Hate medical school

[DOnutDoc]

I thought that after getting through 1st semester the feeling of hating med school would go away. For the most part I know how to study now and I successfully passed all my classes to this point. Yet here I am starting second semester and I'm still searching up posts about quitting medicine. Its not that the material is hard or anything, I just hate it. I don't find it interesting. I used to love my Neuro classes in undergrad and actually looked forward to learning. Now I wake up everyday and force myself to watch lectures that I care nothing about. I dont care for the diseases that so and so causes. I don't care for correlating things together. Im just trying to pass.

And then I start thinking about the future. About how many years I have left. About how I have to study for the STEP and COMLEX soon and how I have no idea how I'll do it since studying for the MCAT was so difficult. Then Ill be giving up my time for clinicals and the stress of 3rd year. I have given up so much already for medicine. I just moved across the country from my family and hate it. I miss everyone and I feel guilty for leaving them behind. Im driving myself into so much debt.

Knowing what I know now I would have never applied to med school. Honestly I don't even know why I really applied. I would have been content being a teacher or clinical psychologist. Everyone tells me that its only a few years and soon I'll be making money and have loads of time off- but that's not true. It just feels like I've signed my life away for something I dont even enjoy. I think of quitting all the time. I probably would if it weren't for the peer pressure. I know I probably sound whiny and I wouldnt usually post this on SDN but I need to get it out somewhere.

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[Osteosaur]

Its natural to feel this way. Everyone does. And remember this is just the preclinical years, which I hated also.

Now that I'm in third year I'm liking it a lot more than the first two. You get to see actual patients and help with their care. Right now you're just studying away with no end in sight. Worse yet you have no work-life balance. Studying invades your personal time. Take a night off, give your family a call or play a game at least once a week. And unlike M1-M2 you have some time to relax when you get home (except on IM and surgery).

I can't tell you if medicine is still right for you, but the first two years of medical school suck and it does get better.

 

[DNC127]

The US is on the verge of collapse.

If you really hate it just go do something fun and smoke some weed and work at a ski resort or whatever near your family.

No need to do something you hate when we likely will just be free labor in a few years out of the goodness of our hearts for our fellow men/women after the country collapses.

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

The US is on the verge of collapse.

If you really hate it just go do something fun and smoke some weed and work at a ski resort or whatever near your family.

No need to do something you hate when we likely will just be free labor in a few years out of the goodness of our hearts for our fellow men/women after the country collapses.

“Grandpa where we’re you when the world imploded into itself? I bet you were on the front lines trying to save us, huh?”

“Nah kid, grandpa was busying pissing his life away on Anki and practice questions.”

 

[PikminOC]

Its good you have sdn to express these thoughts. There was no sdn when I was going thru med school

 

[Ho0v-man]

OP, when I was in your shoes I absolutely thought about quitting too. You finally made it to winter break and got out only to get sucked back in and now it’s somehow getting more intense. You’re worried about step/comlex, third year rotations. That’s all literally 18 months away. Of course you’ll get overwhelmed and miserable thinking about that now. Just get through today.

Preclinical was the worst two years of my life. But while it’s no walk in the park in third year, I thought it was comparatively super chill. Preclinical is worrying about failing because you don’t know every step of a biochem pathway that doesn’t exist in any board review resource. You can only fail clinical if you are a douche and don’t try at all. The bar is so much lower. Good luck!

 

[Osminog]

What originally inspired you to apply to med school?

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

I definitely can relate OP. I will have days where I ask myself if this is truly what I want. It’s mentally exhausting to study every single day waking up and then realizing it’s time to go to bed because the whole day was spent with your face in the computer screen or in a book. My roommates will get stressed out as well and have similar feelings. I think it’s normal to realize what we are doing with our lives right now is not normal nor is it healthy, but what keeps me going is the light at the end of the tunnel. Some days are easier than others, but I know this is the career I want. Medical school is a struggle for everyone, so don’t feel alone. We can do this

 

[deleted1079620]

What was it that made your undergrad Neuro course interesting and exciting to you? Sometimes you get bad professors, boring lecturers, etc and you just have to slog through, but maybe there’s a way to approach lectures with that curiosity you felt for Neuro.

I’m in a block right now that doesn’t appeal to me at all, and frankly, grosses me out a little (I have strong stomach too). But it’s only a 4 week block and we’re almost done with week 1, so I’m looking for ways to make as much of it as I can interesting & enjoyable.

 

[Goro]

I thought that after getting through 1st semester the feeling of hating med school would go away. For the most part I know how to study now and I successfully passed all my classes to this point. Yet here I am starting second semester and I'm still searching up posts about quitting medicine. Its not that the material is hard or anything, I just hate it. I don't find it interesting. I used to love my Neuro classes in undergrad and actually looked forward to learning. Now I wake up everyday and force myself to watch lectures that I care nothing about. I dont care for the diseases that so and so causes. I don't care for correlating things together. Im just trying to pass.

And then I start thinking about the future. About how many years I have left. About how I have to study for the STEP and COMLEX soon and how I have no idea how I'll do it since studying for the MCAT was so difficult. Then Ill be giving up my time for clinicals and the stress of 3rd year. I have given up so much already for medicine. I just moved across the country from my family and hate it. I miss everyone and I feel guilty for leaving them behind. Im driving myself into so much debt.

Knowing what I know now I would have never applied to med school. Honestly I don't even know why I really applied. I would have been content being a teacher or clinical psychologist. Everyone tells me that its only a few years and soon I'll be making money and have loads of time off- but that's not true. It just feels like I've signed my life away for something I dont even enjoy. I think of quitting all the time. I probably would if it weren't for the peer pressure. I know I probably sound whiny and I wouldnt usually post this on SDN but I need to get it out somewhere.

Call up your Registrar and tell them that you're withdrawing. Ditto Student Services and your Dean.

Then report back on how you feel.

 

[MLNS]

I hated med school.

The first two years sucked..hard. Man, especially first year: so damn boring and awful.

Third year sucked, but less so.

Fourth year was great.

Residency blows, but way more enjoyable than med school. Though, the hours are a lot worse.

Do with that what you will.

 

[lovedaisy]

hey confusedandscared,

I know it seems scary and frustrating to go through what you are going through. I was on the same boat. But, please know that things get better!
You have already made a lot of sacrifices to get to where you are... only you can say whether or not they are worth it. But, I can tell you that when you start rotations and then match into a residency and finally start working as a doctor, it will seem worth it!
I know that staying away from friends and family is tough, especially as a med student. but, find good friends and support system. fly to see ur family as much as you want to. or have them come visit you as often as possible. A lot of my classmates flew home every other weekend bcos thats what they needed to do to stay sane.

DM me if you have any specific concerns or questions.

I wish you best of luck with everything.

 

[Ligament]

As an attending physician subspecialist with two board certifications a dozen plus years in to active practice; drop out now, before you get into insurmountable debt.

Physician pay and quality of life gets worse every single year. By the time you are in practice there is a high chance private practice will be extinguished and medicine will be socialized and under total government control. There is a good chance your specialty will be replaced by "midlevel" "providers" such as NPs. Your boss will be a non-clinical administrator forcing you to answer to press-ganey scores tied to your reimbursement.

I, too, hated the first couple years of med school. Fortunately, I love the clinical practice of medicine.

 

[MDMechEngr]

Pull the ejection handle before the g force becomes too great and while you are still intact.

 

[butidontwantto]

Hey OP! Sorry if this is rambly, my brain is struggling a bit just now. 🥴

First congrats on getting through your first semester, especially when you've been feeling so crappy about it! I also just finished my first semester. %$#^%$& was this a crappy time to start med school! People kept asking me if it was fun. (And hey, maybe it would have been if there wasn't COVID and I'd actually been able to interact with my classmates/professors/ really any humans. 🤷‍♀️) It also happened to me and the very few classmates I got to know that even if we were looking forward to a particular unit, when we got there we were very let down. They'd actually managed to take something we were excited about and make it uninteresting. 👍👍👍

Some questions to consider:
- have you been able to connect with your classmates? For me, I've felt like I've totally lost out on building community with our class. That's HUGE. Add that to moving to a new place, missing friends and family, even if everything else were perfect that would absolutely be enough to make anyone feel miserable.
- what have you been able to do to cope with all this nonsense? also because of the current situation, we've lost a lot of the things we can use to deal with stress and low mood (exercise, travel, again interacting with humans IRL)
- are you getting any sun? we're in the dead of winter, which means no sun, which for a lot of people also means low mood. (maybe you're somewhere where there's actually still sunny days, and if so I'm so ffffing jealous can I come live with you???) Even if this isn't a problem you've had in the past, with everything else piling on it may now be relevant.
- what were you doing before medical school? Did you have a job or volunteering where you regularly go to help people and now that's gone? Or put another way, before medical school were you doing things that gave you a sense of purpose, and now that you're not doing those things (either because you're full time devoted to medical school or because covid took them away) it's making you feel crappy?
- anything else is different about undergrad vs. now?
- is there anything else that might be making you feel low?

Some things that might help?
- I'm guessing your school has counseling services available. Use them! It can be really hard to figure out if you hate something because it's making you miserable, or if you're miserable and it's making you hate things. A good counselor can help you sort this stuff out.
- have you read your personal statement lately? you probably had to explain why you want to go to medical school. might help you remember why you wanted to do this in the first place.
- when I'm learning material I don't particularly care about I try to imagine that I'm a teacher or tutor or something and I'm trying to help a student who is struggling with it. then it's not about me having to pass it's about helping someone.
- you know how movies use scores to set the tone of a scene? you can do that too! personally, I like to use dumb action movie scores. biochemical pathways become much more interesting when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. (except glycolysis. ffff that.)

Ultimately it may very well be that you don't want to be a doctor, and that's ok! It may also be that you'd eventually be quite happy being a doctor, and finding the grit to get through the next couple of years is the right decision. I certainly can't answer that for you, but please feel free to dm if you want to talk more! Or even just commiserate. Cause things are #$@#$^@^ right now.

I'm sorry in advance if the tone of any of that came across as patronizing. Communication is hard. Just know that there's at least 1 (and several others it seems like in this thread!) internet stranger rooting for you to find what makes you happy!

 

[DOnutDoc]

First off I just want to say thanks to everyone who has replied. I know that I haven't been replying to each individual comment, but I've read them all and they've helped me a lot. I'm thankful to know that I'm not the only one feeling this way. When I posted that it was just one of those days where you spend it studying and before you know it it's 12 am and you feel like you've accomplished nothing and there's a mountain load of work to be done tomorrow as well. Not to mention I have yet to get to know any of my classmates so I feel utterly alone in this journey. Thankfully, I took a step back and I'm back on the grind. I guess with the mix of COVID and being far from home everything got a little overwhelming that night and I just let it out haha. Ive been taking everyone's advice & trying to approach it day by day. Thanks again, I really appreciate all the kind words- I'm rooting for y'all too! 🙂

 

[texan2016]

Content wise, there are things to make the material more exciting, like Sketchy BNB and Pathoma. Also Zanki/anking deck are amazing and really make it more fun for me than just lecture. As for the motivations to be a doctor other peoples posts look helpful

 

[calvinhobbes]

Hang in there! I promise it gets better. Rotations are so much better. Then residency is manageable too. Once you find a speciality you like, work is so enjoyable. Med school sucks especially the first two years. Just grind your teeth and study and stay healthy too.

 

[zNoodlez]

OP, I am with you on this. I just finished my first semester too and can definitely only see the endless tunnel of darkness that I will have to keep crawling through for the next 1.5 years. I feel that my vision is tunneled and my life has been condensed into that of a parrot, learning/memorizing things then spit it out when asked to. I now living day by day, trying to swallow today's stack of pancakes and get ready for another stack tomorrow. Our class of 2024 will be the first to face this P/F debacle with both STEP 1 and COMLEX. The future has never been more uncertain to me. I sincerely hope that things will get better come 3rd and 4th year 🙁.

 

[sunshinefl]

I thought that after getting through 1st semester the feeling of hating med school would go away. For the most part I know how to study now and I successfully passed all my classes to this point. Yet here I am starting second semester and I'm still searching up posts about quitting medicine. Its not that the material is hard or anything, I just hate it. I don't find it interesting. I used to love my Neuro classes in undergrad and actually looked forward to learning. Now I wake up everyday and force myself to watch lectures that I care nothing about. I dont care for the diseases that so and so causes. I don't care for correlating things together. Im just trying to pass.

And then I start thinking about the future. About how many years I have left. About how I have to study for the STEP and COMLEX soon and how I have no idea how I'll do it since studying for the MCAT was so difficult. Then Ill be giving up my time for clinicals and the stress of 3rd year. I have given up so much already for medicine. I just moved across the country from my family and hate it. I miss everyone and I feel guilty for leaving them behind. Im driving myself into so much debt.

Knowing what I know now I would have never applied to med school. Honestly I don't even know why I really applied. I would have been content being a teacher or clinical psychologist. Everyone tells me that its only a few years and soon I'll be making money and have loads of time off- but that's not true. It just feels like I've signed my life away for something I dont even enjoy. I think of quitting all the time. I probably would if it weren't for the peer pressure. I know I probably sound whiny and I wouldnt usually post this on SDN but I need to get it out somewhere.

OP, I am with you on this. I just finished my first semester too and can definitely only see the endless tunnel of darkness that I will have to keep crawling through for the next 1.5 years. I feel that my vision is tunneled and my life has been condensed into that of a parrot, learning/memorizing things then spit it out when asked to. I now living day by day, trying to swallow today's stack of pancakes and get ready for another stack tomorrow. Our class of 2024 will be the first to face this P/F debacle with both STEP 1 and COMLEX. The future has never been more uncertain to me. I sincerely hope that things will get better come 3rd and 4th year 🙁.

preclinical medical school was easily the worst part of my life. I described it as endless suffering that felt worse because the availability/option to end the pain by leaving was always there. Felt like making a daily choice to continue to subject myself to torture.

3rd year was amazing!! I was genuinely happy even when it was hard. Just completely different. And now as a 4th year, I can still remember that I suffered. But I don’t feel that immense pain anymore.

if you did have an excellent, well thought out reason to go to medical school, please know that your suffering is valid, but that you can experience joy if you stick it out. If you didn’t have a good motivation, now is your chance to get out before it’s too late.

 

[Eye-eye]

The days are long but the years are short. The days coming for you will feel like an eternity. Then one day you'll realize you're done with step 1 and entering third year. The next day you graduate. Once you get past the hump, it goes by incredibly fast (and is much more enjoyable / less soul-sucking).

 

[arjusmc]

I'm starting my second semester too. I haven't enjoyed medical school so far, but 4 semesters is not a long time. I used to love learning science, however, I honestly can tell you that I tolerate it at best in this environment. I knew that I would dislike the preclinical years just because I am non traditional and used to working. Sitting on my butt for 12 hours a day studying isn't a good time. I think the difference between our mindset is that I realize after the constant studying and testing there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I've worked in healthcare, but never as a physician. I can tell you that the difference between preclinical and your actual clinical job is huge. I'm pontificating at this point, but i'd bet your years 3&4 + residency will be somewhere in-between the preclinical hell and your clinical job. If you still believe in the reasons that made you start down this path, it will probably be good in the long run. Hope this helps.

 

[Kuratz]

If you are having these thoughts now I strongly recommend some serious introspection and discussion with advisors you trust. This road is way too stupid long and stressful to just go through the motions hoping things work out. The earlier you can dive headfirst into either pursuing another career or continuing classes the better. The opportunity cost will only accelerate from here.

 

[thepoopologist]

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in"

 

[thepoopologist]

My 2 cents. If you need to jump ship, get out as soon as possible. After your student loans cross the 100k threshhold you are at a point of no return; the saying "it gets better" is a coping mechanism that eventually becomes true or false depending on your circumstances.

 

[deleted859689]

Med school is a grind 😕 honestly it gets worse each block maybe because of just burn out. However, medicine is a very stable job that comes with prestige and a good salary. If you are thinking of leaving, make sure to discuss the pros and cons with yourself and ask if you would be able to find a steady job outside of medicine. I'll tell you now that if you have a biology or chemistry bachelors all that's going to get you is a 40k tech job with limited upwards movement.

 

[DOFOSHO]

save the tears for intern year.

 

[Eye-eye]

My 2 cents. If you need to jump ship, get out as soon as possible. After your student loans cross the 100k threshhold you are at a point of no return; the saying "it gets better" is a coping mechanism that eventually becomes true or false depending on your circumstances.

And your choices. You can choose the insane but "exciting" career that pays more or the clinic job with a 9-5 schedule. Unless you're much more passionate about the former, I'd choose the latter every day. (Luckily for me, my passion ended up aligning perfectly with the latter.) And if you're not that interested in any specialty at the end of M3, that's okay - medicine can be a calling, or just a job. And doing rads or something is a pretty nice job, objectively. Or just finishing the MD and getting an industry job, which I understand is often also in a nice clinical physician salary range. There are lots of options as an MD, so for me, I would have needed a hell of a good reason to jump ship, knowing that on graduation I could get a nice cozy industry job or rads or something if I wanted, whereas quitting would often mean starting at an entry level job in another industry, with all the associated headaches and lower pay.

 

[DOnutDoc]

If you are having these thoughts now I strongly recommend some serious introspection and discussion with advisors you trust. This road is way too stupid long and stressful to just go through the motions hoping things work out. The earlier you can dive headfirst into either pursuing another career or continuing classes the better. The opportunity cost will only accelerate from here.

Would love to do that but I have no idea who to reach out to. I dont know if its normal that I doubt medicine at least once as week (today being one of those days yet again :/).

 

[DOnutDoc]

My 2 cents. If you need to jump ship, get out as soon as possible. After your student loans cross the 100k threshhold you are at a point of no return; the saying "it gets better" is a coping mechanism that eventually becomes true or false depending on your circumstances.

Honestly I am one year in and nearing the 100k. My biggest concern with leaving right now is how I would pay off my loans. If I were to pursue another field like clinical psych or teaching I would have to take out more loans to get started on those (and then I would be making less than what was expected- though Im honestly not looking to get rich). My interest in clinical psych is what led me to medicine, but now I'm thinking it would be a much easier route to do clinical psych and its something I'm actually passionate about.

 

[DOnutDoc]

I know it seems weird that I'm doubting medicine again. I go through highs and lows (sometimes I feel like more than the average person). There are days where I dont mind what I'm learning and days where I really cant see myself caring about it all. Today we started our physical diagnostics course and just learning about how to write a SOAP note, take a Px history, or describe skin lesions made me second guess this all over again. Its not that I cant study basic sciences, its that I dont know whether or not I like the clinical aspects of medicine (like problem solving). I am more of a give me information and I'll repeat it back to you kinda person.

I mention teaching because I teach at a weekend school and while I know that thats not the same as actual teaching- I do have experience in the field. I honestly love being a teacher and I'm told by everyone that I'm good at it. People have always told me that Im good with kids and my relationship with my students is great. I really feel like I make a difference in their lives and I am so proud of any student once they accomplish something. I never really thought about teaching because of the pay (was pushed by parents to pursue high paying jobs) but it was always something I was interested in.

 

[MDMechEngr]

I know it seems weird that I'm doubting medicine again. I go through highs and lows (sometimes I feel like more than the average person). There are days where I dont mind what I'm learning and days where I really cant see myself caring about it all. Today we started our physical diagnostics course and just learning about how to write a SOAP note, take a Px history, or describe skin lesions made me second guess this all over again. Its not that I cant study basic sciences, its that I dont know whether or not I like the clinical aspects of medicine (like problem solving). I am more of a give me information and I'll repeat it back to you kinda person.

I mention teaching because I teach at a weekend school and while I know that thats not the same as actual teaching- I do have experience in the field. I honestly love being a teacher and I'm told by everyone that I'm good at it. People have always told me that Im good with kids and my relationship with my students is great. I really feel like I make a difference in their lives and I am so proud of any student once they accomplish something. I never really thought about teaching because of the pay (was pushed by parents to pursue high paying jobs) but it was always something I was interested in.

Do what you love and you will not have to work a day of your life going forward.

 

[MLNS]

To add on to my earlier post:

Medicine sucks. I could write a diatribe why but will refrain.

If I didn’t have insurmountable debt id peace in a heartbeat. But, as it stands, this is the only job I can do that will pay it off.

If I could go back in time I would of picked something else.

 

[thepoopologist]

I know it seems weird that I'm doubting medicine again. I go through highs and lows (sometimes I feel like more than the average person). There are days where I dont mind what I'm learning and days where I really cant see myself caring about it all. Today we started our physical diagnostics course and just learning about how to write a SOAP note, take a Px history, or describe skin lesions made me second guess this all over again. Its not that I cant study basic sciences, its that I dont know whether or not I like the clinical aspects of medicine (like problem solving). I am more of a give me information and I'll repeat it back to you kinda person.

I mention teaching because I teach at a weekend school and while I know that thats not the same as actual teaching- I do have experience in the field. I honestly love being a teacher and I'm told by everyone that I'm good at it. People have always told me that Im good with kids and my relationship with my students is great. I really feel like I make a difference in their lives and I am so proud of any student once they accomplish something. I never really thought about teaching because of the pay (was pushed by parents to pursue high paying jobs) but it was always something I was interested in.

You want to do something you're adept at and perhaps like

You also want to not eat canned beans everyday.

The path to a career or finances like that isn't going to be 100% pleasant regardless of what you choose.

What do you want? Then commit to it. Either staying the course or changing direction saves the most time depending on your actual end goal.

 

[sylvanthus]

As an attending physician subspecialist with two board certifications a dozen plus years in to active practice; drop out now, before you get into insurmountable debt.

Physician pay and quality of life gets worse every single year. By the time you are in practice there is a high chance private practice will be extinguished and medicine will be socialized and under total government control. There is a good chance your specialty will be replaced by "midlevel" "providers" such as NPs. Your boss will be a non-clinical administrator forcing you to answer to press-ganey scores tied to your reimbursement.

I, too, hated the first couple years of med school. Fortunately, I love the clinical practice of medicine.

^^^^This. I see alot of med students and residents chiming in, but I think its important to see perspectives from the other side. Im seeing the same as the above. With midlevel enroachment, PAs attempting to become independent to battle against job losses from NPs, everyone is a "provider" , salaries on the decline, etc etc, its important to weigh the pluses and minuses thoroughly. It used to be that medicine was a guaranteed job and guaranteed good salary, those days are going by the wayside. Emergency medicine is on the decline, new grads are having a hard time finding jobs, CMGs are creating a ton of residency programs and flooding the market with grads, hours are being cut, reimbursement cut, etc etc.

These issues are not limited to one field. Midlevels are starting to do colonoscopies, optometrists are wanting to do simple surgeries, DNPs are going independent across the country with online direct entry degrees and 500 clinical hours, chiropractors are prescribing antibiotics, PAs wanting to change their name and get out from requiring a supervising doctor., hospitals are doing what they can to cut losses and make money and oftentimes that requires hiring more midlevels. I don't think any field is safe. Thats the mistake weve made, we assume it wont affect our field. We ignored the CRNA issue with anesthesia, we ignored NPs doing family med, urgent care, etc. How long before midlevels say they can do simple cholecystectomies with a supervising surgeon if they screw up? Sorry to be doom and gloom but these are real issues and absolutely cannot be ignored because they will affect you in the future.

Take a look at what the other side is offering and the issues going on and then decide quick what you want to do. Much much better to quit earlier rather than later.

 

[CocoMelon0531]

Be prepared for 150K/yr salary in the future, current physician salary in Europe, Japan, Singapore, and other developed countries.

I can't say if that's a good deal or not, depending on your finances and opportunity cost.

 

[Ligament]

Be prepared for 150K/yr salary in the future, current physician salary in Europe, Japan, Singapore, and other developed countries.

I can't say if that's a good deal or not, depending on your finances and opportunity cost.

You will have a 150k/yr salary and possibly $400k in medical school debt alone (you will have other debts as well, keep in mind), no real income until you are in your early to mid thirties. Less job security than any physician in American history as well.

 

[sylvanthus]

Ive got 500k baby, yaaaaa! Hope to God PSLF pulls through or Im hosed.

 

[Osminog]

You say that you’re passionate about clinical psychology. Medical school isn’t going to make you a clinical psychologist. If that’s your preferred path, then you’d probably want to pursue a PhD or PsyD.

Don’t focus on how much you already invested into the process. Losing time and money on something doesn’t mean you have to stay committed to it. Feeling committed to a failing investment because of past losses is called the sunk cost fallacy.

Before taking any drastic measures, shadow and/or interview some physicians and mental health professionals, and have some in-depth conversations with your family, academic counselor, financial advisor, etc. As the cliché goes, you only get one shot at living your life. Don’t delay your decision until you’re completely buried, but also don’t act impulsively. It’s very common for medical students to have doubts and regrets during the pre-clinical years, even for some students who really do belong on this path and will ultimately succeed on rotations and in residency. Start reflecting and researching, but don’t jump the gun.

 

[LunaOri]

If you applied to clinical psych programs right now, it would take you as long to get that doctorate as it would to finish med school and your psychiatry residency. Plus, you would make less than half of what a psychiatrist makes, and get less respect. Why not be a psychiatrist who does excellent psychotherapy, and have the best of both worlds?

 

[8YearsLate]

If you think teaching will be better than medicine, you deserve to be a teacher.

Meant with Love,
A Teacher

P.S. Hang in there, Zoom your family more, consider Neurology residency.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I thought that after getting through 1st semester the feeling of hating med school would go away. For the most part I know how to study now and I successfully passed all my classes to this point. Yet here I am starting second semester and I'm still searching up posts about quitting medicine. Its not that the material is hard or anything, I just hate it. I don't find it interesting. I used to love my Neuro classes in undergrad and actually looked forward to learning. Now I wake up everyday and force myself to watch lectures that I care nothing about. I dont care for the diseases that so and so causes. I don't care for correlating things together. Im just trying to pass.

And then I start thinking about the future. About how many years I have left. About how I have to study for the STEP and COMLEX soon and how I have no idea how I'll do it since studying for the MCAT was so difficult. Then Ill be giving up my time for clinicals and the stress of 3rd year. I have given up so much already for medicine. I just moved across the country from my family and hate it. I miss everyone and I feel guilty for leaving them behind. Im driving myself into so much debt.

Knowing what I know now I would have never applied to med school. Honestly I don't even know why I really applied. I would have been content being a teacher or clinical psychologist. Everyone tells me that its only a few years and soon I'll be making money and have loads of time off- but that's not true. It just feels like I've signed my life away for something I dont even enjoy. I think of quitting all the time. I probably would if it weren't for the peer pressure. I know I probably sound whiny and I wouldnt usually post this on SDN but I need to get it out somewhere.

Lots of people hate preclinical in general and first year specifically. The final career looks nothing like that. Honestly that's mostly true for all of medical school.

 

[deleted859689]

I know it seems weird that I'm doubting medicine again. I go through highs and lows (sometimes I feel like more than the average person). There are days where I dont mind what I'm learning and days where I really cant see myself caring about it all. Today we started our physical diagnostics course and just learning about how to write a SOAP note, take a Px history, or describe skin lesions made me second guess this all over again. Its not that I cant study basic sciences, its that I dont know whether or not I like the clinical aspects of medicine (like problem solving). I am more of a give me information and I'll repeat it back to you kinda person.

I mention teaching because I teach at a weekend school and while I know that thats not the same as actual teaching- I do have experience in the field. I honestly love being a teacher and I'm told by everyone that I'm good at it. People have always told me that Im good with kids and my relationship with my students is great. I really feel like I make a difference in their lives and I am so proud of any student once they accomplish something. I never really thought about teaching because of the pay (was pushed by parents to pursue high paying jobs) but it was always something I was interested in.

Physicians can do a lot of teaching 😉

 

[Eye-eye]

If you applied to clinical psych programs right now, it would take you as long to get that doctorate as it would to finish med school and your psychiatry residency. Plus, you would make less than half of what a psychiatrist makes, and get less respect. Why not be a psychiatrist who does excellent psychotherapy, and have the best of both worlds?

I second this. Granted, psychiatry residency may not look a ton like psychology practice depending on where you go, but it's definitely interesting and if you make your choices right, you can get great exposure to both the psychology side and medical management (both medications and how medical conditions affect the psyche). Once you're out, you can use that training to build your practice how you like, with a potentially broader knowledge base (though not as in depth in the clinical psychology itself), in addition to making more and being abltle to pay off loans easier.

There are also lots of loan forgiveness programs if it's too overwhelming a debt. It just requires some potential lifestyle compromises/sacrifices.

 

[doctorNMeastcoast]

I thought that after getting through 1st semester the feeling of hating med school would go away. For the most part I know how to study now and I successfully passed all my classes to this point. Yet here I am starting second semester and I'm still searching up posts about quitting medicine. Its not that the material is hard or anything, I just hate it. I don't find it interesting. I used to love my Neuro classes in undergrad and actually looked forward to learning. Now I wake up everyday and force myself to watch lectures that I care nothing about. I dont care for the diseases that so and so causes. I don't care for correlating things together. Im just trying to pass.

And then I start thinking about the future. About how many years I have left. About how I have to study for the STEP and COMLEX soon and how I have no idea how I'll do it since studying for the MCAT was so difficult. Then Ill be giving up my time for clinicals and the stress of 3rd year. I have given up so much already for medicine. I just moved across the country from my family and hate it. I miss everyone and I feel guilty for leaving them behind. Im driving myself into so much debt.

Knowing what I know now I would have never applied to med school. Honestly I don't even know why I really applied. I would have been content being a teacher or clinical psychologist. Everyone tells me that its only a few years and soon I'll be making money and have loads of time off- but that's not true. It just feels like I've signed my life away for something I dont even enjoy. I think of quitting all the time. I probably would if it weren't for the peer pressure. I know I probably sound whiny and I wouldnt usually post this on SDN but I need to get it out somewhere.

I'm an attending. I loved preclinical med school, did not really like clinical (years OMS3-4), loved seeing patients in residency but never felt like I fit in during it (but I buried myself in patient care and learning, which is what I call "burn in").
Now I totally love what I do.
The stages in this process are totally different from each other.
The MCAT, IMHO, is way harder than any med school exam, USMLE, COMLEX. So I wouldn't worry much about those.

You sound like a great fit for psychiatry! And most of the psychologists I know get frustrated that they cannot treat with medicines because they are so helpful.

Of course, you might like all kinds of stuff if you had a strong group of close friends. This year is tough!!

I vote for hanging in there! 🙂

 

[doctorNMeastcoast]

Ive got 500k baby, yaaaaa! Hope to God PSLF pulls through or Im hosed.

I've got $400K! I thought I was alone! Going for PSLF, done 2022! 🙂

 

[Eye-eye]

I'm an attending. I loved preclinical med school, did not really like clinical (years OMS3-4), loved seeing patients in residency but never felt like I fit in during it (but I buried myself in patient care and learning, which is what I call "burn in").
Now I totally love what I do.
The stages in this process are totally different from each other.
The MCAT, IMHO, is way harder than any med school exam, USMLE, COMLEX. So I wouldn't worry much about those.

You sound like a great fit for psychiatry! And most of the psychologists I know get frustrated that they cannot treat with medicines because they are so helpful.

Of course, you might like all kinds of stuff if you had a strong group of close friends. This year is tough!!

I vote for hanging in there! 🙂

Agree with the advice, except that the steps are easier than the MCAT. Couldn't disagree more. But of course, people are different.

 

[tinyhandsbob]

And your choices. You can choose the insane but "exciting" career that pays more or the clinic job with a 9-5 schedule. Unless you're much more passionate about the former, I'd choose the latter every day. (Luckily for me, my passion ended up aligning perfectly with the latter.) And if you're not that interested in any specialty at the end of M3, that's okay - medicine can be a calling, or just a job. And doing rads or something is a pretty nice job, objectively. Or just finishing the MD and getting an industry job, which I understand is often also in a nice clinical physician salary range. There are lots of options as an MD, so for me, I would have needed a hell of a good reason to jump ship, knowing that on graduation I could get a nice cozy industry job or rads or something if I wanted, whereas quitting would often mean starting at an entry level job in another industry, with all the associated headaches and lower pay.

I'm curious, what are these industry jobs that pay close to physician salaries? I've researched this in the past and could not find too many. Are you referring to industry jobs after you finish a residency or without a residency and just the medical degree? If with residency, there's certainly options where you're doing less clinical work ('medical director' comes to mind). Without a residency, job opportunity wise, a medical degree has very little value and may in fact make it harder to find any type of work.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Everyone tells me that its only a few years and soon I'll be making money and have loads of time off- but that's not true. It just feels like I've signed my life away for something I dont even enjoy. I think of quitting all the time. I probably would if it weren't for the peer pressure. I know I probably sound whiny and I wouldnt usually post this on SDN but I need to get it out somewhere.

You figured it out early. You got 6 years till you even get the chance to start making a dent in that debt, and the studying never stops. And then you can end up in primary care even if you don’t want to be cause you can’t stop.

You know that dentists only take 1 board exam and that they never recertify again? While you as a physician have 4 exams for your general medical license followed by a specialty board exam that requires 10 year renewals if you want to keep it. Medicine sucks, it never stops asking for more, and every generation just adds more and more barriers to the ones below them. Most of the people making decisions about these things never took any of them and were grandfathered in prior.

I wouldn’t blame you at all for quitting now and focusing on something that gives you better control of your time. Your classmates are the suckers, not you.

 

[Eye-eye]

I'm curious, what are these industry jobs that pay close to physician salaries? I've researched this in the past and could not find too many. Are you referring to industry jobs after you finish a residency or without a residency and just the medical degree? If with residency, there's certainly options where you're doing less clinical work ('medical director' comes to mind). Without a residency, job opportunity wise, a medical degree has very little value and may in fact make it harder to find any type of work.

Unfortunately, my examples are only anecdotal and thus may be rare in the greater scheme of things. I know of at least one who dropped out of residency (or maybe went straight in from med school) to a gig paying in the high 100ks or maybe low 200ks. I think it was something in pharma. Sorry I'm so fuzzy on the details - it's been a while, and he was little more than an acquaintance. I would agree that on the whole your income will likely be lower outside of clinical practice, unless you can get a hospital CEO gig or something.