Irrational fear I'm too dumb for med school

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cryhavoc

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I read before that someone of average intelligence who scores around a 24 on the MCAT can make it through med school with enough hard work. I tested before in my life at an IQ of 140, my MCAT was higher than 24 and I feel like I'm a masochistically hard worker.

But sometimes in lecture I feel like the professor is speaking a foreign language. I know the terms if I really sit and think about it but used so fluently in sentences, my mind goes blank and it sounds like gibberish. And the examples look like convoluted messes of chemicals and arrows.

I sometimes wonder how I am to remember all of this for boards.

I just feel so stupid. And I want to say I'm confident that I can make it but I'm afraid I'm too dumb all the time and I wonder how I am to survive.
 
It's entirely fine to feel scared and feel doubt. We were all there and we all got through it.

Medical school is also mind you, with some exception straightforward and does not require significant deciphering to make sense. Whether or not you are successful will significantly depend on both the amount of time you put in, but also your attitude towards medical school and medicine in general. If you can remember why you're doing this, that there is an end goal, and to also in the moment take pleasure in your education you will find yourself more than capable of succeeding.

Either way, fear is motivating. Don't half ass it and get too cocky.
 
I felt the same last year but after awhile the speed + language used in lecture become very easy to interpret on the fly. In fact, most of my notes were taken at home and it took forever as I just couldn't move fast enough. And by the middle of the year I was typing notes in class during lecture. It's a process, because keeping pace with lecture is one thing but you also develop a knack for what's important. So what's actually important is not likely all of those chemicals and arrows, the message is simpler and the diagrams are there for completeness sake. No worries man, you're not alone.
 
A therapist can help you with that.


cryhavoc said:
I read before that someone of average intelligence who scores around a 24 on the MCAT can make it through med school with enough hard work. I tested before in my life at an IQ of 140, my MCAT was higher than 24 and I feel like I'm a masochistically hard worker.

But sometimes in lecture I feel like the professor is speaking a foreign language. I know the terms if I really sit and think about it but used so fluently in sentences, my mind goes blank and it sounds like gibberish. And the examples look like convoluted messes of chemicals and arrows.

I sometimes wonder how I am to remember all of this for boards.

I just feel so stupid. And I want to say I'm confident that I can make it but I'm afraid I'm too dumb all the time and I wonder how I am to survive.
Click to expand...
 
I'm already aware I have issues internalizing my accomplishments. I'm not going to waste money to have someone tell me that.
 
cryhavoc said:
I'm already aware I have issues internalizing my accomplishments. I'm not going to waste money to have someone tell me that.
Click to expand...
"I'm already aware I have a bacterial infection eating the flesh off of my body, I'm not going to waste my money seeing a doctor to tell me that!!!!"

Get over yourself and see a mental health professional.
 
cryhavoc said:
I read before that someone of average intelligence who scores around a 24 on the MCAT can make it through med school with enough hard work. I tested before in my life at an IQ of 140, my MCAT was higher than 24 and I feel like I'm a masochistically hard worker.

But sometimes in lecture I feel like the professor is speaking a foreign language. I know the terms if I really sit and think about it but used so fluently in sentences, my mind goes blank and it sounds like gibberish. And the examples look like convoluted messes of chemicals and arrows.

I sometimes wonder how I am to remember all of this for boards.

I just feel so stupid. And I want to say I'm confident that I can make it but I'm afraid I'm too dumb all the time and I wonder how I am to survive.
Click to expand...

Have you taken a test yet? I bet when you do you will realize that they generally ask something to do with the bigger concepts that you are able to follow along with. Other people's situations may differ, but I found that med school tests are far less about minutiae than undergrad tests. You had to know more details for my tests in undergrad, but you have to know SO (50x, maybe) much more material overall in medical school.
 
Nontrad_DO_143 said:
"I'm already aware I have a bacterial infection eating the flesh off of my body, I'm not going to waste my money seeing a doctor to tell me that!!!!"

Get over yourself and see a mental health professional.
Click to expand...

Do they allow you to pay in cash and use a fake name? No way am I using a school one. I don't totally believe that it can't be used against me somehow.
 
cryhavoc said:
Do they allow you to pay in cash and use a fake name? No way am I using a school one. I don't totally believe that it can't be used against me somehow.
Click to expand...

This is actually a fair point, even if the risk is low it has the potential to come back and haunt you when you least expect it. If your school were attached to a university, then I suggest using their psychologist instead.
 
cryhavoc said:
Do they allow you to pay in cash and use a fake name? No way am I using a school one. I don't totally believe that it can't be used against me somehow.
Click to expand...

This is why people with legitimate problems are afraid of seeking help. People have created this esoteric false stigma that seeking mental health will lead to it being used against you.

No, you're paranoid as hell if you think your school is going to use it against you. There are services on campus for the reason that people will use them, and plenty of people will indeed use them. Adjustment issues are legitimate and common in medical school. People find out they have legitimate ADHD during medical school. And people occasionally have their heads up their asses and act backwards. These are all appropriate uses of your mental health services at your school. Better to use them before you end up with issues down the line if you indeed need them.
 
cryhavoc said:
I'm already aware I have issues internalizing my accomplishments. I'm not going to waste money to have someone tell me that.
Click to expand...

A therapist doesn't stop with telling you what your issue is. They guide you towards working it out in a way that will best make sense for you.... which, as of this point, despite knowing you have the problem, you haven't been able to do yourself.
 
cryhavoc said:
I read before that someone of average intelligence who scores around a 24 on the MCAT can make it through med school with enough hard work. I tested before in my life at an IQ of 140, my MCAT was higher than 24 and I feel like I'm a masochistically hard worker.

But sometimes in lecture I feel like the professor is speaking a foreign language. I know the terms if I really sit and think about it but used so fluently in sentences, my mind goes blank and it sounds like gibberish. And the examples look like convoluted messes of chemicals and arrows.

I sometimes wonder how I am to remember all of this for boards.

I just feel so stupid. And I want to say I'm confident that I can make it but I'm afraid I'm too dumb all the time and I wonder how I am to survive.
Click to expand...


Imposter syndrome -- I know it well --- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time --- If it's any help -- I had a 25P MCAT and a 3.2 SGPA with a 4.0 in prereqs -- degree was 17 years old, prereqs were community college --- I foolishly elected to drive over 1.5 hours each way to class every day my first pass through first year -- passed everything but the last class and only dropped it by 3 questions -- and I was old enough to have graduated college the year a few of my classmates were born. I repeated the year after moving closer and wound up graduating and am now in practice ---

Quit worrying about it. You're not the only special snowflake to go through this -- if the school didn't think you could make it, believe me, you wouldn't be there -- there were probably 150 applications for your seat and they picked you out of all of those ---

Get some
 
cryhavoc said:
I read before that someone of average intelligence who scores around a 24 on the MCAT can make it through med school with enough hard work. I tested before in my life at an IQ of 140, my MCAT was higher than 24 and I feel like I'm a masochistically hard worker.

But sometimes in lecture I feel like the professor is speaking a foreign language. I know the terms if I really sit and think about it but used so fluently in sentences, my mind goes blank and it sounds like gibberish. And the examples look like convoluted messes of chemicals and arrows.

I sometimes wonder how I am to remember all of this for boards.

I just feel so stupid. And I want to say I'm confident that I can make it but I'm afraid I'm too dumb all the time and I wonder how I am to survive.
Click to expand...
Intelligence and grades are not perfectly correlated. Hard work can overcome average intelligence, and many of the people I know who excelled in medical school were not brainiacs.

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile
 
JustPlainBill said:
Imposter syndrome -- I know it well --- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time --- If it's any help -- I had a 25P MCAT and a 3.2 SGPA with a 4.0 in prereqs -- degree was 17 years old, prereqs were community college --- I foolishly elected to drive over 1.5 hours each way to class every day my first pass through first year -- passed everything but the last class and only dropped it by 3 questions -- and I was old enough to have graduated college the year a few of my classmates were born. I repeated the year after moving closer and wound up graduating and am now in practice ---

Quit worrying about it. You're not the only special snowflake to go through this -- if the school didn't think you could make it, believe me, you wouldn't be there -- there were probably 150 applications for your seat and they picked you out of all of those ---

Get some
Click to expand...
Bang bang.
 
JustPlainBill said:
Imposter syndrome -- I know it well --- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time --- If it's any help -- I had a 25P MCAT and a 3.2 SGPA with a 4.0 in prereqs -- degree was 17 years old, prereqs were community college --- I foolishly elected to drive over 1.5 hours each way to class every day my first pass through first year -- passed everything but the last class and only dropped it by 3 questions -- and I was old enough to have graduated college the year a few of my classmates were born. I repeated the year after moving closer and wound up graduating and am now in practice ---

Quit worrying about it. You're not the only special snowflake to go through this -- if the school didn't think you could make it, believe me, you wouldn't be there -- there were probably 150 applications for your seat and they picked you out of all of those ---

Get some
Click to expand...

I ****ing love you Bill. Always speaking the damn truth!
 
I feel the same way all the time, it has been a long and bumpy ride so far especially being a non trad and mother of 2 little ones, but pure grit and hard work and 0.01 luck will get you through. Keep pushing the envelope a bit further.
 
You may be too dumb for ALLOPATHIC medical school, but friend........you are not too dumb for OSTEOPATHIC medical school.
 
Could we maybe not turn this into an MD vs DO thread? Or a doctors vs nurses thread? :hijacked:


"Imposter syndrome" affects a lot of people. So does medical-school-induced-anxiety. Those are probably worth discussing, whereas I'm pretty sure we've beaten the other two topics to death.
 
cryhavoc said:
I read before that someone of average intelligence who scores around a 24 on the MCAT can make it through med school with enough hard work. I tested before in my life at an IQ of 140, my MCAT was higher than 24 and I feel like I'm a masochistically hard worker.

But sometimes in lecture I feel like the professor is speaking a foreign language. I know the terms if I really sit and think about it but used so fluently in sentences, my mind goes blank and it sounds like gibberish. And the examples look like convoluted messes of chemicals and arrows.

I sometimes wonder how I am to remember all of this for boards.

I just feel so stupid. And I want to say I'm confident that I can make it but I'm afraid I'm too dumb all the time and I wonder how I am to survive.
Click to expand...
It takes time to adjust to. You need to really try and adapt your brain to absorbing such dense material, as it isn't something you are likely used to. Eventually things all start clicking into place. I felt like an idiot the first few weeks of CBL, but by the end of second year, I could practically do a case in my sleep. Just give it time.
 
ortnakas said:
Could we maybe not turn this into an MD vs DO thread? Or a doctors vs nurses thread? :hijacked:


"Imposter syndrome" affects a lot of people. So does medical-school-induced-anxiety. Those are probably worth discussing, whereas I'm pretty sure we've beaten the other two topics to death.
Click to expand...

My apologies -- that one slipped past the executive function/cognitive filter ---
 
I'm worried about you havoc. An inability to seek help is one thing, but paranoia is quite another. Go look up HIPPA while you're at it.


cryhavoc said:
Do they allow you to pay in cash and use a fake name? No way am I using a school one. I don't totally believe that it can't be used against me somehow.
Click to expand...
 
Lol Consigliere is just keeping it real.

Seeing and speaking to a majority of my classmates... a lot of us didn't have great stats. NOT IMPLYING WE WERE DUMB... but speaking for myself... I was unmotivated.

As an osteopathic med student, I honestly wish I had worked harder to attend a MD program. I'm thankful, but to all future pre-meds reading this... guys... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEE do yourself a favor... keep that GPA high... keep that MCAT high... get meaningful ECs and APPLY EARLY and TO EVERY MD SCHOOL you can afford to.

DO is a great backup if you can get a DO LOR too though.

Before all the hardcore DO folks get antsy... chill and hear me out.

There are A LOT of sensitive people out there in the med field and I am sure I will ruffle some feathers... but I have YET to meet somebody that willingly chose to attend an osteopathic program over a DO one.

There are a lot of peeps out there with really terrible inferiority complexes which will only add more credibility to those people that get butthurt over such comments.

I only applied to DO programs because I wasn't competitive for MD programs at all. That is the truth and it doesn't bother me at all. I played the application game and it worked out well and I am very grateful and appreciative of the opportunity.

I am happy to be at a great DO school but let's not kid ourselves... OPP and an extra set of board exams are a time commitment and money commitment that could be spent on other meaningful areas.

It's not that MDs will be BETTER doctors than us DOs... or vice versa... but the fact is that MDs have overall better opportunities available in terms of med school logistics (classes, board prep, time devoted to certain material, rotations, etc.)

Just my unbiased and humble opinion. Take it for what it is.
 
Last edited:
DetectiveAlonzo said:
I have YET to meet somebody that willingly chose to attend an osteopathic program over a DO one.

There are a lot of peeps out there with really terrible inferiority complexes which will only add more credibility to those people that get butthurt over such comments.

I only applied to DO programs because I wasn't competitive for MD programs at all. That is the truth and it doesn't bother me at all. I played the application game and it worked out well and I am very grateful and appreciative of the opportunity.

I am happy to be at a great DO school but let's not kid ourselves... OPP and an extra set of board exams are a time commitment and money commitment that could be spent on other meaningful areas.

It's not that MDs will be BETTER doctors than us DOs... or vice versa... but the fact is that MDs have overall better opportunities available in terms of med school logistics (classes, board prep, time devoted to certain material, rotations, etc.)
Click to expand...
I chose DO over MD (which I probably could have gotten into "mid-tier" programs if I wanted) because my primary life interests are business focused and I'll probably stay in CA. I'm very much into finding opportunities in combating the "physician shortage" by decreasing demand for them, as we currently see in clinical pathology through use of technology. While abundant "bedside manner" courses in a DO curriculum could help me actually practice medicine, there are a lot of highly marketable aspects to prospective business-folk, in CA at least. With all the certified-organic, holistic, and environmentally-friendly hype in this state, there are definitely profitable niches to be claimed by bone wizards here. It would be slightly more difficult to do as an MD in the same amount of time, not due to training, but to the general networking structure that differs between the two branches.

I'm not sure that's why my 200+ classmates went DO though...
 
Doubt kills more dreams than failure. DO NOT DOUBT YOURSELF!
 
JustPlainBill said:
Imposter syndrome -- I know it well --- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time ...
Click to expand...
I was going to post this reply! That's one of my favorite sayings.
Before I started, I was certain that I would have to repeat Anatomy. Then when I passed Anatomy, I just "knew" that I wouldn't be able to make it past our medical biochem course. Then a while after passing that, I decided to stop trying to expect failure and instead just take it one exam at a time - just put forth a good, honest effort to make it through just one more test, one more course, one more board exam, one more rotation or one more shelf exam. While I still worry about things and while there are no guarantees of success, trying to focus more on accomplishing realistic short-term goals rather than worrying about long-term failure has made this process a lot more tolerable and (dare I say) even enjoyable. Keeping this mindset takes effort but it is doable.

But don't be afraid to seek professional help if these doubts persist! Better to do it now rather than to wait for a crisis. And no; getting help will not be used against you.
 
darknecrosforte said:
I chose DO over MD (which I probably could have gotten into "mid-tier" programs if I wanted) because my primary life interests are business focused and I'll probably stay in CA. I'm very much into finding opportunities in combating the "physician shortage" by decreasing demand for them, as we currently see in clinical pathology through use of technology. While abundant "bedside manner" courses in a DO curriculum could help me actually practice medicine, there are a lot of highly marketable aspects to prospective business-folk, in CA at least. With all the certified-organic, holistic, and environmentally-friendly hype in this state, there are definitely profitable niches to be claimed by bone wizards here. It would be slightly more difficult to do as an MD in the same amount of time, not due to training, but to the general networking structure that differs between the two branches.

I'm not sure that's why my 200+ classmates went DO though...
Click to expand...
Some of them are likely there because it's in California. But you might be surprised by the number who actually wanted to become DOs, or are at least willing to explore OMM with an open mind - SAAO meetings and events are good places to find out who they are. Depending on where you do your OMM rotation, you'll see that there absolutely is a market for OMM docs, and even just primary care physicians comfortable with touching their patients.
 
DetectiveAlonzo said:
Lol Consigliere is just keeping it real.

Seeing and speaking to a majority of my classmates... a lot of us didn't have great stats. NOT IMPLYING WE WERE DUMB... but speaking for myself... I was unmotivated.

As an osteopathic med student, I honestly wish I had worked harder to attend a MD program. I'm thankful, but to all future pre-meds reading this... guys... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEE do yourself a favor... keep that GPA high... keep that MCAT high... get meaningful ECs and APPLY EARLY and TO EVERY MD SCHOOL you can afford to.

DO is a great backup if you can get a DO LOR too though.

Before all the hardcore DO folks get antsy... chill and hear me out.

There are A LOT of sensitive people out there in the med field and I am sure I will ruffle some feathers... but I have YET to meet somebody that willingly chose to attend an osteopathic program over a DO one.

There are a lot of peeps out there with really terrible inferiority complexes which will only add more credibility to those people that get butthurt over such comments.

I only applied to DO programs because I wasn't competitive for MD programs at all. That is the truth and it doesn't bother me at all. I played the application game and it worked out well and I am very grateful and appreciative of the opportunity.

I am happy to be at a great DO school but let's not kid ourselves... OPP and an extra set of board exams are a time commitment and money commitment that could be spent on other meaningful areas.

It's not that MDs will be BETTER doctors than us DOs... or vice versa... but the fact is that MDs have overall better opportunities available in terms of med school logistics (classes, board prep, time devoted to certain material, rotations, etc.)

Just my unbiased and humble opinion. Take it for what it is.
Click to expand...
I'm a DO anesthesiologist and make more than 95% of physicians in practice. Just work hard and have a good personality - you'll be successful.
 
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