Least Favorite Year of Medical School?

[Trismegistus4]

My theory is- the only people who really complain about 3rd year as being some sort of hell probably have never worked at a real job outside of being a student.

Not true. I worked a real job for 5 years before medical school. Of course, I hated that too. I'm forced to conclude I was born to be independently wealthy. Ahh, retirement--it's wasted on the old.

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[da8s0859q]

HELLO Guys,

I'm in my second year, and the simplest words to clarify my feelings is "it sucks" but last year was way more harder and much boring...!!

I'm totally surprised of those saying year 3 or 4 is the least favorite, I don't think so, cuz while we are deeply depressed from our Pathology and Pharma and Neuro, they're actually enjoying their clinical experience.. It's fun that you're carrying your Stethoscope and looks like a senior consultant ;D

So, I agree with those; 1st year then the 2nd one...

btw.. I have my final Pharma exam after 2 days...... I'm bored to death!!!

:'(

Are you at a US med school?

 

[theRighteousDoc]

I disagree with this. I've had a fun time on rotations. Yes, it's work, but you're not working THAT much. I've never had q4 call or worked 6 weeks straight and I've done ob/gyn and surgery already. Maybe it's different from school to school, but I've never had hours that were so horrible I couldn't stand it.

Other students aren't as much of gunners as you think. At my school, we try to help each other out for the most part. Plus, evaluations are not going to make or break your grade. Everyone does pretty much the same on that component of the grade. It's the shelf that really determines what you end up with on the rotation. That is 100% in your control and studying for it isn't as awful as you'd think. I read up on my patients during the week (1-2 hours/day)and put in 2-3 hours a day on the weekend for my shelfs thus far. I've felt confident walking out of the shelf exams and departmental exams. What you're learning on the wards isn't so far off of what's on the exams either. Residents would also try to teach us things that were high yield for the shelf in our downtime.

Asskissery isn't a necessary evil. If you show up on time, look interested, and are willing to help, you'll be fine. That's been my experience thus far. I guess YMMV.

Are you at a US med school?

Nope, I believe U.S med students are enjoying their summer

For me, my summer will starts after a week

 

[da8s0859q]

Nope, I believe U.S med students are enjoying their summer

For me, my summer will starts after a week

Oh yes, we are. What country? Your other post gives it away... just curious if sentiment about the years is different at all from place to place.

 

[theRighteousDoc]

Oh yes, we are. What country? Your other post gives it away... just curious if sentiment about the years is different at all from place to place.

Saudi Arabia

I think, however, the years are the same in difficulty either here or in the U.S ..

Or could be even harder here!!!! :S

 

[Jolie South]

My school does Q4 call for surgery, internal medicine, and and Ob/Gyn. Several weeks without a break is surprisingly common too. You get 1 day 'off' a week, but if you have class time you still need to show up on your off day, you're only excused from wards. Since you also can't schedule your day off for precall or postcall (which are deliberately scheduled for days when you don't have class) there is a 50% chance that whenever you have a day off that day will involve 4+ hours of class. Going 6 weeks without a 24 hour break is a real run of bad luck, but at a 1/64 chance it's likely to hapeen to at least 9 of my classmates (three 8 week rotations will Q4 call).

I don't know how evaluations don't make or break your grade when they're 80% of your grade, which it is on at least some rotations here. The shelf exam might break your gade but it's not going to get you honors if your attending thinks you don't deserve it.

Well, it seems our schools operate differently with regards to scheduling and call. I flat out never worked the hours that you describe, nor did my classmates.

As far as evaluations, how can they make or break your grade when everyone gets essentially the same grade on evals (unless you're a clinical genius superstar or a social deviant)? If everyone gets the same for 80% or 50% or 60% or whatever of the rotation grade, that grade is essentially null and the shelf is the determining factor, unless you're talking about set grade cutoffs. I'd wager to say that the spread of grades on the shelf is much wider than that of subjective evaluations. Unless you make a big impression (bad or good) on the folks you work with, you're probably going to get an ok/good grade in that area. I've heard this personally from residents that have graded me. Plus, on big rotations, the evals are an average of different attendings and residents on different services. No one person has that much power over your eval grade, for us at least. It's not the attending that determines whether you get honors, but the clerkship director who takes all the components of your grade into consideration.

 

[Perrotfish]

As far as evaluations, how can they make or break your grade when everyone gets essentially the same grade on evals (unless you're a clinical genius superstar or a social deviant)? If everyone gets the same for 80% or 50% or 60% or whatever of the rotation grade, that grade is essentially null and the shelf is the determining factor, unless you're talking about set grade cutoffs. I'd wager to say that the spread of grades on the shelf is much wider than that of subjective evaluations. Unless you make a big impression (bad or good) on the folks you work with, you're probably going to get an ok/good grade in that area. I've heard this personally from residents that have graded me. Plus, on big rotations, the evals are an average of different attendings and residents on different services. No one person has that much power over your eval grade, for us at least. It's not the attending that determines whether you get honors, but the clerkship director who takes all the components of your grade into consideration.

The attendings grade you on a 1-5 scale, and I know that many attendings do, in fact, give some students 5s, some 4s, and some 3s based on your 'performance' (which I unfortunately think is more tied into your interpersonal skills than the attending will ever admit). Since 2s and 1s are failing they're much rarer, of course. You're right that the grade is an average of several different attendings but it is just that, a numerical average. The clerkship director doesn't decide you're grade, (s)he just averages them together.

 

[mTOR]

^Exactly.


My school grades pretty similarly, except our eval scale goes from 1 - 4! That's right, FOUR!!!!! To add insult to injury, these are some of the adjectives and phrases taken from each category's description on our actual evaluation form (caps added by me for emphasis, of course, lmao):

1 = "major deficiencies", "great difficulty", "unacceptable"
2 = "good", "adequate", "does reasonably well"
3 = "Very good", "Strong work ethic", "Accurate"
4 = "OUTSTANDING", "EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE", "HIGHLY EFFECTIVE"

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Basically, at our school you're either a SUPERSTAR or a 3/4 (75%!!!) or WORSE (average is technically a 2/4 by category descriptor!!!! 50%!). In fact, you actually have to really go out of your way to earn a 3. Coasting by on any given rotation CAN get you a 2! Which can put you into remediation consideration if the other parts of your grade (e.g., shelf and other crappy hoops you gotta jump through) aren't on point! This leads to an unfortunate environment RIPE for gunnerism and blatant asskissery. Thankfully, most attendings recognize the harshness of our grading and try to avoid giving 2's. But 4's are still as rare as ever! The average score is a 3, and with that constituting the majority of your grade it puts you COMPLETELY OUT of contention for an Honors no matter HOW HIGH you shelf score is!!! (I should mention, Honors is 3.5 and above here. Shelf score of 99th %ile is converted into a 4 on the 4 point scaled score and AT MOST, it constitutes 15 - 20%).

In my own case, I've made 95th%ile and above on every shelf. And actually, despite my inability to become an artificial shell of fakeness and manufactured enthusiasm, I somehow dodged the dreaded 2's. I, however, could only muster 4's from the teams in the rotations I was actually considering. Likewise, my 3rd year grades reflects THIS more-so than anything else! Whatever; third year is a game that, at my school, was clearly designed to do just that (i.e., heavily weighted subjective-grading to identify people who are either genuinely interested in a given rotation or gunners who are forced to feign interest and enthusiasm by virtue of considering highly competitive specialties). It's the nature of the beast.

 

[theVster]

This isn't even a competition. First-year blew monkey ass turd chunks. From the esoteric material of ALL first-year courses except for the Physiological Systems class, to me having no clue what/who/where the hell anything was (while a good 2/3 + of my class had lived within 25-30 miles of the school before medical school), to the B.S. of classmates actually saying out loud: "Well I really want to be friends with so-and-so these next 4 years, but not THAT person, let's not invite him/her" , to a host of other personal problems... basically the realization that no one was really looking out for me... GODDAMMIT. Medical school turned into complete social failure for me, when you realize you are programmed completely differently from everyone else around you, and no one around you knows or wants to know anything else about you, other than whatever they judge from the outside. This was the first time in my life I truly felt 100% alone in the world. I felt completely and utterly worthless.

But for those who wait, with each curse comes a blessing. I worked hard to get back some of the confidence I once had, and channeled my frustration and nervous energy into something positive. I stopped caring about what everyone around me thought. And I prayed... a lot. And in the process, I've come across too many blessings to count. It's pretty cool to look back at how far I've come since then.

First-year was when I got sucked into this messed-up vortex without a seatbelt or a helmet. Second-year was when my middle finger went up in the air. And third-year was when I started to write my story.

Lol. This sounds exactly like what my first year was like. I feel your pain brother.

 

[Perrotfish]

3rd year story: apparently there are multiple attendings on my last rotation that gave out nothing but honors. Not my attending, though. Any attempt to normalize the grades? Of course not. Also 20% of my grade will be given by attendings on 'outpatient experiences' who I met for a single day. I didn't present any patients, I didn't devise any treatment plans, and they didn't ask me any questions. I'm supposed to stand out from everyone else how, exactly? F- this year.

 

[drizzt3117]

I thought first year was awesome. Barely studied, did a lot of research, worked out a lot, yeah anatomy sucked, but whatevs. 2nd year was a lot more work, but wasn't so bad, definitely a higher stress level. We'll see how 3rd year goes.

 

[da8s0859q]

I thought first year was awesome. Barely studied...

What counts as barely studied?

 

[radiodoc99]

4th yr

 

[drizzt3117]

What counts as barely studied?

Maybe an hour to do the reading each night, and then ~4 days of 5-7 hours before exams for every class except anatomy. Anatomy I spent a lot of time on simply because I'm not very good at visualizing all the stuff in 3D, so I had to read over the notes a lot and be in lab a good amount. I probably averaged 6-8 hours a day of studying through 2nd year, although that wasn't so bad because I didn't go to class.

 

[auburnO5]

No offense, but all the people saying that the first year of medical school is "awesome" are f*ing crazy, and must have no life.

Drinking cold beer on the beach with friends is awesome.

Traveling to cool places and trying new things is awesome.

Having your head buried in a text book for countless hours day in and day out, is not awesome.

I feel sorry for some of you people.

 

[MilkmanAl]

After doing my surgery rotation, I feel pretty confident casting my vote for 1st year. I can't see things getting much worse this year or next, and that was nowhere near as bad as M1. Anatomy can blow me.

 

[2012mdc]

No offense, but all the people saying that the first year of medical school is "awesome" are f*ing crazy, and must have no life.

Drinking cold beer on the beach with friends is awesome.

Traveling to cool places and trying new things is awesome.

Having your head buried in a text book for countless hours day in and day out, is not awesome.

I feel sorry for some of you people.

1st year isn't awesome but you do have a lot of free time compared to the other years. 1st year sucks b/c of the material and lack of relevance (voted it the worst) but I still found time to go on trips - Miami, Vegas, Cali, Tahoe etc.

2nd year was a b.itch because of the amount of material but it was pretty interesting for the most part especially the expanded clinical experiences. Step 1 studying was tough but it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be.

I just finished my 1st rotation (Surgery) and while it was exhausting it was a great experience. Already understand why most people (at least at my school) say 3rd year is so much better

1st year is the worst but at least you get free time and a real summer at the end of it

 

[BozoSparky]

sorry, this has probably already been addressed...didn't read the whole thread, but what weird poll results...1st year is the worst???

2nd and 3rd year were pretty rough for me...even if you like the work during 3rd year, it's a grind.

4th year is nice after the difficult sub-I's are done.

 

[deleted50541]

I was thinking about this very question the other day, now over the 25% mark in my surgical internship and faced with bright eyed med students at every turn.

1st year: studying like a fiend, feeling overwhelmed all the time, never feeling like my efforts were ever good enough, burned out

2nd year: still studying like a fiend, but now I've got a handle on the routine; constant looming threat of Step1 and the frequent admonishments from the dean to get our acts together or else we'd fail

3rd year: free of the classroom, constantly changing environments and expectations, finally feel like a real student of medicine

4th year: lots of free time, grueling sub-Is, the long and grinding interview trail, chronic anxiety over the my match list and the agonizing wait for match day

In hindsight, 1st year was a relative breeze compared to the rest. But I still consider it the worst since I felt terribly depressed that entire year.

 

[OtoHNS]

In order from favorite to least favorite:

1. M3: was awesome finally getting out of the lecture hall. The only really long hours rotations (surgery, OB) are usually balanced out by easy rotations (psych, neuro, FM).

2. M4: was basically a year-long vacation other than 1 away rotation. But really, why are you paying $50K for a year of slacking off?

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

3. M2
4. M1

The first 2 years are basically tied. I guess I'd give a slight edge to M2 because the curriculum was slightly more interesting/clinically relevant.

Worst part of med school by far was the last week of studying for Step 1. Ugh.

 

[Marcus Brody]

the poll results are basically a census of what year everyone here currently is in. seems like med students will complain about whatever theyre doing at the moment.

 

[deleted263296]

the poll results are basically a census of what year everyone here currently is in. seems like med students will complain about whatever theyre doing at the moment.

That sounds like a pretty accurate assessment. Well, almost. I hated first year when I was in it. I never really hated second year, though. Now I have a love/hate relationship with 3rd year. 1st year doesn't seem as bad in retrospect.

 

[Doc013]

im actually relieved.
im only an m2 and i thought m1 was horrible. really rough on me.
this year is actually easier than i had expected based on what everyone kept telling me. of course we are still at the beginning, so im not entirely sure what lies ahead.

 

[MilkmanAl]

the poll results are basically a census of what year everyone here currently is in. seems like med students will complain about whatever theyre doing at the moment.

So...half the people voting are first years? I kind of doubt that.

 

[MossPoh]

I am in the thick of M2 right now and still would take it over M1. M1 was just boring. I had no motiviation and was uninterested in a lot of the stuff. I liked physio and the non-genetics part of biochem, but I was just so miserable and stressed out most of the year. I couldn't figure out what worked for me. I was healthier though.

 

[Jolie South]

I'm M3, about 75% through all the cores, and I still think first year blows the most.

Yes, my day was mine and I could schedule it how I chose, however I work half as hard on rotations for the same grades and I like what I'm doing.

 

[Daedra22]

I'm really glad most people hate first year... because I'm already tired of it. The only consolation is that time seems to be flying by rapidly. I really don't like anatomy, so most of my studying time is very draining

 

[Trismegistus4]

No offense, but all the people saying that the first year of medical school is "awesome" are f*ing crazy, and must have no life.

Drinking cold beer on the beach with friends is awesome.

Traveling to cool places and trying new things is awesome.

Having your head buried in a text book for countless hours day in and day out, is not awesome.

I feel sorry for some of you people.

Attending a P/F school, slacking off, NOT having your head buried in a text book for countless hours day in and day out, spending your time hanging out with non-med school friends, is, at least for the moment, awesome.

Doing 3rd year rotations, looking like an idiot all the time and never knowing any answers to pimping questions because you slacked off for the first two years, living in daily fear of getting up and going to the hospital and having it be obvious that you don't know anything, constantly barely passing because you don't know anything, is not awesome.

(Lesson: if you have tendencies toward slacking/procrastinating, go to a non-P/F school with a traditional curriculum.)

 

[sarsmon]

silly M1s thinking first year is the worst year of their lives, haha. Take q4 call on OB/Gyn as a dude and you'll begin to appreciate. my fav memories from ob/gyn were interviewing muslim pts while their parents stared at the back of my neck asking several times, 'youre a medical student? we want a real doctor, or i don't want any males taking care of my daughter' or their husbands giving you dirty looks as you asked their gyn hx, lovely times. or when you're on call on L&D and babies are popping out left and right and the resident points you to the corner and says stand there until i need you to get me something. or the slow nights when you sat on and L&D when there is one pt 0 cm dilated, but you can't go to sleep because the resident is a ***, and you sit there for hours and hours do absolutely nothing waiting for hours to pass, and then get yelled at for being useless or getting in the way somehow.

for those that think they are actually making a difference in someone's life and getting hands on experience in 3rd year, you are deluding yourselves. everything you do in third year is done again by the intern, then again by the senior and then confirmed by the attending. getting sideways stares in peds clinic by overly concerned moms at why a med student is seeing them before a real doc, is also a pleasure. surg wasn't that bad because i just kept my mouth shut and took swallowed my pride, while i absorbed the phantom claims that i touched something sterile while my back was turned even though im standing 6 feet away from it. 3rd year is all about biding your time, you've already crossed many specialities off your list but you just gotta grin and bear it even though you hate it. all that being said, from time to time you'll drive home feeling good about choosing medicine because you might have a good day once in a while. 1st and 2nd year all you had to do was put in the study time and then go and do your own thing, you didn't have to b/s your way through the whole year. ok i sound bitter, i know

 

[Jolie South]

silly M1s thinking first year is the worst year of their lives, haha. Take q4 call on OB/Gyn as a dude and you'll begin to appreciate. my fav memories from ob/gyn were interviewing muslim pts while their parents stared at the back of my neck asking several times, 'youre a medical student? we want a real doctor, or i don't want any males taking care of my daughter' or their husbands giving you dirty looks as you asked their gyn hx, lovely times. or when you're on call on L&D and babies are popping out left and right and the resident points you to the corner and says stand there until i need you to get me something. or the slow nights when you sat on and L&D when there is one pt 0 cm dilated, but you can't go to sleep because the resident is a ***, and you sit there for hours and hours do absolutely nothing waiting for hours to pass, and then get yelled at for being useless or getting in the way somehow.

for those that think they are actually making a difference in someone's life and getting hands on experience in 3rd year, you are deluding yourselves. everything you do in third year is done again by the intern, then again by the senior and then confirmed by the attending. getting sideways stares in peds clinic by overly concerned moms at why a med student is seeing them before a real doc, is also a pleasure. surg wasn't that bad because i just kept my mouth shut and took swallowed my pride, while i absorbed the phantom claims that i touched something sterile while my back was turned even though im standing 6 feet away from it. 3rd year is all about biding your time, you've already crossed many specialities off your list but you just gotta grin and bear it even though you hate it. all that being said, from time to time you'll drive home feeling good about choosing medicine because you might have a good day once in a while. 1st and 2nd year all you had to do was put in the study time and then go and do your own thing, you didn't have to b/s your way through the whole year. ok i sound bitter, i know

Wow, if I looked at med school that way, I probably would have quit.

 

[a winner is you]

silly M1s thinking first year is the worst year of their lives, haha. Take q4 call on OB/Gyn as a dude and you'll begin to appreciate. my fav memories from ob/gyn were interviewing muslim pts while their parents stared at the back of my neck asking several times, 'youre a medical student? we want a real doctor, or i don't want any males taking care of my daughter' or their husbands giving you dirty looks as you asked their gyn hx, lovely times. or when you're on call on L&D and babies are popping out left and right and the resident points you to the corner and says stand there until i need you to get me something. or the slow nights when you sat on and L&D when there is one pt 0 cm dilated, but you can't go to sleep because the resident is a ***, and you sit there for hours and hours do absolutely nothing waiting for hours to pass, and then get yelled at for being useless or getting in the way somehow.

for those that think they are actually making a difference in someone's life and getting hands on experience in 3rd year, you are deluding yourselves. everything you do in third year is done again by the intern, then again by the senior and then confirmed by the attending. getting sideways stares in peds clinic by overly concerned moms at why a med student is seeing them before a real doc, is also a pleasure. surg wasn't that bad because i just kept my mouth shut and took swallowed my pride, while i absorbed the phantom claims that i touched something sterile while my back was turned even though im standing 6 feet away from it. 3rd year is all about biding your time, you've already crossed many specialities off your list but you just gotta grin and bear it even though you hate it. all that being said, from time to time you'll drive home feeling good about choosing medicine because you might have a good day once in a while. 1st and 2nd year all you had to do was put in the study time and then go and do your own thing, you didn't have to b/s your way through the whole year. ok i sound bitter, i know

you mad?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Wow, if I looked at med school that way, I probably would have quit.

Honestly, that sounds pretty close to my 3rd-year experience so far, from an incredibly cynical point of view. L&D was pretty much the worst thing ever, no matter how you slice it, but I at least felt like I was learning during surgery. As long as you accept that you're essentially useless in terms of actual patient care and that your job is to learn by doing, it's a lot more bearable. If you're planning on being a patient care rockstar during your third year, you're probably going to be disappointed. No matter what, though, it's still better than the first two years.

 

[Jolie South]

Honestly, that sounds pretty close to my 3rd-year experience so far, from an incredibly cynical point of view. L&D was pretty much the worst thing ever, no matter how you slice it, but I at least felt like I was learning during surgery. As long as you accept that you're essentially useless in terms of actual patient care and that your job is to learn by doing, it's a lot more bearable. If you're planning on being a patient care rockstar during your third year, you're probably going to be disappointed. No matter what, though, it's still better than the first two years.

I've noticed that med students really like to be martyrs.

Maybe I feel differently because I don't feel like being at the bottom of the totem pole is unique to medicine. I worked at a real job for a couple of years after college and I can tell you that you have to "pay your dues" everywhere in every field. Superiors may be more or less malignant than in medicine. At least here I'm doing something I believe in and like to do.

 

[sideways]

I've noticed that med students really like to be martyrs.

It's not martyrdom so much as the fact that there's no way of truly knowing what the training of this profession entails, and if you'll enjoy it, until you actually get roped into medical school and start doing it. By the time you realize the pitfalls, it's too late to turn back. That's not exactly a recipe for bliss.

And yes, I realize a bunch of medical students get hard-ons over science and couldn't care less about the atrophy of anything non-medicine-related in their lives. But also realize that a bunch of us don't.

 

[Jolie South]

It's not martyrdom so much as the fact that there's no way of truly knowing what the training of this profession entails, and if you'll enjoy it, until you actually get roped into medical school and start doing it. By the time you realize the pitfalls, it's too late to turn back. That's not exactly a recipe for bliss.

And yes, I realize a bunch of medical students get hard-ons over science and couldn't care less about the atrophy of anything non-medicine-related in their lives. But also realize that a bunch of us don't.

Um, yea I know. I'm one of those people. That doesn't mean that I get hurt and offended and angry at every moment when people aren't spoon feeding me knowledge. Note that this is distinctly different from asking for more when we get abused.

Maybe, I had a just better idea of what I was getting myself into.

 

[sideways]

Um, yea I know. I'm one of those people. That doesn't mean that I get hurt and offended and angry at every moment when people aren't spoon feeding me knowledge. Note that this is distinctly different from asking for more when we get abused.

Maybe, I had a just better idea of what I was getting myself into.

I think it's a temperament issue more than anything. It gets old being someone's bitch with no real option but to work on your flexibility and get familiar with your ankles.

 

[Jolie South]

I think it's a temperament issue more than anything. It gets old being someone's bitch with no real option but to work on your flexibility and get familiar with your ankles.

I don't mean this in a sarcastic or smart ass way, but how exactly do you propose that medical education be changed so that you don't feel this way?

I think some of this is just the nature of the beast. Again, I'll reiterate that there is some component of "being someone's bitch" when you start any job that you're not trained to do.

 

[sideways]

I don't mean this in a sarcastic or smart ass way, but how exactly do you propose that medical education be changed so that you don't feel this way?

I have no proposition other than simple human decency. But I realize that many people are *******s and nothing will change that. I would never act any differently towards an underling than I would a peer. But I'm not in rotations yet, and I don't anticipate what we're discussing to be my hanging point. I just hate the constant work of medicine, which is a different thing altogether.

 

[Jolie South]

I have no proposition other than simple human decency. But I realize that many people are *******s and nothing will change that. I would never act any differently towards an underling than I would a peer. But I'm not in rotations yet, and I don't anticipate what we're discussing to be my hanging point. I just hate the constant work of medicine, which is a different thing altogether.

Um, we're talking about different things here, I think.

Since you haven't even started rotations, I'll just say that most residents are not verbally abusive. It's presumptuous to talk about something that you haven't even experienced yet, but if being in a subordinate role in general is what you think will piss you off, then you won't be suited to any job in any field.

 

[sideways]

Um, we're talking about different things here, I think.

Since you haven't even started rotations, I'll just say that most residents are not verbally abusive. It's presumptuous to talk about something that you haven't even experienced yet, but if being in a subordinate role in general is what you think will piss you off, then you won't be suited to any job in any field.

I don't even know why I'm arguing this position. At this point in my life I could give a **** about getting yelled at. I just want this ****ing 2 year long study marathon to stop.

 

[Jolie South]

I don't even know why I'm arguing this position. At this point in my life I could give a **** about getting yelled at. I just want this ****ing 2 year long study marathon to stop.

Well, who doesn't?

It's only two years though and that part of med school doesn't resemble anything that you'll be doing for the rest of your life.

 

[sideways]

Well, who doesn't?

It's only two years though and that part of med school doesn't resemble anything that you'll be doing for the rest of your life.

It seems like a lot of my classmates are interested in the material. I just try to get through it. Each exam is like a hurdle of the uninteresting.

I remember reading someone describe life being like a blueberry muffin. The interesting/enjoyable parts are the blueberries, while the bread of the muffin, the bulk of it, is the uncomfortable. That's like med school for me, except it's an especially big muffin and the blueberries are the size of poppy seeds.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Being someone's bitch isn't so bad. That's just part of learning on the job. It's being treated like someone's bitch that sucks. For starters, the whole Socratic method thing needs to go. That's just not an efficient or useful way to "learn."

For the first two years, I was definitely on the "get through this" bandwagon. That's not to say I didn't think some of it was cool, but much of it - particularly during first year - was drudgery that I'll probably never see again. I'm not a huge fan of burning my time on things that basically won't matter, so that wasn't terribly thrilling. As dumb as getting grilled about whatever surgery you're in or condition your patient has is, I would much rather endure that than get information crammed down my throat for another year. Yes, third year is largely just another thing to push through, but at least I'm learning things I need to know regardless of what field I go into.

 

[hot sauce]

For the most part there are two camps when it comes to this question. Some people can't stand the lecture hall and all the basic sciences so they hate the first two years and are psyched to get onto the wards. Others enjoy (or at least better tolerate) lecture or perhaps succeed more easily in the classroom (leading to more free time in the first two years) and don't enjoy the atmosphere of third year medical school. Of course there are those lucky souls that enjoy the entire process and those less fortunate that dislike all of it.

Myself I am lucky enough to be a good at taking multiple choice tests (a great skill in school not so useful outside of it) so I didn't find the first two years so bad but I found some rotations on third year to be pretty taxing so that was my least favorite year.

 

[ModerateMouse]

This isn't even a competition. First-year blew monkey ass turd chunks. From the esoteric material of ALL first-year courses except for the Physiological Systems class, to me having no clue what/who/where the hell anything was (while a good 2/3 + of my class had lived within 25-30 miles of the school before medical school), to the B.S. of classmates actually saying out loud: "Well I really want to be friends with so-and-so these next 4 years, but not THAT person, let's not invite him/her" , to a host of other personal problems... basically the realization that no one was really looking out for me... GODDAMMIT. Medical school turned into complete social failure for me, when you realize you are programmed completely differently from everyone else around you, and no one around you knows or wants to know anything else about you, other than whatever they judge from the outside. This was the first time in my life I truly felt 100% alone in the world. I felt completely and utterly worthless.

That sounds very harsh. I just kind of assumed that by the time people apply for medical school they are out of the high school "clique" phase.

Heck, at my high school most cliques had become a lot more mature and open by the end of senior year!

I am glad that you survived.

 

[ChimpanzeeMinky]

That sounds very harsh. I just kind of assumed that by the time people apply for medical school they are out of the high school "clique" phase.

Heck, at my high school most cliques had become a lot more mature and open by the end of senior year!

I am glad that you survived.

Maybe I don't remember high school well enough, but the clique issue strikes me as even worse in med school. There are people that will say hello to the individual right next to me while pretending I don't exist - mind you, individuals I have never had any issues with, but who for some reason deemed me socially unacceptable.

For me, it's fine, because I don't give a damn. Age and experience do wonders for progressing past such inconsequential concerns. I feel bad for younger people who have to deal with this garbage, like deferoxamine. There is absolutely no good reason for it, and it shakes one's faith in humanity - if medical students are acting like this, what hope do we have?

 

[gravitywave]

can i vote for anatomy if it's only been six weeks, but it feels like a year already?

That sounds very harsh. I just kind of assumed that by the time people apply for medical school they are out of the high school "clique" phase.

Heck, at my high school most cliques had become a lot more mature and open by the end of senior year!

I am glad that you survived.

ha. med school will be more like middle school than anything you have experienced since.... middle school.

 

[da8s0859q]

Maybe I don't remember high school well enough, but the clique issue strikes me as even worse in med school. There are people that will say hello to the individual right next to me while pretending I don't exist - mind you, individuals I have never had any issues with, but who for some reason deemed me socially unacceptable.

Yup, I have a couple classmates who do that. I'm friends with quite a few of my classmates, but little social bull****tery like that is one of the many reasons why I enjoy not attending lecture.

 

[sideways]

Yup, I have a couple classmates who do that. I'm friends with quite a few of my classmates, but little social bull****tery like that is one of the many reasons why I enjoy not attending lecture.

Reason #1,483 why I can't wait for the pre-clinical years to end.

 

[ModerateMouse]

I have a collective response to these 3 comments:

Yup, I have a couple classmates who do that. I'm friends with quite a few of my classmates, but little social bull****tery like that is one of the many reasons why I enjoy not attending lecture.

ha. med school will be more like middle school than anything you have experienced since.... middle school.

Maybe I don't remember high school well enough, but the clique issue strikes me as even worse in med school. There are people that will say hello to the individual right next to me while pretending I don't exist - mind you, individuals I have never had any issues with, but who for some reason deemed me socially unacceptable.

But then what do OOS people do?

For example, my undergrad GPA is not very good, so I will almost certainly end up at an OOS school where I won't know anyone.

Being happy with your social life has a pretty big effect on everything else in life (for example, the number of friends you have has even been found to be statistically related to life expectancy!).

Growing a thick skin is one thing, but everybody wants people to hang out with and talk to.