Is it ok to just not like medical school?

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bumpy

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Sometimes I feel so out of place in medical school. I find a lot of the material dry and boring (and there's just way too much of it) and, to be honest, I kind of hate the social scene at my medical school. There are nice folks for sure in my class, but I feel like there are a whole lot of malignant, abnormal (in a bad way) personalities, too. A lot of my class seems to be some combination of obsessive, hyper type A, immature, gossipy, cliquish, in need of loads of external validation and insecure. Just thinking about having to go to mandatory classes and small group sessions makes me feel awful. The one thing I hold onto is the feeling that there is a specialty nestled within medicine that I feel I would be good at and be able to make a meaningful life out of. But the process of getting there is one that I feel very little connection to. Anyone feel like they are in a similar boat?
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Hang in there. I sometimes feel the same way because I'm a bit older than my classmates. Just remind yourself of why you went into medicine in the first place and make use of your social support outside of med school too. Give it time and I'm sure you find people that mesh with you.
 
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I could have written this whole post myself 🙁

The cliques, the jerks, the type A personalities, the gunners, the insane amount of information, the loneliness, the list goes on. On top of it all most of my class thinks I'm kind of weird. Well luckily I have like one or two people in my class that like me for who I am.

I don't have much advice to give you tbh. I think about dropping out all of the time. On top of that I'm barely passing. *shrugs*
 
there are nice and bad people in any environment, but in med school it is amplified because everyone is so on edge, and the worst traits come out in times of constant stress. you'll get through it and find "your people" in residency. many of us were in the same boat, came out the other side and are happy. just focus on the things you like-- interesting cases, patients etc. it will get better... and if it doesn't, it will end in 4 years or less.
 
I think your feelings are very normal. You didn't go to med school to be an M1-2 forever. Just get through them, study hard for step 1, try to keep up some personal life to maintain your sanity, and remember it doesn't have to be a personal life surrounded by your fellow med students.
 
SpartanWolverine said:
At the risk of sounding cliche, just make it through the preclinical years learning the most you can and get into the hospital. Exactly like you hint at, there are many personality types and you'll find a specialty that you mesh well with. Hang in there -- it goes by quickly!
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Hey now. Some of us hated M3-4.
 
cj_cregg said:
Every SDN poster (and others in real life) seems to think that everybody else in their class is immature, annoying, hypercompetitive, etc. Either we are all that way and can't admit it to ourselves, or we're not trying hard enough to get to know the many awesome med students who are out there.

There are definitely people in my class who are like you describe, OP, but most of them are good people (though the stress can certainly bring out their worst traits). There are very few people at my school I ended up not liking after taking some time and energy to get to know them. Find your people and med school might be a little easier/more enjoyable for you.
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Was just going to say exactly this. I feel like every couple of weeks I see a thread pop up where a different person says that his/her med school classmates are all really annoying people, and it really makes me wonder what schools you all are going to where all your classmates are like this.

I'm sure there are some annoying and weird people in your class, it's like that everywhere. If you're going to put 100-200 people from very different backgrounds together into a class you're bound to strike out on some people and let in some gunners/weirdos/a**holes whatever. But just make an effort to talk to or get to know a few people that you think you might gel with or have some things in common with, and try to do things with those people outside of class --> grabbing food, watching a movie, whatever.

I know how you feel because I feel the same way for different reasons. I actually like my classmates as a whole quite a bit, but I haven't really been able to form very close friendships with anyone in my class. My best friends are without a doubt my college friends, and I actually talk to them way more (via text/phone) than my classmates. I still do a good number of fun things with classmates but it just doesn't feel the same. I would just recommend working hard, taking care of school first and when you do have free time, reach out to some people you think you like and see if they're willing to hang out.
 
cj_cregg said:
Every SDN poster (and others in real life) seems to think that everybody else in their class is immature, annoying, hypercompetitive, etc. Either we are all that way and can't admit it to ourselves, or we're not trying hard enough to get to know the many awesome med students who are out there.

There are definitely people in my class who are like you describe, OP, but most of them are good people (though the stress can certainly bring out their worst traits). There are very few people at my school I ended up not liking after taking some time and energy to get to know them. Find your people and med school might be a little easier/more enjoyable for you.
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Yup, this is probably true. However, I still think there is something about med school and the general type of person who is intrinsically drawn to this kind of environment that is probably pretty different from most other academic settings. I don't think there are a lot of evil people in my class, but I do think there are a lot of people with huge egos in med school (maybe trying to cover up some sort of insecurity) that have an abnormal, obsessive focus on personal ambition and oftentimes a certain lack of self awareness. I think med school probably selects for these mega type A personalities as it can be such a horrific process and only certain people will subject themselves to this kind of pain. It's definitely a strange environment and one that I haven't really felt comfortable in. But you're right that there are some kind, genuine folks in the mix. I just want to meet a few people that I feel comfortable with....fingers crossed.
 
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Also wanted to chime in to say to remember that Med School is just temporary, and does not represent what you will be doing your whole life.

When you get to M3 and M4, you’ll hardly see your classmates because you will all be spread out on different rotations. I thought the clinical years were more bearable because I was excited to finally see patients.

Residency is a whole other can of worms, but at least you are in your chosen speciality. As much as residency sucks, it’s been the most rewarding part of my career thus far. I love what I do.

Hang in there.




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dude i ****ing hated med school. i loved what i was learning but couldn't stand the social scene nor the way the curriculum was taught. still went through it because i feel a calling.
 
I worked for a few years before going back to medical school. Let me tell you, even getting inundated with information like this is still better than working in a cubicle / office having to do work that you know is non sense for bosses that are incompetent. I get to make my own schedule most of the time, I get lots of free time, and I get to learn a lot of new information I didn't know before. My peers are mostly well adjusted driven people except the one or two insufferable pricks that I try avoid as much as I can.
 
libertyyne said:
I worked for a few years before going back to medical school. Let me tell you, even getting inundated with information like this is still better than working in a cubicle / office having to do work that you know is non sense for bosses that are incompetent. I get to make my own schedule most of the time, I get lots of free time, and I get to learn a lot of new information I didn't know before. My peers are mostly well adjusted driven people except the one or two insufferable pricks that I try avoid as much as I can.
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Except with work, you get money and actual free time where you aren't thinking about "I should be studying" every moment of the day. I can't wait for the day I start to work.
 
HueySmith said:
Except with work, you get money and actual free time where you aren't thinking about "I should be studying" every moment of the day. I can't wait for the day I start to work.
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You are right about the money part, But the people complaining about school are going to be the same people complaining about work too.
 
To echo some of the views shared here: i think most high-stress environments where people feel like they are competing for only a few spots will invariably attract hypercompetitive people and will also make people feel distant from one another. So many examples of this - elite athletic summer camps, big banking firms/law firms, etc...

And to insert some personal experience: some "gunners" are actually really nice, genuine people if you get to know them and some of the "nice med students" are actually POSs that put on a facade.

I think the best thing you can do is look for genuine people. It can be very difficult to find but maybe if you open up to people youll find that youll get some responses and youll make real friends.

Also, dont fall victim to criticizing others without really knowing them. Try to accept everyone and approach everyone with an open-mind, even if they do seem like jerks. I have had countless experiences of prejudging someone only to realize they were not who I thought they were at all.
 
sharkbyte said:
Was just going to say exactly this. I feel like every couple of weeks I see a thread pop up where a different person says that his/her med school classmates are all really annoying people, and it really makes me wonder what schools you all are going to where all your classmates are like this.

I'm sure there are some annoying and weird people in your class, it's like that everywhere. If you're going to put 100-200 people from very different backgrounds together into a class you're bound to strike out on some people and let in some gunners/weirdos/a**holes whatever. But just make an effort to talk to or get to know a few people that you think you might gel with or have some things in common with, and try to do things with those people outside of class --> grabbing food, watching a movie, whatever.

I know how you feel because I feel the same way for different reasons. I actually like my classmates as a whole quite a bit, but I haven't really been able to form very close friendships with anyone in my class. My best friends are without a doubt my college friends, and I actually talk to them way more (via text/phone) than my classmates. I still do a good number of fun things with classmates but it just doesn't feel the same. I would just recommend working hard, taking care of school first and when you do have free time, reach out to some people you think you like and see if they're willing to hang out.
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Yea I agree with above for the most part.

To OP, some people will be lost on you but don't count out everyone. Try to reach out to some folks; it'll be good practice for life as we won't always be surrounded by people we automatically like straight out of the gate. If you're a first year, you still have time be pleasantly surprised by some classmates. If you're a second year, it'll be over soon haha. Either way, do what works for you and don't feel the need to be co-dependent on them. I'm a firm believer in maintaining your relationships outside of medicine (family, college friends, other life friends, etc).

We're adults now. If you don't like something you have to ability to fix it whether it's your outlook on situations or direct actions to change your environment.
 
libertyyne said:
I worked for a few years before going back to medical school. Let me tell you, even getting inundated with information like this is still better than working in a cubicle / office having to do work that you know is non sense for bosses that are incompetent. I get to make my own schedule most of the time, I get lots of free time, and I get to learn a lot of new information I didn't know before. My peers are mostly well adjusted driven people except the one or two insufferable pricks that I try avoid as much as I can.
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I agree with this. Anyone who’s worked full time before med school in a menial job such as an orderly, scribe, phlebotomist, etc knows that working 8+ hours a day can be taxing if the work is stressful. I’m way happier learning the human body all day than doing low wage tasks all day. Studying preclinical medicine is a lot of material but the actual studying is relaxing. Except when there’s an exam, that’s a different story.
 
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