Sometimes i feel like quitting

[I wannabe a doc]

I want to be a doctor but its discouraging when i feel like i dont have what it takes. I always procrastinate and half ass my work end up getting C's. I rarely study because i hate reading the huge books. Im really trying this semester to get a good grade but got my first O - chem test back and my score was a F on it. Yeah i didn't really study for it because im taking cell biology with it and i was occupied with that. Does anyone have any suggestions or can help me get my life on track. I feel like a complete mess right now because of the F on the o - chem test. Can anyone give me any biology and chemistry study tips.

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[devilpup]

 

[flip26]

I want to be a doctor but its discouraging when i feel like i dont have what it takes. I always procrastinate and half ass my work end up getting C's. I rarely study because i hate reading the huge books. Im really trying this semester to get a good grade but got my first O - chem test back and my score was a F on it. Yeah i didn't really study for it because im taking cell biology with it and i was occupied with that. Does anyone have any suggestions or can help me get my life on track. I feel like a complete mess right now because of the F on the o - chem test. Can anyone give me any biology and chemistry study tips.

Umm, quit now and save yourself the pain and stress of this process.

Nothing in your post indicates you have the "right stuff."

 

[PinkIvy08]

Yeah, I agree with flip26. You should just drop pre-med and enjoy your undergraduate career. If by the time you graduate you still have the itch of wanting to be a doctor, then you should do a post-bacc program and fully commit yourself. But right now, with the grades you are receiving and your flippant attitude about them and your studying, you're just making things harder for yourself (i.e. developing bad habits, pulling your GPA down lower, etc). I think a little time away from the sciences will do you some good, will give you some perspective.

 

[flip26]

Yeah, I agree with flip26. You should just drop pre-med and enjoy your undergraduate career. If by the time you graduate you still have the itch of wanting to be a doctor, then you should do a post-bacc program and fully commit yourself. But right now, with the grades you are receiving and your flippant attitude about them and your studying, you're just making things harder for yourself (i.e. developing bad habits, pulling your GPA down lower, etc). I think a little time away from the sciences will do you some good, will give you some perspective.

Good advice.

I would love to see the data on the number of people who start college as pre-meds who actually make it to the end of the process and get accepted somewhere.

My guess is that for every 10 people who fancy themselves a pre-med during college, 8 of them drop out of it prior to actually submitting AMCAS, thus less than one in the original 10 actually makes it all the way to med school.

It may be worse than that.

 

[vpersan]

What year are you? I was super lazy for my freshman year up until these last few classes. I have 2 C's and a load of B's on my transcript right now (3.0 overall, so I can work with it). It's really up to you to find some motivation somewhere. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life for the first three years of my freshman year of college. I took one class here and there for a while (which is why it took me three years to finish my first year of college) but I never really had anything that I loved doing. Then I thought I might want to be a doctor... And you can't really want to be a doctor with a 3.0 GPA so I had to step it up ... a LOT. For the last three classes I've taken I have 2 A's and a very high B (still mad about the B but it's not the end of the world). Just find something that gets you motivated to study. When I was in high school I had a 4.3 crazy stupid GPA and I never had to open a book or spend any time studying. So, when I got to college I thought it would be the same but it wasn't. I didn't open a single book and I got a bunch of C's and B's... Don't listen to the people who tell you that it's all over and you can't do it... You may not have the highest GPA of the applicants, but you can do other things to stand out! Pick some really awesome ECs that mean something to you, that you'll be able to speak to really well in your interview. Don't just volunteer at a hospital and say "I hate volunteering at the hospital" and end up fibbing in the interviews about how much you absolutely loved delivering water and shuffling papers

 

[BlueElmo]

If you really want to be a doctor, you will buckle down and start taking your studies more seriously. Don't regret it later when you're near the end of your undergrad career.

 

[jvesco22]

What year are you? I was super lazy for my freshman year up until these last few classes. I have 2 C's and a load of B's on my transcript right now (3.0 overall, so I can work with it). It's really up to you to find some motivation somewhere. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life for the first three years of my freshman year of college. I took one class here and there for a while (which is why it took me three years to finish my first year of college) but I never really had anything that I loved doing. Then I thought I might want to be a doctor... And you can't really want to be a doctor with a 3.0 GPA so I had to step it up ... a LOT. For the last three classes I've taken I have 2 A's and a very high B (still mad about the B but it's not the end of the world). Just find something that gets you motivated to study. When I was in high school I had a 4.3 crazy stupid GPA and I never had to open a book or spend any time studying. So, when I got to college I thought it would be the same but it wasn't. I didn't open a single book and I got a bunch of C's and B's... Don't listen to the people who tell you that it's all over and you can't do it... You may not have the highest GPA of the applicants, but you can do other things to stand out! Pick some really awesome ECs that mean something to you, that you'll be able to speak to really well in your interview. Don't just volunteer at a hospital and say "I hate volunteering at the hospital" and end up fibbing in the interviews about how much you absolutely loved delivering water and shuffling papers

With his current attitude, no amount of ECs are going to make up for his POOR performance. You know why he is getting the advice from the posters above? It's because he makes a post stating that he procrastinates, half-asses his work, doesn't read text(apparently he hates big books), and he prioritizes cell biology over o-chem. THAT is why he is receiving said advice. When you are lazy, don't read, and half-ass, how the hell can you say you still really want to be a doctor, knowingly going in the opposite direction? It's bogus. Acceptances don't grow from trees. If he isn't in the right mindset, he needs to stop going any further before his chances of recovery are -110% !!

 

[20minutes]

When you are lazy, don't read, and half-ass, how the hell can you say you still really want to be a doctor, knowingly going in the opposite direction?

Because it's much easier to say you want to be a doctor than actually making the hard choices to achieve said goal.

 

[Pedie Packs]

With his current attitude, no amount of ECs are going to make up for his POOR performance. You know why he is getting the advice from the posters above? It's because he makes a post stating that he procrastinates, half-asses his work, doesn't read text(apparently he hates big books), and he prioritizes cell biology over o-chem. THAT is why he is receiving said advice. When you are lazy, don't read, and half-ass, how the hell can you say you still really want to be a doctor, knowingly going in the opposite direction? It's bogus. Acceptances don't grow from trees. If he isn't in the right mindset, he needs to stop going any further before his chances of recovery are -110% !!

Let's be honest... 98% of the time, those are exactly the reasons people rack up C's in their freshman, and maybe sophomore year. Pre-meds, for the most part, don't get C's because they stayed up at night doing all the problem sets and still didn't understand the material. It's because you are 19 years old and would rather go out to a house party on a Thursday night instead of learning stereochemistry for Monday's midterm.

Atleast you are realizing you are half-assing it and not reading like you should. Use your F to motivate you. Ask yourself, do you really want to be a doctor? If yes, then study hard for the next midterm and bring your grade back up from the dumps. You can get it done.

Before you go pursuing EC's to make up for your grades, you need to figure out 1) if this is what you really want and 2) how to study effectively, because it will only get harder from here (i.e. MCAT), and you know that. There are people on these forums and in medical school with C's and D's on their transcript but they still got accepted. The common thread between all of them is that they turned it around. Good luck

 

[jvesco22]

Let's be honest... 98% of the time, those are exactly the reasons people rack up C's in their freshman, and maybe sophomore year. Pre-meds, for the most part, don't get C's because they stayed up at night doing all the problem sets and still didn't understand the material. It's because you are 19 years old and would rather go out to a house party on a Thursday night instead of learning stereochemistry for Monday's midterm.

Atleast you are realizing you are half-assing it and not reading like you should. Use your F to motivate you. Ask yourself, do you really want to be a doctor? If yes, then study hard for the next midterm and bring your grade back up from the dumps. You can get it done.

Before you go pursuing EC's to make up for your grades, you need to figure out 1) if this is what you really want and 2) how to study effectively, because it will only get harder from here (i.e. MCAT), and you know that. There are people on these forums and in medical school with C's and D's on their transcript but they still got accepted. The common thread between all of them is that they turned it around. Good luck

That would sound appropriate if the guy was in his first semester of Freshman year. However he is taking o-chem and cell bio, so I doubt he is a freshman....

 

[Katatonic]

I got an F on my first Ochem exam as well. It woke me up and made me study and do well, to at least pull a C in the class so that I didn't have to re-take it. If it makes you less stressed, just stay in the class so that you have at least seen the material before, perhaps making it easier when/if you re-take it. Just remember that it IS possible to pull back up from that F if you put the time and effort in.

 

[Pedie Packs]

I did throw sophomore in there since he's in o-chem, but those are the reasons nonetheless....

You need to find a balance between whatever you're doing that's keeping you away from the books, and studying.

I think it's pretty crappy advice to tell this guy to quit when we all know taking massive dents on your transcript is not the end of the world for medical school admissions. If this is what you really want, you WILL find a way to make it happen. You can do it, hands down.

You asked for study tips? Well #1 would be to find that balance. Become organized. Make a study plan, with time to go out and have fun too. Most importantly, stick to your plan.
#2 would be to use your resources. That means office hours... Don't be afraid or intimidated to tell the prof you are struggling and ask what you can do. S/he can help you identify your problems and lead you in the right direction.
You've already cleared a big hurdle in admitting your faults, now it's time to address them.

 

[jvesco22]

I want to be a doctor... I always procrastinate and half ass my work...I rarely study...Im really trying this semester to get a good grade...Yeah i didn't really study for it ...Does anyone have any suggestions or can help me get my life on track.

It's no different than a fat kid stuffing a twinkie in his mouth and saying "I eat like crap guys, but I want to lose weight, please help me"

Motivation has to come from within. You can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves...

 

[MilkmanAl]

I think it's pretty crappy advice to tell this guy to quit when we all know taking massive dents on your transcript is not the end of the world for medical school admissions.

Seriously. You guys are depressing as hell. It's hard for you right now? Well, **** it. Just quit. No sense in trying to get your act together and change things up a little, right?

OP, there are plenty of resources available to you. You can talk to your professor, your TA's, older students, advisers, etc. Lots of people can give you a helping hand. Don't like reading big books? You could always, you know, not read the books. Get review materials and do the practice problems in the book instead.

When all is said and done, all the tutoring and study guides in the world aren't going to help you if you don't get motivated. You half-ass your work and procrastinate, and it's causing you problems? Here's a thought: don't half ass your work or procrastinate. Pull your head out, and get working. I should be a self-help guru.

 

[flip26]

I think it's pretty crappy advice to tell this guy to quit when we all know taking massive dents on your transcript is not the end of the world for medical school admissions.

Fs in pre reqs are pretty difficult to overcome. This process is hard enough without digging a deep hole first.

He should quit now and get back to his procrastinating and half assin' - that i a formula for success, my friends, if I ever heard one.

 

[Quix]

Because it's much easier to say you want to be a doctor than actually making the hard choices to achieve said goal.

This.

 

[266202]

Take a few hours right now and ask yourself this:

"Why do you want to be a doctor?"

Once you think you have enough reasons, ask:

"Can I survive the process?"

Note: You still have your courses (which are the easy part), the ECs, the MCAT, the Primaries, the Secondaries, the interviews, the matriculation, the 2 years of didactic study (which is INSANE amounts of work), the USMLE Step 1 which BLOWS THE MCAT OUT OF THE WATER, the clinical clerkships for 2 years including STEP 2 AND 3, and then applying to RESIDENCY programs, and then working that for 3-5 years...

And even then you still have to keep learning from BIG BOOKS (and small ones too) to keep your license and still see patients who may or may not even like you to begin with and just might have an itchy litigation finger.

Is this really what you want to do? Figure it out now. This could very well be your last chance to change anything.

And by the way, I've failed at least 2 ochem tests that I can remember. I was lazy and apathetic until the beginning of sophomore year. But once I figured out what I wanted to achieve in this life, I worked even harder to compensate for my past. I learned to study. I learned that I liked learning. I learned that I not only would enjoy being a doctor, I learned I would enjoying BECOMING a doctor.

Go big or go home. Not everyone is physically and emotionally capable of being a physician.

 

[pharaoh88]

Yeah, I agree with flip26. You should just drop pre-med and enjoy your undergraduate career. If by the time you graduate you still have the itch of wanting to be a doctor, then you should do a post-bacc program and fully commit yourself. But right now, with the grades you are receiving and your flippant attitude about them and your studying, you're just making things harder for yourself (i.e. developing bad habits, pulling your GPA down lower, etc). I think a little time away from the sciences will do you some good, will give you some perspective.

This.

 

[Bac Si]

Let's be honest... 98% of the time, those are exactly the reasons people rack up C's in their freshman, and maybe sophomore year. Pre-meds, for the most part, don't get C's because they stayed up at night doing all the problem sets and still didn't understand the material. It's because you are 19 years old and would rather go out to a house party on a Thursday night instead of learning stereochemistry for Monday's midterm.

Atleast you are realizing you are half-assing it and not reading like you should. Use your F to motivate you. Ask yourself, do you really want to be a doctor? If yes, then study hard for the next midterm and bring your grade back up from the dumps. You can get it done.

Before you go pursuing EC's to make up for your grades, you need to figure out 1) if this is what you really want and 2) how to study effectively, because it will only get harder from here (i.e. MCAT), and you know that. There are people on these forums and in medical school with C's and D's on their transcript but they still got accepted. The common thread between all of them is that they turned it around. Good luck

I use my B's to motivate me. hehe. But really, anyone can wish and dream to be a doctor, but you go out there and do the damn thing.

 

[chasingdaylight]

hey op,

I think everyone's got some good hard advice. Re-examine your drive to go to med school. It will save you heartache and years in the long run.

It's actually A LOT harder in medical school, and you read MANY more books. You may hate med school. A friend of mine just dropped out after 3 months of first year.

You might be saving yourself tons of money, years of wasted pseudo-studying, if you took time to really decide what to go for. It certainly is a risk, and career liability to devote so many years, then have nothing or very little to show for it years down the line.

On the FLIP SIDE, if you are determined and can buckle down, you actually can still make it. I know folks who have gotten into med school with a few C's. Just need to show upward trend.

If you are determined, I would recommend you drop some courses that you feel you will get a C or lower in. You waste time and money, but you have to protect your GPA to get into Med school. BUT don't get into the habit of dropping too many, you will end up wasting so much time and money.

If your final cummulative GPA is too low, like 3.3 or lower, it will be a hard road for you, but still options exhist. You can look at various post-bacc programs, or look into state school courses to slowly raise your GPA. But its just more years of HARD work, READING, and suffering really, unless you like to study.

So, bottom line, there are many avenues to get into medical school, they all require TONS of study time and life devotion.


STUDY TIP:
courses like biology and O-chem - your grade is nearly directly proportional to the amount of TIME you put in. Seriously. The key to Ochem for me and several others was to buy a question book with great answer guide and do problems 2 hours a day. Bio is just straight memorization. You can try re-writing your notes over and over again, i re-wrote mine like 5-6 times... or any other memorization tricks you have learned.
Basically, nothing was easy man... everything took TIME and pain.
gluck

 

[Marathon Doctor]

And by the way, I've failed at least 2 ochem tests that I can remember. I was lazy and apathetic until the beginning of sophomore year. But once I figured out what I wanted to achieve in this life, I worked even harder to compensate for my past. I learned to study. I learned that I liked learning. I learned that I not only would enjoy being a doctor, I learned I would enjoying BECOMING a doctor.

Go big or go home. Not everyone is physically and emotionally capable of being a physician.

Amen Brother!!

 

[lstone13]

I want to be a doctor but its discouraging when i feel like i dont have what it takes. I always procrastinate and half ass my work end up getting C's. I rarely study because i hate reading the huge books. Im really trying this semester to get a good grade but got my first O - chem test back and my score was a F on it. Yeah i didn't really study for it because im taking cell biology with it and i was occupied with that. Does anyone have any suggestions or can help me get my life on track. I feel like a complete mess right now because of the F on the o - chem test. Can anyone give me any biology and chemistry study tips.

Do you actually want to be a doctor??

 

[thegymbum]

Reality? If you want to acheive your dream, you've really gotta buckle down. If you really want to make it as a doctor, you're going to have to really make over your work ethic and crack down on the studying. I realize that being a doctor in itself doesn't require someone to be great at studying, but getting there sure does. You've got years of undergrad studying ahead of you, and years of studying even harder in medical school. If you want it badly enough, you really have to turn that motivation on and apply yourself. Just focus on the future, on WHY you want this, on that, yes, you're gonna have to work your ass off now, but it will pay off in the long run. Don't just quit right away- it's still possible. But do keep in mind that it's gonna take a lot of changes...

 

[UC pre med]

Your just going to have to buckle down and find the motivation to study the big books. Going into the field of medicine is arguably one of the most arduous paths that you can take in life.
If you don't have the motivation to study hard and get the grades to get into medical school, then either it isn't or you really have to try harder for that drive to succeed.

 

[runrunrudolph1]

do you understand that being a doctor means you will have to commit to years upon years of studying. And the stuff you are doing now... thats the easy stuff compared to what we have ahead of us... so what are you looking to get out of this?? bc it sounds like you dont know what you are getting yourself into

 

[Algophiliac]

I'm in exactly the same position as the OP. Undergrad pre-med classes are boring...supposedly years 1 and 2 of med school are boring...years 3 and 4 are tiring and make you feel inadequate...residency is just an excuse for cheap labor...where does it end?! Especially with the way health care is going now, I'm willing to bet that answer is NEVER.

So for those of you telling us to "buckle down" and plow through it...I don't understand. I was expecting to enjoy it. But I don't. I hate it. It's boring. Maybe I'm just a perfectionist searching for a great career I won't find, but I thought this process was going to be much more interesting. And the sad part is I really want to be a doctor.

 

[heinzmoleman]

I was in the exact same position as well (kinda), and i came on here for advice and everyone kept saying you lack this and you lack that and blah blah. A couple of people however actually gave some good advice. It's really dumb that ppl trash you when you are looking for help. What I can say to you is actually what I said to myself. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE A DOCTOR. this statement means alot more than you think. when you say this it is all encompassing, as in if you want to do it then screw everything and everyone else that stands in your way including academics. Don't look at something as being hard or impossible, by doing this you are setting yourself behind before the race even begins. I usually say to myself when I find a concept hard that someone somewhere thought of this and thousands of people have learned it, so why not me. I think intelligence comes from within. MOTIVATION man, find something that motivates you and doooooo it. YOU CAN AND WILL BE A DOCTOR IF YOU REALLY WANT IT AND I MEAN REALLY WANT IT DO NOT BAIL CUZ ITS HARD. ONLY BAIL IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT

 

[jvesco22]

YOU CAN AND WILL BE A DOCTOR IF YOU REALLY WANT IT AND I MEAN REALLY WANT IT DO NOT BAIL CUZ ITS HARD. ONLY BAIL IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT

Thanks Anthony Robbins

 

[musafirah]

sorry if this has been said before ( i didn't read all the replies), but for me, when i started clinical volunteering that was when i really KNEW i wanted to be a doctor and couldnt see myself anywhere else. since then i started working a lot harder and putting more effort. have you done clinical stuff/shadowing? maybe a good experience in that area will help you to buckle down and keep your eye on the prize. it is really about sacrifice throughout life though, and if you can't get yourself to sacrifice that extra time and effort now.. how will you do it later? something to think about.

 

[lstone13]

I was in the exact same position as well (kinda), and i came on here for advice and everyone kept saying you lack this and you lack that and blah blah. A couple of people however actually gave some good advice. It's really dumb that ppl trash you when you are looking for help. What I can say to you is actually what I said to myself. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE A DOCTOR. this statement means alot more than you think. when you say this it is all encompassing, as in if you want to do it then screw everything and everyone else that stands in your way including academics. Don't look at something as being hard or impossible, by doing this you are setting yourself behind before the race even begins. I usually say to myself when I find a concept hard that someone somewhere thought of this and thousands of people have learned it, so why not me. I think intelligence comes from within. MOTIVATION man, find something that motivates you and doooooo it. YOU CAN AND WILL BE A DOCTOR IF YOU REALLY WANT IT AND I MEAN REALLY WANT IT DO NOT BAIL CUZ ITS HARD. ONLY BAIL IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT

I realize I may have come across as one of those negative Nancies, but heinzmoleman, you summed up my sentiment as well.

OP, answer the question, "Do I really want to be a doctor?" and let your answer serve as your source of motivation. This answer should drive you in all that you do. When you are faced with challenges, remind yourself that you already answered the question and you already know that 1) you do want to be a doctor and 2) why you want to be a doctor.

 

[BerlinDude]

If you want study tips, start reading the material instead of asking ******ed questions on internet forums.

 

[BlueElmo]

If you want study tips, start reading the material instead of asking ******ed questions on internet forums.

Good point.

 

[BlitzSleep]

Chemistry - do practice problems

Biology - make note cards

guaranteed A's will ensue given that you don't "half ass" and procrastinate.

 

[Algophiliac]

Are you sure? Because you sound kind of like you thought becoming a doctor was a one-step, simple decision. It's a process, and a journey, and if you're not excited about that journey you should reconsider. I mean, I would like to win an olympic medal or play in the World Cup, but my passion didn't involve putting the time into it that is required of these athletes. You can't just say you want to be a doctor buuuuuut don;t want to earn the right to be a doctor and expect sympathy by saying "its sad".

But the point is that I do want to earn the right to be a doctor. I am not complaining about difficulty--trust me, I LOVE working hard, and anyone who knows me can attest to this--but boredom is what kills motivation for me, personally.

It was not a simple decision at all until I realized I really could do anything I loved. But the question that always gets me is this: if I don't enjoy what I'm doing now on the journey to becoming a doctor, will I ever enjoy actually being a doctor?

Supposedly I'm not the only one who finds pre-med and med school courses on the boring side (even judging by just these forums), but...well...when does all of that become worth it? When can I actually make a difference instead of continually feeling like I'm getting in the way?

 

[MilkmanAl]

How can you love to do something but be bored doing it? It sounds like you need to reevaluate what you're doing. The road to med school is paved with a ton of useless nonsense that you have to plow through, so if the boredom is getting to you now, in your freshman year of college, you need to think very hard about whether you want to put in 3.5 more years of said boredom and then add crushing stress to that boredom for 2 years after that. As far as I can tell, all the work doesn't really become "worth it' until your third year of med school when you finally get to set aside the sea of academic minutiae and focus on what you're actually trying to do for a living. Courses later on in college are more specialized and thus let you focus on your interests more, but they're still full of crappy rote memorization.

It sounds to me like your rationale for becoming a doctor is quite terrible. You can work hard at anything you do. Personally, I can't even begin to fathom intrinsically enjoying hard work, but what really blows my mind is working hard at something you hate just to do it. You want to earn the right to be a doctor? Great, but why? If the best answer you can come up with involves difficulty and hard work, it's time to change paths. You will be much more successful many years earlier in another field - a field you'll enjoy. There is no reason to keep struggling uphill against classes you're uninterested in, for it only gets substantially worse from where you are.

 

[Algophiliac]

Wow...jumping to way too many conclusions here, I think.

How can you love to do something but be bored doing it? It sounds like you need to reevaluate what you're doing. The road to med school is paved with a ton of useless nonsense that you have to plow through, so if the boredom is getting to you now, in your freshman year of college, you need to think very hard about whether you want to put in 3.5 more years of said boredom and then add crushing stress to that boredom for 2 years after that.

Yet you admit the boredom is present. I do not hate biology, chemistry, or physics...in fact, I find them interesting subjects with excellent applications to the real world. However, sometimes they get boring, and I can't help that. Actually being involved in clinical factors and volunteering are practically all I live for these days, because everything else is monotonous.

As far as I can tell, all the work doesn't really become "worth it' until your third year of med school when you finally get to set aside the sea of academic minutiae and focus on what you're actually trying to do for a living. Courses later on in college are more specialized and thus let you focus on your interests more, but they're still full of crappy rote memorization.

Rote memorization does bother me, as I prefer critical thinking, but I am not opposed to doing it. More specialized courses will probably solve my boredom problem, actually.

It sounds to me like your rationale for becoming a doctor is quite terrible. You can work hard at anything you do. Personally, I can't even begin to fathom intrinsically enjoying hard work, but what really blows my mind is working hard at something you hate just to do it. You want to earn the right to be a doctor? Great, but why? If the best answer you can come up with involves difficulty and hard work, it's time to change paths. You will be much more successful many years earlier in another field - a field you'll enjoy. There is no reason to keep struggling uphill against classes you're uninterested in, for it only gets substantially worse from where you are.

Ok...just because I enjoy hard work, doesn't mean I ONLY want to be a doctor because they work hard. Please stop making ridiculous assumptions. I have explored this profession up and down, and I know for a fact that something in the medical field will be my ultimate career path, be it medically-oriented research or actually becoming a physician.

Why is it so hard to believe that I intrinsically enjoy hard work? And again, I do not hate the classes! If I were aiming for a PhD in math, then yes, I'd hate the classes, but this feeling is different. It is just...boredom. I've already been through biology, chemistry, and physics on one level or another, and sometimes it just feels like I'm repeating and repeating and repeating the same information. I need variety.

I can't speak for the OP's situation, but I think he probably feels the same way. Learning something once is exciting and interesting, but going over it multiple times just to memorize it (and forget it sometime later) is tedious, yet needs to be done. At least it's nice to hear that the hard work pays off at some point.

 

[brooklynblunder]

take a year off from school and try to get a job. go back to school, destroy that ****

 

[MilkmanAl]

This:

I do not hate biology, chemistry, or physics...in fact, I find them interesting subjects with excellent applications to the real world.

plus this:

I don't understand. I was expecting to enjoy it. But I don't. I hate it. It's boring.

equal time to reevaluate, like I said. Which is it?

Ok...just because I enjoy hard work, doesn't mean I ONLY want to be a doctor because they work hard. Please stop making ridiculous assumptions.

Ridiculous? You're the one who said you hated your classes. Like it or not, continual education is part of being a doctor. Freshman year is as easy and not-boring as the information gets until the 2nd year of med school when the volume drowns out any enjoyment you could possibly gain from learning. I can't speak for 3rd and 4th years and continuing education, though. If you "hate" what you're learning but "LOVE" working hard, I'm not seeing another form of motivation. Sorry, kiddo.

Why is it so hard to believe that I intrinsically enjoy hard work?

Uh...because it's hard and it's work. One typically enjoys what he gets out of the hard work, not the hard work itself.

I do not hate the classes!

See the previous quote. Do you or don't you? Again, it sound like you need to figure out where you're going.

 

[Algophiliac]

Hmmmm, I think I've used the same word in two different contexts, which is confusing. I enjoy the material, but I dislike the classes. I do not hate the material, but I hate that the material can get boring as a result of repetition. This is a problem for me in absolutely everything, actually. Switching fields will not improve my outlook on the classes I will have to take, be it science or history, because everything involves repetition, memorization, and tests. I am obviously willing to put up with this and more, but I just need to know that eventually it will be worth it.

Hard work makes me feel useful and productive, and in fact, is practically a coping mechanism for me. I do not enjoy those times when I cannot make myself focus or study, which happens rather often, as studying the material gets tedious the 3rd time around.

 

[crx7]

Most people don't realize until 3rd year that they might not have what it takes to be a doctor, which is too late. There are a lot of worthwhile professions where good grades are not as important, and acceptance is not as competitive. Have you thought about nursing, physician assistant, dentist... etc. The list goes on. There are a lot of people who need to start thinking about alternative careers before their third year, you might be one of them.

 

[halekulani]

Supposedly I'm not the only one who finds pre-med and med school courses on the boring side (even judging by just these forums), but...well...when does all of that become worth it? When can I actually make a difference instead of continually feeling like I'm getting in the way?

sounds like you want to learn how to run before you can walk.

being impatient is one thing, but you have to realize that the pre-reqs aren't your entire life and you should be taking classes outside of the pre-reqs that you actually like. it's not boring if you don't view it that way. it's just 1-2 classes per semester.

'boring' is a state of mind. the only person who can do anything about that is you.

 

[DrBOshkosh26]

Most people don't realize until 3rd year that they might not have what it takes to be a doctor, which is too late. There are a lot of worthwhile professions where good grades are not as important, and acceptance is not as competitive. Have you thought about nursing, physician assistant, dentist... etc. The list goes on. There are a lot of people who need to start thinking about alternative careers before their third year, you might be one of them.

CRX7:
I am not disagreeing, but how are students really going to know if they have what it takes? Would you define someone like me, on their fifth year of undergrad and still 100% committed to medical school, as someone that has what it takes?

As a medical student, what are some factors you can tell us Pre-Meds that may indicate we have what it takes?

Thanks!