Hey guys aspiring pre-med here and i just wanted to ask really what is it like for you guys in med school? Idk recently i've just been talking to a few of my older friends who are 2,3,4th years and they literally seem like their soul's been sucked out of them, many questioning if they would do it again. It worries me because they were all at 1 point like me excited, ambitious pre meds, so what gives? Studying for the mcat I avg anywhere from 7-9 hrs a day, i enjoy it; science is cool, i go to the gym, hang out occasionally, life is nice, like what changes? I assume this is how a typical medical student has his schedule, maybe ramped up a bit during exam week? Should I just not listen to them and do my thing or is there something i'm missing here?
How bad really is med school?
- Thread starter Mocizzle
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
Studying for the mcat is like what med school is everyday. It really sucks at times but it is worth it at the end of the day. If I wasn't in med school Id be working like a dog for "the man" 8 hours per day or even longer hating my job and life, so I'd say med school isn't a bad gig. In the end it is a solid investment for the most part you are guaranteed $200K+/year and you get to save lives and help others every day. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done though and many times where I just want to pull my hair out but it is as those times that I just drop everything and go see a movie or workout to get my mind off school and then I am ready to jump back in. Id say I average 7 hours per day studying and then up to 10 hours per day about a week or so before exam days.
a very fresh perspective to hear thank you
D
deleted610572
It’s like finals week every week for 2 years. But also med school is 4 years and you feel differently at each stage of the game. 2nd year is by far the absolute worst year. But really anything past then isn’t too bad. Ya studying for shelves and boards sucks but it could be worse. The first 2 year curriculum is absolute hell
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 1,394
- Reaction score
- 4,243
If you could do med school in your hometown with family it wouldn't be bad at all. Basically an 8-6or7 job. Which is basically like the real world haha. What sucks is up rooting for med school.
Med school would be a lot less stressful if from day one you were FMFL as well (family med for life)
Med school would be a lot less stressful if from day one you were FMFL as well (family med for life)
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2015
- Messages
- 219
- Reaction score
- 305
So havent even started yet, but running with this last sentence:
A physician I knew loved med school because he sort of chilled through it relative to everyone else. He was dead set on FM sk he did what he had too to pass.
That's nice and all but it's also bull****. Why not work your butt of while you're young and murder your step and give this process your all?
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 1,394
- Reaction score
- 4,243
Because that is stupid and doesn't matter.
A good step 1 score is not going to make you a good doctor.
Wanna know what is going to make you a good doctor? Caring about patients and soaking in the necessary information to provide them quality care, which will primarily be done on the wards and in residency. Sorry but after residency you are not going to remember tons of things from step 1 that isn't relevant to your field. Shoot, I am 1 year removed and scored well and don't remember most of that stuff.
This is a very pre-med thing to think though, and I don't blame you because I used to think the same way.
My friend is doing rural family med, and wants a rural family med residency. He drank coke and whiskey almost every night of med school, never studied on weekends, farmed, chilled, and scored a little above average on most tests and average on his boards. He will be a great doctor, and his game plan was the least stressful way to go about med school and I admire him for that.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2015
- Messages
- 219
- Reaction score
- 305
Hey, fair enough.
I personally just think you should try your best no matter what. Easy to say a month out lol. Let me believe in hard work and good morals for just one month longer? Please??
nah med school is way better than studying for the mcat
the mcat is dry and uninteresting, doing practice questions and reading about actual medicine is usually interesting. No, I dont want to read a 5 paragraph essay discussing the symbolism in an obscure poem
the mcat is dry and uninteresting, doing practice questions and reading about actual medicine is usually interesting. No, I dont want to read a 5 paragraph essay discussing the symbolism in an obscure poem
- Joined
- May 9, 2016
- Messages
- 841
- Reaction score
- 2,285
What is soul sucking is going in as a gunner and getting your ass kicked. Everyone wants a 90th percentile score... but guess what, only 10% are going to hit that. If you end up in DO school, you are going to meet a lot of hungry gunners eager to prove that their weak MCAT and skin-of-their-teeth acceptance was a fluke. You also meet a lot of students who quickly get in over their head and suddenly “future ortho dude” you used to chat with in OPP is gone... you didn’t even know they were struggling.
Reason I’m quoting this guy though is that I agree with go hard and let the chips fall knowing you didn’t slack. Out of my whole class of 250 students I knew precisely 1 student who was 100% all in on FM, not even interested in IM or something the like. Dude failed classes the first semester and is just finishing his repeat of first year.
I finished 2nd year very middle of the class and took Comlex expecting a very meh score, which of course is disappointing, but I am pretty much certain if I had an FMFL mentality I would have failed out, so it was worth it.
Have the best application you can for any speciality even if you are “FMFL” (didn’t know that was a thing). The better your application, the more options you have. Not just for specialities, but for locations of residencies. Be as good as you can be, but having the mindset that you could go into FM if need be is great.
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2010
- Messages
- 4,074
- Reaction score
- 5,188
I had a great experience in Med-school. Sure the work load was heavy, but for the first time in a while I felt like I was studying for a career I actually wanted to do. I’d put in long hours so that I could find time for life on weekends etc. it was very manageable IMO. My wife might disagree with how manageable it seemed.
In undergrad I never could get into the mode where I cared about material I was being asked to learn. So despite the actual volume of material being way higher in Med-school; I enjoyed it.
3rd and 4th year’s weren’t bad either; there was only one experience that made me want to quit, and that was a particularly malignant IM month. Some others were boring (4th year HemeOnc elective, psych) but doable. And I could see the finish line by that point.
It wasn’t until residency that I started questioning the wisdom of having gone into medicine. And then it was just because of the life wrecking hours, and being stricken with poverty due to living in a high COL state while making relative pennies. Now that I’m out an a freshly minted attending; I definitely think things were worth it. I’ve got a cool job, a banging income, and bankers hours 4 days a week. Life truly is good and I don’t think I’d be this happy with any other career. Looking back, I can already say that I’m glad I did it!
In undergrad I never could get into the mode where I cared about material I was being asked to learn. So despite the actual volume of material being way higher in Med-school; I enjoyed it.
3rd and 4th year’s weren’t bad either; there was only one experience that made me want to quit, and that was a particularly malignant IM month. Some others were boring (4th year HemeOnc elective, psych) but doable. And I could see the finish line by that point.
It wasn’t until residency that I started questioning the wisdom of having gone into medicine. And then it was just because of the life wrecking hours, and being stricken with poverty due to living in a high COL state while making relative pennies. Now that I’m out an a freshly minted attending; I definitely think things were worth it. I’ve got a cool job, a banging income, and bankers hours 4 days a week. Life truly is good and I don’t think I’d be this happy with any other career. Looking back, I can already say that I’m glad I did it!
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2010
- Messages
- 900
- Reaction score
- 2,440
Also for the record, I get not wanting to ruin your life over board scores and the many ridiculous hoops med school makes you jump through to get your degree.
But people who think going into FM is an excuse to slack grind my gears. I won't go on a rant justifying FMs importance in medicine, and I know the vast majority of people who say things like "I'm JUST doing FM" don't come from a place of malice. However, it's still grating when people act like all FM does is refer people.
But people who think going into FM is an excuse to slack grind my gears. I won't go on a rant justifying FMs importance in medicine, and I know the vast majority of people who say things like "I'm JUST doing FM" don't come from a place of malice. However, it's still grating when people act like all FM does is refer people.
A
AnatomyGrey12
So not wanting to kill yourself to memorize random minutia means you don't work hard or have good morals?
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2015
- Messages
- 219
- Reaction score
- 305
Sorry if that's how it came off, but I didnt mean that. I mean I just want to believe in try my best and not be lazy just because I want to do FM. I feel like I may be coming off as a gunner and I'm not.
D
deleted610572
Work as hard as possible in the beginning until you understand what it takes to achieve the scores you want. Then scale back to your comfortability. Even the laziest person in your class is still working hard. It’s medschool. You can’t pass if you don’t do the work
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2015
- Messages
- 1,394
- Reaction score
- 4,243
Not coming off as a gunner just immature.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 75,037
- Reaction score
- 120,439
It's a furnace. The old saw of "drinking from a fire hose is more accurate like this: "drinking from a fire hose while running after the fire truck"
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2017
- Messages
- 602
- Reaction score
- 517
I will be starting second year in a couple of months and first year definitely wore me down. It was very exhausting and mentally taxing. However, I don't really know what I would be doing if I wasn't in medical school. It is also an amazing feeling when you finish another block, semester, year etc. A previous poster said that its like finals week every week and that is spot on. It's relentless but doable. Also, the school (at least mine) makes it way worse than it needs to be and really doesn't do anything for us other than waste our time when we could be studying.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2017
- Messages
- 1,044
- Reaction score
- 2,008
For me, the hardest part was coming to terms with being average amongst my peer group.
For me, I cannot score >94% on every exam while maintaining a healthy life, and that is what’s needed to crest the “top students” moniker at my school. So I do well, but not exemplary, and have learned to be thankful to be passing.
Medical school is very difficult, but it’s not insurmountable. It *will* make any personality issues, depression etc. bubble to the surface. It sort of distills negativity in people because of the constant stress and competition.
For me, I cannot score >94% on every exam while maintaining a healthy life, and that is what’s needed to crest the “top students” moniker at my school. So I do well, but not exemplary, and have learned to be thankful to be passing.
Medical school is very difficult, but it’s not insurmountable. It *will* make any personality issues, depression etc. bubble to the surface. It sort of distills negativity in people because of the constant stress and competition.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2013
- Messages
- 38,627
- Reaction score
- 76,071
It isn't much worse than a regular job. Residency tho...
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2016
- Messages
- 689
- Reaction score
- 664
Honestly, I'm curious how hard medical school is going to be. I worked 35-40 hours per week, volunteered, and was a full time student. I know medical school is supposed to be tough, and I am expecting that and then some this Fall, but I'm ready to see how it compares. Please don't think I am trying to "one up" anyone (I hate those guys, even though I am one right now lol), but I am hoping someone faced similar issues and can shed some light on this.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2018
- Messages
- 401
- Reaction score
- 975
Just finished MS1. It was a hellish grind at times (neuro/msk), but largely reasonable. I hear MS2 gets a lot better here, which I'm hopeful for. Our into path course made the material significantly more interesting and easier to study IMO. Ultimately, it's a grind, but so is working and I think a lot of people on here forget just how hard people work for even a 60k job, and you'll walk/crawl out of this earning many times that.
D
deleted610572
That was me and it was way worse the first 2 years. But I had mandatory attendance so they wasted 30-40 hours a week of my time. As said above, it’s a full times job worth but if you have your school wasting full time hours then Medical school becomes terrible
So schools with no mandatory attendance seems like they have a much better lifestyle for their students
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2010
- Messages
- 4,074
- Reaction score
- 5,188
Family Medicine
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2014
- Messages
- 434
- Reaction score
- 623
Med school isn’t bad. If you’ve never had a career it might seem difficult, but if you treat it like a job you aren’t going to fail. FMFL here and I did what was necessary to comfortably pass years one and two. Third and fourth year are fantastic. Boards can seem intimidating, but if you put in the effort during class and spend a good 4-5weeks for dedicated study, you’ll be setting yourself up well.
FMFL doesn’t mean you’re slacking or coasting, it just affords you the benefit to spend the weekends and evenings with your wife/kids/family/etc instead of running through powerpoints one more time to get the last bit of minutiae from the phds research interest or working on another research manuscript.. it all depends on your goals and what you’re willing to sacrifice to get there.
FMFL doesn’t mean you’re slacking or coasting, it just affords you the benefit to spend the weekends and evenings with your wife/kids/family/etc instead of running through powerpoints one more time to get the last bit of minutiae from the phds research interest or working on another research manuscript.. it all depends on your goals and what you’re willing to sacrifice to get there.
I've also been doing some research in dental, seems like dental - OMS is a much easier way/ less competitive to enter the surgical field than through medical school, but idk how i feel studying dentistry for 4 years
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2006
- Messages
- 13,947
- Reaction score
- 24,518
A
AnatomyGrey12
Definitely not. You pretty much have to go to at least a decent dental school AND be in the top 5 of the class in order to do OMFS.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2012
- Messages
- 7,691
- Reaction score
- 13,051
In preclinical, I had a great time in the sense that I had a lot of free time and could do basically whatever I wanted. I stopped going to class (except for TBLs) after our first semester, would generally study only 2 day in advance for tests by cramming powerpoints (except for anatomy where I would do about an hour or two of meticulous prep prior to every lab day), and spent a good deal of time doing stuff like research and some easy but fun ECs. Our school was true P/F for preclinical which took off some of the stress, and while I never was top of the class in test scores, I was always at least average (usually a small bit above average). If I could go back and do it again, I'd probably try to study a little more every day and use things like Pathoma to supplement lecture (watch like 1 or 2 relevant videos every other day or something).
In the clinical year, your time becomes a lot more structured and you have less of it thats truly your own. In most rotations, I would get in early to preround and then stay until either my resident sent me home or everything was done, which ranged from like 5 pm to 10 pm depending on the day and the rotation (with some early leaving on some days in psych, etc). I would try to go to the gym 2-4 times / week for an hour, and would try to do a tiny bit of reading each day, even if it was only like 10 mins. I would go to sleep as early as 10 on rotations like surgery and as late as 12:30 on less hour intensive rotations like psych and primary care.
I hated step 1 studying. Weeks upon weeks of waking up at 7 and studying until like 7 pm, the stress of knowing this could really make or break your intended career, and the frustration of not improving as much as you wanted. Definitely the worst part of medical school for me, and it wasn't even close at all.
4th year, sub-Is were hard but incredibly fun because you're doing what you actually want to do, though they'll likely be your most hour intensive rotations, but the transition from 3rd to 4th is easier than from 2nd to 3rd because you're already used to having less time and you've already compensated for that over the course of the past year.
Once interviews start, you basically drop everything and focus on interviews with Step 2 CS and CK thrown around somewhere in there. After you submit your rank list, you're pretty much done until residency!
Overall, great time, would recommend.
In the clinical year, your time becomes a lot more structured and you have less of it thats truly your own. In most rotations, I would get in early to preround and then stay until either my resident sent me home or everything was done, which ranged from like 5 pm to 10 pm depending on the day and the rotation (with some early leaving on some days in psych, etc). I would try to go to the gym 2-4 times / week for an hour, and would try to do a tiny bit of reading each day, even if it was only like 10 mins. I would go to sleep as early as 10 on rotations like surgery and as late as 12:30 on less hour intensive rotations like psych and primary care.
I hated step 1 studying. Weeks upon weeks of waking up at 7 and studying until like 7 pm, the stress of knowing this could really make or break your intended career, and the frustration of not improving as much as you wanted. Definitely the worst part of medical school for me, and it wasn't even close at all.
4th year, sub-Is were hard but incredibly fun because you're doing what you actually want to do, though they'll likely be your most hour intensive rotations, but the transition from 3rd to 4th is easier than from 2nd to 3rd because you're already used to having less time and you've already compensated for that over the course of the past year.
Once interviews start, you basically drop everything and focus on interviews with Step 2 CS and CK thrown around somewhere in there. After you submit your rank list, you're pretty much done until residency!
Overall, great time, would recommend.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2018
- Messages
- 3,611
- Reaction score
- 9,016
Really depends what kind of student you are. My wife was Summa Cum Everything in undergrad, top 10% in medschool, went to class every day in med school to socialize. I took a blue collar approach, 8 hrs a day, 10 on weekends and barely cracked top third. Run your own race. Some of your classmates will be scary smart. Dont listen to their study habits, they just dont have to put as much time in. It's very doable if you are honest with yourself, and work insanely hard. There will be times you wont believe you can do it, but you will. As the material gets more involved, you get better as a student. Good luck and best wishes.
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2013
- Messages
- 12,286
- Reaction score
- 17,993
YMMV and everyone's experience is different.
M1 I coasted, went to class, got home between 2-6 depending on the day, studied for an hour or two and then would chill. Would cram the weekend before tests and was always around average other than one or two tests. M2 was literally hell. I'd study the way I wanted/the way I actually learned best and would fail the midterms, sometimes would be failing even after the curves, then be miserable for the next week or two and do well on the finals just to pass. What sucked was I was studying a TON for both tests (12+ hour days every day) just to pass. The irony was my highest section on level 1 was pathology, the test I'd always fail, and I did pretty bad on the stuff for tests from M2 I did well on.
M3 was a breath of fresh air. Finally got to be in the clinic and crushed it compared to pre-clinical years. It actually felt like I was doing something relevant to my career even if the pre-clinical knowledge was necessary. M4 was also awesome. Sub-i's were a ton of fun for me and I really thrived at that point. Once interview season hit rotations were really chill and I actually managed to set my schedule up so I only worked 4 weeks during a 12 week period (EM + hospitalist rotation with 2 weeks off for interviews in between each). After that it was all downhill until residency.
Finishing up intern year and it's been hit or miss. Start of it was really rough because of family stuff, but once that was under control it's been awesome. Way better than med school imo since I'm actually in the field I want to be in and not having to deal with rotations/material that bored me. Some rotations suck, but overall doesn't even compare. Plus I'm getting paid now, which is really nice, lol.
Would I do it again? Probably, but I'd definitely tell pre-med me to get ready for some serious periods of misery.
M1 I coasted, went to class, got home between 2-6 depending on the day, studied for an hour or two and then would chill. Would cram the weekend before tests and was always around average other than one or two tests. M2 was literally hell. I'd study the way I wanted/the way I actually learned best and would fail the midterms, sometimes would be failing even after the curves, then be miserable for the next week or two and do well on the finals just to pass. What sucked was I was studying a TON for both tests (12+ hour days every day) just to pass. The irony was my highest section on level 1 was pathology, the test I'd always fail, and I did pretty bad on the stuff for tests from M2 I did well on.
M3 was a breath of fresh air. Finally got to be in the clinic and crushed it compared to pre-clinical years. It actually felt like I was doing something relevant to my career even if the pre-clinical knowledge was necessary. M4 was also awesome. Sub-i's were a ton of fun for me and I really thrived at that point. Once interview season hit rotations were really chill and I actually managed to set my schedule up so I only worked 4 weeks during a 12 week period (EM + hospitalist rotation with 2 weeks off for interviews in between each). After that it was all downhill until residency.
Finishing up intern year and it's been hit or miss. Start of it was really rough because of family stuff, but once that was under control it's been awesome. Way better than med school imo since I'm actually in the field I want to be in and not having to deal with rotations/material that bored me. Some rotations suck, but overall doesn't even compare. Plus I'm getting paid now, which is really nice, lol.
Would I do it again? Probably, but I'd definitely tell pre-med me to get ready for some serious periods of misery.
"I've also been doing some research in dental"
I guess you don't realize that anyone on this forum can see your post history and find out you have multiple posts where you are in dental school/been accepted to dental school/were denied an acceptance to dental school/are considering turning down an acceptance to dental school...
That's interesting, a lot of people say M2 is better than M1? curious to see why you felt the opposite
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
do they though? everyones different but id say the vast majority say M2 is the absolute worst
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
3000% true yes
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2017
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 56
It’s really all about perspective. Medical school at the time seemed to require so much effort and time compared to undergrad. It really forced me to change my study habits and how I approached studying, it was a good change but was painful at the time. Now residency is a different beast. It’s basically a job with school on top, on steroids. Sometimes the pressure and stress makes me second guess why I chose to do what I am doing. but now it’s time to chose a fellowship.... I heard it gets better in fellowship, I hope.
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2013
- Messages
- 12,286
- Reaction score
- 17,993
At my school M1was typical lecture with powerpoints then tests. M2 our path text was big Robbins and we only had 1 actual lecture for path that basically outlined the chapter and was pretty much useless. So we'd have to read on our own and then be tested on minutiae that was sometimes completely irrelevant. Most people will likely say spring of M2 is the worst part of med school though because that's when boards studying ramps up and then dedicated time at the end of it.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
Yeah spring M2 by far worst. You said youre about to be a second yr resident what specialty are you in? How much harder is res than med school?
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2018
- Messages
- 3,611
- Reaction score
- 9,016
M2 is the worst year from the actual workload, but much more interesting because you are actually applying the hard science you learned in M1 to disease. Secondly, there is the fresh bright light of clinicals shining at the end of the long tunnel of preclinical. Thirdly, there is the angst over boards, which is a relatively new phenomenon. A few decades ago, Boards were meant for licensure only. Programs were only concerned if you passed. Also, there is the misconception that if you dont train in a T20 program, you will be destined to working for an insurance company denying procedures for your classmates, or working in a prison. Nobody cares where you trained after residency and you pass specialty boards.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
Thanks for the insight avagadro. Out of curiosity if boards were once for licensure purposes and actual scores were less important what determined specialty of choice back then? Who you know? The tier of your med school? How would they strat applicants? Not trying to get off topic but just curious
D
deleted610572
There were a ton more spaces. I have a family friend who’s a retired pediatrician that trained in the early 70s. He was baffled to learn that ortho was competitive. He said only the dumb jocks did it
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
lmao unreal. Also, getting accepted to med school was a lot easier back then from what Ive heard-several DOs (anesthesiologists) ive chatted with said theyd never have gotten into med school now. Must have been nice back then
D
deleted610572
Ya he went to UCSF then Stanford for peds. He said that there is no way he would’ve gotten in now
Norwood-Sano
Full Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2019
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 72
Starting OMS I soon too, scared out of my mind but my job the last year was at the hospital and was a minimum of 10.5 hours a day, often going into 11 or even 12. Granted I had some down time during the day and wasn’t working non stop for 11 hours straight but I can’t imagjne how medical school can require THAT much more time?
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,691
- Reaction score
- 4,410
You will hear med students say they study 7-12 hours per day but keep in mind you MUST take breaks and study in intervals or you will lose your mind and be unproductive. I do 50 mins on 10 mins break for the time I am studying it is seriously essential. Anyone who is studying for 10+ hours straight without any breaks is an idiot lol
Norwood-Sano
Full Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2019
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 72
I hear ya, that was similar to the approach I took for the MCAT. The material on that test was SO boring though I’m hoping that most of the material is at least a bit more fun.
- Joined
- May 8, 2015
- Messages
- 403
- Reaction score
- 877
It's not bad at all. Its mostly fun, sprinkled with some frustration and stress. No good things are stress free, and med school is a good thing. I treated it (thus far) as a 7-5 job and occasionaly pulled a few extra hours. Its fun stuff that you're learning, amazing skills and nothing better then the moment when your brain goes *click* and everything makes sense!
