I think medical students are somewhat insulated from this, but not completely, and lord knows they have their own particular things to worry about like grades and matching and whatnot. As a resident you can leave most of that behind, but in its place comes the incessant thought that you could actually really hurt someone if you're not careful. And you may hurt someone even though you are. Then you add on the countless heart wrenching conversations that yes, would be nice if the attending was doing it, but at midnight on a Saturday it's probably just you explaining to some guy why you need to biopsy the obviously malignant tumor. So that part sucks a bit.

But then the flip side is you're part of helping these people navigate a truly terrible chapter in their lives. And you get to forge some really unique friendships with your colleagues who are helping you do this. And you get to learn a ton and watch yourself slowly get better.

But most of all it sure beats a real job!
 
operaman said:
I feel a bit odd posting in threads like these because my personal experience through med school was pretty darn idyllic. Residency has been more work with longer hours but still quite manageable and actually a lot of fun punctuated my occasional moments of misery.

One thing that is unique to the stresses of medical training is that you are basically trapped and can't really walk away without some severe penalties. The stressed out C-level exec can always lateral to another comparable position if things start going awry. The medical student and resident can't get out without completely starting over in some fashion. That's not a big deal if you're fortunate enough to be in a great situation, but I think it's what magnifies bad situations and makes them nearly unbearable. I can't easily think of another field that combines such prolonged training with the real truth that it's all worthless if you don't finish it.
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This second paragraph is why I tell people not to be afraid to take a gap year or to even try other careers before medicine. For someone going straight through high school, then college, then med school, everything is so focused on the end goal of becoming a physician that people often don't even see other options available. Some of the docs I've met who say they would never recommend med school expressed that at the time they kept going because they just didn't know what else they would do. Taking time off or starting other careers at least gives people something to fall back on relatively easily if med school ends up being a bust and gives them some life experience to know that there are options other than just plowing through the medical process and praying that it'll get better.
 
It's the same as undergrad. You pined away for med school from the first day, and everyone told you to stop and smell the roses. Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Maybe now you're regretting not enjoying the fun parts of college (in moderation). The same goes for med school. Take a second every day and try to be in the present. You may be bored out of your mind by the subject you are studying, but take a second to relish in the fact that you can sit in the library for hours doing one task without: the pager going off, worrying about trying to make it across the hospital to get to clinic in time, wondering if you hurt someone.

You feel really good in that period from graduation to day 1 of internship. You've got the degree. You have some time to relax without stress. You're excited about the future! Excited about residency! Then you start, and it's exciting for a half a second. Then it becomes an amalgamation of good and bad feelings. And then you realize that sometimes, wow, you miss med school. FYI attendings say this about residency at times too.

This is the last time in your life, especially when you make it to MS4 and you're through with externships and subIs, that you can learn for the sake of learning. You have no real responsibility other than to show up and learn things, see things you may never see again in your career. How amazing is that?

No one finds every part of med school awesome and exhilarating. Don't let it bog you down! When that happens just remember what happens next and how you'll look back on even biochem with fondness.
 
dr zaius said:
You feel really good in that period from graduation to day 1 of internship. You've got the degree. You have some time to relax without stress. You're excited about the future! Excited about residency! Then you start, and it's exciting for a half a second.
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LOL I wrote this exact thing somewhere else on this site.

The best time of my entire life was that little gap. Then things got worse than I could imagine
 
Ad2b said:
If I get in, will work very hard on losing this aspect of my personality. Given what I do for a living (I tell companies how to be more efficient, tighten controls, reduce risk, etc.), it's hard to lose that aspect.
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Something a lot of high-performing nontrads struggle with is that as a medical student, you are the lowest of the low in the hospital hierarchy. You will be made to feel stupid. You will be expected to shut up and do as you're told. Some of your superiors will be visibly annoyed by your presence or will pretend you don't exist. This is probably not something you have experienced for a very long time as a successful professional and it can be very demoralizing.
 
clausewitz2 said:
Something a lot of high-performing nontrads struggle with is that as a medical student, you are the lowest of the low in the hospital hierarchy. You will be made to feel stupid. This is probably not something you have experienced for a very long time as a successful professional and it can be very demoralizing.
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Oh, that part is not a problem. I have high school educated people tell me I'm stupid all the time, or refuse to provide work products and run whining to others about how this or that or whatever. I have middle Eastern men tell me how a woman... and then maybe not so obviously, tell me how smart they are and I should not be working so hard (get married or something to that effect).

Or I have CPAs infer that I cannot run around the balance sheet/ P&L/ cash flow because I lack those credentials on my name ("Oh, you wouldn't understand the intracompany eliminations from the subs" ... oh, really? pfft... I implemented the systems back in the 90's to automate that).

Or at one client, with 3 of us out on the west coast at dinner, one of the people asked where I liked to go in our home town and my response was "this place" ... one of the client's employees (CPA) instantly remarked (direct quote, kid you not):

"I've heard that's where the hookers go to pick up their johns." :wow:😡:wow:

She'd been livid I was brought in because she wanted my role... 🙂 So, there's that... my skin is pretty thick.

You have to remember, I've been in school with the 20-somethings and no matter how much age difference there is between my professors and myself (I've often been older), they are always the leader and I listen.

What you didn't include was the preachy aspect which is the part I was referring to. Sometimes in telling people how to handle a situation (like a boyfriend or peer or roommate or parents) it can come off as preachy. THAT I have to continually work on. How to just listen instead of guide or advise. Most times, people just want someone to listen. That's all; sit there and listen.

Still a work in progress 🙂
 
How do you guys force yourself to focus and learn subjects you aren't interested in? It sounds silly, I know. I try so hard to study things such as histology / biochemistry / molecular bio, etc. I put in the work but I know it isn't the same as when I'm studying physiology / genetics, etc. I seem to absolutely kill it and do well in physiology related questions on quizzes but when I get biochemistry questions asking me about a particular step or how this affects that, etc. I really have a hard time with those 2nd, 3rd order questions..

EXAMPLE: I struggled with a Gametogenesis and Cardiovascular Development lecture.. every time I go back to try to study it, it's like I'm just skimming through stuff and I have a difficult time trying to learn that material.

Has anybody else ever had this issue?


EDIT: On a positive note, I really do think me enjoying learning subjects like physiology & anatomy have shown me I have made the right decision in pursuing medicine. I love studying that stuff, I dive in, I try to understand everything and intellectually appreciate everything I'm learning haha it's just the other stuff that really gets me..
 
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BlackLips said:
This is good advice.

Also just learn to dismiss the importance of being inspired/motivated/whatever. Its not always going to be fun, sometimes you will want to stab your eyes out with an ice pick. Discipline is a virtue. Don't take this to the extreme and force yourself to be miserable doing something but just need to understand that no one cares about you being motivated or not, especially not in the real world when you have to show up and take care of patients every day. I also don't mean that as harsh/negative as it sounds, and I'm not saying you are that way but I know many of us have those feelings at times (myself included) early in their learning.
Click to expand...

The bold lol. Take it week by week. It hurts too much to look further than that haha. Another thing you can try is shadowing. When you see doctors in action, it gives you a little more gas to burn until you hit "E" again. Also remember that pre-clinicals are only two years of your life and then that's it. This too shall pass.

Finally, if you're feeling truly unmotivated, take a day or two off and do absolutely nothing medically related. You'll get bored and want to hit it hard again...or at least I do.
 
Ad2b said:
Oh, that part is not a problem. I have high school educated people tell me I'm stupid all the time, or refuse to provide work products and run whining to others about how this or that or whatever. I have middle Eastern men tell me how a woman... and then maybe not so obviously, tell me how smart they are and I should not be working so hard (get married or something to that effect).

Or I have CPAs infer that I cannot run around the balance sheet/ P&L/ cash flow because I lack those credentials on my name ("Oh, you wouldn't understand the intracompany eliminations from the subs" ... oh, really? pfft... I implemented the systems back in the 90's to automate that).

Or at one client, with 3 of us out on the west coast at dinner, one of the people asked where I liked to go in our home town and my response was "this place" ... one of the client's employees (CPA) instantly remarked (direct quote, kid you not):

"I've heard that's where the hookers go to pick up their johns." :wow:😡:wow:

She'd been livid I was brought in because she wanted my role... 🙂 So, there's that... my skin is pretty thick.

You have to remember, I've been in school with the 20-somethings and no matter how much age difference there is between my professors and myself (I've often been older), they are always the leader and I listen.

What you didn't include was the preachy aspect which is the part I was referring to. Sometimes in telling people how to handle a situation (like a boyfriend or peer or roommate or parents) it can come off as preachy. THAT I have to continually work on. How to just listen instead of guide or advise. Most times, people just want someone to listen. That's all; sit there and listen.

Still a work in progress 🙂
Click to expand...

So it's interesting that all the examples you cite are ones where you were very obviously in the right and knew it. I am talking about situations that are going to crop up where people will be rubbing your nose in things you don't know. Where they will ask you question after question until you don't know the answer and then engage in a diatribe about your ignorance. Where you are chewed out for something you did terribly wrong that nearly (or did) lead to a very bad outcome and it will burn more because you know it happened because you're not good enough yet. It is not as bad as it used to be by all accounts but you can still expect to run into direct superiors at times who will ask you if you know how to read shortly after you just had to report some deficiency in your plan of care.

And I guarantee there will be 20 somethings who appear to breeze through the process like it ain't no thing while you struggle.

You are not going to be the star of this show. For a very long time, you are going to be a bit player, supporting cast. Things get easier when you accept that.

Like H.L Mencken said, "Injustice is relatively easy to bear, what stings is justice."
 
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