What keeps everyone going???

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What is everyone's motivation for doing medicine? When you're studying at 3am and missing out on a social life what is it that you think about that keeps you going?

As I sit here trying to memorize atomic orbitals for chemistry 😴 I am keeping myself from getting discouraged and trying not to think about the long road ahead of me.

Instead I'm thinking about the day I will finally get to educate a patient about their health, have them put enough trust in me to follow my advice, and to be able to improve their health because of the advice I gave.

 

[Arjuna]

What is everyone's motivation for doing medicine? When you're studying at 3am and missing out on a social life what is it that you think about that keeps you going?

As I sit here trying to memorize atomic orbitals for chemistry 😴 I am keeping myself from getting discouraged and trying not to think about the long road ahead of me.

Instead I'm thinking about the day I will finally get to educate a patient about their health, have them put enough trust in me to follow my advice, and to be able to improve their health because of the advice I gave.

For the 1 AM thing; looking at MDapplicants helps Just kidding. I dont know, for me, going to the school's graduation ceremony every year helps a lot. It gives me motivation to keep going, apart from my innate desire for medicine, of course. Also, I dont know about your school, but my school hosts a pre-med acceptance "fair" every year where they invite all acceptees to like a party and other people can come and talk to them, etc. It is really helpful and also gives you motivation.

 

[ThaliaNox]

It's important to enjoy the trip, not just the final destination. I attempted to find interest in my classes and pick ECs I enjoy. No, you're not always going to love what you're doing, but I'd hope you don't hate everything about your education, because you're going to be IN education for a very long time if you want to be a practicing doctor someday. Like...12-15 years later.

 

[DrSmooth]

I stayed motivated day-to-day by actually being less focused on my long-term goal of medicine and becoming engrossed in the material I was learning at the time. A goal that is 10 yrs away just can't keep me going day in and day out. Working up my interest and excitement about what I was studying at the time made it more fun and easier to learn. I also found it easier to be into the material the more time I spent with others who were also.

 

[Hifey]

take classes I enjoy, have fun with my ecs, and take comfort in the fact that millions have traversed the road before you and come out victorious. this is by no means a lonely battle.

 

[Frazier]

Why not play video games, or other hobbies instead of studying?
I like studying.

Why not go out and try to get laid instead of studying?
I already have a girlfriend.

Why not go out and party instead of studying -- IT'S COLLEGE(!)?
Been there, done that... I have no interest in drinking/smoking/bullshytting.

^^^ Those seem to help a lot and are most of the motivation I need.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

The pain comes in waves. The start of medical school is rough because everyone is striving to do well on the first test because they only get harder. However, after that people are going out and socializing, just at a different frequency than undergrad. Socializing lessens near exams and during certain transitions in medical school, but I was generally able to have fun. I got married during medical school and so did many of my classmates. Many have had children and bought homes. This whole process requires rearranging of priorities, but it is not as grueling as most think; I can guarantee that I rarely studied beyond 1am.

Just remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint, take it one day at a time.

-senior medical student

 

[Planet Ocean]

tremulousNeedle that was beautiful. "Just remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint, take it one day at a time." I think it is too easy to get overwhelmed when you try to look at everything that lies ahead of you. Maybe even discouraging sometimes.

 

[livelifexlove]

You're probably like me and despise chemistry more than anything else. Seriously, I would rather do 15 hours of ANY other subject than chemistry. But it's okay, just think about how one day, you'll have a patient who will be complaining about taking chemistry in college to you, as a doctor. 🙂

Don't worry, I'm sitting here trying to study enthalpy/entropy. Good luck!

 

[morning]

I'm older...okay, I'm not really OLD, I'm not even in my mid-20s, but I didn't go to college straight out of high school and never cared for the "college experience" thing. I'm happy with my life the way it is. Of course, you still need to play video games and hang out with friends/have sex/get drunk once in awhile, but too much of that was never a good thing anyway. (Maybe someone will argue with me on at least one of those points, though 😀)

 

[Morsetlis]

Hookers and blow.

 

[Danlee07]

Long term: get my parents to the house of their dreams and get whatever they want

short term: I wanna learn as much and as fast and being better than others...lol.

 

[Procyon]

My motivation is pretty personal. But to make a long story short, I'm working to give meaning to everything I've been through. If you've ever suffered, or been in a really rough situation, you probably found yourself asking for a reason why. This is my way of accomplishing something, doing something worthwhile with my life in spite of things. So as long as I still have breath in my body, I'm going to work to become a good doctor.

Haha, it doesn't even make much sense when I try to explain it to other people. But it makes sense in my head, and as long as I'm motivated, it works, right?