101 Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Medical School

335 Replies

Simple enough, here are 101 things you wish you knew before starting medical school.

  1. If I had known what it was going to be like, I would never have done it.
  2. You’ll study more than you ever have in your life.
  3. Only half of your class will be in the top 50%. You have a 50% chance of being in the top half of your class. Get used to it now.
  4. You don’t need to know anatomy before school starts. Or pathology. Or physiology.
  5. Third year rotations will suck the life out you.
  6. Several people from your class will have sex with each other. You might be one of the lucky participants.
  7. You may discover early on that medicine isn’t for you.
  8. You don’t have to be AOA or have impeccable board scores to match somewhere – only if you’re matching into radiology.
  9. Your social life may suffer some.
  10. Pelvic exams are teh suck.

  11. You won’t be a medical student on the surgery service. You’ll be the retractor bitch.
  12. Residents will probably ask you to retrieve some type of nourishment for them.
  13. Most of your time on rotations will be wasted. Thrown away. Down the drain.
  14. You’ll work with at least one attending physician who you’ll want to beat the shit out of.
  15. You’ll work with at least three residents who you’ll want to beat the shit out of.
  16. You’ll ask a stranger about the quality of their stools.
  17. You’ll ask post-op patients if they’ve farted within the last 24 hours.
  18. At some point during your stay, a stranger’s bodily fluids will most likely come into contact with your exposed skin.
  19. Somebody in your class will flunk out of medical school.
  20. You’ll work 14 days straight without a single day off. Probably multiple times.
  21. A student in your class will have sex with an attending or resident.
  22. After the first two years are over, your summer breaks will no longer exist. Enjoy them as much as you can.
  23. You’ll be sleep deprived.
  24. There will be times on certain rotations where you won’t be allowed to eat.
  25. You will be pimped.
  26. You’ll wake up one day and ask yourself is this really what you want out of life.
  27. You’ll party a lot during the first two years, but then that pretty much ends at the beginning of your junior year.
  28. You’ll probably change your specialty of choice at least 4 times.
  29. You’ll spend a good deal of your time playing social worker.
  30. You’ll learn that medical insurance reimbursement is a huge problem, particularly for primary care physicians.
  31. Nurses will treat you badly, simply because you are a medical student.
  32. There will be times when you’ll be ignored by your attending or resident.
  33. You will develop a thick skin. If you fail to do this, you’ll cry often.
  34. Public humiliation is very commonplace in medical training.
  35. Surgeons are assholes. Take my word for it now.
  36. OB/GYN residents are treated like shit, and that shit runs downhill. Be ready to pick it up and sleep with it.
  37. It’s always the medical student’s fault.
  38. Gunner is a derogatory word. It’s almost as bad as racial slurs.
  39. You’ll look forward to the weekend, not so you can relax and have a good time but so you can catch up on studying for the week.
  40. Your house might go uncleaned for two weeks during an intensive exam block.
  41. As a medical student on rotations, you don’t matter. In fact, you get in the way and impede productivity.
  42. There’s a fair chance that you will be physically struck by a nurse, resident, or attending physician. This may include slapped on the hand or kicked on the shin in order to instruct you to “move” or “get out of the way.”
  43. Any really bad procedures will be done by you. The residents don’t want to do them, and you’re the low man on the totem pole. This includes rectal examinations and digital disimpactions.
  44. You’ll be competing against the best of the best, the cream of the crop. This isn’t college where half of your classmates are idiots. Everybody in medical school is smart.
  45. Don’t think that you own the world because you just got accepted into medical school. That kind of attitude will humble you faster than anything else.
  46. If you’re in it for the money, there are much better, more efficient ways to make a living. Medicine is not one of them.
  47. Anatomy sucks. All of the bone names sound the same.
  48. If there is anything at all that you’d rather do in life, do not go into medicine.
  49. The competition doesn’t end after getting accepted to medical school. You’ll have to compete for class rank, awards, and residency. If you want to do a fellowship, you’ll have to compete for that too.
  50. You’ll never look at weekends the same again.
  51. VA hospitals suck. Most of them are old, but the medical records system is good.
  52. Your fourth year in medical school will be like a vacation compared to the first three years. It’s a good thing too, because you’ll need one.
  53. Somebody in your class will be known as the “highlighter whore.” Most often a female, she’ll carry around a backpack full of every highlighter color known to man. She’ll actually use them, too.
  54. Rumors surrounding members of your class will spread faster than they did in high school.
  55. You’ll meet a lot of cool people, many new friends, and maybe your husband or wife.
  56. No matter how bad your medical school experience was at times, you’ll still be able to think about the good times. Kind of like how I am doing right now.
  57. Your first class get-together will be the most memorable. Cherish those times.
  58. Long after medical school is over, you’ll still keep in contact with the friends you made. I do nearly every day.
  59. Gunners always sit in the front row. This rule never fails. However, not everyone who sits in the front row is a gunner.
  60. There will be one person in your class who’s the coolest, most laid back person you’ve ever met. This guy will sit in the back row and throw paper airplanes during class, and then blow up with 260+ Step I’s after second year. True story.
  61. At the beginning of first year, everyone will talk about how cool it’s going to be to help patients. At the end of third year, everybody will talk about how cool it’s going to be to make a lot of money.
  62. Students who start medical school wanting to do primary care end up in dermatology. Those students who start medical school wanting to do dermatology end up in family medicine.
  63. Telling local girls at the bar that you’re a medical student doesn’t mean shit. They’ve been hearing that for years. Be more unique.
  64. The money isn’t really that good in medicine. Not if you look at it in terms of hours worked.
  65. Don’t wear your white coat into the gas station, or any other business that has nothing to do with you wearing a white coat. You look like an ass, and people do make fun of you.
  66. Don’t round on patients that aren’t yours. If you round on another student’s patients, that will spread around your class like fire after a 10 year drought. Your team will think you’re an idiot too.
  67. If you are on a rotation with other students, don’t bring in journal articles to share with the team “on the fly” without letting the other students know. This makes you look like a gunner, and nobody likes a gunner. Do it once, and you might as well bring in a new topic daily. Rest assured that your fellow students will just to show you up.
  68. If you piss off your intern, he or she can make your life hell.
  69. If your intern pisses you off, you can make his or her life hell.
  70. Don’t try to work during medical school. Live life and enjoy the first two years.
  71. Not participating in tons of ECs doesn’t hurt your chances for residency. Forget the weekend free clinic and play some Frisbee golf instead.
  72. Don’t rent an apartment. If you can afford to, buy a small home instead. I saved $200 per month and had roughly $30,000 in equity by choosing to buy versus rent.
  73. Your family members will ask you for medical advice, even after your first week of first year.
  74. Many of your friends will go onto great jobs and fantastic lifestyles. You’ll be faced with 4 more years of debt and then at least 3 years of residency before you’ll see any real earning potential.
  75. Pick a specialty based around what you like to do.
  76. At least once during your 4 year stay, you’ll wonder if you should quit.
  77. It’s amazing how fast time flies on your days off. It’s equally amazing at how slow the days are on a rotation you hate.
  78. You’ll learn to be scared of asking for time off.
  79. No matter what specialty you want to do, somebody on an unrelated rotation will hold it against you.
  80. A great way to piss of attendings and residents are to tell them that you don’t plan to complete a residency.
  81. Many of your rotations will require you to be the “vitals bitch.” On surgery, you’ll be the “retractor bitch.”
  82. Sitting around in a group and talking about ethical issues involving patients is not fun.
  83. If an attending or resident treats you badly, call them out on it. You can get away with far more than you think.
  84. Going to class is generally a waste of time. Make your own schedule and enjoy the added free time.
  85. Find new ways to study. The methods you used in college may or may not work. If something doesn’t work, adapt.
  86. Hospitals smell bad.
  87. Subjective evaluations are just that – subjective. They aren’t your end all, be all so don’t dwell on a poor evaluation. The person giving it was probably an asshole, anyway.
  88. Some physicians will tell you it’s better than it really is. Take what you hear (both positive and negative) with a grain of salt.
  89. 90% of surgeons are assholes, and 63% of statistics are made up. The former falls in the lucky 37%.
  90. The best time of your entire medical school career is between the times when you first get your acceptance letter and when you start school.
  91. During the summer before medical school starts, do not attempt to study or read anything remotely related to medicine. Take this time to travel and do things for you.
  92. The residents and faculty in OB/GYN will be some of the most malignant personalities you’ve ever come into contact with.
  93. Vaginal deliveries are messy. So are c-sections. It’s just an all-around blood fest if you like that sort of thing.
  94. Despite what the faculty tell you, you don’t need all of the fancy equipment that they suggest for you to buy. All you need is a stethoscope. The other equipment they say you “need” is standard in all clinic and hospital exam rooms. If it’s not standard, your training hospital and clinics suck.
  95. If your school has a note taking service, it’s a good idea to pony up the cash for it. It saves time and gives you the option of not attending lecture.
  96. Medicine is better than being a janitor, but there were times when I envied the people cleaning the hospital trash cans.
  97. Avoid surgery like the plague.
  98. See above and then apply it to OB/GYN as well.
  99. The money is good in medicine, but it’s not all that great especially considering the amount of time that you’ll have to work.
  100. One time an HIV+ patient ripped out his IV and then “slung” his blood at the staff in the room. Go, go infectious disease.
  101. Read Med School Hell now, throughout medical school, and then after you’re done. Then come back and tell me how right I am.

335 thoughts on “101 Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Medical School”

  1. megan

    I am 23 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. I did a lot of premed work during my undergrad and still am as a post grad. In a sense, graduating was a mistake because aid is not available to non-degree seeking students. I failed orgo and I have a 2.7 in my sciences gpa. My plan was to retake orgo in the fall. But that means I won’t be starting medical school until I’m about 25. I don’t want to waste anymore time or money if I’m not going to get in. I believe you can achieve anything you want, but I’m also realistic and that gpa isn’t pretty. If I’m not doing well in the classes, can I honestly expect to blow my MCAT score out of the water? I only have 6 months of volunteer experience at a hospital (volunteer is nice word for copy girl). If my plan were to be a physician that dealt with patients’ BS, I’d throw the towel in now. However, I want to be a forensic pathologist. I find it fascinating. I also don’t want to go into the medical field to be anything less than a doctor.

    On the other hand, I also find psychology to be fascinating. I’ve been debating whether to continue on this frustrating path to a plethora of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards or just get my Ph.D or Master’s in a psychology program which I will also find very rewarding.

    I absolutely love science in every way, shape and form. I know that I don’t want to deal with ignorant, rude patients. I think people’s poor health is a result of diet and lack of exercise and good habits. I don’t want to be a pill pusher. But I love the mystery behind autopsies and crimes. I feel as though forensic pathologists and physicians are two very different things. I understand that forensic pathologists provide a service to the living, but they’re not physicians in my opinion.

    Please help.

    Reply ↓
    1. Ilfring

      Yep they (pathologists and regular doctors) are definitely two different things. If you like histology and love looking at slides and identifying tissues and microscopic particles, the pathology is for you! Pathologists don`t deal with patients directly and don`t do any “doctoring”. And that is the limit of my knowledge of pathologists.
      If you like psych, maybe stay in the academic course, if you go the MD route you’ll go through the same first 3-4 years just the same as every other MD hopeful, there’s not too much psych exposure :( Lots of pathology.

      To get into med school you will need Orgo (for most schools) and you will need to meet the minimum grade requirements. A low MCAT score significantly decreases your options. Also, if you are finding it hard to get good grades in undergrad you will find it incredibly hard to get even decent grades in med school. I know somewhat from myself and from my friends in med school. MCAT scores are indeed in many cases a good predictor of med school scores. If it’s problem of not applying yourself, well only you can know if you even want to fix that problem, but if not, be prepared to study, study, study, more than the next person, and even when your roomie who only gets average marks is going out for drinks with other school mates. There is just so much to know and to be tested on in med school.

      Finally, even if you have to wait until 25 to start, that’s not the end of the world. I started med school 1 month before I turned 25, and have just completed 2 years now. I know that I have a lot of years left still, but I’m not there yet, so I’m taking each day as it comes. I know that this is my path in life so I’m not stressing about how old I’ll be when I’m finished. Life expectancy is 70+ years…..that’s a long time to do stuff.

      Reply ↓
  2. LP

    LoL no matter how much this article made me worried, I did have a great time cracking up. Thanks for these helpful advices!

    Reply ↓
  6. zman

    your a cynical jerk who is depressed about their own life so you try to scare ambitious people off with your horror stories. do us all a favor and fuck your self

    Reply ↓
  8. Grace

    Now in my 4th year, and i can say everything is true. When I was a first year, i would’ve said “no way, medicine is awesome and its my life” how naive i was. everything on here has happened to me except the hiv slinging part (weird and that person would’ve been restrained/sedated real fast.) I was called a “monkey” on surgery, and told “im surprised how little you know” on ob/gyn when i couldnt read a NST fast enough. Then you apply to residency and u get some interviews but u also get some rejections. and those hurt, because you think wow i went through all that and still get rejected? just a friendly reminder, that you’re in med school…but ur not the cream of the crop.
    basically if you don’t feel like shit …alot….ur doing something wrong. pretty sure unless you’re a completely emotionally and socially inept person you’ve had some kind of breakdown/ life questioning in the 4 years.
    all i can say is: IT”S OK. it happens to everyone. some are just better at hiding it than others.

    Reply ↓
  9. Epicphail

    Yep, read all 101 points and couldn’t agree with you more, really don’t go into medicine. I know people in business that are living the life at 25 with easy 6 figure salaries. And 3rd year is sucking my life out.

    Reply ↓
  10. Mary

    Is this really true all of it? I’m going to start med school in 3 months and this article just scared the hell out of me.I’m an Asian. I did my A/L a last year and had to wait a yeart due to failure in our local exam system. Now I’ve prettymuch forgotten all A/L biology and chemistry and chemistry is not my strongest subject.What should I study now thats relavent to the 1st year. Isn’t there any sort of a satisfaction or happiness gained from curing a person? Is that all fantasy?

    Reply ↓
    1. James

      Actually it’s all true. That curing patients thing gets boring pretty fast. And it seems like so much work half the time you forgot why you signed up in the first place. But after everything is over and a happy patient thanks you and leaves, you remember and feel great.
      I’m writing finals tomorrow :|

      Reply ↓
  11. kriss

    I want to go to med school I’m 23 with two kids (4 & 1) i have help plenty of it. But i don’t have a degree yet i want to get started already not sure of what to take. I was told i can get a degree in anything. all i know it’s that i want to be a surgeon. I would hate to take unnecessary courses that won’t help me at all. If i start now I’ll be almost 28 when applying for med school. Does this reduce my chances on acceptance? Please HELP!!

    Reply ↓

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  13. Mike

    To have the privilege to affect change in the lives of vulnerable patients every single day is a privilege. As a surgical resident, I know firsthand the rigors of medical training. I, too, could compose a list of 100 tasks that I find, at times, unbearable. But, this rant never alludes to my first comment, that what I do everyday touches the lives of many people and their families. Being in the heat of the training, I can say that few things compare to the difficulty of medical training. BUT, without question, my choice to pursue medicine and surgery have been a privilege and a sobering, beautiful experience that I would not trade in for anything.

    Reply ↓

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  16. michaelasefa

    I just stumbled on to this website while taking a break from college apps. I have wanted to become a doctor since 7th grade. I find myself to excel in science and math. However lately i have been thinking about it and becoming a doctor seems like it might be hell. This list is halarious but sad because its probably true. Well shit I only sleep for about 6 hours a night now as a high schooler so at least that won’t be a problem

    Reply ↓
  17. choen002

    Listen to all you bitchin’. If you hate medical school so much, please get out because other, more driven, less whiney candidates are being denied while you sit around, crying into a pillow, taking up space. Medical school is a time to grow a pair. It isn’t all about -you- and how much -you- are suffering. It is about taking care of people that need your help. If you can’t man up enough to get over yourselves, you’re hurting the medical profession as a whole. I have no sympathy for you.

    Reply ↓
    1. John C

      “Taking care of people that need your help”… You couldn’t be more wrong. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, teachers destroy education. That is how the world works my freidn!

      Reply ↓
  18. Arielle

    While in med. school how do I pay for things? Such as the house you mentioned? I’m pretty sure I won’t have time for job. I mean, is EVERYTHING loans? Even things that aren’t school related?

    Reply ↓
    1. Benjy

      I am wondering the same thing. I am on my way to my bachelor degree soon and wonder how i should pay if i do go to med school in future. My parents and other family are willing to help but I dont want to drag them too much. Anyone willing to share how they paid for med school?

      Reply ↓
  20. Sarah K

    How do I convince my doctor-driven family that I can’t handle this Medicine life?? The thought of “call” simply escapes me, I can’t imagine someone calling me when I’m at home to come in for work! Also, I stay away from all things sad (the news, sad movies/books, etc), so how will I be able to handle people dying in front of me?….
    Please advise this frantic Premed

    Reply ↓
    1. hurm1234

      hey,I’m actually going through the same thing ! My parents(both doctors) kept on ‘brainwashing’ me to take medicine course in uni. I don’t know how to convince them I can’t do this.

      Reply ↓
      1. fiona

        Its not about wether or not you can’t. It’s about wether or not you want to. You should never enter into such a large commitment with out some form of unwavering desire. If you do you are only setting your self up for years of depression and anxiety. Instead of convincing your family take the time out to find out what you really want to do. Pursue it and once you show yourself to be truly committed and happy your family will back you up. Remember that they don’t have to live with your life, you do.

        Reply ↓
  21. Tom

    Gunner is as bad as nigger? :) I guess it all depends on how much you care about other people’s opinions. If you’re going to be a doctor, and make doctor money, who cares what a bunch of failures think about you. You can buy their mortgage and starve their family if you please. It’s like a dog barking angrily, you have the option to just drop kick it in the face, but most times you just ignore it and walk on…

    Reply ↓
  22. Doctor maram El-zain

    I’m not agree !!!!
    Medicine is the best job ever ..
    The most amazing thing that we can reduce people suffer
    And make them feel better
    Sleep better
    And eat better .
    We are like angles from the sky !!
    We have such a GREAT job
    Please don’t give such a bad image about the medicine and doctor life
    And alwayes remember that we are the only hope for alot of people !!
    And there are many of them would suffer tell the die from the pain if we whare not exseset !
    And thank you :)

    Reply ↓
  23. susan

    hi! i’m new to this site, but these tips and gripes are really relevant. i am a 2nd year pulmonary/critical care fellow and it’s probably no coincidence that i have struggled with depression for a long time. i’ve started writing recently and would love to hear what others think about it, as well as hear about your experiences with similar issues. thanks for this site!

    Reply ↓
  25. Jasmine

    I’m a deaf sophomore…I was thinking about becoming an anesthesiologist but, thanks to you, I’m second-guessing myself.

    Reply ↓
  26. 3rd-yr-and-I'm-so-tired-I-could-cry

    Preach brother preach! This is so spot on and just makes me laugh. I think I have read this list once a year for the last 3 years of med school. It’s funny how different things on it keep getting more true as I go. Thanks for posting this so other people know they are not alone in the goods and bads of med school. Everyone will feel like this at some time (or multiple times) in their training to become a doctor. It doesn’t make you a whiner, or a pessimist, or a jerk who doesn’t care about their patients. It just makes you realistic and it helps to find the humor in a tough situation so you can trudge forward with a smile on your face while you earn the long white coat. Getting pushed to the limit every day for 4 years isn’t all rainbows and unicorns- but it definitely isn’t always brutal and twisted either.

    Reply ↓
  27. Juanita-Dorado

    I know medical school will be hard and I am a bit nervous going into it only because I have been told it is going to be time consuming and I will have less time with my man but I’m still going to do it because just because a challenge is being thrown at me I will not back down I will go at it head first and give it my all and if all this guy is saying is true who cares don’t throw away your dream because of fear live your dream to overcome your fear

    Reply ↓
  28. Ashlea Poehlman

    If you are contemplating what you want to do when you leave school or further education a great piece of advice is to do something that you are passionate about. You are going to be working a long time and you are now in a position of power. By laying down some carefully planned foundations now, you will be able to start out your working life, doing a job that inspires you and is interesting to you. Fashion is an interesting subject to choose for many reasons. One of the advantages of taking up a career in fashion is that there are so many branches to the subject and different roads you can choose to go down. `

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    Reply ↓
  30. Samuel

    Everything is pretty much true, but it isn’t that bad, the author forgot to mention the good parts. After a while you get used to the bad ones.
    The good ones: nice attendings and residents congratulating you for good work, passing an exam you where sure you where about to fail, patients thanking you for being concerned about their pain, nice surgeons that put good music in the OR, meeting the love of your life, the parties, finally discovering what you really want to do in life (surgery for me), studying for stuff that motivates you, having a lot of free time if you can manage you schedule properly, etc.
    I started my third year rotations, it’s hard, but it’s not “sucking the life out of me”. I actually enjoy what I’m doing. I also enjoy the fact that my sleep has never felt so good!
    Medicine is more a love/hate relationship, but one of those relationship you’ll never forget and will change your life!

    Reply ↓
    1. hurm1234

      ‘meeting the love of your life..’ if both are doctors, your children will probably experience lack of attention. trust me, I KNOW. although I don’t feel that because I have my nana living with us. But if it weren’t for her, we would have been left alone in the house when we were children. haha.

      Reply ↓
  32. S.

    I graduated from a Faculty of Letters and Arts, in Applied Modern Languages (En Major, Fr Minor). But I have always wanted to go for Medical School, although I did not have the necessary information or maturity at the time when I had to decide.
    Still, now this Medical School idea keeps bugging me. At this very point I can choose to become an English/French teacher, or a translator (which is underpaid and deadlines are killing you).
    Or, of course, I can sacrifice 6 years (in my country), and 3 or 4 more (for specialization), and try and become a more or less successful doctor. But I keep thinking: what if this doesn’t satisfy me? What if, after graduation, I feel everything has been in vain? There is this general tendency to strive for more in life, but how much more?
    I’m sure my parents would be proud and everything, but as to what concerns my personal satisfaction…I have some doubts. Plus, I don’t want to be a burden on them, financially.

    I still consider medical professions noble professions, which impose respect.

    Although I have read many negative considerations on schedules, subjects more or less useful, all kinds of professors and other stuff, my opinion remains positive. There has to be some inner satisfaction related to these professions.
    Some have encouraged me to pursue this career, because now that I have already graduated from a BA program, I have developed a way of learning which can help make everything easier.

    Reply ↓
  35. nadz

    wow! i am a fourth year medical student currently in surgery rotation. for the past few nights i have been having sleep disturbed nights, im very anxious about my consultant he can be VERY intimidating. and most of the list applies to me.
    But i still love it. i thank God that i got the opportunity to do it. im very happy with it and cant wait to finish and actually reach a point in my life where i can start back having my life again, kids etc etc, i care about the patients. and im entusiastice to keep learning more. i worry about what if i do something wrong with a patient but on the otherside i know i can make a difference and help people.
    its still a wonderful experience for me.

    Reply ↓
  36. Sah

    Im writing finals now. This stuff is so true. Made me cry actually after the laughing was finished. I wish I had seen this before I started. It probably wouldnt have stopped me from doing med but it would have been nice to be prepared. Good luck to all u brave souls :)

    Reply ↓
  37. teeworlds.su

    Hello There. I discovered your blog using msn.
    That is an extremely well written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your helpful info. Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.

    Reply ↓
  38. Michael

    Wow, I’ve been accepted into medical school but have been extremely indecisive about actually going. Tomorrow (May 15) is my matriculation deadline and I think this has pushed me over the edge…in the opposite direction of med school.

    Reply ↓
  39. Alyssa Belcher

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  40. kay.pm

    I totally luv this blog ,I ws admttd into med xul nd I’m jst waitin 4 da openin dai,,dis has absltly opnd my eyes 2 certain things abt med,nd wen da books will b killin da hell outa me I’m jst gona smile nd think “they’ve ol gone thru this,” then move on ..

    Reply ↓

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