Imposter Syndrome Prior to Attending Medical School

[jaymoy1821]

Hello Everyone,

I am sorry for this long rant, but I wanted to get current medical students advice on something I am experiencing very strongly, which is imposter syndrome. A little background on me, I have been fortunate enough to be accepted into two medical schools, both of which I really like and need to make a final decision this week as to which to attend. One is clearly a better school than the other, but I am scared to attend it. The reason I am scared is because I do not think I am smart enough/capable enough to get through it. The school itself is known to have a more difficult/relentless curriculum, which best helps students prepare for boards. This sounds great, but I already feel that I will not make it through because of being out of school for a few years, not really remembering anything from undergrad, and studying six months (5-8 hours a day) to achieve an average MCAT score (and when I say average MCAT score, I mean average for the nation). Not to mention my MCAT score barely met the requirements for the school. I feel truly blessed to have been accepted to this school, because I think I scraped by with meeting the minimum requirements, but at the same time I do not feel like I deserve to be there and I think admissions made a mistake. I am incredibly nervous/anxious/stressed about attending this school because I feel I will not make it through.

The other school on the other hand, is a good school, but it is not better than the previous one based on board scores, pass rates, residency placements, location, cost, and many of the other factors we emphasize when choosing a school. I feel more comfortable attending this school however, because the curriculum is not as intense and I don't feel like an "imposter" here based on the incoming class stats being more similar to my own and the smaller class size.

I am curious about a few things....

1.) Was there anyone else who experienced something similar to this prior to starting their own medical school journey? How did you deal with it? Were you ever able to deal with it?

2.) Is imposter syndrome something to seriously consider when making a choice between schools? I do not feel comfortable attending this first school despite it being a better school. Should I take this into consideration more than the other things we typically use to judge a medical school?

Any help would be much appreciated, and thank you if you took the time to read everything!

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[el_duderino]

I don't think any med school is really any harder than another. Step 1 is the same exam for everyone. Drexel might have a lower average Step 1 than Harvard, but basically everyone passes at either. You won't fail Step 1 if you go to Harvard and pass if you go to Drexel. The better school is likely to have higher-quality educational faculty anyway.

Go to the school you want to go to. You're ready for med school. You're good enough.

 

[Spectreman]

Don’t get flustered over which school is better. Focus on which area will give you better opportunity to focus. Things like proximity to family, whether the people in the area more fit your personality, cost of living, things like that. Don’t be deterred by the “harder” school or think you’re settling by picking the “easier” school. Where will you most likely succeed based on the environment?

 

[Ho0v-man]

Imposter syndrome is totally normal. Most who claim theyve never had it to some degree are just lying. It’ll be worse when you first start because everyone will still be trying to impress each other lol.

If it helps, my class’s stats are all over the place and it really doesnt correlate very well with class rank.

Its bad business to accept students who cant handle the workload. It would lose them money if you failed.

Whenever i would get those feelings, i would try to remind myself that yeah maybe one school could mess up and accept me—but two? Thats crazy. You were accepted for a reason. Bc they want you!

 

[DrMcCoyDO]

1.) Was there anyone else who experienced something similar to this prior to starting their own medical school journey? How did you deal with it? Were you ever able to deal with it?

2.) Is imposter syndrome something to seriously consider when making a choice between schools? I do not feel comfortable attending this first school despite it being a better school. Should I take this into consideration more than the other things we typically use to judge a medical school?

Any help would be much appreciated, and thank you if you took the time to read everything!

1. 100% have felt this way at various parts in my med school career. You’re going to likely feel that at the beginning of every leg of this new journey. I felt it at the beginning of first year, even more so at the start of third, and now that I’m about to graduate, I feel woefully inadequate to become DrMcCoy18. The secret is perseverance, patience with yourself, and a reminder to yourself that you probably wouldn’t be where you are if you didn’t belong there, and with time, the competence and confidence will come along as you gain more education and experience.

2. I wouldn’t make imposter syndrome as a serious consideration when choosing schools; however, curriculum is a major consideration. If you truly don’t think you would be comfortable with one school's curriculum but would the other's, that is an important thing to take into account.

Seriously, though, you have made it this far; you do belong wherever you end up choosing.

 

[NontradCA]

How do you know the school is “clearly better”? Most if not all DO schools are more or less the same and I’d advise people to choose based on price and location. You’re smart enough because you got in. It’s ok to be scared though. Everyone is at some point.

 

[getfat]

however, curriculum is a major consideration. If you truly don’t think you would be comfortable with one school's curriculum but would the other's, that is an important thing to take into account.

The hard part now days schools aren't truthful about aspects of their curriculum. So how do future students determine what curriculum would fit them best? On top of that its different for every class.

Common tricks I'm starting to see made by schools
"Pass/Fail" is really numerical grading.
"No required attendance" --> Except for certain classes --> The certain classes are every week.

Even when potential students ask me about my own school. I have to mention that "it may be different for your own class".

 

[BorntobeDO?]

The hard part now days schools aren't truthful about aspects of their curriculum. So how do future students determine what curriculum would fit them best? On top of that its different for every class.

Common tricks I'm starting to see made by schools
"Pass/Fail" is really numerical grading.
"No required attendance" --> Except for certain classes --> The certain classes are every week.

Even when potential students ask me about my own school. I have to mention that "it may be different for your own class".

This is why I would just go to the school with the best first time pass rate and match list that actually contained my interest (i.e. the older schools). In the DO world I want a teaching hospital, and good pass rates above everything else. I also want non-mandatory attendance, but as you said, that is really non-mandatory except such and such class you goto almost every day of the week.

 

[deleted103644]

Impostor syndrome never goes away.

Not in medical school, residency, fellowship, or as an attending.

Maybe after retirement.

The more you know, the more you will realize you don’t know.

The better you become, the smarter the people around you will become.

If at some point you think things are easy, you are either well below your potential or suffering from the Dunning Kruger effect.

Don’t let the fear get to you, use it as an incentive to be better and constantly improve yourself.

You don’t think you’re as good as your peers? Then work harder than them.

Medicine rewards hard work more than brilliance, so you may end up doing better than those you feel inferior to at first.

Good luck.

 

[Neopolymath]

The hard part now days schools aren't truthful about aspects of their curriculum. So how do future students determine what curriculum would fit them best? On top of that its different for every class.

Common tricks I'm starting to see made by schools
"Pass/Fail" is really numerical grading.
"No required attendance" --> Except for certain classes --> The certain classes are every week.

Even when potential students ask me about my own school. I have to mention that "it may be different for your own class".

Part of the issue is that our school is one of the least transparent schools and there isn't any info to be gained about it during the interview or online. You pretty much have to point blank ask students what the deal is and even then, as you said, it could change every year.

 

[getfat]

In the DO world I want a teaching hospital

A lot of schools are tricky about this as well. "yeah we have a teaching hospital" but really its a hospital near campus that we have preceptors. There is no residency (for any specialty).

good pass rates above everything else.

Yeah we have a 100% Pass rate, but in order to sit you need a really high COMAT score in order to ensure there is zero chance of you failing.

non-mandatory attendance

"We don't have mandatory classes" Except for guest lecturers, the dean, professors that think their lecture is important.........

Its getting ridiculous how slick I'm starting to see some schools pull this move and I'm confident my school isn't the only one to pull some of this stuff.

Would prefer every school was truthful so potential students could delineate what curriculum is best for them in stead of being a salty 2nd year wondering what-if they attended another school.

 

[Neopolymath]

A lot of schools are tricky about this as well. "yeah we have a teaching hospital" but really its a hospital near campus that we have preceptors. There is no residency (for any specialty).



Yeah we have a 100% Pass rate, but in order to sit you need a really high COMAT score in order to ensure there is zero chance of you failing.



"We don't have mandatory classes" Except for guest lecturers, the dean, professors that think their lecture is important.........

Its getting ridiculous how slick I'm starting to see some schools pull this move and I'm confident my school isn't the only one to pull some of this stuff.

Would prefer every school was truthful so potential students could delineate what curriculum is best for them in stead of being a salty 2nd year wondering what-if they attended another school.

My absolute favorite (not) is when there is a random regular faculty lecture in the middle of the term marked mandatory for "reasons." You walk out wondering if the only reason it was mandatory was because the lecture was straight trash and they knew even the regular class goers would miss it otherwise. Our school isn't a bad school. It will get you there and that's what matters most, but it sure does feel slimey at times.

 

[MrTaco92]

A lot of the time I still don't feel like a med student and I'm about to be a third year soon. I could probably work you up decently if you were my patient, but only if you presented to me as a series of multiple choice questions. I also probably can't explain much of any medicine all too well to anyone in person because all of the learning I've been doing the past two years has been "drive-by" learning. And if I were to explain any disease process to you I'd just regurgitate pathoma videos to you word for word. Basically yes imposter syndrome is pretty common.

Also, I'm 98.6% sure you did not unlock your full potential during your mcat studying. You don't realize how much extra reserve there is inside of you until you go through this process.

 

[musicmed]

One of the first things my admin said during orientation was, “You deserve to be here!” They would not have chosen you if they did not believe that you could handle the curriculum. I attend KCU and the curriculum has been hard but I’ve made it through. I also had many gap years and low MCAT so I did a SMP. During that SMP, I proved to myself that I could handle the courseload. You were able to do enough on the MCAT by studying yourself. That takes a lot of work and discipline. Don’t let fear keep you from pursuing your dreams. As someone said above, you’ll find you have more to give than you could imagine. And being a doctor will be worth it.

Med school is hard. Period. It’s not for everyone. It’s for those who are willing to sacrifice and never give up. You’ve already been accepted because they saw something in you and they believe you can handle the courseload. Believe in yourself and your abilities. You got this!

 

[Dharma]

This will not be the last time you experience imposter syndrome. It's healthy, to some degree. Just wait until you start residency and patients and their families are looking at you like you know everything...

 

[nlax30]

Trust me, imposter syndrome doesn't go away. After 7 years thus far of post-graduate training in my 2nd fellowship I still experience it to varying degrees. To that end I wouldn't let that feeling itself sway your decision.

Go to which school you think you will excel or feel more comfortable at. In most cases I would probably say the "better" one if there is an objective measure of that unless there's some other extenuating circumstance that would keep at one over the other (proximity to spouse, family, etc...)

In my class we had people from all sorts of backgrounds. Some straight from undergrad, some prior business owners (non-medicine), nurses, PAs and even PhDs. Obviously each person had their particular strengths and weaknesses but in general I'd say that within a few months we were all on the same level playing field.... med school seems to do that.

 

[shisong]

A lot of schools are tricky about this as well. "yeah we have a teaching hospital" but really its a hospital near campus that we have preceptors. There is no residency (for any specialty).



Yeah we have a 100% Pass rate, but in order to sit you need a really high COMAT score in order to ensure there is zero chance of you failing.



"We don't have mandatory classes" Except for guest lecturers, the dean, professors that think their lecture is important.........

Its getting ridiculous how slick I'm starting to see some schools pull this move and I'm confident my school isn't the only one to pull some of this stuff.

Would prefer every school was truthful so potential students could delineate what curriculum is best for them in stead of being a salty 2nd year wondering what-if they attended another school.

Some DO schools do have teaching hospital such as RowanSOM

 

[Candidate2017]

I am curious about a few things....

1.) Was there anyone else who experienced something similar to this prior to starting their own medical school journey? How did you deal with it? Were you ever able to deal with it?

2.) Is imposter syndrome something to seriously consider when making a choice between schools? I do not feel comfortable attending this first school despite it being a better school. Should I take this into consideration more than the other things we typically use to judge a medical school?

Any help would be much appreciated, and thank you if you took the time to read everything!

You don't sound like an impostor, you sound like a med student. Like everyone says, go to the school closest to your support system.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I don't think any med school is really any harder than another. Step 1 is the same exam for everyone. Drexel might have a lower average Step 1 than Harvard, but basically everyone passes at either. You won't fail Step 1 if you go to Harvard and pass if you go to Drexel. The better school is likely to have higher-quality educational faculty anyway.

Go to the school you want to go to. You're ready for med school. You're good enough.

I don't believe in the bolded part. I have attended both high rank and low rank schools. The difference between them is in the research the faculty conducts, but they can all still be piss poor at teaching. In fact, I had my best education taking classes at a community college because everyone was there wanting to teach.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Don’t get flustered over which school is better. Focus on which area will give you better opportunity to focus. Things like proximity to family, whether the people in the area more fit your personality, cost of living, things like that. Don’t be deterred by the “harder” school or think you’re settling by picking the “easier” school. Where will you most likely succeed based on the environment?

This x1000000. In the end it will be on you to perform, go to where you will have the best chance to focus.