Top 10 Things I wish I Knew Before Medical School

1. Getting into medical school is NOT the hard part. The hard part is getting through it. Medical school provides you with all the tools for becoming a capable, confident, and compassionate physician. It is up to you how you use them.

2. There are a LOT of exams. From weekly quizzes to monthly tests to quarterly clinical scenarios to yearly boards, you will be spending a decent amount of your free time studying in the library. The good thing is the exams are all computer-based (imagine going to medical school back in the day when they didn't have internet?!). While you won't be able to find time, you will learn how to make time for other things like friends, family, food, and fitness. It's all about balance.

3. It costs a TON of money. Thankfully, there are ways to curb the cost through scholarships, grants, and things like the National Health Service Corps. Or, you can do what I did and earn scholarship money by competing for Miss America state and local pageants. Shout out to all my pageant sisters! More on that in future posts. Be aware that in addition to your tuition, you will most likely have to pay for your books, medical equipment, board exams and any additional review material (on top of housing, food, and other living expenses). Not to mention the residency match process with ERAS application fees, travel fares, and lodging prices. But let's take this one step at a time.

4. With #3 in mind, you definitely don't go into this career for the money (I actually did know this before applying, as many candidates do, but it's such an important stereotype, I wanted to make sure it was addressed here). If that's the case, you should stop reading and consider insurance or banking. If you're still with me then the question you end up asking yourself is: Can you really put a price on your dream?

5. There is SO MUCH to learn. I remember my first week of medical school, my professors reviewed the Brachial Plexus and told us we needed to memorize it. I scoffed at the idea only to realize afterward they were serious. Now, looking back, it's second nature to me along with several other diagrams, pathways, tables, and figures. It did not come easy in the beginning. Memorizing and comprehending these took time, commitment, perseverance, and a fair amount of coffee.

6. It does not matter where you went for your undergraduate education. We all end up in the same place with the same goals. There were people at my school from state universities, Ivy Leagues...we even had international students. Everyone was there to help each other out with the latest study guides, Quizlet sets, and memory tools. The only real competition you find in medical school is with yourself.

7. Allopathic vs Osteopathic. MD vs DO. ACGME vs AOA. Considering all the residency programs for both of these are now merging, whichever medical school you decide to go to does not matter as long as it is what you want. I decided on the Osteopathic route because I wanted more hands-on experience with the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) in addition to learning everything that is taught in the Allopathic schools. If not for OMM and the emphasis on the musculoskeletal and neurologic systems, I may never have discovered the field of Physiatry.

8. Don't go anywhere without your stethoscope, a pen, and paper. That way you are always ready to listen, learn, and take notes.

9. You will never meet people more passionate, caring, and intellectual than those in the medical field. Being a doctor draws a certain kind of crowd; it draws the people who are willing to be on the front line to help those in need while at the same time taking a step back to see the big picture. They are the ones that listen to your story, your relative's story, the EMT's story, the nurse's story. They are the ones that look at you, your imaging, your labs, and your history. They take it all into account to create your clinical picture in order to diagnose and treat you not as a stranger or a bed or a number but as a family member, a loved one, a friend.

10. You will never go through so much self doubt as you will during these four years. You will wonder what you have been doing your entire life before medical school, what you have been studying, is this even worth it, are you good enough, are you smart enough, are you strong enough? And yet you will keep going, you will pick yourself up and push through because you are doing exactly what you are meant to do.

Just remember:

It's a marathon, not a sprint.