Help! Med School Stress!

[JoeDeen20]

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This is the first time I am using these forums so please excuse the inane question I am about to purpose, but after searching the internet I feel this site offers more help than any other. I just returned from Johns Hopkins finishing year 1 of my "journey to debt, mental exhaustion, and hell" (med school as my friends refer to it as) and I am considering leaving. I know it sounds like a rash decision to even have cross my mind, but I can't help feeling this could just hurt me in the long run. I'm roughly in about 40 grand in the hole (that is being generous with the numbers) and the only thing I have to show for it was a solid B average for the year (again being generous with the numbers.) I feel like the work I put into this year does not reflect the grade I earned. It my sound like I am bitching, but it honestly is not worth the heartache. Another reason is this underground drug problem we've been having on campus. I know it is a don't ask don't tell situation, but I see what the years of drug use have done to the students and I can't help but think...will this be mean in a few weeks, months, years...? I think I should cut my losses and chalk it up to as a failed attempt at a life clearly that was not meant for me. Again sorry about the "boo-hoo" attitude I have, but I just don't know what to do..

 

[nisarg2010]

This is the first time I am using these forums so please excuse the inane question I am about to purpose, but after searching the internet I feel this site offers more help than any other. I just returned from Johns Hopkins finishing year 1 of my "journey to debt, mental exhaustion, and hell" (med school as my friends refer to it as) and I am considering leaving. I know it sounds like a rash decision to even have cross my mind, but I can't help feeling this could just hurt me in the long run. I'm roughly in about 40 grand in the hole (that is being generous with the numbers) and the only thing I have to show for it was a solid B average for the year (again being generous with the numbers.) I feel like the work I put into this year does not reflect the grade I earned. It my sound like I am bitching, but it honestly is not worth the heartache. Another reason is this underground drug problem we've been having on campus. I know it is a don't ask don't tell situation, but I see what the years of drug use have done to the students and I can't help but think...will this be mean in a few weeks, months, years...? I think I should cut my losses and chalk it up to as a failed attempt at a life clearly that was not meant for me. Again sorry about the "boo-hoo" attitude I have, but I just don't know what to do..

Did you just finish first year of medical school or undergrad? If medical school then you are posting in the wrong forum. This is a pre-med forum.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

I'm assuming you aren't a troll (though I feel like you are - sorry). You are also in the wrong forum so I really can't give too much advise, but here it goes:

1. B in med school is great and expected. sooo stop stressing so much. Residencies don't care as much about your preclinical grades. Just do as well as you can.

2. Don't do drugs. problem solved. Why get involved with this underground culture. Find new friends or people to associate yourself with. I'm positive not everyone in your med school class does drugs.

3. What's your motivation for leaving medicine? If you don't think you will enjoy it anymore - then cut your losses now. If you are complaining about things not associated with being a physician (studying is toooo hard. boohooo. I don't want to do drugs), then reevaluate your life and your choices. Neither of the reasons you listed explain why you don't want to be a physician anymore - but if you really don't want to handle academic stress anymore or be associated with your peers, then maybe medicine isn't for you.

 

[NightGod]

I'm roughly in about 40 grand in the hole (that is being generous with the numbers) and the only thing I have to show for it was a solid B average for the year (again being generous with the numbers.) I feel like the work I put into this year does not reflect the grade I earned. It my sound like I am bitching, but it honestly is not worth the heartache

Remember this: C = MD. Stop worrying about your grades and focus on truly learning the material, you'll be a better doctor for it.

 

[NYBills987]

Remember this: C = MD. Stop worrying about your grades and focus on truly learning the material, you'll be a better doctor for it.

OP is not in medical school... hopkins is P/F preclinical so there is no way its a B average.. they must be in undergrad.

 

[NYBills987]

This is the first time I am using these forums so please excuse the inane question I am about to purpose, but after searching the internet I feel this site offers more help than any other. I just returned from Johns Hopkins finishing year 1 of my "journey to debt, mental exhaustion, and hell" (med school as my friends refer to it as) and I am considering leaving. I know it sounds like a rash decision to even have cross my mind, but I can't help feeling this could just hurt me in the long run. I'm roughly in about 40 grand in the hole (that is being generous with the numbers) and the only thing I have to show for it was a solid B average for the year (again being generous with the numbers.) I feel like the work I put into this year does not reflect the grade I earned. It my sound like I am bitching, but it honestly is not worth the heartache. Another reason is this underground drug problem we've been having on campus. I know it is a don't ask don't tell situation, but I see what the years of drug use have done to the students and I can't help but think...will this be mean in a few weeks, months, years...? I think I should cut my losses and chalk it up to as a failed attempt at a life clearly that was not meant for me. Again sorry about the "boo-hoo" attitude I have, but I just don't know what to do..

It sounds like you are saying the drug problem does not currently affect you.. Are you a recovering addict? Drugs are available on every undergrad campus, and every city. It is not an inevitability that because others do drugs, you will too. You sound like you know the dangers of drug use, so why would you ever do them? It won't suck you in unless you let it... You have a choice.. you are making it seem like you are powerless when the decision rests entirely with you.
Freshman year can be rough.. but a B average is very easy to recover from. Getting help with classes and examining your study habits can be a huge step to boosting your GPA.. no one says you have to do it alone and without help. As for the debt, if it is really crushing to you, consider transferring to your state school. This will lessen the debt for the next few years and you can still get into any med school if you work at it. Are you enjoying your college experience? If not, then transferring to a state school might make a lot of sense for a fresh start.

 

[LizzyM]

I am considering leaving. I'm roughly in about 40 grand in the hole (that is being generous with the numbers) and the only thing I have to show for it was a solid B average for the year (again being generous with the numbers.) Another reason is this underground drug problem we've been having on campus. I know it is a don't ask don't tell situation, but I see what the years of drug use have done to the students and I can't help but think...will this be mean in a few weeks, months, years...? I think I should cut my losses and chalk it up to as a failed attempt at a life clearly that was not meant for me...

The only question I see in this whole essay is "will this be mean....?" but did you mean to say "will this be me in a few weeks....?"

What kind of drugs are we talking about? Adderall? That's been going on at big schools for a half-dozen years or more yet a 2005 story in the New York Times indicated that 80% of college students don't use those drugs. You need not use them. On the other hand, if you don't feel that you are achieving what you want to achieve in college maybe you should take a break, work for a year, and then go back reinvigorated and with a better idea of what you'd like to do.