Why do I have so much less enthusiasm than my classmates?

[BeastInfection]

I'm a first year, my classes are boring and stressful. I'm beginning to realize that I'm often grossed out by patients; they have weird odors, I don't like to touch them, and I'm often kind of freaked out and grossed out by what's going on with them--usually things I want nothing to do with.

While all I want to do when class is done is hang out, watch TV, go to the gym and nap, my friends are lining up to spend their nights learning how to draw blood and suture, or going to miscellaneous "interest" nights. No thanks.

Normally, I wouldn't think that there is anything wrong with me, but seeing how gung-ho my classmates seem to be makes me feel like maybe I'm going down the wrong path.

Anyone have any experience with this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[AlexMorph]

Yea, it's called being normal. Do yourself a favor and never compare yourself to others. Do your own thing and be happy.

 

[isoquin]

this is a classic case of tapeworms.

or observation bias. you see one friend go to some event on Monday, and a second friend do something on Tuesday, and that girl you can't stand talking loudly about her Wednesday activities. Thus you draw the conclusion that everyone but you is constantly active with activities, when it's not actually the case. It's ok to like to decompress at the end of the day.

Being grossed out by patients in this field is something you may want to reconsider. Now is the time to get over that. There's really not a non-blunt way to say that. You're going into medicine. If you don't like patients, that leaves few specialty options. Perhaps you should start by elaborating about why you want to be a doctor in the first place.

 

[CaptainSSO]

I'm a first year, my classes are boring and stressful. I'm beginning to realize that I'm often grossed out by patients; they have weird odors, I don't like to touch them, and I'm often kind of freaked out and grossed out by what's going on with them--usually things I want nothing to do with.

WTF did you expect? I don't really any sympathy for you, how could you have gotten into medical school being so ignorant?

Really? You don't like to touch patients and you're grossed out by them? Get over yourself.

 

[Suncrusher]

I'm beginning to realize that I'm often grossed out by patients; they have weird odors, I don't like to touch them, and I'm often kind of freaked out and grossed out by what's going on with them--usually things I want nothing to do with.

exactly how superficial were your clinical experiences as a pre-med? I think I know the answer.

And I'm not sure how you didn't expect your classes to be stressful, either.

Other than that, you sound normal. I want to nap and veg out after class, too.

You don't seem abnormal, but you seem like you beat out a lot of kids for a spot in med school without knowing what you were getting into...

 

[chiz2kul]

I'm a first year, my classes are boring and stressful. I'm beginning to realize that I'm often grossed out by patients; they have weird odors, I don't like to touch them, and I'm often kind of freaked out and grossed out by what's going on with them--usually things I want nothing to do with.

While all I want to do when class is done is hang out, watch TV, go to the gym and nap, my friends are lining up to spend their nights learning how to draw blood and suture, or going to miscellaneous "interest" nights. No thanks.

Normally, I wouldn't think that there is anything wrong with me, but seeing how gung-ho my classmates seem to be makes me feel like maybe I'm going down the wrong path.

Anyone have any experience with this?

lol you forget that your 'gung-ho' classmates are all on here too so be prepared for some seriously pissed people.
As for your post - i personally think there's nothing particularly long with you. After class (back in the day) I would rather just chill at home, tv, gym etc - anything BUT spend extra hours doing more med stuff. maybe its just me but I did have a ton of interests outside of med school. But no i wasn't grossed out by pts lol.

I'd say work on your issues with patients...get to know them, and not just look at them like a disease. it'll put things in a diff light for you. And get this done before 3rd year or you'll hate your life.

g/luck!

 

[DrYoda]

Normally, I wouldn't think that there is anything wrong with me, but seeing how gung-ho my classmates seem to be makes me feel like maybe I'm going down the wrong path.

Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you. At least with regards to all the silly interest groups, workshops and not being over-enthused.

The touching patients thing on the other hand... many of them are pretty gross, but you need to be ok with working with them since there's going to be a lot of that in your future.

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

Your classmates are probably just your typical overly idealistic ultra liberal med students

 

[AlexMorph]

Your classmates are probably just your typical overly idealistic ultra liberal med students

aka dbags

 

[ucsfstudents]

I would recommend being a little more enthusiastic and active in your medical school education. As for being grossed out by patients, hopefully this doesn't last. But luckily for you there are fields in medicine that allow you to have minimal patient contact.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Really? You want nothing to do with patients? Forget what your colleagues are doing, maybe you should figure out why you went into medicine in the first place. The answer shouldn't have been to smell nice smelling individuals.

 

[J ROD]

I'm a first year, my classes are boring and stressful. I'm beginning to realize that I'm often grossed out by patients; they have weird odors, I don't like to touch them, and I'm often kind of freaked out and grossed out by what's going on with them--usually things I want nothing to do with.

While all I want to do when class is done is hang out, watch TV, go to the gym and nap, my friends are lining up to spend their nights learning how to draw blood and suture, or going to miscellaneous "interest" nights. No thanks.

Normally, I wouldn't think that there is anything wrong with me, but seeing how gung-ho my classmates seem to be makes me feel like maybe I'm going down the wrong path.

Anyone have any experience with this?

this tells me you should have went to pharm school

 

[ILikeFood]

I'm a first year, my classes are boring and stressful. I'm beginning to realize that I'm often grossed out by patients; they have weird odors, I don't like to touch them, and I'm often kind of freaked out and grossed out by what's going on with them--usually things I want nothing to do with.

While all I want to do when class is done is hang out, watch TV, go to the gym and nap, my friends are lining up to spend their nights learning how to draw blood and suture, or going to miscellaneous "interest" nights. No thanks.

Normally, I wouldn't think that there is anything wrong with me, but seeing how gung-ho my classmates seem to be makes me feel like maybe I'm going down the wrong path.

Anyone have any experience with this?

You don't sound like a typical 1st year. A lot of them start off with a frenetic enthusiasm that eventually becomes a bland apathy around the middle of 2nd year. There were people like you in my 1st year class though, and they were successful students despite not being gung-ho about medicine.

The not liking to touch patients because you're grossed out part is okay, as long as you're still touching them and learning a proper physical exam. There is a person in my class who is in his 3rd year and refuses to do genital exams on pediatric patients (1 year old or less) or touch peoples feet, despite being directly told to do so by residents. At that level it becomes weird and disturbing, especially when he also sports a yellow $10 stethoscope that can't auscultate ****, dresses like ****, is lazy and looks like a pedophile/killer.

Don't be that guy.

 

[Brewmeister]

What's with all the haterade, jeez. Anytime anyone says anything that's not 100% patient centered, everyone jumps down their throats. OP, I think you're still adjusting to things. You'll get into more interesting material as time goes on. Don't worry if you're not into all the BS interest groups and skills sessions. There's really no point in drawing blood, etc during first year and anyone who thinks that becoming president of the surgery interest group is gonna pique the interest of some plastic surgery residency director is a *****.

Just hang in there and do your own thing. As you learn more about history taking and the physical exam and diagnostics you will get more out of your patient experiences. If you still hate patient contact by 4th year there's always rads, path, anesthesiology, consulting, etc.....

 

[willen101383]

What's with all the haterade, jeez. Anytime anyone says anything that's not 100% patient centered, everyone jumps down their throats. OP, I think you're still adjusting to things. You'll get into more interesting material as time goes on. Don't worry if you're not into all the BS interest groups and skills sessions. There's really no point in drawing blood, etc during first year and anyone who thinks that becoming president of the surgery interest group is gonna pique the interest of some plastic surgery residency director is a *****.

Just hang in there and do your own thing. As you learn more about history taking and the physical exam and diagnostics you will get more out of your patient experiences. If you still hate patient contact by 4th year there's always rads, path, anesthesiology, consulting, etc.....

There is a point in drawing blood as an M1. Before i graduated undergrad i was phleb and then got my licensure as a clinical lab and bloodbank technologist. Let me tell you most residents cant draw blood worth ****. Other than that i 100 percent agree with what you wrote! Club membership sort of annoys me too...I know a few people who are literally in like 6 or 7 clubs.... but to each his own.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Agree with most of the above. It's just naivete that'll blow over once everything becomes commonplace and everyone understands what they're doing a bit better.

 

[CaptainSSO]

What's with all the haterade, jeez. Anytime anyone says anything that's not 100% patient centered, everyone jumps down their throats.

There's a difference between "not being patient centered," and being "actively grossed out and not wanting anything to do with patients." Obviously not everyone is going to relish working with patients (which makes it strange they went to med school in the first place, though, unless they were just deadset on path or rads as a pre-med..), but I would expect med students to not be grossed out by patients.

Can you just imagine going to your doctor, with genital warts for instance, and him giving you a look of disgust? That would make anyone feel like ****.

 

[Dr Gerrard]

Your classmates are probably just your typical overly idealistic ultra liberal med students

lol

 

[startswithb]

I accidentally said "eww!" when my mentor popped a huge zit on a patient. I felt so bad. "Hey come look at this!" Was not expecting it at all.

 

[AlexMorph]

There's a difference between "not being patient centered," and being "actively grossed out and not wanting anything to do with patients." Obviously not everyone is going to relish working with patients (which makes it strange they went to med school in the first place, though, unless they were just deadset on path or rads as a pre-med..), but I would expect med students to not be grossed out by patients.

Can you just imagine going to your doctor, with genital warts for instance, and him giving you a look of disgust? That would make anyone feel like ****.

Am I supposed to say, "Oh, look! What nice genital warts you have!"?

 

[BeastInfection]

Ha. Whoa, whoa, did not expect people to get so worked up about this. Just to be clear, I never said "I want nothing to do with patients"--that's quite a leap. Reread the sentence and you'll see I was referring to some of the nastier conditions that I've come across, not the patients. I wrote that in jest, anyway.

Regarding not liking to touch patients, what I can I say? Like most people in this world, I grew up being uncomfortable touching complete strangers or being touched by them. Therefore, I don't think it's that crazy to think that one whole month in medical school hasn't yet undone 20+ years of conditioning. In all fairness, I am absolutely confident that this will be one of the first things to go away with experience.

And, seriously, how can anyone really be upset that I say that some things in medicine are gross? Pretty sure medical students are still human, with normal, human reactions. You all are going to tell me that you just love it when the stench of necrotic flesh smacks you in the face, have dreams about treating infected wounds in a diabetic's foot and wish you could toy with a patient's rectal abscess all day? Just because I find something unpleasant does not mean I act unprofessionally, and I'm fairly sure it will not make me a ****ty doctor.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who gave some advice/support.

 

[owlegrad]

you should have went to pharm school

 

[officedepot]

hahaha OP, dude, don't worry about it. I never did that stuff. And guess what... I'm still considering neurosurg. Do your own thing. I pretty much never went to class and hated all my rotations 3rd year (including gen surg). But you know I still got really good grades so that's all that matters. All your classmates practicing suturing now really are just wasting their time in my opinion. In fact I found the most enthusiatic peeps in my class are those going into IM or others who super gun it for gen surg.

Best to be relaxed now and just focus on your school work and trying to experience different fields/do research when you get the chance. The skills will come when you get to your rotations.

 

[paul411]

I feel like my classmates are insane. All i want to do after class is hang out, yet there is no one to hang out with or even grab dinner with because everyone is so into study study study. Uhhhh i really hope it gets better.

Uhh... that sounds very atypical -- my experience in med school so far has been a lot different. There's groups of people who are very social and hang out a lot and there are those who prefer not to. You just have to find the right group(s). Join an intramural team or organization or something.

Or perhaps the whole experience depends largely on the particular medical school.

 

[DrCoffeeBean]

OP, I hear you with regards to being uncomfortable touching complete stragers and some not very pleasant disease manifestations they present with. As the time goes by you will figure out your own ways of dealing with smelly and unsightly bits of medicine. Just always rememebr to have a full control of your facial expression regardless of what's in front of you, it has to be neutral and professional.

 

[turkeyjerky]

just keep plugging along at your apathetic pace. Those over-enthusiastic wierdos are gonna burn out and begin contemplating suicide by November of their second year. They'll get a second wind at the start of clinicals, but it won't last long and they'll be down in the dumps pretty quickly. You, on the other hand, will be cresting, seen it before.

 

[Sheldor]

Medical school, especially third year, is a cure for the introverted. (Or feeling uncomfortable touching strangers).

 

[Morsetlis]

Medical school, especially third year, is a cure for the introverted. (Or feeling uncomfortable touching strangers).

I don't care so much about strangers. It's the people I know that I dislike

 

[bunnity]

I'm a vet student not a med student but I'm also not one of those super happy clappy types. I spend enough time on school that when I don't have to I'd rather spend it on things and people outside of school. For example sitting on my couch

One thing I learned is that the people that are SUPER HAPPY WOW THIS IS GREAT I LOVE TAKING TESTS are actually feeling way worse than you are. They are uncomfortable with negative emotion and so they are really fake.

Just be yourself and take it easy on yourself. It's hard enough without making yourself feel guilty for not acting like a Lab puppy.

 

[DeadCactus]

You're normal. Maybe atypical for a medical student, but normal for a person.

Ignore the people who think your life goal should be sticking your finger into the anus of a 45 year old man with mismatched socks. The human body is disgusting, but you'll get over that just like you'll get over the urge to burst into laughter as a psych patient shows you his Kung Fu moves or the woman explains why their's a potato in her vagina.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to just relax after class. As long as you're doing well enough to meet your own goals, who care's if everyone else thinks an extra 60 hours a week in the library is worth a 0.2 increase in their GPA.

The time to worry is when you really just don't look forward to being a physician of some sort anymore...

 

[DoctwoB]

There is a point in drawing blood as an M1. Before i graduated undergrad i was phleb and then got my licensure as a clinical lab and bloodbank technologist. Let me tell you most residents cant draw blood worth ****. Other than that i 100 percent agree with what you wrote! Club membership sort of annoys me too...I know a few people who are literally in like 6 or 7 clubs.... but to each his own.

There's nothing wrong with division of labor. The nurse or phlebotomist who draws blood 40x/day, or the nurse who puts in 20 IVs/day will be much better at it then most docs, and that's fine. Docs have much higher training that's best put to use in more big picture, assessment, plan, exam, etc. type tasks. I think a basic clinical procedural skill set is good to have, but is by no means essential.

That being said, I'm one a person the op talks about and think that learning to insert IVs, draw blood, suture, etc. is actually fun and interesting (at least compared to most of medschool).

 

[BeastInfection]

You're normal. Maybe atypical for a medical student, but normal for a person.

Ignore the people who think your life goal should be sticking your finger into the anus of a 45 year old man with mismatched socks. The human body is disgusting, but you'll get over that just like you'll get over the urge to burst into laughter as a psych patient shows you his Kung Fu moves or the woman explains why their's a potato in her vagina.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to just relax after class. As long as you're doing well enough to meet your own goals, who care's if everyone else thinks an extra 60 hours a week in the library is worth a 0.2 increase in their GPA.

The time to worry is when you really just don't look forward to being a physician of some sort anymore...

Haha, thank you. This is good to hear. That said, I don't know if I could ever not laugh if someone tells me there is a potato stuck in their vagina.

 

[isoquin]

Regarding not liking to touch patients, what I can I say? Like most people in this world, I grew up being uncomfortable touching complete strangers or being touched by them. Therefore, I don't think it's that crazy to think that one whole month in medical school hasn't yet undone 20+ years of conditioning. In all fairness, I am absolutely confident that this will be one of the first things to go away with experience.

That's fair, but I'm still wondering what drew you to medicine with such a strong aversion (and yes, what you have expressed so far is not the norm for pre-meds). Sure, no one likes touching gross stuff, but they tend not to start SDN posts about how grossed out they are. Seriously, why medicine?

 

[CaptainSSO]

Ignore the people who think your life goal should be sticking your finger into the anus of a 45 year old man with mismatched socks.

You took a leap in logic the size of the grand canyon. Not being disgusted by something is worlds away from being stoked about doing a rectal exam.

Am I supposed to say, "Oh, look! What nice genital warts you have!"?

Haha, not quite. My point was it's already embarrassing enough to go see the doctor when you have a problem such as genital warts. (All I'll say is, I've had a particular urological problem before--not warts). Acting professional is what matters, as someone mentioned earlier. If you're repulsed by something the patient will pick up on it, unless you're Denzel Washington.

Edit: OK, I seriously need to GTFO SDN now. I feel like this site was built to cause med students to procrastinate.