Making it to a medical school is a different set of struggle in itself. Once you are in, you realize, it’s not only hard-work, IT’S A COMMITMENT! It’s like getting married to a career. Where it’s important to put in effort EVERY SINGLE DAY. Believe me when I say this – You are not alone! There are several people out there, like myself, who started their own journeys alone and would love to help you navigate yours too. So, like I said, Making it to a Med-School is a different set of struggle, here’s a list of some important things I learnt while cruising through mine. And wishing someone would have told me this earlier so I could have made the most out of my own. Nevertheless, give it a read and try using these principles to make the most out of it.
Medical School struggle begins
After working and studying hard in school, working through high-school, you finally get into a pre-med program where you spend your day and night to clear your MDCAT. Once your MDCATs are done, you finally get accepted to med-school! Yeaay! Congratulations but guess what the journey to unknown has just started!
Lets be honest, Medical school is like an uncharted sea, specially, in Pakistan. The reason I say that is because there is A LOT of lack of career guidance! Right from School, to getting into a Pre-Med program, to getting into Medical School, to planning your career ahead, it’s like, you are out in the wild, on your own, wearing all your vulnerabilities on your sleeves and cruising through a sea of high tides and turbulences.
So, basically you will have to navigate this on your own. To top it, if you are someone like me who is super ambitious, extremely workaholic and first one in your family who has made it to college, let alone med-school, trust me you are going to have a very hard time charting the course, setting the right expectations and navigating ALL BY YOURSELF!
These are just a few essentials I feel every medical student should know and work with. Equipping yourself rom right the beginning will help to harness your own full potential and make the most out of this journey.
1. Find A Mentor
From day 1 of medical school you need to start your search for a mentor. This could be anyone, A Senior – whom you can look up to and trust, A Teacher – whom you take inspiration from and follow their career trajectory, A Friend – who is driven, goal-oriented and is willing to work together. With friends, be extremely cautious. Remember, not everyone would want the best for you. Most people would despise your potential and would only affiliate with you for achieving their own purpose, identify these people and try if you can associate less with them, otherwise you will be left all drained out and unfocused. Since you are starting from SCRATCH, having a mentor would not only guide you but open doors of more opportunities for you. Pro Tip: Best Way to connect with your teacher/Mentor is working with them. Work with them on either a research projects or shadow them at their clinics or in hospitals so you can learn from them.
2. Read Big Books and Make learning Fun
DON’T, I REPEAT, DON’T EVER RELY ON SHORT BOOKS! Read good books. It’s important to fully grasp the concept. Read course books, watch videos on YouTube and try to understand the bits and pieces of a process too. While short books are great way to remember and retain knowledge for short-term and for clearing your vivas but they aren’t beneficial at all for any of your long-term goals. Remember at this time you are not just studying to pass your med-school exams, you are studying to prepare your self for future, for board exams and for license exams too. Also, don’t forget to make learning FUN! Don’t just sit in front of screen or in a library eight hours a day reading the book and understanding the concept. No! learn to do active learning! learn with pneumonic, learn with friends, learn with teachers who love teaching. Use ATLAS to study Anatomy! and then practice and test your own knowledge. There are many different free online apps available to grab MCQs for free! Solve them and learn for them!
3. Plan Ahead
You are now in med-school, Great! Now what? You can’t just stop and keep doing the happy dance everyday and stagnate your growth at this point only. You have to work and chart the course ahead of you. Now this is a very tricky part and this is why I would encourage every medical student to start gaining guidance about paths ahead since year one. I did this mistake, I started very late (In third year) because of so much lack of career guidance but I really don’t want anyone else to go through this. I’ll do my next blog post on what career paths you can take after finishing med-school. So do keep reading!!
For now, Just a gist, there are many fields to choose from and their are many career paths that can be pursued ahead of it but there are several IMPORTANT factors one needs to consider when they decide to make a choice. so plan what you want from life and work every day to make it happen for yourself.
4. Get involved
Don’t stand still, WORK! Get involved, Yes but get involved with things that matter in the long run. Don’t waste your time and energy on unimportant things, like social events and insignificant dramas. Social events are great way to connect but choose wisely, which ones to attend and which ones to pass.
By getting involved I basically mean work with your mentors and teachers. Work on research projects or rotate with them in their clinics! Do shadowing for a month or so and get to know all the fields and specialties better. Earn recommendations from them. Sometimes you think you are suited for some specialty but when you work in it you realize it’s not for you. For example I realized my liking for pediatrics, children and maternal health in general when I did my pediatrics rotation. Until then, I was only experimenting with different specialties and learning to find my own niche!
Also, A lot of specialties are too demanding and since everyone’s endurance is different, it’s great to work as shadowing/elective and understand how much your health allows you to work and endure. You can also try and get involved in extracurricular and community activities like blood drives, health camps, vaccine drives, health education activities, teaching kids in the community. This will not only build your resume but also build you as a person too!
5. Keep grinding
Finally, I know how easy it is to say than it is to be done! but really, keep grinding! your future self will literally thank you for this later! And don’t forget to always stay humble!
If you liked reading this post and want me to create more such blog posts or if there is any other thing you want me to talk about, let me know in the comments below! Click on the Medlife tab to read more med-school tips. Feel free to get in touch at scrubsandbooks on Instagram!! I am literally available there 24/7 to guide!
Till then, keep reading and keep grinding!!