Medical school is full of surprises (some good, others…not so great.) Here are some things I wish someone had told me before I started medical school. Hope this post makes you feel more prepared for first med than I was 🙂
1) You’ll be working with cadavers
It wasn’t unitl an hour before actually walking into the dissection theatre that I realised we’d be working with cadavers. As medical students we are eternally grateful to people who have donated their bodies to science. However, studying cadavers can be quite a traumatic experience especially if you’re not expecting it. Some students get used to it after a while others find it more difficult. If you are struggling please reach out to the anatomy team who should support you.
2) There’s always going to be someone better than you
Hate to break it to you but you’re not going to be the best at everything (or even anything) at medical school. Just because you’re not ‘the best’ doesn’t mean you’re not brilliant. Medical students are a very hard working, intelligent, talented, motivated bunch of people so it’s going to be harder to be beat the average than it was in school. Medical school is so much more fun when you stop competing with your peers and support each-other instead. Please don’t feel like you’re not doing well just because someone else did better. Focus on your own path. Comparing yourself to others is just self sabotage.
3) Lecturers are not teachers
It took me ages to realise this. I used to show up to lectures, not understand a word after the first sentence and then go home to complain about how terrible the lecturers all were. Although there are some pretty atrocious lecturers out there, I have to admit that I myself was often to blame for my lack of understanding. Lecturers have so much content to cram into a one hour slot, they don’t have time to explain the basics and go through the same thing over and over again like teachers would in school. The role of lecturers is not to teach us information but to provide us with the information we need to teach ourselves. Life gets so much easier when you pre-read (even a little) and spend time going over lectures yourself rather than simply showing up hoping to absorb the information passively. Watch a youtube video or take out a library book if there’s something you don’t understand. Another positive of pre-reading is that it allows you to think of questions to ask lecturers in advance instead of annoying them with e-mails that may never be answered.
4) There’s an infinite amount of information to learn…but you don’t have to learn everything
One thing I found really hard to accept when starting medical school is that there’s no set textbook with ‘everything you need to know to be a doctor’ packed neatly inside. No one can hand you a booklet and promise ‘just memorise this and you’ll do great in your exams!’ Saying that, you definitely are NOT expected to learn everything (or even near to everything) that there is out there on a topic. Medicine is a never ending sea of information and misinformation that you have to wade through to find what you need. Half the battle of studying for exams is simply figuring out what’s important to learn and what’s not.
Study tip: Lecture content is always a good guide to what your lecturers deem important so use this as a baseline for your study
5) Some study is better than no study
It’s easy to let the overwhelm get to you and just keep procrastinating study until a few weeks before exams. But cramming is no fun. If you’re having a bad day try to push yourself to learn even one new thing. Just 30 minutes can help ease the burden.
6) Getting into medicine is NOT the hardest part
Whoever came up with this lie probably never got into medicine themselves! I don’t mean to be a pessimist, just wanted to give you a heads up that medicine is challenging. But don’t be discouraged. The fact that you got into medicine proves you 100% deserve to be there.
7) You can have a life outside of medicine
Yes, medicine does require more study than other courses but you definitely don’t have to study all day everyday. You can still keep up the hobbies you love, sustain a healthy lifestyle and spend time with friends and family. You do need time management skills though.
8) Be friendly to everyone
In such a challenging course it’s so important to be supportive of one another rather than competing against each other. Medical students are (in my experience) generally very friendly and inclusive. Kindness is really valued and appreciated. There’s no point in being cliquey and stand-offish. Grow each other’s support networks by being friendly to everyone. A smile goes a long way!
9) Good friends are more important than good grades
Friends who you can be yourself around are so so important in medical school. We all need people to share laughs with, check in on us and help us through tough times. It’s completely normal and ok not to have a solid group of friends. Don’t worry if you haven’t found ‘your people’ yet. College is the perfect time to meet new people and make great connections. Prioritise healthy friendships with people you click with over ‘being cool’ or whatever it is that keeps people in toxic friendships. Medicine is difficult enough without unnecessary drama.
10) Everyone’s nervous
Even the person who appears to have it all together is nervous about becoming a doctor. Lots of medical students share the same fears of failing exams/imposter syndrome/not being a good doctor etc. If you talk to your friends about it you’ll probably find most of them are feeling the same way as you. Don’t let imposter syndrome get the better of you. You deserve to be here just as much as everyone else. If you’re struggling reach out to college supports/your family doctor.
Conclusion
No one can completely prepare you for medical school. There’ll always be new things to learn and mistakes will be made. Be kind to yourself as you enter this new chapter in life ❤️