Med School as MMORPG

[Endoxifen]

Anyone else think that med school and the application cycle is a bit like an MMO? You've got fetch quests (LORs), interesting side quests (research/volunteering), min-maxing stats, bosses (MCAT/GPA), and, if you get into a medical school, you get to go on raids!

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[droidz]

off topic but one of my interviewers asked what i do to de-stress and i immediately defaulted to gaming

damn it what if he's more of a traditional no games type guy

 

[summergirl]

No, in MMORPG you get to win in the end if you did everything they asked you to do, but medical schools make you kill all the green mushrooms to collect the 200 green crystal shards then tell you the quest has failed . A MMORPG is not going to make any money off of that attitude.

 

[Nikj]

Anyone else think that med school and the application cycle is a bit like an MMO? You've got fetch quests (LORs), interesting side quests (research/volunteering), min-maxing stats, bosses (MCAT/GPA), and, if you get into a medical school, you get to go on raids!

I've kind of Leeroyed the whole thing myself

 

[Endoxifen]

off topic but one of my interviewers asked what i do to de-stress and i immediately defaulted to gaming

damn it what if he's more of a traditional no games type guy

Yeah, I'd do that too. Idk, I would just be honest. If someone asked me, I would say let;s plays and sci-fi books, but that's just me.

 

[freak7]

No, in MMORPG you get to win in the end if you did everything they asked you to do,

... Have you played any MMO's?

 

[freak7]

Tbh I've learned a lot of my teamwork skills through video games but know that's not an appropriate answer .

I used to be a raid leader and officer for 25-mans in my guild/clan/whathaveyou. I'd be lying if I said that the experience (heyoo) didn't teach me conflict resolution and leadership.

 

[Monkey.King]

What a nerd

 

[cactusman]

I've never played a video game that involved feelings of worthlessness.

 

[Nikj]

I used to be a raid leader and officer for 25-mans in my guild/clan/whathaveyou. I'd be lying if I said that the experience (heyoo) didn't teach me conflict resolution and leadership.

Haha I got good at handling high stress-situations because of that game b/c of pve/pvp

 

[Endoxifen]

I've never played a video game that involved feelings of worthlessness.

Clearly you've never played Dark Souls.

 

[summergirl]

... Have you played any MMO's?

Alright maybe not win "in the end", but MMOs allow you to win most of the time "before the end" if you do what they asked.

 

[Gurkhali]

Life is a grind, mmos are a grind, med school is a grind. Just gotta hope you find some meaning in the grind.

Grind for that MD or grind for diamond elo, it's all the same. Just take a break every now and then.

 

[ac62994]

I miss my MMO fam. It's been years

 

[freak7]

I miss my MMO fam. It's been years

Yeah I should really call those guys and girls up. We all got together once and raided in one member's garage. It was a blast

 

[trev5150]

At least I got chicken.

 

[freak7]

Haha I got good at handling high stress-situations because of that game b/c of pve/pvp

Yeah pve can be a beast. Just being aware of timers/abilities/movement requirements and whatever mechanics also go with the fight can be incredibly stressful. If you're a healer, you've also got to make some pretty freaking quick decisions that could very well save or wipe your whole group. Throw being leader on top of that and narrating/calling out commands/decision-making and you've got one really really intense critical thinking exercise

 

[droidz]

Heh and overwatch is an excercise in sodium regulation

 

[Promethean]

If you are a gamer, everything looks like a game, eventually. You've trained your brain to look for certain patterns and so it will find them, because that is what the engine of our consciousness does best.

I started gaming with old school tabletop RPGs, so I think of venturing out into my neighborhood as a miniquest, and imagine rolling dice and checking the random encounter table to determine which neighborhood denizen I'm likely to meet on my journeys. Yes! There's Methy McMethhead ranting up and down the back alley. Oh, there's Mother, the mad queer Russian Orthodox iconographer who always wants to stop and talk about which antiques he has purchased recently. Oh, botched that roll... there is the ex-roommate who you had to ask to leave because she was filming herself doing lewd things with the blinds open and the neighbors complained.

At least, those are the people on my random encounter table. Yours may vary.

 

[Endoxifen]

If you are a gamer, everything looks like a game, eventually. You've trained your brain to look for certain patterns and so it will find them, because that is what the engine of our consciousness does best.

I started gaming with old school tabletop RPGs, so I think of venturing out into my neighborhood as a miniquest, and imagine rolling dice and checking the random encounter table to determine which neighborhood denizen I'm likely to meet on my journeys. Yes! There's Methy McMethhead ranting up and down the back alley. Oh, there's Mother, the mad queer Russian Orthodox iconographer who always wants to stop and talk about which antiques he has purchased recently. Oh, botched that roll... there is the ex-roommate who you had to ask to leave because she was filming herself doing lewd things with the blinds open and the neighbors complained.

At least, those are the people on my random encounter table. Yours may vary.

Eh, I lived in Portland Oregon for some time, so I'm very familiar.

 

[Holmwood]

Nontrads are the filthy casuals then huh?

ORMs are DPS mains

 

[Endoxifen]

Nontrads are the filthy casuals then huh?

ORMs are DPS mains

If we're doing From soft games, than Nontrads are NG+... I agree with the ORM, though.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

If we're doing From soft games, than Nontrads are NG+... I agree with the ORM, though.

I don't play video games so I don't know if I should take offense to that or not (as a nontrad) lol.

 

[Endoxifen]

I don't play video games so I don't know if I should take offense to that or not (as a nontrad) lol.

It's new game plus... they started the game over with all of the stuff they collected before. I think it's actually pretty apt.

 

[Lucca]

Have to say studying for the mcat and languishing in Elo hell were pretty similar experiences, psychologically. I also approached the test like a game to beat.

The game just wasn't any fun lol.

 

[Turkishking]

Anyone else think that med school and the application cycle is a bit like an MMO? You've got fetch quests (LORs), interesting side quests (research/volunteering), min-maxing stats, bosses (MCAT/GPA), and, if you get into a medical school, you get to go on raids!

No

 

[Turkishking]

Have to say studying for the mcat and languishing in Elo hell were pretty similar experiences, psychologically. I also approached the test like a game to beat.

The game just wasn't any fun lol.

 

[Gurkhali]

Life is a grind, mmos are a grind, med school is a grind. Just gotta hope you find some meaning in the grind.

Grind for that MD or grind for diamond elo, it's all the same. Just take a break every now and then.

I think I was high when I wrote this. What am I even saying...

 

[Mad Jack]

Anyone else think that med school and the application cycle is a bit like an MMO? You've got fetch quests (LORs), interesting side quests (research/volunteering), min-maxing stats, bosses (MCAT/GPA), and, if you get into a medical school, you get to go on raids!

The app cycle is basically the noob area. Mid-high level stuff is medical school. Endgame is resisency/fellowship.

 

[Mad Jack]

I think I was high when I wrote this. What am I even saying...

It's kind if true tho

 

[deleted446889]

This is actually a helpful way to look at all aspects of life. I read a great book called "Willpower: Discovering The Greatest Human Strength" and there was a part in there about how video games and their "do this and get this reward" structure is a marvelous way to get people to do stuff, even like tediously leveling up smithing to make some sweet armor or such. Video game makers are experts at designing effort/reward relationships. Bringing that mindset to real life application can really help you get a lot more done. I think the biggest hurdle, and the reason more people don't make this link, is that in real life the reward doesn't come nearly as quick, and of course it's not as fun.

This is a great analogy and you should try to live by it! Science proves it helps

 

[md-2020]

Anyone else think that med school and the application cycle is a bit like an MMO? You've got fetch quests (LORs), interesting side quests (research/volunteering), min-maxing stats, bosses (MCAT/GPA), and, if you get into a medical school, you get to go on raids!

No

I find the application (and subsequent actual med school) process to be much more comparable to a sick theatrical production of my slow descent into sociopathic pathology.

But then again, I've always been the hopeless cynic that began worrying about the likelihood of a Trump Administration as soon as he began saying racist things during the Republican primaries.

 

[freak7]

Have to say studying for the mcat and languishing in Elo hell were pretty similar experiences, psychologically. I also approached the test like a game to beat.

The game just wasn't any fun lol.

Well isn't that the whole point of Elo Hell?

 

[spicynuggetfiend]

Someone should make a pre-med anime not kidding