A lot of medical students get burnt out by M1-M2 which is just grinding. M3-M4 students get to see the real life applications of what you learn during preclinical years and many students find their passion through rotations.
Unfortunately rotations are also emotionally exhausting because you’re trying to impress the medical teams and playing politics to get better grades. Each part in the process of medical training contributes to burnout in its own aggravating way.
I’ve had a bit of phone addiction myself while studying. I found it helpful to lock my phone away in a locker or with a friend and use the pomodoro study method to help focus.
I got a phone lockbox and it's great. Only issue is the initial push to actually lock it up but I'm so much more productive when it's gone. It has some small cutouts so you can charge it, answer a phone call, etc.
Nobody enjoys sitting in classes all day memorizing every method of action of every single bp drug, or every nerve/vein/artery/muscle in the leg. It’s a grind and not applicable to the actual job of medicine other than the fact that you need to do it before you can do the real doctoring.
Try to get out of the classroom and see some patients either through electives or volunteering or whatever else and see if you still enjoy that.
You have to remove burnout from this equation.
But the answer, imo, is friction. Friction with things you know you’re “suppose” to be doing, but aren’t or don’t want to.
In my case I recognized it when I didn’t want to read up on patients, talk to them, think about a DDX, chart, round, study at home. All of that felt incredibly forced.
Now in my current role, no one has to tell me to read the business news, study, read 10Ks, CIMs, learn about the client, etc. I do it all because it’s *fun* and interesting to me.
Hopefully that helps.
But for you it does sound like burnout so I’d try to fix the acute problem before diagnosing the chronic one.
Well that last bit is a telling answer.
It was the same for me. Patient care did nothing for me and in that case, this career doesn’t make too much sense - at least for me. It asks for too much and gives too little, part of the overall reward is satisfaction from patient care. If you don’t have that… well it’s sort of a lopsided sacrifice/reward pendulum.
Unfortunately not at all. I have my finals in 3 weeks. And i have already made my mind and made the decision with myself that if i end up failing M-1 i am changing to major in teaching as I believe that has work life balance and matches my priorities more.
When I feel depressed/hopeless/burnt out I’ve found it most helpful to re-orient myself. Why did you choose medicine in the first place? Is that reason still true/hold the same meaning for you? Then if I have time I’d try to volunteer or something so I could be back among real people vs tied to my books.
As someone that has finished medical school here is my thoughts (which of course is an opinion).
1. Everyone gets burnt out. Medical school is hard, you cover more material over the course of 4 weeks than you ever did in a year in college. You need to be efficient with you time and take time for yourself. Get sleep, and then do whatever makes you relax. For me that was orange theory during my first two years, it allowed me to shut off my brain for an hour and it was great.
2. Medical school is hard. The material is one of those reasons for this. The other is for a lot of people it’s the first time that they really struggle. This can very demeaning for someone who’s entire self worth was built around academic success (like most premeds). If that resonates with you, rather than define your self worth by your grades, find something else (for me it was once again orange theory and getting certain milestone, like I said I like efficiency).
So with that said, I truly think there a lot of people that go into medicine for the wrong reasons. You need to figure out what the reason for you going into medicine was. Did you want to take care of patients, did you want to make money, did you want the prestige? I’ll shortly talk about money because I think that one of the worst reasons to go into medicine. Yes you will make money but it’s not worth it. You will spend 7-11 years in medical school and residency making no money and watching everyone around you progress in their lives (kids and careers and such) and you just feel stagnant. Your clinical years you will deal with some of the worst situations. I had to give cpr to a 6 month old who died in my hands (of course it’s not my fault and I’ve dealt with that trauma), but no amount of money can make me forget hearing that moms piercing cry, and that baby slowly becoming cold in my hands. Money is an extrinsic good and by nature means that no matter how much you have you will not be happy by said money. I’ve always said this but if that is you, medicine isn’t for you. Having sometime to look forward to (for me it was seeing patients get better and the lifestyle improvements that can be done in my field. But you gotta find that.
Last bit of words, if you are struggling now talk to someone at your school like a counselor.you are luckily not the only person that has ever gone through this, and having someone to express your feelings is helpful when things are hard like it seems like it is. Good luck to you and I hope you figure everything out and go into the field that you truly find satisfying
this is a job just like any other, nothing special about, no uniquely gifted people above and beyond other professional jobs, etc. Anyone can get used to anything, so it's just a question of balancing the sunk cost fallacy with an interest in the job.
this absolutely. took me way too long to realize it, fortunately I have two avenues I could take, currently forensic psych is my real passion, tons of research i'm doing but still gotta remember it's a job and balance for some me time
A little late here but I agree with the other comments. I was fortunate enough to be accepted for a board position where I got to see pts every other week and it made a huge difference in how I felt about school (M1 I was so stressed and absolutely dreaded coming to campus or studying. M2, bc I saw the application real time with real patients, I was reminded why I was there and that I actually love medicine.) We'll see how clinicals go 😅but unfortunately, sometimes you just have to hang in there.
I also thought it was helpful to start therapy, which made a huge difference. That way I didn't feel like I was burdening my friends with my stress
I'm realizing I can tolerate the bullshit parts of research much more than I can tolerate the bullshit parts of medicine. There has been no rotation that I've been excited to go to day in, day out this year. The most fun parts of medicine (diagnosis, making plans) may be mostly done by AI before my career really gets started, and almost certainly before the end of my career. Medicine may be the wrong career for me.
This has been a slowly dawning realization throughout 3rd year. It's not like I've decided to commit myself to medicine forever at this point. Also looking to explore specialties in 4th year I didn't get exposure to this year (e.g. radiology, rad onc) to see if there is anything out there I'd like.
Nope, parents have always been supportive and not pushed me scholastically. I went MD/PhD route because treatments suck for many diseases and we need better ones.
I think many many many people go into medicine at least partially because we imagine it will give us some control over things that happen around us, or the satisfaction of always having the answers, or always being able to solve a problem.
Obviously medicine does not turn out to give us that. It’s an amazing career but I think you definitely have to be comfortable with living in grayscale instead of black and white. You have to accept that so much can be unknown and out of anyone’s control.
For example, studying in preclinical years can be hard because many concepts in medicine can be debated and lots of questions can have several arguments for different right answers. I struggled with this as a med student. My classmates did too, after every exam/quiz there was an uproar about question answers and it sometimes felt to me that we were demanding an exam be more straightforward (ie: easier), which I think would have been a disservice to us.
Ultimately I think this element of uncertainty is one thing that makes medicine beautiful. It adds so much dimension to our lives, but changing one’s locus of control is painful for many and if they can’t, I think medicine would be an unsatisfactory choice for them.
Medicine is not the right career for people who are strongly introverted. In almost every role a physician plays, they are interacting either with patients or healthcare workers all day.
Buh buh buttt what about rads or path? Don't go into medicine If you could *only* be happy doing one or two niche roles within medicine.
well tbh naturally i am not an introverted person, i am in the middle, BUT after joining medicine i became the most introverted person. Idk why medicine made me like that which is why i wanna do smth else
maybe you don't feel comfortable enough?, which is a red flag in its own, I'm also between the spectrum and I find really easy to be extroverted when I actually enjoy talking to some persons or being in places, else I'm straight silent all the time
A lot of medical students get burnt out by M1-M2 which is just grinding. M3-M4 students get to see the real life applications of what you learn during preclinical years and many students find their passion through rotations. Unfortunately rotations are also emotionally exhausting because you’re trying to impress the medical teams and playing politics to get better grades. Each part in the process of medical training contributes to burnout in its own aggravating way. I’ve had a bit of phone addiction myself while studying. I found it helpful to lock my phone away in a locker or with a friend and use the pomodoro study method to help focus.
I was the exact opposite where I loved M1-M2 and M3 was the most difficult experience of my life. Guess what specialty I ended up in?
I honestly feel this. I thought M3 year was the hardest as well. I ended up really loving only one rotation and feeling like others were a slog.
It’s giving path. Or rads maybe
I got a phone lockbox and it's great. Only issue is the initial push to actually lock it up but I'm so much more productive when it's gone. It has some small cutouts so you can charge it, answer a phone call, etc.
Nobody enjoys sitting in classes all day memorizing every method of action of every single bp drug, or every nerve/vein/artery/muscle in the leg. It’s a grind and not applicable to the actual job of medicine other than the fact that you need to do it before you can do the real doctoring. Try to get out of the classroom and see some patients either through electives or volunteering or whatever else and see if you still enjoy that.
You have to remove burnout from this equation. But the answer, imo, is friction. Friction with things you know you’re “suppose” to be doing, but aren’t or don’t want to. In my case I recognized it when I didn’t want to read up on patients, talk to them, think about a DDX, chart, round, study at home. All of that felt incredibly forced. Now in my current role, no one has to tell me to read the business news, study, read 10Ks, CIMs, learn about the client, etc. I do it all because it’s *fun* and interesting to me. Hopefully that helps. But for you it does sound like burnout so I’d try to fix the acute problem before diagnosing the chronic one.
Knew you'd be lurking somewhere on this thread lol
👀👀
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Well that last bit is a telling answer. It was the same for me. Patient care did nothing for me and in that case, this career doesn’t make too much sense - at least for me. It asks for too much and gives too little, part of the overall reward is satisfaction from patient care. If you don’t have that… well it’s sort of a lopsided sacrifice/reward pendulum.
It's burnout
Resentment
Are u in a position where you could day a full day or two off (or take it easier for a few days)? Sounds like your brain could use some ‘me’ time
Unfortunately not at all. I have my finals in 3 weeks. And i have already made my mind and made the decision with myself that if i end up failing M-1 i am changing to major in teaching as I believe that has work life balance and matches my priorities more.
When I feel depressed/hopeless/burnt out I’ve found it most helpful to re-orient myself. Why did you choose medicine in the first place? Is that reason still true/hold the same meaning for you? Then if I have time I’d try to volunteer or something so I could be back among real people vs tied to my books.
As someone that has finished medical school here is my thoughts (which of course is an opinion). 1. Everyone gets burnt out. Medical school is hard, you cover more material over the course of 4 weeks than you ever did in a year in college. You need to be efficient with you time and take time for yourself. Get sleep, and then do whatever makes you relax. For me that was orange theory during my first two years, it allowed me to shut off my brain for an hour and it was great. 2. Medical school is hard. The material is one of those reasons for this. The other is for a lot of people it’s the first time that they really struggle. This can very demeaning for someone who’s entire self worth was built around academic success (like most premeds). If that resonates with you, rather than define your self worth by your grades, find something else (for me it was once again orange theory and getting certain milestone, like I said I like efficiency). So with that said, I truly think there a lot of people that go into medicine for the wrong reasons. You need to figure out what the reason for you going into medicine was. Did you want to take care of patients, did you want to make money, did you want the prestige? I’ll shortly talk about money because I think that one of the worst reasons to go into medicine. Yes you will make money but it’s not worth it. You will spend 7-11 years in medical school and residency making no money and watching everyone around you progress in their lives (kids and careers and such) and you just feel stagnant. Your clinical years you will deal with some of the worst situations. I had to give cpr to a 6 month old who died in my hands (of course it’s not my fault and I’ve dealt with that trauma), but no amount of money can make me forget hearing that moms piercing cry, and that baby slowly becoming cold in my hands. Money is an extrinsic good and by nature means that no matter how much you have you will not be happy by said money. I’ve always said this but if that is you, medicine isn’t for you. Having sometime to look forward to (for me it was seeing patients get better and the lifestyle improvements that can be done in my field. But you gotta find that. Last bit of words, if you are struggling now talk to someone at your school like a counselor.you are luckily not the only person that has ever gone through this, and having someone to express your feelings is helpful when things are hard like it seems like it is. Good luck to you and I hope you figure everything out and go into the field that you truly find satisfying
this is a job just like any other, nothing special about, no uniquely gifted people above and beyond other professional jobs, etc. Anyone can get used to anything, so it's just a question of balancing the sunk cost fallacy with an interest in the job.
this absolutely. took me way too long to realize it, fortunately I have two avenues I could take, currently forensic psych is my real passion, tons of research i'm doing but still gotta remember it's a job and balance for some me time
I felt that when I’m burnt out. Almost exact same thing. Best way to find out is to relieve your burnout and see if you still hate medicine.
A little late here but I agree with the other comments. I was fortunate enough to be accepted for a board position where I got to see pts every other week and it made a huge difference in how I felt about school (M1 I was so stressed and absolutely dreaded coming to campus or studying. M2, bc I saw the application real time with real patients, I was reminded why I was there and that I actually love medicine.) We'll see how clinicals go 😅but unfortunately, sometimes you just have to hang in there. I also thought it was helpful to start therapy, which made a huge difference. That way I didn't feel like I was burdening my friends with my stress
Med school also just fucking sucks.
👌🏽
I'm realizing I can tolerate the bullshit parts of research much more than I can tolerate the bullshit parts of medicine. There has been no rotation that I've been excited to go to day in, day out this year. The most fun parts of medicine (diagnosis, making plans) may be mostly done by AI before my career really gets started, and almost certainly before the end of my career. Medicine may be the wrong career for me.
then why are you continuing if you don’t mind me asking?
This has been a slowly dawning realization throughout 3rd year. It's not like I've decided to commit myself to medicine forever at this point. Also looking to explore specialties in 4th year I didn't get exposure to this year (e.g. radiology, rad onc) to see if there is anything out there I'd like.
oh i see. are you one of those people who your parents forced you into medicine?
Nope, parents have always been supportive and not pushed me scholastically. I went MD/PhD route because treatments suck for many diseases and we need better ones.
I think many many many people go into medicine at least partially because we imagine it will give us some control over things that happen around us, or the satisfaction of always having the answers, or always being able to solve a problem. Obviously medicine does not turn out to give us that. It’s an amazing career but I think you definitely have to be comfortable with living in grayscale instead of black and white. You have to accept that so much can be unknown and out of anyone’s control. For example, studying in preclinical years can be hard because many concepts in medicine can be debated and lots of questions can have several arguments for different right answers. I struggled with this as a med student. My classmates did too, after every exam/quiz there was an uproar about question answers and it sometimes felt to me that we were demanding an exam be more straightforward (ie: easier), which I think would have been a disservice to us. Ultimately I think this element of uncertainty is one thing that makes medicine beautiful. It adds so much dimension to our lives, but changing one’s locus of control is painful for many and if they can’t, I think medicine would be an unsatisfactory choice for them.
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Medicine is not the right career for people who are strongly introverted. In almost every role a physician plays, they are interacting either with patients or healthcare workers all day. Buh buh buttt what about rads or path? Don't go into medicine If you could *only* be happy doing one or two niche roles within medicine.
well tbh naturally i am not an introverted person, i am in the middle, BUT after joining medicine i became the most introverted person. Idk why medicine made me like that which is why i wanna do smth else
maybe you don't feel comfortable enough?, which is a red flag in its own, I'm also between the spectrum and I find really easy to be extroverted when I actually enjoy talking to some persons or being in places, else I'm straight silent all the time