Official Lessons Learned Thread

[Dr Van Helsing]

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Hey guys, Van here. Tonight, I was cogitating on what a crazy year I have had. In short, I made a lot of mistakes, but I also learned from those mistakes.

So, I had an idea about a thread where students and physicians could share stories about mistakes made in their undergraduate career: AKA pre-med pitfalls.

I think it would be helpful to the community in general if people could share about times when they took too many classes, bought unnecessary books, took the wrong courses, worked too many hours, or forgot to live life, etc. Many of you have experience beyond our years, and I know some of us could learn a lot from your mishaps.

 

[Lannister]

My gen chem teacher suggested I take honors ochem because I did very well in gen chem and he said honors related to medicine more than regular ochem. So I decided to take it. What a mistake. The class was awful. We spent most of the first semester learning the synthesis of crystal meth. Second semester was better, until at the very last second (like literally the last second, after we had taken the final), the professor increased all the grade cut-offs by like 10-15% so that everyone got one letter grade lower than they were expecting. I didn't even learn how to name molecules.

What I learned: never trust a professor. They're always wrong.

Haha but really, what I learned: taking honors classes doesn't make you look better. It's not worth it unless you have a genuine interest in the subject.

 

[Hospitalized]

Don't drink 11 beers in one night without eating or drinking anything else.

On a more serious note, I think that studying in a group for O-chem is a life saver. 3 People is great -- make problems for each other and work on solving/teaching through them.

Overall, don't try to go through college alone. Seek out your classmates and work together; challenge each other. I did everything by myself in my first two years and did fine, but this year I've branched out a bit more and college has become SO much easier.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Don't cram when you have 4 finals in the span of 24 hours. You'll crash by the third final.

Source: me.

In general, don't cram. Start a study schedule. You'll be much better off without one. Funny I learned that once I started MS1 and not earlier.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

See, already learned a few new things.
@Hospitalized Copy that; I tend to make that mistake from time to time. I'll have a pounding headache with even less than 11 if I don't have food or fluids.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

Don't cram when you have 4 finals in the span of 24 hours. You'll crash by the third final.

Source: me.

In general, don't cram. Start a study schedule. You'll be much better off without one. Funny I learned that once I started MS1 and not earlier.

I'm lucky that I learned to use a planner from day one. I think that is one of the main reasons I am doing well so far.

 

[jqueb29]

I learned to wash my hands thrice before eating lunch after anatomy lab

 

[Mad Jack]

Marrying the wrong woman was the biggest mistake I made in undergrad.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

Marrying the wrong woman was the biggest mistake I made in undergrad.

That's deep. What year were you in?

 

[Mad Jack]

That's deep. What year were you in?

I was 20. It was enough of a misstep that I didn't finish my bachelor's degree until I was 27.

The moral of the story is don't put it in crazy.

 

[GomersGoToGround]

Actually, a solid idea for a thread.

Not my mistake, but a valuable one to learn from, as I've seen it happen all too often, especially in this forum to people seeking advice.

Do not speak horribly of any faculty, or really anyone, for that matter. Word gets around, and you never know who you're going to need, and when you will need them.
Do not burn bridges. Build as many as you can, and use them to cross when you are ready to travel. You won't see these people again, but the harm they can deal your career is truly of a great magnitude. Be humble; be patient; be courteous.

 

[Kochanie]

High School = Busy Work
College = Smart Work

 

[Conflagration]

A personal one, but I don't mind sharing.

Take care of yourself. Sounds selfish, right?

Well, it's not. A lot of us are well meaning people, and a lot of toxic people gravitate to that.

For me, it was a friend of mine- she was suicidal and I did everything I could do and nothing helped. I reported it, and nothing changed. I dragged her myself to the free counseling, which she didn't go to after the time I dragged her there.

Letting go is a life skill, and one that needs to be talked about. I still hear about my friend, who is still alive, but does the emotional pining to anyone that listens. Sometimes, you've got to know that you've done everything that you can, and that it's okay to walk away.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

oh goodness, my mistakes list is endless lol... so instead of adding my mistakes, I'll add what all of my mistakes have taught me.

if there's one thing I've learned, it's that the world doesn't end when you make a mistake. often times it may make the road a little bit longer, but with proper planning and actually learning from your mistakes, your life can usually be fixed.

I see many people, pre-meds in particular, who become obsessed with perfection and become depressed when they make a mistake. all I can say is don't be one of these people, realize you are human and that success can still be achieved despite occasional lapses in judgment. you'll someday be a better, more relatable physician because of it.

 

[Lucca]

You can't be perfect, don't try to be. You shouldn't be.

Focus on yourself and not others.

Make schedules for everything academic or professional.

Don't be afraid to e-mail/contact people you dont know because you are trying to open doors, the worst they can do is say No.

Keep up with the news in some way. The world is always turning and its problems are far worse than yours.

Exercise regularly (still a perpetual failure on my part)

The people who care about you are always more important than your grades.

Figure out why you make mistakes as early as possible.

But most importantly....


Beer before liquor, always sicker; liquor before beer, in the clear.

 

[AspiringERMD]

You don't have to be perfect to be really, really good at what you do. And for the gunners out there... you don't even have to be perfect to be the best there is.

Don't be clingy. Let people go. The faster you do, the faster you'll quit thinking about them, and the faster you'll heal.

Gain an alcohol tolerance more slowly.

When freaking out, do a better job of stopping to analyze whether this is *really* all that big a deal in the long run. You'd be surprised how many times it's just not, but you won't recognize it except in hindsight.

Accept help, but in general, try not to cross over into being needy.

For the love of the gods, be honest with yourself. It's possible to REALLY convincingly lie to yourself and begin to believe you are someone you aren't. This can, and has, caused failed marriages, unhappy careers, etc. It may take years, but it will bite you in the ass when you realize your real needs and desires are separate from what you've worked toward. Accept who you are from the beginning and work with that person, not the person you wish you were but fundamentally aren't.

 

[jb94mg]

Don't wait until you're 21 to start seriously considering what you want to do with your life. You're never too young to think about it. And definitely don't matriculate at a university these days without knowing what you want to major in. Go to a community college and knockout your gen ed's at a low cost for a couple years if you don't know.

 

[miamiheatfan]

1. Don't bite off more than you can chew.
2. No one is ever too busy, it's about priorities.
3. You can't be friends/please everyone.
4. It doesn't matter who does what, do what you have to do for you and you'll succeed.
5. Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard.

 

[tima]

“Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.”

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”

“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.”

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

I learned that I am not an invulnerable snowflake. I am average and human, and I think most people have a hard time accepting that.

 

[Deranged Medic]

Advice from a coworker as I was sharing frustrations from being a nontrad: "Don't get so caught up in where you want to be that you forget to have fun where you are."

 

[zzxxzz]

Related to late high school/college/post-college life:

1) Don't make major decisions based on promises that aren't in writing. Many examples of this, but the most major one was not working for an entire summer in order to work full-time in a lab for which I was promised a major scholarship. Scholarship was then pulled on a catch-22 technicality...after I had worked for ~600 hours for free. Led to major financial problems for me. Nothing I could do as the scholarship-providing organization was in no way affiliated with the one for which I worked.

2) People who aren't your friends when everyone is sober aren't your friends, period. Related to this, people who cannot have fun without a drink in their hand aren't worth the trouble. Latter one took me years to accept.

3) Your lab/project partners are incompetent until proven otherwise.

4) Take nothing for granted.

5) Have a backup plan. I've got friends who dedicated their entire college lives to getting into medical school and didn't get in after multiple cycles. None have really recovered.

6) If you build a ridiculous alcohol tolerance, it doesn't go away that fast. Enjoy being the only sober one at the bar later on.

7) Exercise. If you don't, you'll get fatter than you'd like. Sounds obvious, but sneaks up on us all.

8)

Marrying the wrong woman was the biggest mistake I made in undergrad.

Related to this, being involved with the wrong person, realizing it, and staying with them anyway is one of the worst mistakes you can make. We're talking years of misery. Learn to have the "talk."

9) Care about your job enough to go somewhere in life, but not so much that you don't have fun. I know plenty of people in their mid-20s making $120-$150k+. They all work 80-90 hours a week and hate their jobs. And they all have nothing to spend that kind of money on. Salary isn't everything when you're young.

Finally, 10) Outside of your immediate family and a few other people, no one really cares that much about you. Once you learn to accept that, life becomes much simpler.

 

[Garurumon]

Don't get too caught up with comparing yourself to others, especially to people you can't help but feel are ahead of you, out of your league, superior, etc. Everyone's different and embarking on their own journeys/careers. No one starts off on the exact same foot. Don't compare your Chapter 4 to someone else's Chapter 20.

 

[GomersGoToGround]

Don't get too caught up with comparing yourself to others, especially to people you can't help but feel are ahead of you, out of your league, superior, etc. Everyone's different and embarking on their own journeys/careers. No one starts off on the exact same foot. Don't compare your Chapter 4 to someone else's Chapter 20.

Outstandingly put.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Not everyone will have the same level of maturity you do. Not everyone will think the same way you do. Not everyone will share the same ideals and beliefs you do. If someone doesn't like you and adamantly believes they didn't hurt you at all (when they actually did), it's useless to argue with them because they most likely will not ever change their mind or accept that they might be wrong. The best way to heal is to let them go/get them out of your life. This goes hand in hand with the "Let go of toxic relationships/people" advice that has been stated already.

 

[altblue]

1. I'm not infalliable, and I still have lots of areas to improve in. I went on a slight ego trip freshman year and sophomore year, hell, I went from a fat pizza-faced high schooler who routinely failed classes to a mildly/moderately attractive dude who gets good grades. Without going into detail, I realize that I should be more consciencious, focused, and organized, and I recognize that serious deficits in these skills could really hurt me should I attend med school
2. That said, I don't have to be perfect to have a successful career or get into a school I want to attend. Alums of Vandy, Michigan and Stanford etc. at my lab have problems and make poor decisions sometimes just like everyone else (though it isn't all about the name either).
3. Not everything will come easily to me academically. I still struggle with memorization and step-by-step lab work, but I recognize that if I work harder than most, I can do well.
4. It's every self-help cliche ever, but if I regularly set time aside for something fun (going to the occasional loud party or just drinking with friends), I will probably feel happier and be more productive

Whew, I honestly feel a lot better about things.

 

[efle]

1) dont trust your room mate to go to the store and restock us on toilet paper like he said he would, what the hell man, I get that you lose track of time when you play League but now I know from painful personal experience why Lysol wipes have a warning label about use on skin
2) dont let your other room mate go to bed super drunk without using the bathroom or he will mistake his open drawer for a toilet again
3) pick good room mates who will be your best bros

on a more serious note, things I haven't seen mentioned

1) you can, in fact, meet someone special in high school and make the right choice going to college with them. Very glad I didn't take the advice given to me about having the "college experience"
2) many, many premeds should have taken the full ride to state uni instead of taking on mountains of debt for a highly competitive undergrad
3) pick good room mates who will be your best bros

most of all:
4) disregard premed advisers, acquire MSAR and SDN account

 

[Ace Khalifa]

1) dont trust your room mate to go to the store and restock us on toilet paper like he said he would, what the hell man, I get that you lose track of time when you play League but now I know from painful personal experience why Lysol wipes have a warning label about use on skin
2) dont let your other room mate go to bed super drunk without using the bathroom or he will mistake his open drawer for a toilet again
3) pick good room mates who will be your best bros

on a more serious note, things I haven't seen mentioned

1) you can, in fact, meet someone special in high school and make the right choice going to college with them. Very glad I didn't take the advice given to me about having the "college experience"
2) many, many premeds should have taken the full ride to state uni instead of taking on mountains of debt for a highly competitive undergrad
3) pick good room mates who will be your best bros

most of all:
4) disregard premed advisers, acquire MSAR and SDN account

Which of our lovely premed advisors told you not to use MSAR? That seems highly counterintuitive...

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Here's another one. You will meet people in college who absolutely do not deserve to become doctors. They will still be premed and try anyway. The best thing to do is just ignore them and secretly wish they never succeed. And yes, it is absolutely okay to judge someone else's motivations for going into medicine, especially if they are a mean person or a terrible team player.

 

[theriomorphos]

.

 

[EvenStevens]

Here's another one. You will meet people in college who absolutely do not deserve to become doctors. And yes, it is absolutely okay to judge someone else's motivations for going into medicine, especially if they are a mean person or a terrible team player.

Who are you to evaluate how someone will be as a doctor? There is no bank of good motivations for going into medicine and I'm sure there are PLENTY of dbags who are outstanding doctors

 

[aprimenumber]

Who are you to evaluate how someone will be as a doctor? There is no bank of good motivations for going into medicine and I'm sure there are PLENTY of dbags who are outstanding doctors

I kinda get his point, but at the same time, I've stated it before that I don't think that anyone really "deserves" to become a doctor simply because it essentially trivializes the opportunity to serve others as a self-serving reward. I don't care if someone's a dbag if they'll still provide excellent and compassionate care that helps people. However, if they're unethical, rude, and negative, and would only bring that into the field, then yes, I would also hope that they wouldn't become a doctor, as long as their eventual lack of success doesn't come with any collateral costs in patient health or lives.

Regardless, for a profession that is built on establishing non-judgmental relationships (easier said than done, and almost never fully done), it's somewhat disconcerting to be wishing for others to not succeed based on a fallacious notion of merit and requital.

Idk, what goes around comes around, amirite?

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

[/QUOTE]

Here's another one. You will meet people in college who absolutely do not deserve to become doctors. They will still be premed and try anyway. The best thing to do is just ignore them and secretly wish they never succeed. And yes, it is absolutely okay to judge someone else's motivations for going into medicine, especially if they are a mean person or a terrible team player.

"Secretly wish they never succeed."
I didn't know you were a gunner Ace. It's okay, I'm really competitive too. 😀

 

[Ace Khalifa]

"Secretly wish they never succeed."
I didn't know you were a gunner Ace. It's okay, I'm really competitive too. 😀[/QUOTE]
I'm not. I never tried hard in my classes at the expense of others. I always helped people out because that's who I am. I'm saying that people who ARE uber competitive (aka not helpful or kind or caring) and also mean and also can't work or play well with others do not deserve to go into medicine.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

I kinda get his point, but at the same time, I've stated it before that I don't think that anyone really "deserves" to become a doctor simply because it essentially trivializes the opportunity to serve others as a self-serving reward. I don't care if someone's a dbag if they'll still provide excellent and compassionate care that helps people. However, if they're unethical, rude, and negative, and would only bring that into the field, then yes, I would also hope that they wouldn't become a doctor, as long as their eventual lack of success doesn't come with any collateral costs in patient health or lives.

Regardless, for a profession that is built on establishing non-judgmental relationships (easier said than done, and almost never fully done), it's somewhat disconcerting to be wishing for others to not succeed based on a fallacious notion of merit and requital.

Idk, what goes around comes around, amirite?

For the one person who was the worst out of all the people I wouldn't want to become physicians, they matched all your criteria. Unethical? Yes, they lied to my face and admitted to hurting others without remorse. Rude? Most definitely, they don't have a filter for the words that come out of their mouth and they even angrily argued with a TA once over losing a few points on an assignment. Negative? Oh yeah, this person never has a real smile on their face, only the fake ones that people with extremely shallow facades put on. I would not want this person to be my physician or my colleague.

 

[mehc012]

I'm not. I never tried hard in my classes at the expense of others. I always helped people out because that's who I am. I'm saying that people who ARE uber competitive (aka not helpful or kind or caring) and also mean and also can't work or play well with others do not deserve to go into medicine.

I don't know about 'deserve', but I see nothing wrong with hoping that the dbags get weeded out before you have to be classmates or coworkers.

 

[aprimenumber]

I don't know about 'deserve', but I see nothing wrong with hoping that the dbags get weeded out before you have to be classmates or coworkers.

As long as they're weeded out before they're in a position to hurt patients, then I agree.

Think of this as an MMI day. Everything we hope for and argue for should be in the best interest of the patient first.

 

[Conflagration]

I think this whole argument's over a simple twist of language, truth be told.

No one "deserves" to go into medicine. It's not an entitlement- you earn it.

However, you can have your opinions about whether or not you'd want them as a colleague. I see some people in the pre-pharmacy program here that I wouldn't trust to sort Tic-Tacs by color.

If they get a spot, though- they earned their chance to be pharmacists. There's nothing I can really do about it other than hope they do the best job that they can so that when they get to their clinical/retail/nuclear/etc. jobs, they are competent professionals. ^^

 

[mehc012]

As long as they're weeded out before they're in a position to hurt patients, then I agree.

Think of this as an MMI day. Everything we hope for and argue for should be in the best interest of the patient first.

Ah, but that assumes they'll hurt patients, which opens up the 'but @$$holes can be great doctors!' - which is true.

I don't know how good a doctor any individual will be. Maybe they'll be a complete prick, but a great doctor. Who knows? What I do know is that there are more people who will be good doctors than there are med school seats, so I don't feel badly in the slightest for hoping that those seats are taken up by people who both have the potential to be good docs (potential is all any entering med student has) AND are people who I would like to spend 4 stressful years with and then possibly work side-by-side with throughout my career.

 

[Alphonsews]

I think that's one of the primary reasons My business is achieving a lot up to now.

 

[zzxxzz]

4) disregard premed advisers, acquire MSAR and SDN account

Unfortunately, this is pretty good advice...

3) pick good room mates who will be your best bros

Be careful with this. The advice "don't room with your best friends" is sometimes right. During my senior year I roomed with my three closest friends. By second semester three of us wanted to murder the fourth. You never truly know someone until you live with them.


A few more I thought of:

1) Do whatever the police tell you to. Seriously. If you get an attitude you could be getting your first prostate exam a lot earlier in life than you expected...

2) Only do an illegal act if you'd be OK with getting caught doing it and facing the punishment. This seems obvious, but a lot of people (at least in my life) apparently don't take the time to consider what would change in their lives if they got pulled over with a half-ounce sitting in the passenger sear.

3) If you need to get someone to throw up, go buy a tin of Grizzly, Skoal, etc, and place a pinch or two on their tongue. If they don't dip, they'll be puking their brains out in minutes. More useful than you might think. Just don't let them swallow it. Also, no matter where you live, you will inevitably meet someone who dips and will happily use the excess.

 

[Gregarious_and_Hilarious]

1.) Try things, even if you think you'd be really unqualified/bad at it. I've gotten some of my best/most rewarding ECs this way.

2.) Keep up with current events that aren't pop culture related. Your brain will thank you

3.) Practice meditation. It greatly reduces stress and has numerous health benefits. Additionally, be able to sense those who give off negative energy and remove them from your life.

4.) Get the full college experience. Rage on a Wednesday, make dumb choices, and get your crazy out. These become exponentially more unacceptable the longer you're out of college.

5.) Work a super ****ty job. It will help you appreciate your future goals.

6.) Never follow any of Cosmo's "relationship tips"

 

[FutureOncologist]

Here's my story about sophomore year. It spans two years technically, but the s**t hit the fan my 2nd year. Please bear with me, as this is a long story... (tl;dr version at the bottom).

I had rushed a fraternity my freshman year and I loved it, even pledgeship. Don't get me wrong, pledging in a huge fraternity in the south tests your physical, emotional, and psychological integrity, but I pulled through. Pledgeship was something I'm glad I went through because I met some of the most amazing brothers that I will know for the rest of my life. By the end of freshman year, I had a 3.43, which wasn't bad if you ask me. However, I had been suffering from depression throughout high school, and it would still hit me, even if I had nothing to be depressed about at the time.

Sophomore year, I had a job: a Resident Assistant. This was classified as a "part-time student job" by the university, but the workload told otherwise. If I didn't have class, premed meetings, rush events, classes to study for, or wasn't in the gym, I had to work. I got AT MOST 4 hours of sleep, with 8 am classes each day. I wasn't allowed to attend a lot of parties in my fraternity because of strict rules that prevent RA's from partying with his/her residents. Now, if you were to know one thing about me, it's that I am VERY extroverted. I love meeting people and being with a lot of people all the time. It's just who I am. This job, along with very limited social interaction (every resident I had thought of me as an authority figure rather than a role model), and almost no sleep brought my depression back--with a vengeance. I ended up breaking almost every rule as an RA as far as partying with residents in the spring semester. Don't get me wrong, I didn't go looking for trouble, but if my residents were at any of the parties that I attended, I would drink with them. I partied every weekend and got hammered. This only caused my grades and depression to worsen. There were parts of that year that honestly scare me to this day because of how bad depression got. By the end of my sophomore year, I had a 3.13 cGPA and a 2.9X sGPA. I thought that any chance in getting into medical school was gone. I was almost at a point of killing myself.

Then, one of my best friends convinced me to get help. I reluctantly went towards the end of the year on campus and it gave me hope back. I left the RA job, rested up, got the therapy I needed, and REALLY considered if I wanted to go to medical school. I decided to give myself one more semester at getting a Biochemistry degree. I studied hard, weightlifted constantly (stress relief and it's very healthy), continued therapy, and reconnected with my fraternity. I can promise you that there wasn't a week where I wanted to call it quits; I wanted to switch to French (fluent) and move on from medicine. I always had a doubt in my mind that "my GPA will never be good enough" or "no matter what I do I'll just have to switch my career path." However, no matter how I felt about my low chances for becoming a doctor, I still persevered. I ended up getting a 4.0 that semester and knew that this was a sign for a second chance. I told myself I wouldn't blow it. I made a 4.0 for the last 4 semesters and published twice as a first author. When I got II's from Stanford and JHU (reach schools for me), I honestly cried in front of my friends and girlfriend (at the time.) When I got my first acceptance, I was awestruck. I felt invincible and that my work (and life) was worth something. If I told myself from sophomore year about where I was at that moment, I would laugh in my own face.

Summary:

1. Don't let anyone tell you you can't become a doctor. If I listened to any of them, then I wouldn't be here.
2. You need a support system in college, even if you're not going for an MD/DO degree.
3. If you have MDD or any other issue like this, don't do it alone. I honestly thought in the beginning that partying hard, getting drunk, and sleeping with random chicks I met that night would cure my depression. Oh holy s**t was I wrong. What's worse is that it took my best friend and a semester to realize this.
4. Find a hobby. Weightlifting gave me back so much confidence that it almost cured my depression alone. If you love doing something, then make the time for it.
5. College can be fun, if you manage time correctly. The secret to me doing a complete 180 degrees is that I got help from the career center at my school on how to plan my time correctly. This saved my GPA (and in my case, my life.)
6. Get a mentor. I'm not talking about someone you visit once a semester to talk to for 5 minutes on your goals and how classes are going. I mean someone you keep in close contact to you that is a role model. For me, it was my second Research PI. Not only did he help me publish, but he gave me so much confidence in and out of the classroom, as well as how to study effectively. HE is the reason my GPA saved my ass.
7. Anything is possible. Bad GPA right now? You can fix it. Your MCAT not reflecting your academic potential? Retake it. Can't find a doctor to shadow? You're not trying hard enough.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

Here's my story about sophomore year. It spans two years technically, but the s**t hit the fan my 2nd year. Please bear with me, as this is a long story... (tl;dr version at the bottom).

I had rushed a fraternity my freshman year and I loved it, even pledgeship. Don't get me wrong, pledging in a huge fraternity in the south tests your physical, emotional, and psychological integrity, but I pulled through. Pledgeship was something I'm glad I went through because I met some of the most amazing brothers that I will know for the rest of my life. By the end of freshman year, I had a 3.43, which wasn't bad if you ask me. However, I had been suffering from depression throughout high school, and it would still hit me whenever I had nothing to be depressed about at the time.

Sophomore year, I had a job: a Resident Assistant. This was classified as a "part-time student job" by the university, but the workload told otherwise. If I didn't have class, premed meetings, rush events, or classes to study for, wasn't in the gym, I had to work. I got AT MOST 4 hours of sleep, with 8 am classes each day. I wasn't allowed to attend a lot of parties in my fraternity because of strict rules that prevent RA's from partying with his/her residents. Now, if you were to know one thing about me, it's that I am VERY extroverted. I love meeting people and being with a lot of people all the time. It's just who I am. This job, along with very limited social interaction (every resident I had thought of me as an authority figure rather than a role model), and almost no sleep brought my depression back--with a vengeance. I ended up breaking almost every rule as an RA as far as partying with residents. Don't get me wrong, I didn't go looking for trouble, but if my residents were at any of the parties that I attended, I would drink with them. I partied every weekend and got hammered. This only caused my grades to worsen and my depression to get worse. There were parts of that year that honestly scare me to this day because of how bad depression got. By the end of my sophomore year, I had a 3.13 cGPA and a 2.9X sGPA. I thought that any chance in getting into medical school was gone. I was almost at a point of killing myself.

Then, one of my best friends convinced me to get help. I reluctantly went towards the end of the year on campus and it gave me hope back. I left the RA job, rested up, got the therapy I needed, and REALLY considered if I wanted to go to medical school. I decided to give myself one more semester at getting a Biochemistry degree. I studied hard, weightlifted constantly (stress relief and it's very healthy), continued therapy, and reconnected with my fraternity. I can promise you that there wasn't a week where I wanted to call it quits; I wanted to switch to French (fluent) and move on from medicine. I always had a doubt in my mind that "my GPA will never be good enough" or "no matter what I do I'll just have to switch my career path." However, no matter how I felt about my low chances for becoming a doctor, I still persevered. I ended up getting a 4.0 that semester and knew that this was a sign for a second chance. I told myself I wouldn't blow it. I made a 4.0 for the last 4 semesters and published twice as a first author. When I got II's from Stanford and JHU (reach schools for me), I honestly cried in front of my friends and girlfriend (at the time.) When I got my first acceptance, I was awestruck. I felt invincible and that my work (and life) was worth something. If I told myself from sophomore year about where I was at that moment, I would laugh in my own face.

Summary:

1. Don't let anyone tell you you can't become a doctor. If I listened to any of them, then I wouldn't be here.
2. You need a support system in college, even if you're not going for an MD/DO degree.
3. If you have MDD or any other issue like this, don't do it alone. I honestly thought in the beginning that partying hard, getting drunk, and sleeping with chicks would cure my depression. Oh holy s**t was I wrong. What's worse is that it took my best friend and a semester to realize this.
4. Find a hobby. Weightlifting gave me back so much confidence that it almost cured my depression alone. If you love doing something, then make the time for it.
5. College can be fun, if you manage time correctly. The secret to me doing a complete 180 degrees is that I got help from the career center at my school on how to plan my time correctly. This saved my GPA (and in my case, my life.)
6. Get a mentor. I'm not talking about someone you visit once a semester to talk to for 5 minutes on your goals and how classes are going. I mean someone you keep in close contact to you that is a role model. For me, it was my second Research PI. Not only did he help me publish, but he gave me so much confidence in and out of the classroom, as well as how to study effectively. HE is the reason my GPA saved my ass.
7. Anything is possible. Bad GPA right now? You can fix it. Your MCAT not reflecting your academic potential? Retake it. Can't find a doctor to shadow? You're not trying hard enough.

That was awesome. Thank you for sharing; your story is commendable.

 

[efle]

Which of our lovely premed advisors told you not to use MSAR? That seems highly counterintuitive...

None of them, but I had one tell me that clinical volunteering wasn't needed and could be replaced by nonmedical volunteering, and another who said you don't need research experience to be competitive for top schools. The MSAR totally shocked me when I first started looking at the % with clinical volunteering / research at all the best schools.

Be careful with this. The advice "don't room with your best friends" is sometimes right. During my senior year I roomed with my three closest friends. By second semester three of us wanted to murder the fourth. You never truly know someone until you live with them.

if they got pulled over with a half-ounce sitting in the passenger sear.

I actually got lucky and was randomly assigned freshman year to room with the dudes that would become my best friends, we really just chose to keep living together.

Haha! Man if someone is dumb enough to drive around with weed out on their passenger seat they kind of deserve it, that's some Darwin for you

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

Well I learned something new today. Always have plans B, C, and D.

 

[altblue]

None of them, but I had one tell me that clinical volunteering wasn't needed and could be replaced by nonmedical volunteering, and another who said you don't need research experience to be competitive for top schools. The MSAR totally shocked me when I first started looking at the % with clinical volunteering / research at all the best schools.

My advisor told me that only 3 things are really considered in admissions (and in equal weight): The applicant's GPA, MCAT, and personal statement.

Less work for me, heck yeah.

 

[efle]

My advisor told me that only 3 things are really considered in admissions: The applicant's GPA, MCAT, and personal statement.

Less work for me, heck yeah.

Wow no need for letters or anything huh. I hope the hSDN forum on here is full of warnings about idiot advisers

 

[llamasarefuzzy]

1) I am not special or exceptional just because I am me. Success requires hard work, be it school or extracurriculars

2) take some classes just for the hell of it. This past semester I was taking a graduate stats class, graduate physiology, hemodynamics and... Intro to ballet. At several interviews this came up and led to a great conversation. Some of my previous "what the hell" classes include two semesters of film photography, modern dance, and Italian cinema. I think I learned a lot, and had an absolute blast

3) find and keep a few great friends. It's nice to have a large circle of friendly people, but make sure you have 2 or 3 that you could tell anything too

4) I am convinced that applying to med schools is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Find a form of physical activity that you enjoy and do it!

5) it is so much nicer to study and live in a clean space. Learn how to properly clean a house (including kitchen and bathroom) previous roommate was clueless.. I have no idea how someone survives 24 years in the world without learning to clean a toilet

 

[fancymylotus]

Things I wish my Younger Self Knew, by FML:

If you find someone who loves and respects you, and your family, literally everything else becomes superfluous and secondary. Hang on to that person

Pick your goddam battles. Personal, professional, friends family etc just evaluate whether something is really worth fighting over and about before you jump headfirst into a war

Loved ones are so precious. Sometimes it doesn't take an extravagant gesture or showy display of affection to remind them that they are important and you are thinking of them, especially when professional school eats away your time/life/soul

Never stop learning, or wanting to learn, and trying to better yourself. Don't become stagnant and stuck. Explore things. Try something you thought you might not be able to do.

Take some classes in subjects not related at all to your major in undergrad.

Party your face off, if you need to, and get it out of your system. Fast.

Cheap alcohol is not your friend

Speaking of friends, hold on tight to the ones who are there for you on your absolute worst days. They're the ones who will celebrate your best days with you, too.

Even if you hate it, like I do, learn to cook at least a few basic things. It's always healthier that way, plus you get to control what's going into your food. Meal prepping for the week is a wonderful thing. And a gigantic time saver.

Starbucks is not worth the money.

I'm now on the other side of things and I will tell you with absolute certainty that all the bags and shoes and fancy cars in the world cannot fix a depressed miserable person. Remember that. Think about the choices you make today that impact the things that happen tomorrow. Sure, the $$$$ is great, but it doesn't make up for lost time with people, broken relationships, being a horrid person, or hating your life because you chose the wrong career path for the wrong reasons.

Oh, and never stop being thankful. There is so much to be thankful for even when SHTF.