Med School Work Ethic

[stifler]

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i am still not ruling out medicine. help shape my decision with your insight.

I AM AFRAID THAT I DONT HAVE THE WORK ETHIC FOR MED SCHOOL.

Reasons:
Huge slacker. I don't do work until day before or day off. (example: studied for biochem final 1 day before, didn't read the book or notebook entire semester)
I strive for a 92.5 for that A.
Just huge procrasinator. people who don't know me think I am probably failing.

I guess before you rule me out of getting into med school, I actually think I have a chance of getting in (great grades, 3.8, and prestigious college and strong recs and interesting non traditional reasons for med school). I havent applied yet and don't plan to for a bit because I am not sure. Primarily because I don't know if I can handle the work load of med school. I didn't always slack, when I first started college, I was a pretty crappy student, but super diligent. Then I did well and decided to slack real hardcore.

thoughts?

 

[lilnoelle]

i am still not ruling out medicine. help shape my decision with your insight.

I AM AFRAID THAT I DONT HAVE THE WORK ETHIC FOR MED SCHOOL.

Reasons:
Huge slacker. I don't do work until day before or day off. (example: studied for biochem final 1 day before, didn't read the book or notebook entire semester)
I strive for a 92.5 for that A.
Just huge procrasinator. people who don't know me think I am probably failing.

I guess before you rule me out of getting into med school, I actually think I have a chance of getting in (great grades, 3.8, and prestigious college and strong recs and interesting non traditional reasons for med school). I havent applied yet and don't plan to for a bit because I am not sure. Primarily because I don't know if I can handle the work load of med school. I didn't always slack, when I first started college, I was a pretty crappy student, but super diligent. Then I did well and decided to slack real hardcore.

thoughts?

I think it depends on why you slack off. Do you slack off because you can or because you can't help it. In med school you will be given much more material and it is that much more important that you don't slack off.
I was always a bit of a slacker in undergrad because it didn't really matter. I always got the grade, but did the minimum amount of work necessary to get that grade. If something wasn't required, I didn't do it. In med school, I am still performing relatively well and I still slack off some. But the trick is... that if I need to work, I do. I don't get myself so far behind that I will not be able to catch up in the amount of time that I have available to me. There is no way to not do anything for the entire semester until the day before your finals and be able to pass (at least I can't believe that it would be possible). But not everyone studies 12 hours every day. Generally I go over the material during the week, go over it again on weekends, and then go over all of it again the week of the test. That last week is when I do most of my hardcore studying, learning, and memorizing. This seems to work for me, but I also realize that it won't work for every block and the moment I come to a block that is going to require more work, I'll put more work into it.

So do you slack off because you can or because its just the way you are? If it is because you can (and when you realize you can't slack off anymore you get your butt in gear) you'll probably be ok in med school.

 

[stifler]

i slack off for both reasons. because i can cuz i have great friends who study with me at the last moment (other ultra procrasinators)

and because i cant help it. i just dont feel like doing the work and im not super enthused about it, which is another issue since my major is biochemistry.

 

[lilnoelle]

i slack off for both reasons. because i can cuz i have great friends who study with me at the last moment (other ultra procrasinators)

and because i cant help it. i just dont feel like doing the work and im not super enthused about it, which is another issue since my major is biochemistry.

Would you get it in gear if you had to, even if the material wasn't fascinating to you?
Usually by the end of the block, around test time, or after the test, I'm excited about what I learned in the previous block and am excited about medicine and med school in general. Once I know it or understand it, I start to be fascinated by it, but generally, day to day, and even week to week, I think "I don't want to learn this.... I really don't care"

 

[indo]

Don't go to med school. Too much material to slack off until the last minute. You'll just be miserable.

 

[SelflessAct]

i am still not ruling out medicine. help shape my decision with your insight.

I AM AFRAID THAT I DONT HAVE THE WORK ETHIC FOR MED SCHOOL.

Reasons:
Huge slacker. I don't do work until day before or day off. (example: studied for biochem final 1 day before, didn't read the book or notebook entire semester)
I strive for a 92.5 for that A.
Just huge procrasinator. people who don't know me think I am probably failing.

I guess before you rule me out of getting into med school, I actually think I have a chance of getting in (great grades, 3.8, and prestigious college and strong recs and interesting non traditional reasons for med school). I havent applied yet and don't plan to for a bit because I am not sure. Primarily because I don't know if I can handle the work load of med school. I didn't always slack, when I first started college, I was a pretty crappy student, but super diligent. Then I did well and decided to slack real hardcore.

thoughts?

Most med students were probably like you in undergrad (I know I was). You'll be fine, don't worry. Real slackers fail their classes because they can't even get it together the day before the test to study. You, on the other hand, obviously don't have this problem because your grades are good and you can find the motivation to study when you absolutely need to (the day before a test is still better than...never). I'd bet you'll do fine in medical school because you'll find that motivation again to keep you from really screwing things up for yourself, grade-wise.

Everyone has an adjustment phase to the study schedule requirements, and most of them eventually do adjust. You will too, if you really want to. The one caveat is that you need to really like medicine on SOME level (book-learning, eventually getting to participate in patient care, the amazing wonder of the human body that you probably wrote about in your PS) or else you probably WON'T find that motivation at all and it will all be a waste of time/money for you. You don't like your major (biochem is pretty ), that's fine, but if you like medicine you won't find it too hard to motivate yourself. Figure that one out first before you start on this path.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

I strive for a 92.5 for that A.

You'd fit right in with my class, only an 89.5 is usually plenty.

 

[Rugby MD]

Hey,
I was just like you then. Slacked until the last minute and then got the job done.
I am the med- school version of that now. introducing the med school slacker: (its a little different)
Do nothing for the first week to two weeks of a theme. I go to about 75% of classes, but zone out a lot. Don't start studying until about 7 days before the exam (we have about 1 test on one theme every 2-4 weeks). At that point. do nothing else. because if you do, you are failing. The weekend before the exam I put in approximately 24 hours. Weekends even if the exam is on the following friday consist of me and my syllabus in at my desk. (I have brought it down to fri-sat-sun if the test is on a monday- doesn't really work out to well)
follow that strategy. Add some innate brilliance and lucky guessing and you have your self a slightly above average grade. yay for mediocrity if it means that I can watch desperate housewives.
So basically its doable- you just have to figure out what the bare minimum you need to do to accomplish your goal. If ever I fall below average, the next theme I have to work hard.

 

[Lyricist]

I was the uber-procrastinator in undergrad, and I still am, though to a lesser degree. Now I start studying the week before as opposed to the night before. It's definitely doable.

 

[Lyricist]

What does "uber" mean and why do only skinny hipsters with thick rimmed glasses say it?

I don't have thick rimmed glases. They're frameless. 😛

 

[osmodiar]

...and interesting non traditional reasons for med school...

i'm curious, what are your non traditional reasons to get into medical school?

btw, i say: if you're interested, go for it, you got nothing to lose. I've been slacking a lot lately, studying only the day/week before my exams, and i still got an average of C+, which satisfies me. You know how they call a doctor who got Ds.. they call him Doctor.

GL with your choices

 

[stifler]

something more business related. perhaps hospital management, pharma management, venture capital focused on biotechnology

i have a very strong background in finance, given where i have worked and done. i am pretty sure amongst med school students, my financial experience will stand out to say the least.

yea i know people recommend PhD for the venture capital stuff, but i cant stand doing research.

yes i know tons of ppl go into medicine for vc too, but im hoping my experiences and job experience will set me apart

 

[tomatoattack]

Dude, go to med school. Med school is fun. What else are you going to do? Lots of people were slackers in undergrad, undergrad is easy in some respects, you seem to be able to get your stuff done and still slack then more power to you. Medicine is a pretty good job. 😡