8 Things They Won’t Tell You about Medical School

You have cleared your MCAT, have been admitted into one of the prestigious medical schools and are all excited to begin your freshman year. Every other person-parents, neighbors, relatives, medical school seniors, the homeless man living on the street-has something to say about the years you are about to face. However, here are 8 things you need to prepare yourself for because nobody is going to tell you about them any time sooner and you will have to experience them first-hand. 

1. Failure Awaits You

Despite being a high-achiever your whole life, get ready to meet failure for you are now amongst like-minded people who are as nerdy as you. Failing one or more subjects during the medical school is not uncommon and you will find out that failure is just another step towards success. 

2. Sleep Is a Luxury

So sleep while you can. The daily drill of lectures, memorizing foreign words, ward rounds and tests being held every other day will leave you too exhausted for anything else. Tea and coffee will be your new best friends during the medical school. Even if you are an active person, medical school is bound to make you a sleep-addict. 

3. Your Social Life Is About To End

As a medical student, you will have little time for anything else. Family get-togethers, weddings, birthday parties and hangouts will soon be a thing of the past as you bury your nose in thick medical books. You will continuously have to face the incessant complaint of “you have become too busy for us after entering medical school” by your close friends and family. 

4. Cynicism Lies Ahead 

You are about to become as cynical as the mad hatter. Every minor symptom will feel like a sinister ailment to you. You are going to treat every minor headache like subarachnoid hemorrhage and every muscle ache is going to seem like myasthenia gravis. 

5. It Is a Never-Ending Battle

All around you, your non-medical friends will be graduating, marrying, having kids and doing jobs while you will be stuck tackling one exam after another.

6. Depression Is a Real Thing

Your passion to pursue medical field as a profession is soon going to be lost somewhere amidst the heavy course books, making you question your self-worth and stooping into depression.

Remember, taking it one day at a time is the key. 

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7. Mnemonics, Mnemonics Everywhere!

Don’t be surprised if you see a medical student uttering a bunch of weird noises because you will soon be one of them. Complex sets of symptoms, lists of side effects, groups of drugs and other medical jargon will be reduced into mnemonics to help you memorize and retain them. 

8. Expectations Run High

Even as a medical student, your family and friends will expect you to accompany them to medical specialists for getting special treatment. You will be expected to prescribe medicines for everyday illnesses as if you have already become a specialist. 

It is a difficult road that you have chosen to travel and many hurdles lie ahead. Only through perseverance and consistency can you overcome the overwhelming odds and prove yourself worthy of the profession you have chosen for yourself. 

5 Habits of Highly Successful Medical Students

Being a medical student, you have to make major adjustments in your life and lifestyle. You have to leave your pre-medical habits behind in order to become a successful student and stay ahead of others. Here are some of the highly effective and efficient habits that you need to adopt in order to become a successful medical student. 

1. Don’t Procrastinate

If you have to do something, just do it. Don’t dawdle in hopes of getting it done later on because doing it later will take twice as much time.

Learn to value your time more than anything if you want to excel as a medical student. 

2. Study Smart 

Say goodbye to the habit of poring over every word of the books. Instead of cramming your head with information that will be no good for you during exams, memorize stuff that will help you gain marks and will be useful during the clinical scenarios. For example, the year a drug was discovered is simply useless information. Its mode of action and side effects is what matters. 

Secondly, instead of referring to 3 different books for a topic over and over, jot down the information from other books onto the one that suits you the best so that you can economize your time. Start using highlighters and colored pens to highlight the text that is useful for you out of the lengthy paragraphs. 

3. Seek Study Aids

Don’t hesitate to take help from technology for the purpose of facilitating your studies.

Similarly, make study groups with class mates in order to discuss things since group studies have been proven to be effective for making concepts and learning. 

4. Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses

In order to stay ahead of others, probe yourself for your strong suits as well as weaknesses and learn to exploit them to your advantage. If you have a weakness for studying thoroughly, use it to make your concepts and later, memorize only the stuff that is likely to help you in exams and clinical scenarios.

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5. Work On Yourself

Don’t let yourself get lost amidst a pile of course books. Spare some time for co-curricular activities too. Most of the medical schools offer a hoard of fun activities like adventure clubs, literary circles, dramatics, sports and other such events to relieve the pressure of strenuous medical studies. Take active part in the fun activities of your choice so that your mind does not become overburdened. Such activities prove to be the best antidote for depression and burn out syndrome. 

Being a medical student can take a heavy physical and psychological toll on your life. Only by taking a proactive approach to stay positive and by ignoring all the negative influences can you aspire to become a top-notch and successful medical student.