Med school is harder, but is it at least not as miserable?

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

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Sure, med school is hard. But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that what you'll be learning is what you want to learn. And that you'll become a doctor one day.

Being pre med? Sure, it's easier. But isn't it miserable? No matter where you are, you have to make sure that no one gets a bad opinion of you because one bad mark on an LOR can wreck your career. You have to take classes that in no way shape or form make you smarter nor more prepared to study medicine. You'll probably have to volunteer in a clinical setting even though being a doctor in a hospital is nothing like being a volunteer at a hospital.
And even after all of that, you don't know if you'll get into medical school. Does any kind of misery compare to this?

 

[ChymeofPassion]

You need to relax brother, take a deep breath and go to bed.

 

[Mad Jack]

Medical school was literally 10x more miserable than undergrad. You have no clue just how bad it can be

 

[Lawpy]

I'm pretty sure the subjective and random nature of clinical years, where grading is influenced by personality and sheer luck, is a major contributor to misery in medical school. Couple that with the stresses in studying for Step 1, getting solid letters for residency, going to various aways, dealing with annoyance of Step 2 CS etc. are all the reasons why medical school can be way more miserable than undergrad.

In the end, it comes down to perspective and how you make of it. Having a positive mindset and developing good stress management techniques help even when facing misery.

 

[Turkishking]

Sure, med school is hard. But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that what you'll be learning is what you want to learn. And that you'll become a doctor one day.

Being pre med? Sure, it's easier. But isn't it miserable? No matter where you are, you have to make sure that no one gets a bad opinion of you because one bad mark on an LOR can wreck your career. You have to take classes that in no way shape or form make you smarter nor more prepared to study medicine. You'll probably have to volunteer in a clinical setting even though being a doctor in a hospital is nothing like being a volunteer at a hospital.
And even after all of that, you don't know if you'll get into medical school. Does any kind of misery compare to this?

Honestly. I think you're looking at it in the wrong way. Yes, pre-med is intense. But the values we learn through this process will shape us as physicians one day. I mean we learn to deal with pressure, probably not as much as medical school lol, we learn leadership skills. That could be in the most basic form of running a club on campus. So I mean, look at it in a different light

 

[infectiousdisease101]

It varies from person to person. You have to decide for yourself whether or not medicine is right for you.

 

[Turkishking]

It varies from person to person. You have to decide for yourself whether or not medicine is right for you.

You can't assume OP is thinking of quoting. He probably just finds pre-med to be useless right now. I mean I wish I went to highschool overseas following straight entrance to medical school. But oh well.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that what you'll be learning is what you want to learn.

Had to take Psych last year. Hate Psych. Required in both pre-clinical and clinical years of med school. Zero Satisfaction.

No matter where you are, you have to make sure that no one gets a bad opinion of you because one bad mark on an LOR can wreck your career.

A letter writer who would choose to write negatively about you should not be a letter writer.

You have to take classes that in no way shape or form make you smarter nor more prepared to study medicine.

So you think. There is more to life than just medicine and pre-medical classes. I have an arts degree and minors in business and econ. And that's to say nothing of the American Studies course I took senior year or the 4 semesters of Italian. Your pts are going to be more than just diseases. They are people with varied life experiences. Having knowledge outside of science, IMO, may not directly help you study medicine, but it'll help you be a better clinician. And if nothing else, maybe help you get on Jeopardy.

 

[VincentAdultman]

1. If you can't find enjoyment out of undergrad years, I feel bad for you.

2. I'm not really sure how the minutiae of pharmacology, micro anatomy, biochemistry, and pathology relate to my practice today.

3. There are definitely miserable times on rotations. Doing scut work, waiting for you resident to acknowledge your existence etc.

4. The hoops you have to jump through for residency matching are pretty similar to the ones you jump through for med school.

 

[jurisburger]

I actually do think pre-med was much more miserable than med school for all the reasons OP has mentioned. Sure there are different stressors in med school but at least we are actually where we want to be whereas there's nothing quite like the 4 years of pre-med volunteering/research/worrying about the cutoff for B+ vs. A-...all under the backdrop of "what am I going to do if I don't get in" BS which I would never want to experience again.

And all of this is not to say I didn't have fun in undergrad but just that I think OP has a point. #JustMyMS3TwoCents

 

[Rhabdoviridae]

This whole training process sucks immensely. I can't definitively tell if you are a medical student, but it sounds to me like you are still pre-med. Get the idea that medical school will be an improvement from undergrad out of your head right now. Exams are very high stakes, you have to deal with cocky, condescending professors, and you will likely become estranged from your friends and family for months at a time.

 

[altblue]

I think a lot of it comes down to where you go for undergrad too.

Like if you just do average at a place like MIT or Hopkins, no med school for you, even though doing average at hard UGs like those should at least be respectable. At least if you do average in med school you secure a solid residency, and it's hard to not secure one period.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Many med students hate the first two years.

 

[mistafab]

I really feel bad for you guys not enjoying your lives. You really can enjoy undergrad. So far M2 enjoying med school here. Maybe it is a personality thing. We'll see how it is M3/M4 but its been fun so far yall.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I was a non-trad so I spent my undergrad doing things I was passionate about. You know, the things that I was passionate about, not the thing ADCOMs wanted me to be passionate about. Medical school was awful, especially in the first two years, so I have pretty much blocked it out. I'm an intern now, and it's infinitely better than the pre-clinical years of medical school.

Yes, you do get to study things you will enjoy as a physician when in medical school. But the sheer volume and short time to learn everything will beat any joy out of it. You can just as easily look things up you're interested in during your free time and get way more enjoyment out of it that way.

 

[Lannister]

Med school is a million times better than undergrad imo. That being said, it's still pretty miserable sometimes. I've had some of the best days of my life in med school, but I've also had some of the worst.

 

[Foodology]

Med school has been the happiest part of my life so far! It's hard, but I LOVE IT! It's all about your mindset and whether you're going into medicine for the right reasons. If you're here for the wrong reasons you'll be miserable. Med school is a transformative experience that completely changes almost every aspect of your life. My learning has taken a new form and my passion has exploded here. You'll run into a lot of negativity from people, but that's because there's a deeply rooted toxic culture in medicine, BE DIFFERENT, BE YOU, BE RESILIENT, BE POSITIVE. Happiness takes courage. It's easy to be negative. 🙂

 

[altblue]

In med school:
1) No matter where you are, you have to make sure that no one gets a bad opinion of you because one bad mark on an LOR can wreck your career. The attendings and residents you work with are constantly evaluating you and write comments that go into your dean's letter for residency applications.
2) You have to sit through lectures and labs that in no way shape or form make you smarter nor more prepared to practice medicine (though I would argue that these courses in both med school and undergrad are still valuable in their own right).
3) You'll probably have to do scutwork in a clinical setting even though being a doctor in a hospital is nothing like being a medical student at a hospital.
4) And even after all that, you don't know if you'll get into the specialty/residency program you want.

Med school has a lot of the same BS as undergrad. But I wasn't miserable in either (except for occasionally and in appropriate situations). In fact, 90% of the time, I've been pretty happy. If you're this miserable, don't count on med school making it magically better - there might be some other issues going on. Talk to a counselor.

Thanks for the pointers! So do you think having a gap year with lots of work experience would be beneficial for preparing for this? (Or is there not much you can do?)

 

[wimby2016]

Sure, med school is hard. But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that what you'll be learning is what you want to learn. And that you'll become a doctor one day.

Being pre med? Sure, it's easier. But isn't it miserable? No matter where you are, you have to make sure that no one gets a bad opinion of you because one bad mark on an LOR can wreck your career. You have to take classes that in no way shape or form make you smarter nor more prepared to study medicine. You'll probably have to volunteer in a clinical setting even though being a doctor in a hospital is nothing like being a volunteer at a hospital.
And even after all of that, you don't know if you'll get into medical school. Does any kind of misery compare to this?

Pre-med need not be miserable, it is what you make it!

That being said, I find medical school is much much much better than undergrad. The volume of material is high but perfectly manageable, and it all is directly pertinent to my career path. Plus, it's just a relief to have the hurdle of gaining admission behind me.

Overall, I'm much happier now than I was in college. Hopefully that doesn't change as I move forward.

 

[altblue]

Preparing for constant evaluation? I think there are two aspects of looking good to your evaluators: a good attitude and good knowledge/skills.

The attitude I personally think is a maturity/professionalism thing that having a "real job" in the past helps with for sure. Some people need a gap or two year to gain that maturity and experience, some people don't. Some of it's just personality and how you were raised.

The second part...there's nothing you can do to prepare before med school. You just have to be able to learn quickly on your feet when you get here. All of us, regardless of prior gap years and work experience, are flying by the seat of our pants when we're seeing an unfamiliar procedure or disease process or learning a new skill or getting pimped by the resident and attending. I came straight from college and one of my good friends in my class is a career-changer in his 30s. I think it's a fair bet that we feel/act like idiots on the wards equally often.

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah, I'm generally professional but can get somewhat disorganized and, well, defensive under pressure so I'm hoping a gap year can help with that

 

[TheBiologist]

undergrad wasn't miserable for me lol..

 

[WingedOx]

Sure, med school is hard. But at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that what you'll be learning is what you want to learn. And that you'll become a doctor one day.

Being pre med? Sure, it's easier. But isn't it miserable? No matter where you are, you have to make sure that no one gets a bad opinion of you because one bad mark on an LOR can wreck your career.

I have some bad news about 3rd year.

You have to take classes that in no way shape or form make you smarter nor more prepared to study medicine. You'll probably have to volunteer in a clinical setting even though being a doctor in a hospital is nothing like being a volunteer at a hospital.
And even after all of that, you don't know if you'll get into medical school. Does any kind of misery compare to this?

Life perspective, bro. Life perspective.

/also the random-ass liberal arts classes were far more useful to my day to day experience as a physician than any upper level bio/chem/physics class.