Whenever I’m feeling a bit burnt out (mostly due to limited time to appropriately accomplish work, school and personal obligations), I always remind myself “this isn’t anything compared to med school - this is a cake-walk”. Is this true? I am so worried that it IS TRUE that I find myself (consciously or not) in more and more challenging situations. Over-obligating myself personally and enrolling in what I believe will be very difficult courses. I keep “pushing it”, thinking that this is a Test for my possible future in med school. Just how tough is med school? I’m believing it’s usually pushing yourself to the limit - especially after I hear of those ready to quit after just months into the curricullum.
What I know about myself is that I unfortunately thrive on stress - even appear to perform better. I don’t necessarily like drama though … if you get my gist. I am physically active and am currently training for a marathon. I can work long hours and, though I don’t think I need more sleep than a 20-yr old, I probably do … I have no immediate family obligations - other than my fur-kid - who I hate considering leaving alone in a home for 12+ hrs … So guys, just how hard is it? Is med school the seemingly impossible that I believe - is my current schedule and level of coursework just a cake-walk? Not that any negatives will disuade me right now, but this is something I often contemplate…
Yes, compared to undergrad medical school is much more work and highly stressful hence why many folks want to throw the towel although most do not. Undergrad was a cakewalk compared to the amount of material I am now learning…it is not “difficult” material but a LOT this is what makes it seem impossible at times.
I just spent 2 weeks preparing for an exam that I got 53% on (pass is 75%) - my record low in med school so far! They’ll probably curve it, and I can average out my last and future good exams with this one to pass the course, but dealing with this kind of experience is very wearing. My last day off was Nov. 19; I average 50 hours/week studying (not including e-mail and OPM and other wasted time); I have another exam tomorrow and another Friday; if you thrive on stress, you’re gonna love med school.
So, it’s more the shear quantity of material (in such limited time) that is so daunting … vs the difficulty? I understand how that would be difficult in itself. I was told not to expect to make an A in my next course (molec cell bio) … that thought kills me … but then, I guess I can’t expect to get A’s throughout med school either.
Good luck on your exam meowmix — I understand how getting a 53%, then having it curved up to a more “acceptable” score would be wearing. What type of averages do people expect to receive in med classes? Do you necessarily concentrate on grades? Or are you just shooting for that passing score?
So far, its the volume for me. In fact, when meeting recently with the dean he asked what I was most surprised about in medical school. I told him it was the fact that the material was not difficult conceptually, it was just the volume. I spent more time studying for my first anatomy test than I have for any test EVER (including the MCAT), and still only got a 66%. I did better on subsequent ones, but my overall anatomy average was still several points below average.
It is indeed amazing how fast your mindset changes from wanting the top score in the class to being VERY happy with scoring the average on a test (and often, just plain happy to PASS). I have pretty much conceded that I am unlikely to get letters or honors (reserved for the top 25% of the class) during my basic science years.
For me, the biggest adjustment has been learning how to memorize such a huge volume of material. Memorization has never been my strong point and I’ve always been able to do pretty well with minimal memorization as long as I understood the “big picture” well.
Amy
I am curious if the main volume is learning factual data, or having to learn difficult words. Does it vary depending on the subject?
mtn top med
take 2 of these and call me in the morning
The volume is mostly factual data aka minutae but you are also in the process of learning new words hence it equates to as many words as learning a new language this in top of the tremendous amount of material. Passing is hard enough to get for some folks much less acing exams…the hardest thing to get a grip of is coming from being the top 10% in undergrad now ALL your classmates are in the top 10% and hence not ALL of you can be at the top anymore! some will be top half others half bottom…that is hard. Passing is NOT easy and takes TONS of time. This is is like MCAT studying ALL year long folks so get ready. If you are somewhat “laisez-faire” and a crammer it will NOT work here just fyi.