Seriously concerned about my memory - Final year medical student

[koochkooch]

I am about to start my final year of med school and am quite concerned about memory. Over the past two years I have noticed that my memory has been getting progressively worse. I would be taking a history from a patient in the emergency department, perform a complete physical exam and then suddenly forget about 90-95% of what I had just done. Its like I am doing things on autopilot and my mind is numb. I have to try very hard to keep information about patients in my head. I struggle to remember details about patients on ward rounds. When I compare myself to my classmates, I see a clear deficiency in my ability to remember details about patients. They remember information about patients MUCH better than me. I am able to retain medical knowledge by using Anki, however when it comes to the dynamic day-to-day practice of medicine - retaining knowledge about patients - I really struggle.

If I don't write things down, I forget about 95% of what I have done! And sometimes I won't have access to paper - sometimes I need to remember things off the top of my head!

I have thought about what could be the cause of this, and have narrowed it down to either hypothyroidism or anterograde / dissociative amnesia. I am really worried that this will affect my performance as an intern and I am trying to fix the problem, but I'm at a loss. I have no idea how to improve on this. Should I see a counselor or psychologist?

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[Mad Jack]

Get a complete medical and psychiatric workup. SDN is not for medical advice.

Have you considered sleep deprivation though? Just as a non-medical option.

 

[Azete]

Not to give medical advice, but I went through a similar period where I would forget very concerning things -- like my wife or daughter's names, the password to my phone, and I literally never remembered where I parked my car without writing it down.

I made some changes to my sleep routine and it made all the difference. Sometimes getting 8 hours of sleep is the equivalent of 4 due to poor quality.

 

[ordersol7]

How have your evaluations been? Have you gotten through medical school without major issues? If you've made it here without major hang-ups then I think it's very possible that your memory problems may not be as severe as you worry they might be. It's also possible that you're simply burned out and your memory issues reflect being over-stressed rather than an inability to handle medicine. Taking some light electives or discretionary time may help. A counselor or doctor visit may certainly help to pin it down.

 

[Goro]

Add to this stress, poor diet...

Get a complete medical and psychiatric workup. SDN is not for medical advice.

Have you considered sleep deprivation though? Just as a non-medical option.

 

[GadRads]

Exercise and sleep.

 

[MrChance2]

Do a work up if u want it's tough to gauge how bad it is via sdn

I think med students hold themselves to high standards as well. You may not be as bad as you think. I think being in a new environment all the time 4th year can complicate things. I feel like on a new rotation I'm trying to remember all the staff names and EMR and phone numbers and how to get around the hospital and which doctors like their notes/presentations which way that I can be slow with stuff I'm otherwise good at.

If a psychiatric problem exists I'd guess depression/anxiety over dissociative amneisa.