Medical School: Expectations vs Reality part 2

Sometimes when I'm feeling down and, you know, having a little bit of that, like imposter ness creep in a little bit, or just feeling down about myself, I look up our school's acceptance rate. Hi everyone, and welcome to the podcast. This is Generations md. My name is Stephanie and I'm joined here by my colleague. Okay, I'm actually not joined here by my colleague or my mother. It's just me today. I'm just here to give you guys a quick little introduction. This is the second part of our two part series where I'm asking my friends who just finished their first year of medical school to kind of reflect on what they expected going into medical school versus how it really was in reality. This is honestly one of my favorite episodes that we've ever done. I think it's really cool hearing how some of my friends have grown and some things that they learned and kind of how people expected things versus how things really were. It's really cool to see kind of this side of my friends too. So this has been great. Thank you to everybody who participated in this. And we will just jump right into the episode, starting with my dear friend, Alex Lee.

Let's see, I'm from Pacific Palisades, California, and I went to Berkeley for college.

And yeah, yeah, I'm here, I guess, like, coming in. What are some things, what are some things that you expected and how were things different in this first year?

Honestly, like, I didn't really expect the community to be like, as welcoming as it has been because I, like, didn't know anyone at McGovern kind of before or in Texas at all, really.

Yeah.

And I moved here like two days before school started, so, like, I didn't really partake in any of the kind of preschool activities or anything. And then like, as far as school goes, like, I just, I didn't realize, like, the kind of breadth of knowledge that I would have attained, like, even this far into it. Like, I couldn't have imagined.

Yeah.

This much stuff in the last year.

No, that's so true. You kind of think you, you're going through it when you're in the weeds. You're like, am I like, really obtaining any of this? Like, am I. Am I keeping this in my brain? And then you're like, wait, when you reflect a little bit of what you knew last year versus what you know now, it's a lot of stuff.

Yeah. But you, you also forgotten a lot of stuff already.

Oh, yeah, we won't talk about that anyway. Yeah.

Well, I want to ask you what, what did you think of the community, like here in med school versus kind of the community you were surrounded with in undergrad?

I think the biggest thing about med school is that, like, you're doing everything school and extracurricularly with your classmates versus, like, for example, college. We all had our own majors, kind of went our own paths. So I didn't really form as tight of a bond, I guess, with them because I wasn't seeing them the ins and out of every day, whether it be on school, the library, or after school. So I think that's just really, like the biggest difference for me is like, being able to go through all the hard stuff together. And that really stands out about med school, I think.

Yeah. Yeah, we're really together all the time.

I think that I see my friends, like, probably 15 hours out of the day.

Yeah. So any advice that you would give a student who's about to start their first year of medical school?

Yeah, I would just say, like, don't say no to anything. Like any opportunity, like whether you think you're going to enjoy it or not. Like, I came in not really knowing what I wanted to do and I just kind of was an open mind and it's kind of helped me steer a path kind of towards wanting to be a surgeon one day. And I think that also, like, don't be afraid to, like, try something and fail. Like, med school is a time to learn and that's the most important thing. Like, even if you don't get the grade that you want or don't get the activity you want, like, I think that the biggest thing is just like, keep your head up and like, keep going at it because it's a long road and, you know, just kind of being persistent with it.

Yeah. And all those, like, failures and successes are leading you, you towards where you want to be or where you should be. So. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you. Mateo, Mateo, welcome. Welcome to the podcast. Our current leader for best sport award. Yeah. Come take a seat. Take a seat. Oh, Mateo, you want to give yourself a little introduction?

Hi, guys.

I'm Matteo. I'm a second year med student.

You're the first one that, that said second year medical student. Well, what are some expectations that you had coming into your first year and how were things maybe different or than you expected them to be?

Expectations, really? Kind of just school wise, I thought to be like just studying a lot. Everyone always says it's like drinking from like the fire hydrant.

Yeah, yeah.

I Expected that, and I expected to kind of, like, take time to adjust to studying and everything. And I feel like the after. After the first few months, I really got a hang of it, and it's really not like it's a lot more manageable.

Yeah. How do you feel like maybe you've, like, grown or changed in this past year?

I feel like I've become more, like, efficient and more balanced, especially, like, with moving to, like, the modules like this past semester, like, only studying, like, I don't know, certain amount of hours, but, like, being more efficient with it, I think.

Yeah. Yeah.

Being able to just kind of be more on and off.

Yeah. Well, we were just talking about that. We were saying that more studying doesn't necessarily lead to better grades or whatever. It's kind of just about, like, how you do it and efficiency. So I think that's important. Yeah.

That and having other things to look forward to. So that you say, okay, I'm gonna study right now and be efficient with my studying so that I can go and enjoy myself, and that those things actually, like, then, you know, kind of fill your cup so that you're able to, you know, go back and do it again the next day.

Yeah. What advice would you give to an incoming med student who's maybe starting in August?

I would say just be open and say yes to a lot of things.

Yeah. Well, thank you, Mateo. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for being here.

You can send the next person in. Well, Aydin, do you want to give yourself a little introduction? Yeah.

Do we look at the camera?

Yeah, you can do whatever.

Okay, I'll just look at the camera then. Hi, I'm Aydin Willis. I'm from East Texas, and I'm an MS.2 at McGovern.

Yes. People are getting it down now, finally saying MS.2, too. What are maybe some expectations you had coming into vet school, and how were things maybe similar or different than what you expected?

Yeah, I mean, I'd say my biggest expectation was probably going to be just studying all the time, but I didn't think I'd be in the library as much as I'd be.

You are. He is. Yeah.

No, I'm always. I'm there every day. I got my spot. It's locked down, which is crazy because I never went to the library in undergrad.

Okay.

So that was. That was something I didn't see coming up. But I think definitely the. The workload and the studying was probably the biggest thing that ended up being true.

Yeah. Do you feel like things versus undergrad do you feel like the workload is different and, like, how is it different?

Yeah, I think just in undergrad, you were really able to kind of get away with being kind of broad. Like, you didn't have to know all the details. And then one thing that I didn't expect was, like, you have to know every single detail because they're going to ask about it. And I think kind of getting to the point where you can study in a way to learn all those details is something that took a couple. A couple months kind of locked down.

Yeah. Yeah. Do you feel like you've been able to grow and adapt and change this in this past year in studying and maybe outside of school?

Yeah.

100. How do you think you've done that?

I think I just, you know, it's been, like, a steady process since high school where I was like, I think I learned how to study, and then I move up a level, and then I don't know how to study, and I have to study again.

Yeah.

It's kind of relearning every single time. So I think learning how to study for med school was something that I did that's kind of developed all throughout the year to kind of get to the point where I'm doing where I want to be and doing how I want to do.

Yeah.

Well, what is.

Maybe what was the highlight of your past year?

Spring break was probably there. Yeah. That's gonna be hard to beat in terms of highlights.

True. And you're the winner of the best sport awards.

I got that. I got that.

So big deal.

Just a little bit.

It's a little something. No, I. I agree. Spring break was awesome. All right, well, thanks for being here.

Yeah, thanks for having me, y'.

All.

This is good.

And you can send the next person in. All right, well, Maddie's big debut. Maddie, if you want to give yourself a little introduction.

Hi, everyone. Honored to be here. I am an MS.1 at McGovern, of course. Like, all of us.

Mississippi. Now. Mississippi. That's true. Yes.

And I'm from Houston. I went to ut.

Yeah.

What else do people normally say?

Well, what are some expectations that you had coming into your first year, and how were things different? Some expectations.

I really thought that it was going.

To be.

Just I would only be doing school. Like, it was just going to be all school, nothing else. And it ended up being a lot more fun. Like, I, you know, was able to do more things. I met some incredible people, so I definitely expected that, like, I wouldn't have a life anymore. And I Feel like that is not true at all. So that's the main thing that comes to my mind.

How do you think that maybe your experience is different from others? Just taking a couple of gap years.

It was hard to just get back in the school mindset, I feel like because I did take time off. One year I was working in healthcare, but then the other was just traveling and working in education. Completely different field.

Yeah. Yes. Hey, I didn't say it, you did.

She regularly brings up no herlive nominations.

There are actually two.

There's another one on there that said something about that. So I try not to be that person.

That is unique. She did live in Spain for a year. And you were able to live your life a little bit before coming in. Yeah. I think that that impacted your school now.

It definitely. I feel like I'm so thankful I did it and I always tell any, you know, if anyone's trying to decide that's listening or anything like that. I always encourage if you are able to take some gap years to absolutely do it. I feel like it made me get to experience some of my other passions, like outside of medicine, that I wanted to like. I really do love to travel and just like be a normal adult. You know, I'd been in college and you know, you're an adult but it's, it's college, it's different. So I feel like I got to just, you know, work a regular job and then I didn't have to go home and study and you know, just being able to do that and experience that, I feel like it helps me hopefully have a little bit more of a work life balance, I would say. But I feel like I've just had more experiences.

Yeah.

That are just different outside of medicine that I've really enjoyed and have a.

Perspective of what that looks like. Exactly. I think like, I mean I just to want worked in 8 to 5 last year but I still kind of see like pros and cons of that. Yes. Because like I don't think, I mean I say this, there's definitely pros of you get to go home and you don't have to study anymore, but also you have to be there from 8 to 5 and yes, I didn't like that.

No, I, I agree it was, it was hard. It was a lot of responsibility for sure. But you know, and it's different transitioning back to school where you have a lot of that flexibility with your schedule for the most part. I mean there's some required things, but a lot of it, you have to build your own structure. And I feel like that kind of helped me figure out how to do that because I was forced to, you know, work a normal job.

Yeah. And we're kind of talking about this. Other people. Not only you have to be disciplined in the sense of, like, you have to tell yourself, I'm going to study from this time to this time or whatever it is. You also have to tell yourself to not study. And you have to. So you have a lot of flexibility and options to. But you also can take that, you know, either too far in one direction or the other. So. Yeah.

Which is something I'm still trying to figure out. But I feel like we approach it similarly where we kind of try to have. I always like to tell people I treat it like a job.

It's.

It's a. You know, it's a little bit more than a job, I would say. But, like, having that set, cut off time, because there's always more you can do, which is the hard part. It's like, there's always, you know, more studying can do. It's pretty unlimited. So you have to figure out how to kind of cut it off for yourself or else you're going to go crazy.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I just. I think that's important in medicine in general because you can always spend more time with a patient. There's always more you can do. But at some point, you just got to be like, okay, I've got enough information. I can. I can go on.

Exactly.

Yeah, go ahead.

No, go. I was just going to say it's just a tough. Tough to figure out. So I'm still figuring that out. But I know that it's important to have that balance.

How do you feel like you've grown or changed or adapted in this past year or anything that you've learned about yourself?

Probably that. I mean, I've kind of proved to myself that I could do it.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, it's. It's been a long journey already, and it's still. There's still so much left. But I feel like just the idea of medical school for so long kind of seemed unattainable at times. And I feel like now that I'm here, I got through my first year and, like, I'm actually doing it. Like, you know, I'm actually working towards it because there's so much time and effort that goes into even getting to this point. And so I've been very reflective over, like, the past year of just, like, how far all of us have come and, like, how Much work it takes, and I feel like I'm just proving it to myself that, like, I can do it, I can keep going. It's a long road, but that I'm just. I'm slowly making my way, you know.

Something that I do that's actually. This is kind of bad, but. And I haven't admitted. But sometimes when I'm feeling down and, you know, having a little bit of that, like, imposter ness creep in a little bit or just feeling down about myself, I look up our school's acceptance rate. That'll do it. Yes. And I see, you know, it's like 6.5 or whatever. And I'm like, you know, I'm in that. Yes, it's impressive. And I do think it's important to be able to kind of take time and reflect, be like, you know, I'm here for a reason.

Well, yeah. And, you know, it's. It's not a mistake. Like, you were chosen because they knew you could do it, and you're already proving how much you can do it.

Right.

Yeah. Right.

No, I definitely feel that way where I have a lot of that imposter syndrome come and go, and I try to keep, like, a notes app of, like, the accomplishments I've had, because you have to, like, have that reminder because it's. It's easy to lose sight of that, especially when, you know, there's such a long road ahead with medicine and everything. So I try to keep, you know, keep tabs on it.

Yeah. What are some. What is. Are some highs and lows of this past year? Some highlights or some low lights? Ooh.

I'd say. Well, I feel like probably a lot of people have said this, but one of the highlights has been the community that I've built here. I feel like I've met some really incredible people, and that has, like, really made the experience amazing, because I thought that I was just going to, like I said, just have. Just be doing school and, like, you know, not be having fun. I feel like I've met some amazing people that I'm going to be lifelong friends with. And so that's been one of the highlights for sure, because it's made every, like, every step of it just very, I don't know, manageable and, like, exciting. We can all celebrate, like, the little wins and the big wins all together, which has been really great. So I'd say that's one of my favorite parts. And then a low part. Probably just, like, the first semester.

Yeah.

I mean, just like, getting used to it all is really challenging. And just figuring out how to make that structure for myself was really difficult and overwhelming. But I feel like slowly.

Still.

Still figuring out, but it's gotten better as time has gone on. But at first it was.

No. Yeah. I was saying this on TikTok. I, you know, you don't even looking back, I actually kind of. I was trying to find something. I looked back at my schedule for the first semester and it was crazy. I was like, I was doing a lot. That was a lot.

But you had, you.

We just had a lot of. That's just kind of how our school was set up. But you don't really know any different.

Exactly.

So. But now kind of looking back, I'm like, oh, wow. Not only have I adjusted more, but also, like, it's just better. So much better.

No, exactly. I appreciate that we started off like that because then it makes everything else. I'm like, okay, I can. I can do this.

Yeah.

But, yeah, that was really hard though. And anatomy on top of that. Yeah, it was just. It was a big adjustment.

Well, any advice that you would give to incoming students?

Definitely try to live your life before you come to medical school and keep up with it. Figure out what you're passionate about outside of medicine and do your best to keep up with that as you're going along the journey. Because like, as Dr. Davis was saying, you know, it's. It's not just medical school. You know, you're going to have your career and everything, so it's important to keep those in mind and it is very easy to lose them. So prioritize being able to, like, have a balance and what you enjoy outside of school. And if you can take gap years, I would say that's a good time to be able to figure that out. Because sometimes that's hard when you're an undergrad trying to figure out, you know, what else you're. And you're studying for the MCAT and all of that, figuring out what your other passions are and that kind of stuff. So if you're able to take time off, that would be my biggest recommendation. I. I'm so glad I did it.

Yay. Well, thanks for being here.

Thank you, guys.

Thanks for having me. Thank you. You want to give yourself a little introduction? Here you go.

Thank you. Yeah. So my name's Alex. I'm one of the many Alex's in our class. Yeah, I'm originally from Europe, but spent the past couple years in America. Yeah.

Nice. Well, what are some expectations that you had coming into medical school and how were they different?

I was expecting it to be a lot worse. So you hear a lot of horror stories about medical school, especially from a lot of people online, things like that, or people you talk to and you expect it to be like non stop studying, you're like hating your life, that sort of thing. But it's actually been a really positive experience so far. Honestly, it's probably been the best, best year of my life. In terms of like education.

Yes. Well, how is it different? Like, how is medical school different here than it is in Europe? And like what are different expectations that you had?

So in Europe you go in straight from high school and it's a six year program instead of four. But the first four year. No, the first three years I believe are pre clinical or whatever and then you go into rotations. But the expectations there are a lot less than they are in the US So you just have an entrance exam and your grades from high school and that gets you in for the most part here it's a whole thing. They have a holistic review process, all that stuff. So it was definitely a challenge coming in when I started college, having to realize that there's a lot more to do just to go to medical school here. But I also think that you get a higher quality education and better exposure and you're in the Texas Med center, so.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's worth it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How do you feel like that you've maybe grown or changed in this past year? You're also young too, right? Yeah. How do you feel like maybe like being younger than the rest of everybody else? Do you think that it's been different, harder, easier? What do you think?

I've been younger than everyone else my whole life, so it's not really been a thing for me. I've always been used to, used to be harder when I was younger, especially like teenage years. Everyone else, like when I was 13, 14, everyone was 15, 16. I was the shortest in the class. But now it's like not really an issue for me. I've gotten used to it and yeah, it feels like I, I fit in.

How old are you?

I'm 21.

Wow.

I am the youngest in our class.

Yeah. Didn't you apply at like 19 or something?

I did apply at 19, yeah.

Yeah. So when it the stats in our class was like youngest 19, oldest 43 and.

Very wide range.

Yes, yes. But I guess then how do you feel like that you've maybe grown or change this past year?

I think I've gotten more comfortable in my own skin. Educationally, like, I. I definitely have gotten better at time management and studying more efficiently and knowing, like, exactly how I feel for an exam. But as a person, I just feel I've gotten more comfortable and, you know, more. More outgoing, which was something that I'm. I'm naturally an introvert, so it's. It's harder for me to want to put myself out there, but I think I've gotten better at that this year.

Well, I love that.

Well, thanks for being here and thanks for joining us.

Yeah, of course.

All right, welcome to the podcast.

How's it going? How's it going?

Here you go.

I'm gonna give you this mic.

Oh, you're giving me this one. Okay. My name is Cheyenne. I'm a first year med student from Houston, went to undergrad at UT Austin. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Love Houston. Big Ghost Rose. Ghost Rose. Happy to be on the podcast.

Okay, great. Well, what are some expectations you had coming into bed?

Yes. So I definitely thought the whole idea about med school was going to be super challenging. I really thought it was going to be super difficult. The workload would be really high. But I think as, like, school kind of just went on, as, like, the days went on, as we went to classes more often, like study with friends, it kind of got a lot more manageable, in my opinion. And, like, I started to balance a lot of the things that I love to do, like play tennis, like go on runs. Run Iron Man. Okay, I do, I do. I will, I will, I will. I will wear that. But, yeah, it was, it was, it was. It was challenging at first, but it got a lot more manageable, I want to say, as time went on. For sure.

Well, you're another one who took a couple more gap years before coming to medical school. How do you feel like that has impacted you as a student?

Yes. Yeah, I think I personally love my gap year. I was in that dilemma of taking a gap year or just going straight in and just with the timing and everything, I did end up taking a gap year. And I used it to kind of just build, I guess, myself. It was a time where I just took time off, did a lot of the things that I love to do. I think I was trying to remember I coached tennis for a bit just to kind of make money, but also just, I really love the sport of tennis. And on top of that, like, I did ended up getting, like, a research position just, like, temporarily, because I was a little bit. I was a little bit skeptical about, like, getting in. So I just did Kind of had an opportunity to take a research position. I did that, and it added, like, a cool perspective because I was talking with my friend the other day, actually, and I was, like. It was interesting to see, like, the students that go straight in as opposed to, like, I took a year off, and some of my other friends took a year off. Like, Frumo took a year off. And I can just like, tell, like, we have a little bit of a different perspective. We kind of. I kind of got to see life outside of just school. School study two or three. I took a year.

Oh, I thought you took more. Okay.

Yeah, I took a year. Like, I took an extra year in undergrad, and I took one year.

Okay. Okay.

Like, completely off school.

Okay.

Yeah. And it was. It was a good time. I got to hang out with family. The most important thing, too.

So how do you feel? Like you've maybe grown or changed in this past year?

Yes. I definitely feel like, first of all, time management has gone a lot better. I became a lot more disciplined, too, because I learned with med school, as challenging as it is, it's a lot of discipline, too. You got to kind of wake up and just do the work, get at it, and just kind of, like, I like to say, like, delay gratification. Just kind of focus a little bit on the present and just put in the work. Put in the hard work now and hopefully let it, like, pay off later on. And a lot of it sparks from the triathlon stuff that I do, too. So that stuff really kind of helped me stay grounded and taught me a lot of lessons to carry to med school, which I really like a lot.

Yeah, we've been talking a lot about, like, discipline and, like, you're not being forced to be somewhere from eight to five, so you have to be able to turn it on. But also you have to be disciplined in the sense you have to know when to turn it off, too. And I think that that's, like, part of, like, learning how to balance and everything.

Absolutely. I 100% agree with that because, like, with school, especially first semester, we both know, like, they just give you information, and you can spend however much time you want on that information. You can spend, like, all night, all day, but I think definitely setting, like, one day or just a couple hours on the weekend, just off and just saying, like. Like, just like, the idea of just saying, hey, I got to step away from the computer for this amount of hours or just this whole day, and then just going back, like, it. It's. It's tremendously helpful. Like, like, absolutely helpful.

Yeah. I just wanted, like, I do want to mention the fact that you ran, that you did a full ironman recently, because I just. I can't understand how you could have the time to do all of that training. Like, how much time a day do you spend training?

Yeah, it was. I want to say it was challenging at first. I did have high expectations, which kind of ruined everything I was hoping to hit. Usually a training is typically, like, just two workouts a day. Um, but with school and everything, it kind of got a little bit more challenging where you had to sacrifice days. Um, but I really made the most of it. Uh, like, I'm into the numbers and stuff, so I look at, like, all, you know, my heart rate and, like, you know, like, metrics and all the numbers and the miles that I have to get to.

But he was my marathon coach, too.

I assisted. I assisted. You did well. You did well. You did well. You finished. You finished. On to the next. But I definitely, like, told myself, like, it got to my head at some point because I was like, I can't do this, and I'm not hitting the numbers. I'm training really too low. And I'm also sacrificing a lot of time with my studying. So I just told myself, just kind of take things. One was day by day. And the other thing was if I dedicate, like, if I had, for example, like, a bike to do, I just focus, okay, one hour on the bike, Just give it all kind of reset. You know, go eat, shower, and just get right back at the studying. Just kind of taking things, I think, one by one, and then just saying that you put in your best effort and that's it. Like, there's not, like, more you can ask for. Like, you can't just say, oh, I could have worked harder and do this, and that's what significantly improved, I want to say, my studying while training, for sure, because I got to focus a lot more on school. At first I was focusing a little bit on my triathlon, which it was trial and error for me, but eventually I kind of found that sweet spot and I was able to just, yeah, study for school, obviously sacrifice a little bit of sleep, too. It was unfortunate, but I. I really. I valued the triathlon training and I like school a lot. So it was just two things that I wanted to do for sure on. On the bucket list.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that is, I don't know, a good testament to you and how you're able to balance stuff. Because I can imagine that being Hard when the whole thing is being disciplined and making yourself do that, but being able to take a step back and being like, okay, this is good enough, and I'm trying my hardest, and I did an iron man, so I think I'm doing okay.

It's the last one, I promise. No, no more. No more. I sacrificed a lot of time with friends, too, which was the hardest part.

Well, it's all. We're all trying to figure out that balance with, you know, whatever we do. You know, you're trying to figure out how much of this. This thing brings me joy, and I want to do it. I want to have that in my life. I also need to do school and also, like, have these relationships. So we're all just figuring it all out. So. Yeah, maybe. What's something that. Any advice that you would get for an incoming med student?

Yeah, incoming med student. I think just number one straight off the bat is just do absolutely nothing in that summer. I think probably everyone has said that, honestly, but I think it's really important, especially if you don't take a gap year, to just. To kind of just do nothing that summer and just spend time with friends. If you enjoy traveling, go travel. If you spend time. If you want to spend time with family, spend time with family. That's something that I was told, and I kind of. I took it a little bit relaxed, but I felt like I should have taken it a little bit more relaxed in the summer, because that first semester, when you kind of go into it, it's kind of a bit of a shock, in my opinion. There's no need to, like, study. There's no need to prepare. There's no extra class that you can take that will help you. Everyone, like, in that school or in med school was kind of on the same boat. Like, relatively everyone was struggling in their respective ways, and we all struggled together, and we all ended up making it through the semester. So I really don't think there's something that you can prepare for school that first semester.

Yeah, Yeah, I think, you know, you're ready. There's no thing. No, you did all the hard work. You got into med school. Now just, you know, then just get on. Get on there and.

And.

And start doing the. Start doing the work once. Once you're actually there in med school.

Work hard, play hard.

There you go. All right, well, thanks for being here.

Of course. Thank you, guys.

Well, now you guys can just go and enjoy the rest of your weekend celebrating the completion of first year.

Yay. All right. And you guys know where to find us enerations MD on Instagram and TikTok and if you have any questions or interested in being a guest on the podcast, you can email us@askgenerations.mdmail.com and we will talk to you next week. Bye guys.

Bye.