What did I learn from my first semester of medical school? A metric s*** ton, which is approximately 736 courics (Southpark reference for Jean)!! Much of that went well beyond the medicine presented in our bricked lecture hall with the orange seats and the most confusing light-switch arrangement known to humanity. After sifting through my memories from last semester (many of which were clouded by lots of formaldehyde and even more stress), I came up with two items that had a huge impact on me.
1. Medical school is a GRIND and its really frickin’ TOUGH!!!
Holy crap! This a ridiculous amount of material! Every day I felt like Adam Sandler from the classic film “Billy Madison” (Yes, this a 90’s reference; You are welcome every classmate 27 and older). In the film, Billy (Adam Sandler) trains for an academic decathlon that he must win in order for his dad to allow him to take over the family company (A laughable plot, but it is a friggin’ hilarious movie). As he prepares for the decathlon, he takes French lessons (at least I think it was French). The tutor begins teaching Billy by speaking fluent French REALLY fast. Billy, his face covered with a blank stare, responds by uttering, “Slooowwww doooowwwnn.” (For your viewing pleasure, here is a link to the clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEcuVR2vHwM). Every class, our professors used cannons to quickly launch one concept after another at us. And no, they did not use those awesome t-shirts cannons. (That would have been amazing!!) They used howitzers loaded with shells full of ceramide, fascia, mesenchyme, and health policy. (On a serious note, I am not saying that our professors were trying to hurt us. It is simply an analogy about how much information is presented on a daily basis.) Learning that much material that fast is just straight up tough.
2. It is a really HUMBLING experience.
We are all in medical school so I am not going out on limb by saying that every one of us did things pretty well during our undergraduate/post-baccalaureate years. I felt pretty smart when I graduated from college. I had solid grades, a lot of research experience, and couple of other nice feathers in my cap. Plenty of you did too when you earned your bachelor’s degrees. I thought I knew what was going on. Then I got to medical school . . . smh (texting abbreviation, check).
Now, I am not dumb, nor is anyone else in my class, but since arriving this past June, there have been multiple occasions when I felt that way. I know there are others that have had similar experiences. Med school has demonstrated to me that no matter how much one thinks one may know, there is always an infinite amount of knowledge that one does NOT know. Put simply, med school thus far has been quite humbling.
Both of these together made last semester rough . . . really, really rough. From the looks of it, that was just a taste or how difficult it is to be physician. As an orthopedic surgeon once told us (prior to her having two of my classmates, I.B. and A.S., teach her how to dougie), we are never done studying, residency makes med school look like child’s play, and practicing as an independent professional makes residency look easy.
The life of a physician is hard and requires a lot sacrifice. (Last semester was just taste of that life.) To succeed as physicians, we must be harder. We must be able to move forward no matter what lies in front of us. The only way to do that is, as my man Winston Churchill said, “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!”
Thanks!
Student Dr. Meyers
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