{"id":9843,"date":"2018-05-22T23:19:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T23:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.picmonic.com\/pages\/?p=9843"},"modified":"2024-02-07T16:17:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T16:17:54","slug":"staying-positive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.picmonic.com\/pages\/staying-positive\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Positive and Dealing with Medical School Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"Keep up with Aimen\u2019s journey as a first-year medical student by following her on Instagram @lil_waimen, where she’s always staying positive :)<\/span><\/i><\/span>\n\n\"Staying\n\nHi, friends! Guess what? I\u2019ve officially started medical school! As a whole, there\u2019s been a lot of newness; new school, new people, new curriculum, new lifestyle. It\u2019s true what they say: medical school is completely different from undergrad. Since most of you have already started, you\u2019ll know exactly what I mean. By the end of this week, I know a lot of my classmates have been through some episode of medical school stress and anxiety. (Not your typical syllabus week, huh?)<\/span>\n\nI attribute a lot of this to the way in which medical school is presented to students. The journey to get admitted is itself littered with obstacle after obstacle. Between grades, extracurricular activities, and, of course, the (dreaded) MCAT, most pre-meds are under a constant barrage of stress. My way to cope with it was to remain positive and to literally tell myself (and anyone who would listen) \u201cno stress.\u201d<\/span>\n\nMedical school, however, is an entirely new level. My school describes the level of information as \u201ctrying to drink from a fire hose using a straw.\u201d (I feel like that isn\u2019t possible, right?) However, in order to survive medical school, that straw eventually needs to expand to the size of the hose. I guess that adjustment is what causes students the most stress. That and the fear of failing if you\u2019re not able to handle all the water from that fire hose. (I bet you can tell that I\u2019ve been told this metaphor a million times over\u2026which is why I won\u2019t let it go.)<\/span>\n\nThe idea of failure definitely seemed to be the medical school stress trigger for my classmates. The mere notion of \u201cremediation\u201d left students feeling inadequate, inferior, and insecure. In one way I understand this reaction, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s healthy to get stressed out prematurely, especially because things haven\u2019t gotten busy yet. Wellness is a huge component of my medical school (and I\u2019m sure all of yours as well). You\u2019re always told to make time for the things you love; to not bog yourself down in a hole where all you can think of are board exams and textbooks. But how can you balance medical school stress, especially early on in the game? \u00a0Here\u2019s my take on all of this and what I have done to avoid feeling like failure is inevitable.<\/span>\n

\nREACH OUT<\/b><\/h2>\nI\u2019ve heard a lot of stories about how many medical students don\u2019t even know the names of all of their classmates by M2. (Imagine, an entire year and you may still sit next to a stranger in class!) This can be a detriment because you\u2019re cutting yourself off from those who understand you the most (after all, you\u2019re all going through the same journey). Some students drop out because they believe they are the only ones struggling; that they\u2019re alone. Others feel inadequate or as if they are not good enough for medical school. These thoughts can put you in a pretty negative emotional state, and that\u2019s not at all conducive to handling the fast-paced study routine in medical school. One of the best ways to overcome this is to reach out to your fellow classmates so you can realize that you\u2019re all in this together (that <\/span>High School Musical<\/span><\/i> reference was half intentional).<\/span>\n\nThe dean of my medical school said the word \u201ccommunity\u201d 16 times during our White Coat ceremony (we actually counted). Your school and my school may be different, but at the end of the day, we\u2019re all going to be the future physicians of America. We\u2019re going to be a team, a community, so it\u2019s time we start acting like it! Next time you go to class, reach out to someone new and ask that person how their day is going. Establish a connection, extend a helping hand, get a jump-start and show the empathy and compassion you\u2019re saving for your future patients to those around you. Feeling that companionship and acceptance will melt away a lot of your stress; after all, two heads are better than one!<\/span>\n

\nPLAN, PLAN, PLAN<\/b><\/h2>\nYou need to join the planner club STAT. That\u2019s the only way to compartmentalize that fire hose into manageable chunks. Establishing a routine, meal prepping, and studying a little every day will ease your stress because you\u2019ll be accomplishing goals every single day. Always remember: absolutely NO cramming allowed.<\/span>\n\nPlanning will also allow you to partake in activities that you enjoy. Have a soccer game coming up on Friday? Just study an extra 30 minutes every day until then so you won\u2019t fall behind in soccer or school. Or (if you\u2019re like me) maybe one of your favorite things to do is sleep. If you set up a consistent sleep-wake cycle, then sleep will be yours and so will productivity (minus any medical school stress).<\/span>\n\nNow, as medical students, I\u2019m sure you still have a tendency to overcommit (some premed habits never die). I know I still have that problem\u2026I signed up for more than half of the student organizations at my school. The good thing is, studying will always come first (you can miss meetings but you can\u2019t miss getting honors in anatomy class). Having an idea of what and how much you need to review every day (and actually doing it) will give you an idea of what meetings and activities you can attend.<\/span>\n

\nDON\u2019T START OVER, CONTINUE<\/b><\/h2>\nI was talking to one of the M2\u2019s during orientation week and she said something that filled me with relief: \u201cIf it worked for you in undergrad, then you don\u2019t have to change it.\u201d In medical school, you\u2019re not starting over with a blank slate. You have an idea of how to handle large workloads and balance multiple projects. Thus, there\u2019s no need to shake everything up and try study techniques that are completely foreign to you. I know there are a lot of cool programs out there but my philosophy has always been that the simpler the better. That way there\u2019s no learning curve to master; you already know what you\u2019re doing and can avoid unnecessary medical school stress. Stay where you\u2019re comfortable before venturing out; it\u2019ll be easy to get into the swing of things when you start with some familiarity.<\/span>\n

\nREMEMBER: YOU\u2019RE GREAT<\/b><\/h2>\nNow that you\u2019re in medical school, you\u2019re on a level playing field. You need to remind yourself that you are not less than any of your classmates. Regardless of your undergraduate experiences, you deserve to be a medical student. Just imagine all of the students who your school chose you over; you MUST be someone special! <\/span>\n\nFor me, self-doubt has been something I have struggled with throughout my life. Now that I\u2019m in medical school, I\u2019ve decided that enough is enough. With time, you learn that a lot of the reverence that surrounds a successful person is simply concocted in the minds of the observers. In other words, not everyone really knows exactly what they\u2019re doing; lifelong learning is something everyone must do.<\/span>\n\nThe next time you\u2019re feeling the stress and doubting yourself, look in the mirror and remind yourself of how hard you have worked to get to where you are. Enjoy the memories of your accomplishments and compliment yourself! \u00a0Staying positive will inevitably lead to your success.<\/span>\n\nGOOD LUCK and NO STRESS!<\/span>\n\n