Is it normal to feel this stupid and lazy during fourth year?

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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bahdahboom

bahdahboom

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Is it normal to feel as if it's getting harder and harder to show up to clinic and read the required materials, or is it just me? I try to show up fairly early, but if I dont or I'm late, I dont even care. I really want to just pass these last few rotations (I think I will), but I am just unmotivated to "show off" as much as I did third year. Even the attending I work with has made comments about my "lack of interest". When I'm asked a clinical question, my mind just goes blank and it takes me a while to answer the simplest question. Most of my rotations, I have been the only medical student so I can't tell if it's normal among MS4s because we haven't been studying and senioritis has kicked in or... if I need to do some personal soul-searching.

What say you all?
 
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Even when I show up and am interested, my preceptors seem to have mentally checked out FOR me. They expect next to nothing from me, and if I joke about not going to work, they basically tell me...don't, nobody would care.
 
OP, you're a typical 4th year. Congratulations. Try not to seem soo uninterested that you potentially fail, but it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that you don't care about impressing attendings (or anyone for that matter) anymore.

bananafish94 said:
4th year has not been as advertised thus far. High-stakes sub-Is, studying for CK, months of interviews, it’s exhausting. I was told that the electives would be the promise land where you get out at 10:30 but alas that hasn’t been the case. Is it March yet?
Click to expand...

After sub-Is, interviews, and boards you'll be fine. First half of 4th year is rough, second half was still the best time of my life.
 
Yep

I once had an attending tell me that "everyone deserves a 4th year of med school, even people who didn't go to medical school, where else do you get credit for having zero responsibilities to anyone but yourself?!"

The best trick my friends and I discovered was that we could tell our attendings every month that we had scheduled Step 2 CS during the month. It was perfect: a mandatory test, which was hard to schedule, that you didn't really have to study for but that required at least 2 days for travel (possibly more), that they couldn't tell you not to go to. Bingo, long weekend.
 
BigRedBeta said:
The best trick my friends and I discovered was that we could tell our attendings every month that we had scheduled Step 2 CS during the month. It was perfect: a mandatory test, which was hard to schedule, that you didn't really have to study for but that required at least 2 days for travel (possibly more), that they couldn't tell you not to go to. Bingo, long weekend.
Click to expand...

Genius.
 
I wish I had an attending who didn't care. Mine keeps mentioning how i'll be a resident soon so I better start acting like one.

I guess he didn't get the memo that during fourth year, we act less as doctors now than we did during any other year of medical school.

BigRedBeta said:
Yep

I once had an attending tell me that "everyone deserves a 4th year of med school, even people who didn't go to medical school, where else do you get credit for having zero responsibilities to anyone but yourself?!"

The best trick my friends and I discovered was that we could tell our attendings every month that we had scheduled Step 2 CS during the month. It was perfect: a mandatory test, which was hard to schedule, that you didn't really have to study for but that required at least 2 days for travel (possibly more), that they couldn't tell you not to go to. Bingo, long weekend.
Click to expand...
Very smart, I might have to pull out that excuse one of these days!
 
bananafish94 said:
4th year has not been as advertised thus far. High-stakes sub-Is, studying for CK, months of interviews, it’s exhausting. I was told that the electives would be the promise land where you get out at 10:30 but alas that hasn’t been the case. Is it March yet?
Click to expand...
SAME. I am just about as exhausted as a 4th year as I was as a 3rd year.
 
The pinnacle of my 4th year was doing 6 weeks of gas rotation with a friend who had just finished residency. It was awesome. I got to try a couple procedures and tubes, shoot the **** and talk about sports during the cases, and he'd tell me to go home by 10:30 AM.

OP you're doing fine.
 
You're not alone. I'm not as motivated anymore to impress anyone. Unfortunatrely, I stacked my intensive required 4th year core rotations towards the end of my fourth year to make way for interview season, so can't slack off.
 
bananafish94 said:
4th year has not been as advertised thus far. High-stakes sub-Is, studying for CK, months of interviews, it’s exhausting. I was told that the electives would be the promise land where you get out at 10:30 but alas that hasn’t been the case. Is it March yet?
Click to expand...

I remember following the saga of your application to medical schools. Now here we are and you're applying for residency. The days are long but the years are short :scared::scared::scared:

 
Gurby said:
I remember following the saga of your application to medical schools. Now here we are and you're applying for residency. The days are long but the years are short :scared::scared::scared:

Click to expand...

It’s been a wild, wild ride. Thankfully graduation is a light at the end of the tunnel that I will hopefully enjoy before plunging into an even longer and scarier tunnel.
 
bananafish94 said:
It’s been a wild, wild ride. Thankfully graduation is a light at the end of the tunnel that I will hopefully enjoy before plunging into an even longer and scarier tunnel.
Click to expand...
i remember your journey too! And here we are during fourth year together
If you can make it this far, you can conquer the rest 🙂
 
Am on EM right now and I'm honestly impressed with myself with how much I don't care anymore about presenting/having a good plan lol. I think the preceptors know.

I have one more harder rotation next month on interventional cards and then after that it's smooth sailing.
 
bahdahboom said:
Is it normal to feel as if it's getting harder and harder to show up to clinic and read the required materials, or is it just me? I try to show up fairly early, but if I dont or I'm late, I dont even care. I really want to just pass these last few rotations (I think I will), but I am just unmotivated to "show off" as much as I did third year. Even the attending I work with has made comments about my "lack of interest". When I'm asked a clinical question, my mind just goes blank and it takes me a while to answer the simplest question. Most of my rotations, I have been the only medical student so I can't tell if it's normal among MS4s because we haven't been studying and senioritis has kicked in or... if I need to do some personal soul-searching.

What say you all?
Click to expand...
I might be your twin lol.
 
I'm currently near the end of a stretch where I did radiology, took a vacation month for interviews, had 3 weeks of winter break and am now on a research elective so when I start my rotation next month it'll be my first time seeing a patient since October lol
 
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