How is anatomy going to help me with being a psychiatrist? Also doesn't the stress seem almost unbearable at times? I know this process must have had some negative consequences on my health
Idk, I've asked myself the same question multiple times and haven't really come up with an answer.
And yes the stress sometimes is unbearable. I've stated before that you have to give up part of yourself in this process. It sucks.
I had this same train of thought as a MS1, which is fine.
As you progress down the timeline, you will come to appreciate some things from a different frame of reference.
The value of anatomy for you is that you'll have a working knowledge of the human body's landscape as a psychiatrist, a physician, a medical doctor.
You are correct that you will
not need the level of longitudinal mastery to the same degree as your peers going into surgery, radiology, etc... And it seems backwards right now that you take the same exact route as them with such different career endpoints in sight; nevertheless, you will utilize that working knowledge as one of the many blocks in the foundation upon which you build your education as a competent physician.
There will be anatomy tied in with each of your organ-based courses. There will be anatomy in each of your clinical rotations during 3rd/4th year. There will be anatomy during your first years in psych residency.
Once in clinical settings, you will read many notes and synthesize many reports. It helps to have an idea what things mean ahead of time (for example, that anatomy knowledge) so that you don't need to pause and look simple things up and/or be completely incompetent as a physician (if you choose not to/unable to look things up).
Here is a simplified, made up [and hyperbolic] example of how to not appear completely incompetent:
Psychiatrist in a bit of a rush goes into patient's room for consult, patient laying completely under sheets. Report notes among various findings a fracture to R scaphoid. During course of interview, psychiatrist asks patient if they are able to ambulate at all with their bone fracture.
Psychiatrist forgot his simple anatomy: what is a wrist bone, Alex. Result: looks like an idiot, good luck with subsequent patient confidence.
Here is a simple [less hyperbolic] example of value of anatomical knowledge when it comes to
efficiency:
Psychiatrist meets with pt post suicide attempt. Cut their R wrist pretty deep and drank some toxic chemicals. Psychiatrist notices that pt can't abduct/oppose R thumb. Psych can then ponder this fact in their head as to why that might be the case, take the time to look up why that might be the case,
or just remember on the fly from his MS-1 anatomy class that deep cuts to the wrist can damage the median nerve which distribution impacts ability to abduct/oppose the thumb and smoothly proceed with the interview.
One can make an example out of any other bodily injury... Understanding anatomical pathology of mass effect by a tumor in your depressed CA pt... Understanding anatomical ramifications in that patient that decided to consume sharp objects... Understanding neuroanatomy when interpreting new literature....on and on.
If you NEVER took anatomy, why would you know those details? They are not intrinsic facts to the psychiatric training curriculum, however, they are intrinsic facts to the knowledge of a physician...which as a psychiatrist, as you know, you will be.
Embrace that budding knowledge.
It is a PITA, yes.
Take solace in the fact that any stress you feel resulting from the med school curriculum is actually much less than if you were in the same position but aiming for derm/ent/etc.
