miserable

[285800]

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forget it. rant. vent. whatevers.

 

[WellWornLad]

The absolute best thing you can do is call up the dean or student affairs office and tell them this. Right now. There is an incredible number of people and resources just waiting to help you with this.

Half of medical students will end up doing that at some point during med school. Do it now before it wrecks your semester, or worse. Even if you're sure that you want to drop out and never look at a textbook or stethoscope again, go talk to them first.

Trust me: you will be glad you did.

 

[tideleonheart]

My best advice is to go talk to your dean and be 100% honest with him/her. Ask what your options are.

The biggest question is if you truly want to do this for the rest of your life. The testing, intense learning doesn't end. after the 1st 2 years, you still have 2 years of rotations and 3-7 years of residency. You'll have stresses all along the way: Step 1 and 2, matching, etc. While you're a resident, you still have tests in addition to your huge work weeks. This is the next 7-10 years of your life. Is it worth it to you?

If you decide you want out - get out NOW. Soon it'll be too late. See if your school offers any kind of refund. At my school, if you leave in the 1st month you get all your tuition back.

edit: just saw the person above me said the same thing about the dean. But i'll leave my post in its entirety

 

[deleted263296]

-

 

[Perrotfish]

Talk to your dean, get a tutor, talk to other students about how you can adjust your study habits, and most of all get on a definite diet and exercise program that takes priority over everything, even schoolwork, because otherwise you'll end up drowning in despair. You're not the first person to hate medical school or to have a hard time adjusting. The interpersonal problems that your having with your classmates are honestly a symptom of the fact that EVEERYONE is feeling stressed, and they're taking it out on eachother despite their best efforts not to.

I don't know what to do. Quit now? Quit after the semester? Is a month a long enough time to know whether or not I belong here?

My advice is to figure out how to pass, then figure out if you want to quit. There are people who realize that this isn't what they want to do, but right now your actual feelings about medicine are probaably confused with your feelings of inadequacy. Which you're probably feeling for the first time in your life. You're overworked and failing anyway and that just sucks. Once you get over that intial trauma, and figure out how to adjust your study methods so that you don't need to either fail or study every single second, you'll be in a better place to figure out if you hate medicine itself.

 

[KeyzerSoze]

I don't have anything original to say... Take advantage of the resources available at your school as soon as possible. Once you have things under control academically, you'll be able to look at your situation more objectively. I assume that your tuition for this semester is non-refundable, so you don't have much to gain by dropping out right now.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Go to your dean.

Looking back from 4th year I can tell you that anatomy was unquestionably my hardest, most greuling course. Hang in there. For some people, the rote memorization of anatomy just doesnt click no matter how hard they try. I for one struggled through anatomy, and ironically, i am pretty good visuospatially.

All I can tell you is stick it out at least until you get into different courses. It will get better.

 

[Tiger26]

Honestly, as much as the flowery BS is nice, maybe you should just quit right now since it only gets tougher (though also more rewarding) and it's a very long road. If you don't have the testicular (or ovarian . . . ) fortitude to get through the first semester without totally breaking down, then maybe you should consider something else.

 

[285800]

Go to your dean.

Looking back from 4th year I can tell you that anatomy was unquestionably my hardest, most greuling course. Hang in there. For some people, the rote memorization of anatomy just doesnt click no matter how hard they try. I for one struggled through anatomy, and ironically, i am pretty good visuospatially.

All I can tell you is stick it out at least until you get into different courses. It will get better.

This is good to hear.

The study schedule is jolting. We have to be somewhere ALL THE TIME and then you come home and study.

I don't know. Maybe I'm exaggerating. I used to be really into this. I worked so hard to get to this point and I guess I thought once you're in med school you're set. But not really - you only work harder. I realize its for my own benefit and for my future patients, but I just question if I'm cut out for this kind of workload.

Is it normal to be overwhelemd to the point of despair and tears in your first couple of months or is it a sign that this is not for me?

I'm doing fine in my other classes (80+) but anatomy is kicking my *****

It just sucks to actually work hard and STILL not excel.Not something I'm used to - makes me feel like a *****.

 

[Perrotfish]

Is it normal to be overwhelemd to the point of despair and tears in your first couple of months or is it a sign that this is not for me?

How much better or worse this is going to get is honestly dependent on both the school and the student. In my school I've known students that struggled to pass anatomy that suddenly had no problem passing pathology in second year even taking every evening off. Other students felt exactly the opposite. Some schools (mine) have relative light first years, while others (the one a block away from mine) seem to try to drown their students in work for the entire first year only to lighten up a little later on. What I can guarnetee is that if you got in, and espeically if you're doing well in multiple other classes, you're more than smart enough to pass anatomy as well. I can't tell you if this is something you want to do but this is definitely something that you can do.

The study schedule is jolting. We have to be somewhere ALL THE TIME and then you come home and study.

Also, are your classes really mandatory? If so can you do anything else during them without affecting your grades? I personally don't do well with classrooms and labs, so during our Anatomy labs and our few mandatory TBLs you could always find me in a corner with headphones, textbooks and flashcards. When everything stopped being mandatory I mostly stopped going with the exception of a few really great lecturers. Would that be an option for you?

 

[285800]

How much better or worse this is going to get is honestly dependent on both the school and the student. In my school I've known students that struggled to pass anatomy that suddenly had no problem passing pathology in second year even taking every evening off. Other students felt exactly the opposite. Some schools (mine) have relative light first years, while others (the one a block away from mine) seem to try to drown their students in work for the entire first year only to lighten up a little later on. What I can guarnetee is that if you got in, and espeically if you're doing well in multiple other classes, you're more than smart enough to pass anatomy as well. I can't tell you if this is something you want to do but this is definitely something that you can do.


Also, are your classes really mandatory? If so can you do anything else during them without affecting your grades? I personally don't do well with classrooms and labs, so during our Anatomy labs and our few mandatory TBLs you could always find me in a corner with headphones, textbooks and flashcards. When everything stopped being mandatory I mostly stopped going with the exception of a few really great lecturers. Would that be an option for you?

Unfortunately we do have to swipe in to some of the classes and of course small group sessions and labs are mandatory. I agree though, some of these classes are worthless - and I'm not the type who can study well when other people are talking. Also, bending over a rotting cadaver 12 hrs a week trying to identify if one brown stringy thing is the same as another borwn stringy thing is not the best learning experience.

Again, sorry for whining, ranting - I just feel a bit overwhelmed. My fellow students are great people and I have no problem with them. It's just that we're ALWAYS together and it feels like I'm in grade school sometimes, except the workload is more intense.

 

[Perrotfish]

Again, adjust your study habits and take care of yourself and be fine. Lots of people have felt how you feel right now. Good luck.

 

[Jolie South]

Unfortunately we do have to swipe in to some of the classes and of course small group sessions and labs are mandatory. I agree though, some of these classes are worthless - and I'm not the type who can study well when other people are talking. Also, bending over a rotting cadaver 12 hrs a week trying to identify if one brown stringy thing is the same as another borwn stringy thing is not the best learning experience.

Again, sorry for whining, ranting - I just feel a bit overwhelmed. My fellow students are great people and I have no problem with them. It's just that we're ALWAYS together and it feels like I'm in grade school sometimes, except the workload is more intense.

Yea, I think if I was at an 8-5 school I'd probably feel pretty trapped as well.

I guess what's important is to tease apart whether you actually don't like medicine, feel like you want to quit because things aren't going well, or just don't like feeling trapped in classes all the time. Possibly, it's a combination.

I'd definitely try to talk with folks at your school and evaluate your study methods.

 

[Revilla]

Is it normal to be overwhelemd to the point of despair and tears in your first couple of months or is it a sign that this is not for me?

I hope it's normal because that's what I did -- tears and all. It was right after a Histology lecture a few days before our first mid-term (second week of school). I was in the lecture hall and waited until most people were leaving for lunch. A friend walked up to me to ask how I was and I just started crying right there in my seat. It was embarrassing, but I couldn't keep it in anymore. I was overwhelmed, overburdened, and I just couldn't keep it together. It felt great to cry out my frustrations.

Two tests later, I'm still feeling overwhelmed. I study and study and study and I still don't do well. Our classes are also mandatory and I'm in school from 8-5 or 8-4 most days. By the time I get home, nothing seems to stick.

I wish you had left your original post up because I didn't get a chance to read it, but I can tell you that you're not alone in your feelings of despair, I promise. We began school six weeks ago and there isn't a week that goes by that the thought "I don't really belong here" crosses my mind at least a few times. I've thought about walking away. I even thought that I'd get kicked out if I didn't walk away. But then we do something clinical and I remember what all this is for. It's a tough road. Just remember that there are first years just like us all over the country right now. Somehow, we'll get through it.

P.S. At my school, we have free tutors and I've found the professors to be extremely helpful and compassionate to how I'm feeling. Have you tried meeting with them at your school?

 

[VoiceofReason]

Honestly, as much as the flowery BS is nice, maybe you should just quit right now since it only gets tougher (though also more rewarding) and it's a very long road. If you don't have the testicular (or ovarian . . . ) fortitude to get through the first semester without totally breaking down, then maybe you should consider something else.

yeah in some cases im not sure the "you can do it!" crowd are really giving people the best advice.

To put things in perspective: its just a heavy dose of reading. its really as easy and free of real responsibility as med school gets.

 

[phospho]

I hope it's normal because that's what I did -- tears and all. It was right after a Histology lecture a few days before our first mid-term (second week of school). I was in the lecture hall and waited until most people were leaving for lunch. A friend walked up to me to ask how I was and I just started crying right there in my seat. It was embarrassing, but I couldn't keep it in anymore. I was overwhelmed, overburdened, and I just couldn't keep it together. It felt great to cry out my frustrations.

Two tests later, I'm still feeling overwhelmed. I study and study and study and I still don't do well. Our classes are also mandatory and I'm in school from 8-5 or 8-4 most days. By the time I get home, nothing seems to stick.

I wish you had left your original post up because I didn't get a chance to read it, but I can tell you that you're not alone in your feelings of despair, I promise. We began school six weeks ago and there isn't a week that goes by that the thought "I don't really belong here" crosses my mind at least a few times. I've thought about walking away. I even thought that I'd get kicked out if I didn't walk away. But then we do something clinical and I remember what all this is for. It's a tough road. Just remember that there are first years just like us all over the country right now. Somehow, we'll get through it.

P.S. At my school, we have free tutors and I've found the professors to be extremely helpful and compassionate to how I'm feeling. Have you tried meeting with them at your school?

Go to your dean.

Looking back from 4th year I can tell you that anatomy was unquestionably my hardest, most greuling course. Hang in there. For some people, the rote memorization of anatomy just doesnt click no matter how hard they try. I for one struggled through anatomy, and ironically, i am pretty good visuospatially.

All I can tell you is stick it out at least until you get into different courses. It will get better.

awesome posts!

We're in our anatomy block and I'm feeling just like the OP

 

[Nikki2002]

i've had a lot of crappy jobs. like selling raw fish for people to feed to sea lions at Sea World. The life a student is actually a pretty great life. And if you left med school, you would still want a fulfilling career with good job security, etc. Do you think that will just magically come to you? I mean you most likely will have to work very hard to get anywhere in life that you want to be.

 

[Nikki2002]

ok let me clarify. it's not like I don't have days where I am near a nervous breakdown. I'm just saying..look into the future---you are not going to be sitting in lecture halls forever---eventually you will be practicing medicine as a real physician and you have to figure out if that is what you really want in the end. If you leave, make sure you have a good backup plan.

 

[KeyzerSoze]

Honestly, as much as the flowery BS is nice, maybe you should just quit right now since it only gets tougher (though also more rewarding) and it's a very long road. If you don't have the testicular (or ovarian . . . ) fortitude to get through the first semester without totally breaking down, then maybe you should consider something else.

yeah in some cases im not sure the "you can do it!" crowd are really giving people the best advice.

To put things in perspective: its just a heavy dose of reading. its really as easy and free of real responsibility as med school gets.

Since it's the OP's first month in school, there's no reason to assume that they lack, er... gonadal fortitude. It's more likely that they are simply overwhelmed by the adjustment. The first year of medical school may only be a heavy dose of reading (although I think that's a rather glib understatement), but it's much harder than undergrad.

 

[reedman]

Maybe you don't learn from lectures very well, I know I don't. I have to study things over and over and over to learn enough to pass, so I know exactly how you feel about not retaining anything from lectures. Maybe you can just go to the required lectures and sit in the back and study? I do that sometimes, especially if I have anatomy lab that day.

Don't feel like a *****. Some people are really good at learning mountains of facts, and the rest of us just have to struggle to keep up. In my opinion, performance in anatomy doesn't have much to do with intelligence. It requires a good memory, or ridiculous amounts of repetition.

Just think about what talents you have that may come out during 2nd or 3rd year. Critical thinking, interpersonal skills, pattern recognition, etc...

Always remember that many others are struggling too, and the vast majority will finish.