What was the single most annoying thing you hated about being pre-med?

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ArtisticMed said:
I had the same issue at my university. Many of the science professors I had seemed unapproachable, and the classes were almost designed to weed out premeds early on. Originally, I intended to major in biology, but I ended up majoring in visual arts to keep some sort of balance. The professors in my major did have better attitudes as well.

At the state university where I completed my postbac, the professors had a completely different attitude. They encouraged questions during lecture, and the environment was more relaxed.
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I don't think that they're unapproachable per se, but like withoutlyrics said they're jaded. If you do well in their class and build a relationship with them over the semester I think the professors are quite friendly. Although this is just my personal experience.
 
phunky said:
Definitely other premeds. Y'all are an annoying neurotic bunch. Being grouped in with that is a pain when you're interacting with professors.
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Carl Seitan said:
Other premeds.

Also, the derisive attitudes of department faculty who look down upon medicine because it is not a pure science.
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This too, especially freshman year before half of the other pre-meds get weeded out.
 
Jimsy said:
What about pre-meds who wore long white coats around school and while volunteering? :smack:
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I shadowed at the ENT department at my school, and they insisted I wear a long coat. I pleaded and said it would be weird, but they insisted.

Day 1:

resident comes up to me: blah blah something about a patient and doctor terms I don't understand
me: :lame:
resident: ...
me: I'm... I'm a sophomore in college..
resident: :eyebrow:
attending comes back: oh he's following me today, this is (name)
resident 2: omg I was like 'who is this baby resident!' I thought you were a prodigy child or something!
me: ... nope.. just an undergrad.... not.. a genius. Sorry.
 
Oso said:
I shadowed at the ENT department at my school, and they insisted I wear a long coat. I pleaded and said it would be weird, but they insisted.

Day 1:

resident comes up to me: blah blah something about a patient and doctor terms I don't understand
me: :lame:
resident: ...
me: I'm... I'm a sophomore in college..
resident: :eyebrow:
attending comes back: oh he's following me today, this is (name)
resident 2: omg I was like 'who is this baby resident!' I thought you were a prodigy child or something!
me: ... nope.. just an undergrad.... not.. a genius. Sorry.
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🤣
 
Oso said:
I shadowed at the ENT department at my school, and they insisted I wear a long coat. I pleaded and said it would be weird, but they insisted.

Day 1:

resident comes up to me: blah blah something about a patient and doctor terms I don't understand
me: :lame:
resident: ...
me: I'm... I'm a sophomore in college..
resident: :eyebrow:
attending comes back: oh he's following me today, this is (name)
resident 2: omg I was like 'who is this baby resident!' I thought you were a prodigy child or something!
me: ... nope.. just an undergrad.... not.. a genius. Sorry.
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:claps: Happened to me before, they talked about medications and all and i was like huh what, wanna talk about lab results? I can do that pretty damn well...and they just stared at me all weird.
 
Asking for LORs. Because you usually have to follow up and remind them about it. Over and over. No, wait. What I hated most was when that professor who told me he would write an LOR didn't. And I had to scramble to find another one. Thank god my orgo professor liked me/remembered me. Thank god I'm memorable, lol.
 
Kinch said:
Other premeds for sure, esp as nontrad. Thankfully actual med students I've been meeting on interview are night and day different.
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This is half true because they're interviewing. About half are probably decent in real life.
 
Also, Idk if anyone has family who live in a country where you don't have undergrad before medical school (go from high school to medical school, usually 6-7 years and people are weeded out once in school).

family: you in med school yet?
me: no, I am still in undergrad
family: why?

family: you in med school yet?
me: no, still in undergrad, but applying soon!
family: wtf have you been doing all this time

family: you in med school yet?
me: soon! I'm taking a gap year ..
family: F**k you.
 
3838 said:
Shadow family friends. They wanna impress you lol. Two of my dad's friends were competing to see who could give me a better shadowing day lol.
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A decent idea. I don't think I have any connections, though. I was wondering where you've been @3838 ... haven't seen you around the UVA thread in awhile. A belated happy holidays to you.
 
Oso said:
Also, Idk if anyone has family who live in a country where you don't have undergrad before medical school (go from high school to medical school, usually 6-7 years and people are weeded out once in school).

family: you in med school yet?
me: no, I am still in undergrad
family: why?

family: you in med school yet?
me: no, still in undergrad, but applying soon!
family: wtf have you been doing all this time

family: you in med school yet?
me: soon! I'm taking a gap year ..
family: F**k you.
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My family is an integration of European and Asian, so in both of those countries there is not really an undergrad, you do 6-7 years of med school right off of HS, so this happens. My mom keeps asking, are u in med school? told her wasn't gonna go. She was like why are u working in the hospital then? Cause I do PA for pathologists? she was like are you a surgeon? I was like no, i am a pathologist assistant, just like how medical doctors have their physician assistants, pathologists have their pathology assistant and that PA for MD and PA for Paths are equivalent and that i have to be trained with the med students and get my certificates and nationally license. She was like wtf aren't you a doctor....i just walked away.
 
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3838 said:
This is half true because they're interviewing. About half are probably decent in real life.
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I'm referring to current med students I've met while at pre-interview happy hours/dinner/etc. It was refreshing that they didn't talk a whole lot about medicine and school unless asked, they were spending more time talking about the intramural basketball game they came from, what happened at the bar last weekend, etc.
 
ArtisticMed said:
I had the same issue at my university. Many of the science professors I had seemed unapproachable, and the classes were almost designed to weed out premeds early on. Originally, I intended to major in biology, but I ended up majoring in visual arts to keep some sort of balance. The professors in my major did have better attitudes as well.

At the state university where I completed my postbac, the professors had a completely different attitude. They encouraged questions during lecture, and the environment was more relaxed.
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I totally agree with this one. My undergrad is known for being strong in certain areas but science isn't one of them. My Physics 1 professor freshman year was on loan from another university and he didn't have any office hours and he just didn't care. When I went to the crappy state school, I was shocked to find science professors who had been teaching the same subject for 20+ years and actually cared that I wanted to go to med school.
 
RogueUnicorn said:
it doesn't stop in med school and it's something that really grinds my gears, med students posting how doctor-y they are on fb incessantly. grow some goddamn modesty for god's sake
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Preach. Every time one of my classmates brags about shadowing in the OR or working on research I want to punch my computer. Sorry this isn't a premed thing, folks, but it is something to which you can look forward.
 
I hated that I had to take and do well in courses that I didn't want to be in. Physics and statistics come to mind.

My university also has a notoriously difficult foreign languages department and the courses are very time consuming, and I really wish I could have pursued a new language or strengthened my Spanish without worrying how much it would distract me from something like Biochem. It also would have been nice to have taken a course like that and been ok with getting a B.
 
One thing that bothers me about being pre-med is when you try to offer helpful advice to your pre-med friends, and they act like it's wrong because they heard of a friend's friend's brother's dog's friend's sister doing something.

Like I told my friend that they should take their MCAT when they're ready, and apply early (after reading that here here). They replied like:

"Oh, but so-and-so applied later and got in! I think I'll probably apply in October or November or something."

And no matter how hard I tried to tell them otherwise, they just remained adamant. :/
 
I enjoyed my post bacc work and activities a lot more than undergrad stuff. The application process was long and painful, with waiting being the worst. Thankfully I did a do it yourself post bacc so I didn't have to hang out with any other pre meds and life has been that much nicer.
 
The people in my classes that overstudied for every. single. thing. They would literally give me anxiety every time I saw them in the library. Like it's a 2 question quiz, WHY have you been here for 3 days? Have you showered?
 
Muad'Dib said:
The people in my classes that overstudied for every. single. thing. They would literally give me anxiety every time I saw them in the library. Like it's a 2 question quiz, WHY have you been here for 3 days? Have you showered?
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Why do people even study in a library? I went 4 years without ever stepping foot in my school's library.
 
circulus vitios said:
Why do people even study in a library? I went 4 years without ever stepping foot in my school's library.
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See, when I'm at home, I come up with every excuse imaginable in order to not study. Oh wait, my TV is right there? Netflix. I'm 20 ft away from my fridge? FOOD.

I like studying in the library because it limits my distractions.
 
I never knew I would hate being a pre-med until after I graduated from college and interacted with non premed people.
Every time someone would ask me my future plans and say doctor, they would throw their two cents and say: "omg I could never handle that many years of schooling...and pay back all those loans. I just don't know how anyone can do that."
Then I get angry and annoyed because it's like... DID I ASK YOU?

Another interesting moment, occured when I was talking to a co-worker. He thought that in order to go to med school I had to "work my way up" by becoming a nurse. 😕...

"Good luck in nursing school."
"No..I said I'm going to med school to become a doctor"
"Yeah, but you have to work your way up right?"
"What do you mean?...."
"You know...first you become a nurse...then work for a couple years and then get promoted to a doctor?"
.........Me thinking: F'ing ******* :bored:
 
Chillywilly said:
I never knew I would hate being a pre-med until after I graduated from college and interacted with non premed people.
Every time someone would ask me my future plans and say doctor, they would throw their two cents and say: "omg I could never handle that many years of schooling...and pay back all those loans. I just don't know how anyone can do that."
Then I get angry and annoyed because it's like... DID I ASK YOU?

Another interesting moment, occured when I was talking to a co-worker. He thought that in order to go to med school I had to "work my way up" by becoming a nurse. 😕...

"Good luck in nursing school."
"No..I said I'm going to med school to become a doctor"
"Yeah, but you have to work your way up right?"
"What do you mean?...."
"You know...first you become a nurse...then work for a couple years and then get promoted to a doctor?"
.........Me thinking: F'ing ******* :bored:
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Wow that's impressively stupid
 
Muad'Dib said:
The people in my classes that overstudied for every. single. thing. They would literally give me anxiety every time I saw them in the library. Like it's a 2 question quiz, WHY have you been here for 3 days? Have you showered?
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omg this this this.

Have I started studying for the next test? Are you serious?? We just had an exam last week. That was literally less than a week ago. We JUST got our grades back. Why do you do this to me?
 
Now a med student, but the thing that got to me most and I am SO HAPPY I WILL NEVER EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH AGAIN is the 'all apps and materials are in, waiting for interview invites/interview decisions' period. You can't do anything at that point but wait, and there are such highs (when you're accepted or get an interview) and lows (if you get rejected, or don't hear for long enough you think you have been).
 
pdxhopeful said:
Now a med student, but the thing that got to me most and I am SO HAPPY I WILL NEVER EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH AGAIN is the 'all apps and materials are in, waiting for interview invites/interview decisions' period. You can't do anything at that point but wait, and there are such highs (when you're accepted or get an interview) and lows (if you get rejected, or don't hear for long enough you think you have been).
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I did a lot during that time period...I probably burned an extra 1k calories/day by ripping my phone out of my pocket every time I *thought* I felt it vibrate with an email.
 
pdxhopeful said:
Now a med student, but the thing that got to me most and I am SO HAPPY I WILL NEVER EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH AGAIN is the 'all apps and materials are in, waiting for interview invites/interview decisions' period. You can't do anything at that point but wait, and there are such highs (when you're accepted or get an interview) and lows (if you get rejected, or don't hear for long enough you think you have been).
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So there's this thing called residency...

Admittedly different and maybe not as bad in some ways, but waiting for match day is pretty rough I imagine.
 
I have enjoyed most everything as a premed during undergrad.

The one thing that does make me feel selfless and hate is having to come up with intriguing questions to ask professors, just so they will think highly of me and write a solid LOR. Don't get me wrong, I do often have unique questions for some of my classes but come on, physics? I have nothing to say about physics, but I must have a letter from my professor for school's committee letter. Other than this, I have had a great experience at my school... I am only a second semester sophomore though...
 
circulus vitios said:
Why do people even study in a library? I went 4 years without ever stepping foot in my school's library.
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I like to separate where I work and where I....play. lol

Oso said:
omg this this this.

Have I started studying for the next test? Are you serious?? We just had an exam last week. That was literally less than a week ago. We JUST got our grades back. Why do you do this to me?
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If medical school is anything like graduate school, this is a pattern we'll need to adopt just to not fall behind on the material. There is no "okay this weeks lectures will NOT be on the exam next week"....you get fed information up to the day before an exam. There is no such thing as cramming in medical school, alas.
 
LostinLift said:
So there's this thing called residency...

Admittedly different and maybe not as bad in some ways, but waiting for match day is pretty rough I imagine.
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Yeah, waiting for Match Day will be stressful too, no doubt, but for me the uncertainty of when I'd hear *anything* was the worst part of med school admissions. At least with the Match I'll know the verdict will be in on such-and-such a date.
 
Thoroughbred_Med said:
I have enjoyed most everything as a premed during undergrad.

The one thing that does make me feel selfless and hate is having to come up with intriguing questions to ask professors, just so they will think highly of me and write a solid LOR. Don't get me wrong, I do often have unique questions for some of my classes but come on, physics? I have nothing to say about physics, but I must have a letter from my professor for school's committee letter. Other than this, I have had a great experience at my school... I am only a second semester sophomore though...
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Too early to hate the game, haha.
 
baconshrimps said:
Too early to hate the game, haha.
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Yeah… wait until about your junior year. You'll get really sick of the crap. Actually sorry I should say end of junior/beginning of senior. You just listen to all these young students come in like 'omg I'm pre med omg give me an A otherwise I won't go to medical school' then half of them drop out after organic chem.
 
Like many others, I felt the seemingly endless hoops you'd have to jump through to get into med school was quite a bit tiring. I understand that there are way more people who want to be doctors than actual spots in med schools, but sometimes the EC/GPA/MCAT arms race seemed irrelevant to becoming a physician, and that they're there to test how much you're willing to endure in order to become a physician. In retrospect, the experience has taught me a lot and I think it showed how much grit many of us have.
 
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