What was your medical school experience like?

[crazyaries07]

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I know being in the medical feild is hard, but exactly how difficult is it?

My dream is to graduate high school with an amazing resume, go to a top notch college with a medical program and a hospital that is phenomenal, go to medical school, then become a pediatrician. After a while, I'll volunteer with an international organization to help people who desperately need medical care.
Right now, I'm in 11th grade taking all-advanced classes and I feel like I'm being stretched in a million different places carrying too much weight. Despite the difficulty, I am motivated because I know that it'll pay off in the end by allowing me to get into a good school and live out my dream.

Is this what medical school feels like?

What was your med school experience like?

Thank you in advanced for your stories and insight

 

[MilkmanAl]

Chasing prestige is a common mistake lots of people interested in medicine make. I'm not really sure what an "amazing resume" out of high school entails, but suffice it to say that you don't need to spend your time assembling it. High school totally vanishes once you start college, with few exceptions. What you want to do is go to a college you can dominate - not one with a big name - and crush the hell out of your classes. Rinse and repeat for med school.

I took a similar course load in high school, and I assure you that it is nowhere near as demanding as med school or even your sophomore year of college. The worst times I ever had in high school (multiple papers due, tests imminent, etc.) were probably on par with a light to average day in med school. The amount of material I covered in my 7 AP's my senior year got blown through in maybe 3-4 weeks of med school. There's no comparison.

That said, I like my second year quite a lot. Anatomy made the first year terrible for me, but the clinical relevance makes this year excellent. I also stopped going to class, so I have a lot more free time. It's a stressful experience, for sure, but once you come to grips with how to manage your time and your life, the huge amount of work constantly thrown your way doesn't seem quite as imposing.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I know being in the medical feild is hard, but exactly how difficult is it?

My dream is to graduate high school with an amazing resume, go to a top notch college with a medical program and a hospital that is phenomenal, go to medical school, then become a pediatrician. After a while, I'll volunteer with an international organization to help people who desperately need medical care.
Right now, I'm in 11th grade taking all-advanced classes and I feel like I'm being stretched in a million different places carrying too much weight. Despite the difficulty, I am motivated because I know that it'll pay off in the end by allowing me to get into a good school and live out my dream.

Is this what medical school feels like?

What was your med school experience like?

Thank you in advanced for your stories and insight

While education gets harder as it becomes more advanced, you become more equipped to deal with it. Also, it becomes more organized and that makes it more manageable. So, if you are leading an extremely busy life for a high school junior, you'll probably manage just fine once the time time comes as a college or medical student.

MilkmanAl has it right about prestige vs. ability to crush your courses. For now, I'd recommend you take it step at a time, making sure you excel AND enjoy every phase of the process. Best of luck!

 

[MilkmanAl]

While education gets harder as it becomes more advanced, you become more equipped to deal with it.

Definitely true, but the jump to med school is a big one. I feel like I had a fairly good idea of what I was in for, but it still slapped me in the face. You definitely have to figure out how to keep up on the fly, regardless of how well you nail down what the workload will be like. The transition from high school to college is much, much smoother in just about every aspect. In some cases, I found my college courses to be all-around easier than some of the AP's I took.

 

[crazyaries07]

Chasing prestige is a common mistake lots of people interested in medicine make. I'm not really sure what an "amazing resume" out of high school entails, but suffice it to say that you don't need to spend your time assembling it. High school totally vanishes once you start college, with few exceptions. What you want to do is go to a college you can dominate - not one with a big name - and crush the hell out of your classes. Rinse and repeat for med school.

I took a similar course load in high school, and I assure you that it is nowhere near as demanding as med school or even your sophomore year of college. The worst times I ever had in high school (multiple papers due, tests imminent, etc.) were probably on par with a light to average day in med school. The amount of material I covered in my 7 AP's my senior year got blown through in maybe 3-4 weeks of med school. There's no comparison.

That said, I like my second year quite a lot. Anatomy made the first year terrible for me, but the clinical relevance makes this year excellent. I also stopped going to class, so I have a lot more free time. It's a stressful experience, for sure, but once you come to grips with how to manage your time and your life, the huge amount of work constantly thrown your way doesn't seem quite as imposing.

I totally understand what you mean with chasing the prestige. That's something I was warned about many times and that's definitely not something I'm trying to do. I just want to look good enough to get into colleges so that I can get the education do something that I'm passionate about, which is helping children in need.

I'm curious to know what you mean about college. I thought that if you go to the bigger colleges, there's usually a better quality of education, and thus a better chance of getting accepted into the best medical schools.

 

[RySerr21]

I totally understand what you mean with chasing the prestige. That's something I was warned about many times and that's definitely not something I'm trying to do. I just want to look good enough to get into colleges so that I can get the education do something that I'm passionate about, which is helping children in need.

I'm curious to know what you mean about college. I thought that if you go to the bigger colleges, there's usually a better quality of education, and thus a better chance of getting accepted into the best medical schools.

absolutely false. Bigger school does not mean better education. The best educations in the country are from the small liberal arts colleges. These schools have less than 2000 people total. Their really is no comparison between a small liberal arts education and a large public university. They are just completely different. I'm not saying large schools will give you a poor education. Im just saying don't rule at any school based on size or whether or not you think people will have heard of it before. I went to a great school with 1800 students. Most lay people on the street had never heard of it. But when I applied to medical school, EVERYONE had heard of it and it did me well in the application process. Here is a list of some of the best schools in the country. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberal-arts-rankings/

But the point that milkman was trying to make is that your undergrad school doesn't matter. No one really cares. All they care about is that you did well in your classes. You can't go to Yale and get a 3.0 and expect the name of the school to carry you into a med school acceptance. No one will care you went to Yale b/c your GPA sucks. You would have done better getting a 4.0 at Chico State or some other no name school.

No matter what 4 year university/college you go to, if you graduate, take all the med school pre reqs, and do well in your classes, you will have built a competetitive applicaiton for med school (assuming MCAT and everything else is on par).

The same goes for med schools. No one really cares where you went to med school. Do well and work hard at ANY U.S. med school and you maximize your chance of landing a great residency.

 

[VMSmith]

Medical schools want applicants who have

1) High GPAs
2) High MCAT
3) Clinical experiences and volunteering
4) Interesting activities

They tend to care less about which undergrad school you went to. It is a factor, but usually less of a factor than the above, and only comes into play if you have all of the above. Being from Princeton won't make up for having a 3.3 GPA, for example.

But I would disagree that you should intentionally go to a less competitive undergrad specifically in order to make it easier on yourself. College is about more than just getting into med school, it's a 4 year experience during which you begin to develop into an adult. And medicine isn't the only career - who knows what you might become interested in during college?

Keep every door open at every step of the way. Eventually you'll figure out what, specifically, you want to do with your life. Until you do, you want to be able to do anything you like. So while you shouldn't make prestige your number one goal, you do want to be at places that let you go anywhere and do anything you want.

But also keep in mind that prestigious schools are not necessarily the best. Like the poster above me mentioned, some of the liberal arts schools (which don't necessarily have as much name recognition) provide incredible educations and unique opportunities you can't get at major research universities or even at the ivies.

 

[crazyaries07]

Thank you all so much for you insights so far!

Just out of curiosity, I have a few more questions:

How was your experience pre-med? What are some of the most important parts that you remembers? Was there anything that you were surprised by when you started on your journey to be where you are right now? What was the hardest experience you had on your road to your medical degree?

And thanks again for answering my previous questions. There's just so much I want to know about working in the medical field. I've heard a lot from a lot of different people and I want to weed out the truth from the reality by asking people who have actually studied medicine.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Their really is no comparison between a small liberal arts education and a large public university.

Coming from a large, public university, I'd have to disagree with this statement. I'd say it's probably generally true, but if you're at one of the higher-powered state schools like UVA, UMich, UNC, Cali schools, etc., you'll be in excellent shape, education-wise. Those schools also can offer lots of classes and opportunities that small schools can't just due to lack of man-power and possibly lack of funding. Lots of people will cite student:teacher ratio as a reason to go to small schools, but I actually prefer having larger classes for the intro sciences. My upper-level courses never had more than 20 people in them, so it was a bit of a moot point on that level.

How was your experience pre-med?

Fine, I guess. I didn't particularly care for a lot of the pre-reqs, and I like them even less now that I realize how little they help with medical school. I hadn't even heard the term "gunner" and had no idea how crazy pre-meds typically are until I found this site. In that respect, it seems I had a better experience than most.

What are some of the most important parts that you remembers?

Honestly, I was just kind of going through the motions. I was a bio major because I enjoyed biology. I wasn't even aware there were pre-req classes until I started applying to medical school. It was just college.

Was there anything that you were surprised by when you started on your journey to be where you are right now?

I'm surprised (and saddened) by how heavily med school admissions favors people who are basically memorization machines. The first two years of med school are also pretty bad about deemphasizing actual learning. It's a shame, but it's a solid explanation for why there are so many people with great GPA's and mediocre MCAT scores.

What was the hardest experience you had on your road to your medical degree?

It's a bit of a toss-up between applying to med school and slogging through gross anatomy, so far. Both were terrible for different reasons.

 

[RySerr21]

Coming from a large, public university, I'd have to disagree with this statement. I'd say it's probably generally true, but if you're at one of the higher-powered state schools like UVA, UMich, UNC, Cali schools, etc., you'll be in excellent shape, education-wise. Those schools also can offer lots of classes and opportunities that small schools can't just due to lack of man-power and possibly lack of funding. Lots of people will cite student:teacher ratio as a reason to go to small schools, but I actually prefer having larger classes for the intro sciences. My upper-level courses never had more than 20 people in them, so it was a bit of a moot point on that level.

.

I never said you would get a poor education at a big school. I actually said the exact opposite. I agree you'll be in excellent shape at any school with a good reputation. It doesnt matter if its public, private, big, or small. What my point was is that the educations at large and small schools are VERY different and therefore not really comparable. Thats not saying that its better. For you, you liked the larger class size and what that environment brought. For me, I can't see a benefit from a large intro class or any class for that matter and for many other reasons, a small school was BETTER for ME. I would never say that small schools are better than large schools because that is obviously not true for everyone. When picking a college you will have to know what kind of student you are and what kind of environment you want to be in. But the idea that small schools offer less "opportunities" is a common misconception and absolutely not true. And there was never a class that I thought "man I wish I could take that but its not offered here."

 

[unimaginative]

How was your experience pre-med?

Just an FYI being pre-med is more a state of mind, or lack thereof, than anything else.

To apply to medical school you can major in whatever the hell you want to, in fact it probably will benefit you as a person and an applicant to shy away from the biology related fields as almost every other applicant will be doing that. Take time to also do the pre-reqs if they aren't already incorporated into your major and study for the MCAT and that's it for the actual college part. You don't need to participate in the lame premed society or associate with anyone who self declares as premed. In fact you don't need to be a self declared premed to go to medical school.

 

[Everglide]

Thank you all so much for you insights so far!

Just out of curiosity, I have a few more questions:

How was your experience pre-med? What are some of the most important parts that you remembers? Was there anything that you were surprised by when you started on your journey to be where you are right now? What was the hardest experience you had on your road to your medical degree?

And thanks again for answering my previous questions. There's just so much I want to know about working in the medical field. I've heard a lot from a lot of different people and I want to weed out the truth from the reality by asking people who have actually studied medicine.

Speaking from my own experience, I went to a large university, everyone and their best friend's friend was "pre-med". I met 800+ people freshman year who want to be brain doctors and by the end of junior year maybe 100 of us actually applied.

Take advice with a grain of salt, much of it you receive is based on hearsay or nothing.

Get ready to study more than your "non-premed" friends... you willl hear their stories of studying a strenuous 5 hours in a week to get their 4.0 while you study 20++ hours/wk to get your 4.0 (or less). On the other side, get ready to hear from your panicking pre-med friends studying over 9000 hours a week that it's never enough, this may not set in until organic-1.

The toughest part of undergrad was I needed to actually study. Except I didn't know how to do so effectively, partly because high school never pushed me.

Negativity aside, I made a lot of great friends along the way, had a lot of fun and enjoyed the ride while it lasted. Don't forget there are other things to do in college besides pre-med stuff.

Oh and pick an undergrad university you will enjoy attending, they all have their pros and cons.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Take advice with a grain of salt, much of it you receive is based on heresy or nothing.

Sorry, man. I'm usually pretty lax on grammatical and spelling errors, but that one is awesome. I think "hearsay" is the word you're looking for.

 

[Everglide]

Sorry, man. I'm usually pretty lax on grammatical and spelling errors, but that one is awesome. I think "hearsay" is the word you're looking for.

Haha. My bad. Silly work getting in the way of my sdning.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

I'll jump in and lend my 2 cents.

How was your experience pre-med?

I'm a non-trad, so my pre-med could be considered two ways. 1) My entire undergrad and post-bac year, or 2) just my post-bac year. For college, I went to one of those smaller, liberal arts college. Definitely happy with my choice. Some of my classes had 6 people by the time I was a senior. You just can't match that at many places. My post-bac was at a larger state school. Classes of 200-500, labs with 30 people taught by a TA, the usual (these were intro classes, so they were big). Wasn't a bad experience, but not as nice as my undergrad days.

What are some of the most important parts that you remembers?

Honestly, nothing school related. Mostly friends, parties, hanging out. The stuff that school interferes with!

Was there anything that you were surprised by when you started on your journey to be where you are right now?

Great question. My biggest one is how upset people can get over what I consider petty grade issues. I had a classmate who went over the TA's and TA supervisor's heads (and talked straight to the professor) because she got one point off on a quiz and the TA wouldn't change it. It just amazed me because her grade was already like a 97. It really upset me for awhile that she was so willing to cause trouble for others for such a minor reason, but I feel like I'm learning to let stuff like that roll off my back a bit more. You can't really control the crazy **** that others do, so best not to take it to heart.

What was the hardest experience you had on your road to your medical degree?

I say this with as much humbleness as possible, but I can't say I've had really hard experiences on my road. Granted, I'm only starting med school in the fall (so maybe it'll kick my ass then), but it's been a pretty good ride so far. I have lots of friends and have had time to hang out at all stages of my education and career. I'm excited about med school. It's been pretty good thus far. (Crossing the fingers for it to stay that way.)

 

[fahimaz7]

I know being in the medical feild is hard, but exactly how difficult is it?

My dream is to graduate high school with an amazing resume, go to a top notch college with a medical program and a hospital that is phenomenal, go to medical school, then become a pediatrician. After a while, I'll volunteer with an international organization to help people who desperately need medical care.
Right now, I'm in 11th grade taking all-advanced classes and I feel like I'm being stretched in a million different places carrying too much weight. Despite the difficulty, I am motivated because I know that it'll pay off in the end by allowing me to get into a good school and live out my dream.

Is this what medical school feels like?

What was your med school experience like?

Thank you in advanced for your stories and insight

For Peds, you could...ah.. nvm..

Thank you all so much for you insights so far!

Just out of curiosity, I have a few more questions:

How was your experience pre-med? What are some of the most important parts that you remembers? Was there anything that you were surprised by when you started on your journey to be where you are right now? What was the hardest experience you had on your road to your medical degree?

And thanks again for answering my previous questions. There's just so much I want to know about working in the medical field. I've heard a lot from a lot of different people and I want to weed out the truth from the reality by asking people who have actually studied medicine.

Looking back, I would major in business (finance or something), with a double minor in a life science (genetics, biochem, etc) and a language. Too many people go through undergrad focused on Biology, as if it's the end-all major to prepare for medical school. While it is nice, medical school will train you just fine on those topics, and it would be nice to have explored more throughout undergrad, as well as be trained to be more business oriented.

With each step of your education, I promise you that it will get more challenging. However, as someone eluded to earlier, you will become accustom to these changes, and you will become a much better student. One thing to look forward to is a reduction in busy work. For example, last semester we had a total of 7 exams from August 10th-December 19th. They were integrated (multiple topics/test) and roughly 130 multiple-choice questions (41 pages long on my last one).

Medical school is a fun time and it is going by very quickly.

Have fun and enjoy your high school experience. The only thing you need to do is get into a good college (not Yale, Harvard, etc... any state school will do), and then get out with a >3.75 GPA.

 

[fahimaz7]

Great question. My biggest one is how upset people can get over what I consider petty grade issues. I had a classmate who went over the TA's and TA supervisor's heads (and talked straight to the professor) because she got one point off on a quiz and the TA wouldn't change it. It just amazed me because her grade was already like a 97. It really upset me for awhile that she was so willing to cause trouble for others for such a minor reason, but I feel like I'm learning to let stuff like that roll off my back a bit more. You can't really control the crazy **** that others do, so best not to take it to heart.

When I was teaching in grad school, I would have laughed in her face and kicked her out of my office. Sometimes a pre-med deserves some tough love, and they need to realize that they are no more special than anyone else in the class. TA's grade everyone the same....

 

[fahimaz7]

Haha. My bad. Silly work getting in the way of my sdning.

You know that you're not in medical school yet....



















































hehe... I changed my status when I was accepted as well...

 

[Flank Pain]

I know being in the medical feild is hard, but exactly how difficult is it?

My dream is to graduate high school with an amazing resume, go to a top notch college with a medical program and a hospital that is phenomenal, go to medical school, then become a pediatrician. After a while, I'll volunteer with an international organization to help people who desperately need medical care.
Right now, I'm in 11th grade taking all-advanced classes and I feel like I'm being stretched in a million different places carrying too much weight. Despite the difficulty, I am motivated because I know that it'll pay off in the end by allowing me to get into a good school and live out my dream.


Wow. Prestige, pediatrics and saving the developing world. My advice would be to take smaller bites. Having grand goals is helpful, but like most things in life success comes from having a grand plan, but doing your best at whatever is next on your list for the day. Medical school is not always fun, but I have had some real fun, met some amazing people, had my heart broken by some patients and gained new appreciation for how amazing life can be from others. Now that it almost over, I can say that by and large, it sucked. I would do it again, but I don't think I would have said that in the middle of second year through. If I were you I would make sure that you take the time to make some key decisions wisely, get some medical experience but don't do one of those corney over-seas things, maybe work in a lab in college and try to get published on something, anything, study something that you will enjoy, take the upper level chemistry classes and get A's in them. Get good grades (like 3.8 and up) in college. It is equally important to go out and party, go to games, get so drunk on your 21st birthday that you need four friends to carry you home. Live your life so that you are sure you will have four friends there with you who are willing to carry you home. You have a long haul ahead of you. Most people don't make it, not because it is hard, but because they get distracted or burned out, or do something stupid.

 

[URHere]

Right now, I'm in 11th grade taking all-advanced classes and I feel like I'm being stretched in a million different places carrying too much weight.

This sounds similar to what my high school experience was like. I finished my last 2 years of high school by taking every AP course imaginable, even if it meant taking an extra class instead of lunch. Those years were by far the least pleasant of my life. In retrospect, I actually think that high school was actually more difficult for me than medical school is, simply because I had about 6 hours of homework to do every single night, and I didn't really have the time to enjoy my life.

Is this what medical school feels like?

For me, this isn't what medical school feels like. There is very little busywork, and you will spend far more of your time on studying than on graded assignments. I like medical school because the material is essentially interesting, and when it comes to studying you can really set your own pace and schedule. If you want to go and spend time with friends one weekend, that's fine - you just have to make sure that you get your studying in at some other time. College has this same kind of freedom, but amplified. You generally have more time to goof off in college (even if you are "pre-med").

I know that this isn't everyone's experience, but I have plenty of time for the rest of my life in medical school (during MS1 and MS2 at least). I never had that chance in high school.

What was your med school experience like?

I was actually pleasantly surprised by medical school. Before entering, all I heard was how soul-sucking and time-consuming studying would be. And yes, there is a lot of information, but that doesn't equate to endless studying for everyone. I have always been lucky when it comes to learning new concepts. For me, I go to lecture, read the material one more time, and that's it. I use the rest of my time for research, teaching, volunteering, and hobbies.

How was your experience pre-med? What are some of the most important parts that you remember?

I was never actually a typical pre-med. For most of my undergrad years, I was planning on a math and theatre double major, and as a result I didn't know much about what was expected of a pre-med. I applied fairly stupidly (late, and to few schools), and I was lucky to have the success that I did.

The one thing that I would stress about undergrad is the importance of becoming a functional human being. I knew several pre-meds in college and I watched a handful of them get rejected from medical school cycle after cycle - they were interested only in academics and had a certain disrespect for those who didn't take school as "seriously" as they did. I'm not saying that that feature is what killed them, but I think it is always better to be a likable, well-rounded person when possible.

Was there anything that you were surprised by when you started on your journey to be where you are right now? What was the hardest experience you had on your road to your medical degree?

The thing that always surprised me most (and continues to surprise me), is the amount of stress some pre-med and medical students subject themselves to. I have watched some of my classmates stress out to the point of a panic attack or near nervous breakdown. For every well-adjusted medical student, i think there is one medical student just barely hanging on to his/her sanity. I would like to say that things like that end after medical school...but I highly doubt that's the case.

As for the hardest experience? Probably the waiting game of applications combined with the stress of trying to finish my MS thesis on time. It got to the point where I was working 80 hour weeks and then flying out to interview at the end of them. I'm convinced that I was barely coherent on some of those days. But the stress of not knowing where I would be the next year, or how I would afford to move...that was a killer.

 

[Terpskins99]

As hard as medical school was... being a resident is infinitely more difficult and stressful.

I actually enjoyed medical school. I absolutely hate what I do right now.

 

[Chamahk]

As hard as medical school was... being a resident is infinitely more difficult and stressful.

I actually enjoyed medical school. I absolutely hate what I do right now.

Oh oh. Something's not right with that statement. After all the time, years and money spent to reach where you are today only to say I don't enjoy what I do. That raises question marks all over the place.

 

[Terpskins99]

Oh oh. Something's not right with that statement. After all the time, years and money spent to reach where you are today only to say I don't enjoy what I do. That raises question marks all over the place.

Lets see if you feel the same way when you're an intern.

 

[Chamahk]

Lets see if you feel the same way when you're an intern.

Dude, unless the people I'm shadowing are a big bunch of" " then I don't see what the problem will be. The pay will get better when you are done. I think I'll enjoy my internship.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Dude, unless the people I'm shadowing are a big bunch of" " then I don't see what the problem will be. The pay will get better when you are done. I think I'll enjoy my internship.

Yikes, there are lots of things wrong with that statement. Suffice it to say that you have some research to do regarding what you're getting yourself into. If you still think your internship will be enjoyable after you've read up, you need to read some more.

 

[schrizto]

Yikes, there are lots of things wrong with that statement. Suffice it to say that you have some research to do regarding what you're getting yourself into.

Terpskins' statement or Chamahk's statement?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Sorry, Chamahk's. I'll go fix that...

 

[Chamahk]

Yikes, there are lots of things wrong with that statement. Suffice it to say that you have some research to do regarding what you're getting yourself into. If you still think your internship will be enjoyable after you've read up, you need to read some more.

Oh yeah? I've read into the not getting much sleep 'cause you're on call and such but that's not really much of a biggie though. You're done with med school. No more testing. You're pretty much doing a minor version of what you've gone through many years of school to do. I wish I was in your place right now.

 

[DrYoda]

Oh yeah? I've read into the not getting much sleep 'cause you're on call and such but that's not really much of a biggie though. You're done with med school. No more testing. You're pretty much doing a minor version of what you've gone through many years of school to do. I wish I was in your place right now.

Reading about and watching (shadowing) are alot different than doing.

And after med school you do have tests USMLE step III during internship, and then board exams and after than you have to take board exams every so often (time depends on your speciality). You are also evaluated on your performance during residency.

I would also hesitate to call internship or residency a "minor version" of anything.

 

[schrizto]

I agree that residency or internship should not be called a "minor" of anything. If anything, it should be more major because compared to med school you have much more autonomy in regards to caring for patients.

You should really change your status from MD/PhD because you're in high school. It's misleading and no MD/PhD would be making the statements you're making.

Oh yeah? I've read into the not getting much sleep 'cause you're on call and such but that's not really much of a biggie though. You're done with med school. No more testing. You're pretty much doing a minor version of what you've gone through many years of school to do. I wish I was in your place right now.

 

[Chamahk]

I agree that residency or internship should not be called a "minor" of anything. If anything, it should be more major because compared to med school you have much more autonomy in regards to caring for patients.

You should really change your status from MD/PhD because you're in high school. It's misleading and no MD/PhD would be making the statements you're making.

. I was in a rush when I was registering and I didn't know that's how this forum worked. I thought that was for like career of interest or something.

By minor I meant that it's different from when you actually begin working. Atleast in terms of pay and responsibilities. Wasn't comparing it to med school.

 

[seelee]

Just so the OP knows, pediatrics is literally the least competitive residency to get into. You can do pediatrics by going to the least prestigious med school and coming in last in your class. But you don't need to worry about that this early in the game. Be careful to not focus too much on your end goal or else you will get burned out b/c make no mistake, you are on a looooooong road.

In College you should take pre-reqs, do your best at them, shadow and volunteer, get involved in student groups and clubs (other than the pre-med club), and get a well-rounded experience with this question in the back of your mind; "Is medicine really my career of choice?"

Don't worry about what medical school you will go to. Worry even less about what specialty you want to have. It is fine to toss ideas around, but I have seen a lot of young kids who focus so hard on a narrow goal that when they finally realize that they can't or don't want to continue with it, they find that they have missed out on a lot of potentially great opportunities.

 

[Terpskins99]

Oh yeah? I've read into the not getting much sleep 'cause you're on call and such but that's not really much of a biggie though. You're done with med school. No more testing. You're pretty much doing a minor version of what you've gone through many years of school to do. I wish I was in your place right now.

Lack of sleep is a minor issue for me. I can stay awake 3 straight days and still function reasonably well.

Getting paged 50 times in one night about stupid issues that should have been handled by the regular day-shift team annoy me.
Attempting to place IV's into extremely edematous patients that none of the nurses were able to do (or even bothered to attempt) annoy me.
Getting paged while attempting to place said IV's annoy me.
Running up and down 8 flights of stairs to see patients annoys me.

What I am doing now does not in any way, shape or form describe what I will be doing as an attending (I am not going to be a primary care doc... thank goodness).

Exams were easy. I already have a good idea of what I am going to be tested on. But dealing with patients you have no idea about (the worst aspect of call... taking care of 70-80+ patients you don't know) and getting blasted with a ton of questions concerning their care... that gives me a tremendous amount of stress every night.

 

[fahimaz7]

. I was in a rush when I was registering and I didn't know that's how this forum worked. I thought that was for like career of interest or something.

By minor I meant that it's different from when you actually begin working. Atleast in terms of pay and responsibilities. Wasn't comparing it to med school.

Wow. You're in high school and you're arguing with a resident about their experience? Come on... You have no idea what that first year is like.

I have yet to meet any intern that is "happy" with his or her life. I'd venture to say that >50% of them meet the guidelines for the diagnosis of a depressive episode, and the rest of them were too busy to show of for the exam due to the 120 pages that they received from their previous night on call.

 

[DwyaneWade]

Oh yeah? I've read into the not getting much sleep 'cause you're on call and such but that's not really much of a biggie though. You're done with med school. No more testing. You're pretty much doing a minor version of what you've gone through many years of school to do. I wish I was in your place right now.

Oh lord. There is some truth to this...but you have to walk the walk before you can talk the talk

 

[smq123]

Oh yeah? I've read into the not getting much sleep 'cause you're on call and such but that's not really much of a biggie though.

Dude, when you REPEATEDLY don't get "much sleep 'cause you're on call and such," it sucks. It really really really sucks. Have YOU ever spent at least one night a week getting 2 hours of sleep and doing this week after week after week? Probably not, or else you wouldn't say such nonsense.

There are still stories of residents who have died by getting into car accidents driving home after a busy night of call - usually, they fell asleep at the wheel because they were so tired. So think about that before you dismiss lack of sleep as "not really much of a biggie though."

No more testing.

EVERY DAY as an intern is a "test." Are you good enough to be a 2nd year resident? Are you good enough to stay in this program? Are you good enough to be a full-fledged doctor? This is ignoring ACTUAL tests, like yearly in-service exams, Step 3, board exams, etc.

You're pretty much doing a minor version of what you've gone through many years of school to do. I wish I was in your place right now.

Yeah, because constantly worrying that you'll kill someone is a "minor version" of what you did as a med student. Always worrying that you'll get sued is a "minor version" of what you did as a med student. [/sarcasm ]

 

[schrizto]

There are still stories of residents who have died by getting into car accidents driving home after a busy night of call - usually, they fell asleep at the wheel because they were so tired.

I've wondered about that. Do residency programs usually have something set up in place so that their residents don't have to drive home by themselves after staying awake for so long? Or would the residents have to take care of this on their own?

 

[smq123]

I've wondered about that. Do residency programs usually have something set up in place so that their residents don't have to drive home by themselves after staying awake for so long? Or would the residents have to take care of this on their own?

Some programs do - I have heard of programs that will pay for cab fare if you're post call. This isn't universal or even super-common, though. A lot of places also offer "lectures" that talk about safety and sleep deprivation....don't know how that's supposed to help all that much, though.

 

[MilkmanAl]

So...they want you to spend more time at the hospital to help you after you've spent too much time at the hospital? Awesome!

 

[Chamahk]

Dude, when you REPEATEDLY don't get "much sleep 'cause you're on call and such," it sucks. It really really really sucks. Have YOU ever spent at least one night a week getting 2 hours of sleep and doing this week after week after week? Probably not, or else you wouldn't say such nonsense.

There are still stories of residents who have died by getting into car accidents driving home after a busy night of call - usually, they fell asleep at the wheel because they were so tired. So think about that before you dismiss lack of sleep as "not really much of a biggie though."



EVERY DAY as an intern is a "test." Are you good enough to be a 2nd year resident? Are you good enough to stay in this program? Are you good enough to be a full-fledged doctor? This is ignoring ACTUAL tests, like yearly in-service exams, Step 3, board exams, etc.



Yeah, because constantly worrying that you'll kill someone is a "minor version" of what you did as a med student. Always worrying that you'll get sued is a "minor version" of what you did as a med student. [/sarcasm ]

Boss, I said I when I said minor I wasn't talking in reference to med school. In other words you're sort of an apprentice during residency. When you become an actual doc wont you go through much much worse things?

Btw, I had no clue residency students died. That's really horrible. That sucks.

I'd just like to throw it in there that everyone is different. Everyone WILL react different to certain situations. Can't really look at someone and say the same thing about yourself.

Dude, I may not know much but by saying some of the things I'm saying and making mistakes and getting corrected, I'm I not learning from you people who are miles ahead of me?

Just take it easy and stop replying to my posts as if I'm some kind of a know nothing. Just chillax alright? And it bothers me that despite the fact that others have already addressed some of the things I said in my posts you still felt the need to say pretty much the same thing.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Schwimmer Dow gnaw, children! Med students and residents should have better things to do than come to high school SDN and pick on naive students.

Although, I guess I am sort of indicting myself, as a med student prowling the hSDN forum...

 

[smq123]

Boss, I said I when I said minor I wasn't talking in reference to med school. In other words you're sort of an apprentice during residency. When you become an actual doc wont you go through much much worse things?

Some clarifications:

- When you're a resident, you're not really an apprentice. An apprentice means that you have minimal responsibility, and no freedom to make independent decisions. Definitely not the case for residency.

- As a resident you ARE an "actual doc." You have a medical degree, and a license. You can be sued for malpractice. You are in the position where your decisions can kill/hurt patients. You're still in training, but you're a REAL DOCTOR, to paraphrase Pinocchio.

- No, as an "actual doc" it's less intense, most times. Residents work longer hours, are usually required to stay in the hospital (unlike attendings), and are usually the first to see the patient.

I'd just like to throw it in there that everyone is different. Everyone WILL react different to certain situations. Can't really look at someone and say the same thing about yourself.

Dude, I may not know much but by saying some of the things I'm saying and making mistakes and getting corrected, I'm I not learning from you people who are miles ahead of me?

Just take it easy and stop replying to my posts as if I'm some kind of a know nothing. Just chillax alright? And it bothers me that despite the fact that others have already addressed some of the things I said in my posts you still felt the need to say pretty much the same thing.

- For one thing, sure, you may react differently, although I've found that for most people the residency experience is (more or less) the same.

- If your intention was to learn, then a different attitude may be more helpful. Walking into an online forum and telling people that you "don't see what the big deal about residency is" when you're still a high school student is, well, going to rub people the wrong way.

- If you think that the response here was bad, wait until you become a med student or a resident yourself. Attendings yelling at you, senior residents yelling at you, program directors yelling at you, nurses yelling at you, patients yelling at you....there are definitely days when you feel like kindergarten children get more respect!

 

[Chamahk]

Some clarifications:

- When you're a resident, you're not really an apprentice. An apprentice means that you have minimal responsibility, and no freedom to make independent decisions. Definitely not the case for residency.

- As a resident you ARE an "actual doc." You have a medical degree, and a license. You can be sued for malpractice. You are in the position where your decisions can kill/hurt patients. You're still in training, but you're a REAL DOCTOR, to paraphrase Pinocchio.

- No, as an "actual doc" it's less intense, most times. Residents work longer hours, are usually required to stay in the hospital (unlike attendings), and are usually the first to see the patient.



- For one thing, sure, you may react differently, although I've found that for most people the residency experience is (more or less) the same.

- If your intention was to learn, then a different attitude may be more helpful. Walking into an online forum and telling people that you "don't see what the big deal about residency is" when you're still a high school student is, well, going to rub people the wrong way.

- If you think that the response here was bad, wait until you become a med student or a resident yourself. Attendings yelling at you, senior residents yelling at you, program directors yelling at you, nurses yelling at you, patients yelling at you....there are definitely days when you feel like kindergarten children get more respect!

Thanks for the clarifications.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Her post didn't strike me as terribly funny...I hope you're not scoffing at what she has to say. This is info straight from the source, so it'd be wise to take heed.

 

[fahimaz7]

Thanks for the clarifications.

You sound like an immature high school student. It might be wise to listen to the more experienced individuals that you will cross between now and your application, as well as continue to work on that pre-frontal cortex development to suppress your obviously over-active limbic lobe.

ie... mature some more before you shadow/apply.

PS. Someone should ban your account for lying about your status as a MD/PHD student. It's a breech of the agreement on this site.

 

[schrizto]

PS. Someone should ban your account for lying about your status as a MD/PHD student. It's a breech of the agreement on this site.

I reported him a few days ago, but since it hasn't been changed I guess it's allowed.