How bad is med school?

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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ButImLETired said:
Cool selective bolding, bro.

Let me go ahead and do the same.
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Touche, Salesman

Salesman.jpg
 
come
let us break bread together

why dont we stop bickering and just realize we all have pressures in this life of ours? yeah! just do you and umma do me.
 
MilkmanAl said:
I'd say that out of the 168 hours in a week, I spent about 140 of them studying during the first two years. That left me room for 4-ish hours of sleep per night - just enough to get by. This year, things have gotten trickier. With work during the day, I've had to cut down on my sleep a bit so I can get my studying in. In other words, med school will basically be the best years of your life. It's way better than college.
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Careful, non-veteran SDN members may not recognize the sarcasm here. :laugh:

Edit: Haha, I see you covered it a few posts down. Should have read before posting. I apologize.
 
patel2 said:
cool rant bro


1272964790_glenn-beck-crying.gif


no, but seriously all the previous poster said was



I read that as him saying that balance in life is important. Your life shouldn't completely stop during medical school (at least first two years), and you should maintain balance/friendships/sanity outside of the class. For some, balance could require more studying and work than others, and it requires trying different things and styles to find the most efficient way to get by. But regardless of one's innate abilities, it's important to maintain sanity and good physical/mental health outside of class. No where in his post is he saying that if you aren't out partying or acing tests like he is, you're doing it wrong...that's just a straw man argument on your part.


I don't care if I'm not in medical school yet. If one is studying 12+ hours a day and barely passing (first two years and not counting boards), you're doing it wrong!
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Balance is important, sure, but everyone is going to have to find a balance that works. For some, you have the time to work out and maintain friendships and go out on most weekends and still do well. For the larger percentage of the class the balance is shifted more toward med school and less toward those other things. Yes, there will be folks studying 12+ hours/day and barely passing. Some because they are inefficient. Others because that's what they need to do to stay afloat. The sad truth is that everyone in med school learns differently and there is so much to learn that what works for one person doesn't work for everyone. You simply can't make a blanket statement like "if you are working 12+ hours/day and barely passing you are doing it wrong". That may be true or it might not be true for various people. Nothing you know from college is going to translate. The person who realizes he needs to study 12 hours/day to pass is far better off than the person who really should be doing this but instead goofs off and argues that he needs balance.

There will be folks who need less work and folks who need more work in med school. Folks who do well with group study, folks who do well studying alone. Folks who learn more from reading, folks who get a lot out of the lectures. Folks who need to do flashcards or diagram everything. Folks who put a lot of stock in outside resources. No one thing works. Spending enough time for whatever works for you is essential though, and some approaches are more time consuming than others.

Part of what makes med school hard is that you have to learn how to learn. What worked in college simply won't be useful for the massive amounts of material thrown at you. So you need to experiment with various other things, to find what works for you. What someone else is doing generally won't translate as well to you, so it's pretty meaningless that X is off partying every weekend and doing well. Most of the folks who follow him down this path don't do well. So again, you find what works for you. And many find that they have to spend a ton of time -- virtually every evening and weekend -- to stay afloat. If that's you, that's what you do -- that's your balance. For someone else the balance might be totally different. At the end of the day both those folks emerge from med school knowing the appropriate amount of information. Nobody cares how you skinned your cat so long as you got it skinned. But there is more than one way, and the same way won't work equally well for everyone.

Anyone who says "I don't work hard in med school and do well so everyone else ought to be able to" is someone to avoid taking advice from. For a lucky few it works out this way, for most, not so much. Until you know this is you, you are far better off thinking you are at the other extreme. These kind of people do real damage because many premeds get lured into this kind of thinking (and who wouldn't -- the dude is saying you will have free time and weekends off and won't have to work -- the American dream) and get a nasty wake-up call after the first couple of exams. Most people have to work very hard in med school. No way around it. No shortcuts.
 
MCAT guy said:
Didn't you have like a handful of pro pre-studying threads?

I thought it was your screenname.
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why are u suddenly a health student, wut happend to pre-med?

oh sry, didt mean to stray from the actual conversation.
 
8 hours a day of studying? I only reserve that intensity for exam week studying. You don't need to do that much to pass medical school.

I typically spend 1 hour studying a day, in addition to going to class. I'll have two days a week where I'll "catch up" and review things...so I'll usually spend maybe 4-5 hours on Wednesdays and Sundays to review material. I'm involved with other things at school (admissions work, free clinic stuff, volunteering, community projects, elective classes, public health research, social event planning, starting basic science research this summer). I also try and balance things out, so I run 4 days a week, go to the gym, have a significant other who I spend a lot of time with.

If I don't have an upcoming exam, I usually spend Friday and Saturday nights out. And usually reserve a weekday for a bar night or "do-nothing" night with friends. For me, this usually involves driving 45 minutes to San Francisco and leaving my books at home.

You can easily find balance in med school if you make it a priority and understand what works for you in studying, what doesn't, and the level you're comfortable with understanding for the exam. My school tends to test minute details, so if I end up with a B on exams (which I usually do), the questions I get wrong aren't things I'm terribly worried about in the long run. I'd rather be balanced in life than know EVERYTHING.

Choose your own adventure.
 
I heard most people don't even have a chance to eat in medical school,man that sounds rough!
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
I heard most people don't even have a chance to eat in medical school,man that sounds rough!
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This can be true in 3rd year rotations, and maybe during your sub-I in 4th year (and definitely in residency). Not so much for the first two years. Heck, I used to know folks who kept themselves intentionally dehydrated because there wasn't always time for a bathroom break during the tougher clinical rotations.
 
mdeast said:
8 hours a day of studying? I only reserve that intensity for exam week studying. You don't need to do that much to pass medical school.

I typically spend 1 hour studying a day, in addition to going to class. I'll have two days a week where I'll "catch up" and review things...so I'll usually spend maybe 4-5 hours on Wednesdays and Sundays to review material. I'm involved with other things at school (admissions work, free clinic stuff, volunteering, community projects, elective classes, public health research, social event planning, starting basic science research this summer). I also try and balance things out, so I run 4 days a week, go to the gym, have a significant other who I spend a lot of time with.

If I don't have an upcoming exam, I usually spend Friday and Saturday nights out. And usually reserve a weekday for a bar night or "do-nothing" night with friends. For me, this usually involves driving 45 minutes to San Francisco and leaving my books at home.

You can easily find balance in med school if you make it a priority and understand what works for you in studying, what doesn't, and the level you're comfortable with understanding for the exam. My school tends to test minute details, so if I end up with a B on exams (which I usually do), the questions I get wrong aren't things I'm terribly worried about in the long run. I'd rather be balanced in life than know EVERYTHING.

Choose your own adventure.
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Again, there are huge differences amongst schools and amongst individuals within schools. There are programs where you have to work hard to pass and places where you pass regardless. And there are folks who are going to find their "balance" means studying 8 hours/day whereas others can get by on 3. FWIW, you can be going full tilt and you are never going to know "everything", but you never know what you are going to need to know down the road or even on exams, the board, etc. Part of the trick in med school is learning how to learn, and then getting efficient at it. What worked in college often doesn't in med school because of the greater volume.

One tried and true method for med school tend to be multiple passes through the information in whatever format works best for you. Apply, rinse, repeat. As many times as possible before exams or until you've got it down. For many, this takes a ton of time.

Don't get sucked in by folks who say things like "if you have to be studying X hours/day you are doing it wrong", or "it's easy to just pass" or "you need balance". Those are very person/school specific and sometimes even cop out excuses for folks who don't want to put in the time or perhaps need not put in the time.

Honestly the dude above who is justifying not working that hard each day and getting B's with needing "balance" may end up kicking himself in a few years when he finds himself behind the 8 ball studying for Step 1 because he didn't put in the time now, and then later may realize he has fallen in love with a competitive field that he didn't do a good job of laying a foundation for, score-wise. You have to make some sacrifices in med school. You can have a balance but for most, it's going to be a balance totally skewed toward academics. (Balance is a loaded term because a balance can tilt one way or another, so one person's finding balance may be justification to not work hard, but for another, finding balance may mean squeezing in 2 hours of "life" on top of 11 hours of studying and lecture. So in this latter sense you need "balance", but not the former).
 
Law2Doc said:
This can be true in 3rd year rotations, and maybe during your sub-I in 4th year (and definitely in residency). Not so much for the first two years. Heck, I used to know folks who kept themselves intentionally dehydrated because there wasn't always time for a bathroom break during the tougher clinical rotations.
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Haha/gross.
 
Besides being institution-dependent, it's also class dependent. You start to know how much outside reading you need to do based on how good the prof's notes are, how often the quizzes are, etc.

Anatomy and physiology... tough. Probably four hours a day, in addition to class? Weekends are used for catch up and for fine-tuning my knowledge for exams.

Genetics, stats... much better. Class + 1-2 hours a day.

Either way, it's pretty doable, especially if you really keep on top of the material (not that I do!) I think I'm about average for my class, but who knows.
 
I think that undergrad background has a lot to do with people's perception as well.

I went to a notoriously awful top 5 engineering school and it really was every bit as bad as I'd heard. Bad enough, in fact, that I transferred out of engineering. But I gotta say, I've taken semesters with 21 hours of science and semesters with 12 hours of engineering, and if I had to pick I would absolutely take the science. No contest. Probably because, like most people on here, I am better at biology and chemistry than physics and math.

So when people say stuff like "you're gonna have to take 24 whole hours of science classes!" it really doesn't sound that bad. My grades got much better when I did that. Not trying to sound cocky, I had to climb out of a sophomore year depression first, but I sometimes get this vibe that "medicine is by definition the hardest thing you can possibly study" and while it's definitely the apex of the life sciences, I wonder if anyone else has had the experience of being completely humbled by other subjects like higher math and engineering.
 
Engineering and physics are just a different kind of work. They involve a lot of staring at a problem and running scenarios and equations through your head trying to find a solution, whereas med school is just a crapload of memorization, usually requiring minimal depth of thought.
 
MilkmanAl said:
Engineering and physics are just a different kind of work. They involve a lot of staring at a problem and running scenarios and equations through your head trying to find a solution, whereas med school is just a crapload of memorization, usually requiring minimal depth of thought.
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I would say that's more or less true the first year of med school, which is often compared to drinking out of a fire hose, but all of medical education? 😕

Props to engineering and physics majors though!👍
 
Life doesn't change once you get to med school. You bring your attitude, work ethic, and personality with you. If the first twenty years of your life found you flustered and all over the place, trying to tie loose ends and complete scattered responsibilities, you don't just turn on "balance" switch in med school, and suddenly have the ability to live a well-measured life.

And quite frankly--knowing some pre-meds-- balance schmancy: you didn't want balance in undergrad, and you won't want it in med school. You thrive on being all over the place, over-extended, stressed about X and Y. Med school will allow for that. You know who you are. I don't blame ya.

Each to their own. The posters who are waving the flag of balance would never state their opinions in person. Because it's just toolish, quite frankly, and they're just eating a nice slice of arrogance pie. But also give them a break, really now. Every student in med school I know secretly thinks they are doing it right -- the person honoring, barely passing, or flunking. So get used it.

Med school is what you make it. And most of you, quickly frankly, will want it "bad." And I totally get it. Just don't expect to turn a 180 in med school, unless you truly desire to do so. Med school is life, too.
 
scarshapedstar said:
I think that undergrad background has a lot to do with people's perception as well.

I went to a notoriously awful top 5 engineering school and it really was every bit as bad as I'd heard. Bad enough, in fact, that I transferred out of engineering. But I gotta say, I've taken semesters with 21 hours of science and semesters with 12 hours of engineering, and if I had to pick I would absolutely take the science. No contest. Probably because, like most people on here, I am better at biology and chemistry than physics and math.

So when people say stuff like "you're gonna have to take 24 whole hours of science classes!" it really doesn't sound that bad. My grades got much better when I did that. Not trying to sound cocky, I had to climb out of a sophomore year depression first, but I sometimes get this vibe that "medicine is by definition the hardest thing you can possibly study" and while it's definitely the apex of the life sciences, I wonder if anyone else has had the experience of being completely humbled by other subjects like higher math and engineering.
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Agreed. I thought undergrad was harder than med school. And I certainly felt I had more of a life outside of med school.
 
Law2Doc said:
This can be true in 3rd year rotations, and maybe during your sub-I in 4th year (and definitely in residency). Not so much for the first two years. Heck, I used to know folks who kept themselves intentionally dehydrated because there wasn't always time for a bathroom break during the tougher clinical rotations.
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I can definitely see no chance for eating in surgical specialties.
 
TheProwler said:
Of course you are. If you were really hardcore, you'd just get a colostomy and urostomy.
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Let's be honest. The truly hardcore don't bother with any of it. They just **** themselves and let it run down their leg, like an ultra-marathoner.
 
How bad is med school?

Med school is bad. You don't want to go there. Don't bother applying. DON'T DO IT!!!!
 
Short answer is that it isn't bad, but it is a grind.

I study and work more than most. It is the undergrads always telling me to take time off. The law students I'm friends with get it for the most part, but even they are a bit in slacker mode until a few weeks before their exams at the end of the semester.

It is all about staying consistent and getting something done nearly every day.
 
TheProwler said:
If you go into a surgery residency, you will definitely avoid the beverages right before a long case.
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Do the athlete move of swishing the water around in your mouth a bit. Can't feel heavy and weighed down. Gotta be agile!
 
It's tough. You'll study more than you did in undergrad, simply because you'll be faced with more information in a shorter period of time. Some weeks you'll have a ton of free time. Others, not so much.
 
mathewstuart said:
No professional degree program is without its horrors, which often continue after you receive your degree. I went through an Ivy League PhD program (which lasted twice as long as med school), and while I didn't have to deal with blood and guts and illness, I certainly had to deal with problematic professors and administrators, lack of sleep, and a whole variety of other issues that should have driven me right around the bend.
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I stopped paying attention to your comments after this one:

mathewstuart said:
College professors have a PhD - that's a higher degree than an MD and takes more time and original work to earn. A PhD is BETTER than an MD; very few med school rejects end up earning a better and harder degree. But some might end up teaching high school.
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Just saying.
 
He's right to be honest. A friend of mine is completing his PhD in Physics. He's the ****ing man. I am pretty much in awe of his natural abilities.
 
MossPoh said:
Short answer is that it isn't bad, but it is a grind.

I study and work more than most. It is the undergrads always telling me to take time off. The law students I'm friends with get it for the most part, but even they are a bit in slacker mode until a few weeks before their exams at the end of the semester.

It is all about staying consistent and getting something done nearly every day.
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The law students can work at whatever pace they want...it's not like any jobs are waiting for them on the other side, other than that $15 an hour temp job shuffling papers
 
Lokhtar said:
He's right to be honest. A friend of mine is completing his PhD in Physics. He's the ****ing man. I am pretty much in awe of his natural abilities.
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While I don't doubt your anecdote, you realize how idiotic the comment you're agreeing with sounds?

Just sayin'.
 
adaptation1 said:
...Every student in med school I know secretly thinks they are doing it right -- the person honoring, barely passing, or flunking. ...
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They might all be doing it right, for them. Every person is going to have different strengths, weaknesses, abilities and hurdles. It's a new kind of learning and the old stuff you learned in college won't work so well. So you spend some time in the first year figuring out what works. There will be folks working full tilt and not getting great results, and folks who aren't busting a sweat, and doing well. But that's just what happens when you have very different people who all learn differently.

I do think a lot of people justify not wanting to work hard with "finding balance" though. It's a catch phrase for "lazy" for some.
 
Law2Doc said:
I do think a lot of people justify not wanting to work hard with "finding balance" though. It's a catch phrase for "lazy" for some.
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I do wonder if those people have tried "balancing" three menial jobs to make rent. It's so much better to spend all day climbing the ladder than circling the hamster wheel...
 
scarshapedstar said:
I do wonder if those people have tried "balancing" three menial jobs to make rent. It's so much better to spend all day climbing the ladder than circling the hamster wheel...
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Yes, but I think the argument is that you have to draw a line somewhere.
 
We have to deal with the parsimony of our experience. I am currently a teacher, and I have learned that I do not want to be a teacher. Luckily, I did not have to spend much time or money in preparation in order to become a teacher.

I've spent hundreds of hours shadowing and many more hours volunteering in medical settings; still, my experience is extremely limited. The only way to "live" as a doctor will be to complete medical school and residency, and then practice. That's many years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars to put in before one can know what it's really like to live and work as a physician.

How can we know what to become? We can't do cost/benefit until it's too late. Or can we?
 
You know, if federal law didn't more or less prohibit the filming of a reality show dealing with this topic, you could simply watch "So you think you can doctor". :prof:

Or, better yet, "Surgery with the Stars!"
 
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