10 reasons why I will never be the same after medical school

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Looking back on the impact my first year of medical school has had on my life reminded me of a piece of advice I once read: “If you are not sure anymore, look into the mirror and see if you still recognize yourself.”

This made me realize how much medical school has changed and improved me. So I present to you the 10 reasons why I will never be the same after medical school:

1. Gross Anatomy. One of the great rites of passage. You discover your coping mechanisms, but you also learn how to numb yourself and let humanity take a backseat. During a 4-plus-hour stint in gross lab, I went around to look at other cadavers. I paused at table #3 and was shaken to the core. She had painted fingernails. I remembered suddenly, painfully, that this was once someone’s daughter, friend, or mother. That day, I felt the numbness begin to recede.
2. I learned how to use doctor-gadgets like the ophthalmoscope and blood pressure cuff correctly.
3. Inner strength. Medical school believes that “what does not kill you makes you stronger.” I learned how to push myself farther than I ever knew I could go, over and over. Each time, I didn’t know I had it in me.
4. Once you have medical knowledge, everyone and everything looks a little different. Like the prisoner who escapes Plato’s cave, the world lit by medicine is hyper-real. Once you have seen it, you will never be content with shadows.
5. “Life is short, do not bother me.” Every medical student, resident, fellow, or doctor has a variation on this phrase. That does mean I can seem awkward or rushed doing everyday tasks like buying groceries, getting gas, or going to the bank because I am trying to cram life between studying. And that also meant the deaths of a few doctors and colleagues, reminding me to not half-ass life.
6. I learned how to shut up and LISTEN. Here is a sobering fact: most physicians interrupt their patients within 23 seconds of their narration. I tried to see if I could go beyond. Guess what? It improved ALL of my relationships: family, friends, colleagues, superiors, and patients. When you listen, you give a damn and people appreciate that. I get a lot more invitations to social events and parties, too.
7. The Fried Chicken Test. At 1 AM, the night before the neurology exam, a some classmates and I were still studying at school. We sat buried in books, notes, grease-stained paper bags and Styrofoam cups black with cold coffee. Disheveled, stressed, and crashing after a fried chicken and caffeine jag in the late night, we laughed and smiled through the fatigue as we quizzed each other, Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” in the background. If you and I can do this, you are not just my classmate. You’re also someone I want as a future colleague in clinic and friend when we fold up our white coats.
8. I can now appreciate a good cup coffee. And choke down a cup of nasty cold cafeteria coffee.
9. Studying for medical school, as many doctors say, is like drinking from a fire hydrant. I learned how to say, “I do not know, and I need help.” This statement made studying better and gave me back some sanity!
10. I can do this.  So much of first year revolve around answering the questions, “Am I going to like it? Do I deserve to be here? Am I going to make it?” Now I know my answers. I like it most of the time. I deserve to be here. And I made it, and I will continue to make it. It’s not an easy road to travel. It can be lonely and harsh; it can make you a cynic. But I value the alone time and the hard times. The moments that make me cynical also make for a good laugh on Tumblr. Also, when things are good, they are very, very good. And I cannot imagine doing anything else that would make me happier.

source: medical state of mind

to be continued