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That's actually a thread there?!!?Ironically, that "I love medical school" thread in pre-allo was actually pretty depressing.
That's actually a thread there?!!?Ironically, that "I love medical school" thread in pre-allo was actually pretty depressing.
That's actually a thread there?!!?
Wow. Amazing to see different people's thought processes (note: My understanding is the OP of that thread went to Columbia and then UPMC for Neurosurgery).
The pattern you'll notice on SDN is as follows:
Most med students telling you how medical school sucks the humanity from you, with a smattering of med students, like the OP, giving their hoorah fist pump about how amazing it is. The pre-meds then jump in and defend the OP, using a lot of 😍 and, because in essence they are just defending their own decision to pursue medicine. The reality is these pre-meds are entirely ignorant to what it feels like to be in medical school, and their decision to join the team of the isolated OPs while ignoring the chorus of other medical students that are generally in hell is nothing more than selective listening and self-justification.
The reality is that medical school IS enjoyable for a select group of people. And these people, almost by definition, have personality disorders. You'll see them when you get to medical school. Excited about things they really should not be excited about . . . preferring to shovel random lists of facts into their heads rather than just enjoying the mental space of relaxation . . . having no sense of intellectual creativity or capacity to discuss something other than biochemical pathways.
If you then ask me, why am I putting myself through this, well, it's because I have an end-goal. Medicine happens to allows me to meet this goal. But make no mistake, if you have even an inkling of normal in you, you'll be a year into med school, read the OP, and start changing your emoticons toand
.
As far as it is up to me, once I start I will never complain about medical school or medical education. I will happily suffer the stress of medical school over what I have had to endure in the past. I hope you have a blessed day and enjoyable day.
This whole process is funny, to be honest. When we're premeds, we want free full healthcare for everyone always, and tout primary care as the solution to the world's problems in our essays, and then once med school and residency sets in, we start adopting more conservative ideologies. I guess that's part of growing up.
I quoted those quotes from those posters bc I thought they were hilarious, not bc they applied to me. Also your black and white observation that all FM docs aren't making a lot of money is hilarious. PM&R also has a good lifestyle as well, what's your point?"The main reason it attracts medical students is the lifestyle." I guess I misinterpreted what you meant with those quotes. From what I understand you want to practice medicine, work standard business hours, and make a lot of money. Whereas in FM you practice medicine, work standard business hours, and don't make a lot of money. Not trying to attack you, but doesn't that mean you believe money is the most important factor in your imagined future "lifestyle" and your specialty decision (again, im not necessarily saying thats a bad thing)? In my opinion, FM docs have a pretty good lifestyle as far as hours are concerned.
Oh don't chastize @Polonium-210's rose-colored glasses view of the world just yet. He will see soon enough what were were talking about and when he sees his quote again as an MS-4, he'll realize how right all of us were.Ignorance is bliss isn't it. Looking at medical school from the outside, it looks great! No jobby, just go to class (maybe) and study the rest of the day, then take a couple of tests. People will respect you because your "smart". Then on clinical years, you go see patients and make a difference...right? Not really. First few years of school you memorize a bunch of crap for exams, under extreme time constraints with a bunch of admins tossing random hoops in front of you that you have to jump through and that really have no benefit to your education, and in many ways just take away from it. Then 3rd and 4th year come along and you realize that whether you scored 100% or 70% on your MS1-MS2 year exams makes no difference on your ability in 3rd and 4th year as most of it is not directly applicable to real medicine; maybe applicable to 1-2% of patients you might see throughout your upperclassman years, but you spend the majority of your time helping patients overcome social issues, which if the majority of them could get their stuff together, wouldn't need a doctor to help them....you become pretty much a glorified babysitter for many patients. When attendings spend the majority of their time with you and enjoy pimping you on ******ed topics that you have no reason to know at your level, yet when you exhibit your ignorance on the Bezold–Jarisch reflex, but give an answer that is semi-correct, you get yelled, called stupid and told you should never have got into medical school to begin with, in front of your residents and other students (who also don't know what it was)...scrub tech students in the OR will jump on the bandwagon and pimp you too. The whole time, you just have to bite your lip and pucker up your butt hole to keep from opening your mouth and tossing your future into the toilet...so much for respect. Furthermore, if you rotate through a place like the VA, you start to see a lot of the inefficiencies of medicine in general..and in a lot of ways, where the future of medicine is heading...your future.
Sure, I love medical school....Now that I am done with it.
CATHY!! Looooots of good memories in South O. Awesome town.
"The main reason it attracts medical students is the lifestyle." I guess I misinterpreted what you meant with those quotes. From what I understand you want to practice medicine, work standard business hours, and make a lot of money. Whereas in FM you practice medicine, work standard business hours, and don't make a lot of money. Not trying to attack you, but doesn't that mean you believe money is the most important factor in your imagined future "lifestyle" and your specialty decision (again, im not necessarily saying thats a bad thing)? In my opinion, FM docs have a pretty good lifestyle as far as hours are concerned.
What question are you talking about??!?! You mean this one? ----> "Not trying to attack you, but doesn't that mean you believe money is the most important factor in your imagined future "lifestyle" and your specialty decision (again, im not necessarily saying thats a bad thing)?"Well, I'm not making sweeping statements about ALL FM. That would be silly. Most FM's average annual salary is on the lower end of physicians though. You didn't answer my question, but that's alright. Nice chat.
I look forward to seeing the doom and gloom of medical school come true in a few months. But for now, I'll be very thankful for being accepted and I look forward to the challenge of medicine. I can't wait to work as hard as I can and see what I'm academically capable of. This maybe naive but who cares. I have read the allopathic board for sometime now and I feel like I have a better grip of what's going to happen as my career progresses. If my positivity is toxic/makes you barf then just let me be haha. Don't be the big bad med school grinch to tell us pre-meds that santa isn't real. Ignorance is bliss...
Hours and money are extremely important, too.Ok, so "lifestyle" to you is true practice of medicine without heavy inhibition of the government. Kudos, you are a pretty good guy and I respect that viewpoint. But you can't blame me for not understanding you when you said "lifestyle" because the mantra that I have read on this board is "lifestyle"= hours + $.
No. When the word lifestyle is used on this board, it's usually referring to whether a specialty has "controllable" hours or not. It has nothing to do with money. Perfect example: PM&R.Ok, so "lifestyle" to you is true practice of medicine without heavy inhibition of the government. Kudos, you are a pretty good guy and I respect that viewpoint. But you can't blame me for not understanding you when you said "lifestyle" because the mantra that I have read on this board is "lifestyle"= hours + $.
Oh don't chastize @Polonium-210's rose-colored glasses view of the world just yet. He will see soon enough what were were talking about and when he sees his quote again as an MS-4, he'll realize how right all of us were.
Your last point is what I was getting at. @Polonium-210's comment is a slap in the face to all medical students who will struggle or not excel at at one point or another in medical school whether it's grades in preclinicals, Step 1, MS-3 clerkships, etc., all of which he is saying as a Medical Student (accepted) on an Allopathic thread.I don't even necessarily care about the pre-med vs med school thing. I was one of those people who genuinely liked most of medical school, and was pretty happy throughout (well, outside of certain aspects of my personal life, but that's a whole other story)
But I also saw the effects of school on some of my classmates - both physically and mentally struggling. So I'm not blind to the stressors and toil it takes on people. And I certainly wouldn't judge or look down on my classmates, or get up on a soap box and preach to them that they should really be grateful for what they have.
I look forward to seeing the doom and gloom of medical school come true in a few months. But for now, I'll be very thankful for being accepted and I look forward to the challenge of medicine. I can't wait to work as hard as I can and see what I'm academically capable of. This maybe naive but who cares. I have read the allopathic board for sometime now and I feel like I have a better grip of what's going to happen as my career progresses. If my positivity is toxic/makes you barf then just let me be haha. Don't be the big bad med school grinch to tell us pre-meds that santa isn't real. Ignorance is bliss...
Um, do you not see the irony in this statement?Before I began medical school I had numerous people, both physicians and others in the business world, look at me like I'm an idiot or straight up ask "Are you crazy?" when I said I was going to medical school. That in reference to their perceived downward spiral of the medical field and the large amount of debt. This is what I want to do so I didn't really give a **** what they said, but I'm curious to know if any of you either heard that from others, especially doctors, or have said that yourselves?