6 Years Later: Dissecting The Myths

The tweet read: “don’t let anyone motivate you otherwise. Medical school is hard”! I couldn’t agree more. Except that I wished I had seen the tweet 6 years ago, maybe I would already be working as a journalist or lawyer or any of the three things I wanted to become when I was 14.

 Unlike the familiar stories you’ll hear in medical school, medicine wasn’t a childhood dream for me. It was not even a choice until the last minute.

Heads up: This is a four-page MS Word document. It's a mid attempt to condense my six-year medical school experience into understandable words. So grab a seat and some food, and let's get this party started!

Myth #1: You have to love Science to be a doctor 

I can confidently tell you that my best subject all through my six years as a high schooler was the English language. I still believe it is. I like Literature as well. I love words and how writers weave them, and I found these miles more interesting than Punnett's square in my Biology textbook.

While medicine's foundation is indisputably scientific, the act of practicing medicine, which is what medical school should educate you for, has a lot more to do with communication (and as a junior doctor, admin work).

I promised I'd never be sure of anything unless it had my name plastered on it after I was upset about not receiving the best in English award in primary school.

In secondary school, I made some progress, but I still lacked confidence. My brain cells had been drained the previous year—I hadn't taken the national exam, and I was sick of studying in a department where I didn't know what I wanted to get out of it. My confidence grew after graduation, but not quite as much as others because, unlike others, I was still undecided about what I wanted to become.

“When you want to talk, people are always ready to listen,” said one of my classmates after I had done a series of debates competition in my final year. “I think you’ll make a fine doctor. Just go to medical school”, said an impatient someone else who wasn’t having my undecidedness. I’d later choose medicine.

Myth #2: You have to be ingenious

One of the first bits of advice I received in my first year was to avoid memorizing information. Given that doctors think outside the box, that looked like a bit of futuristic wisdom, therefore I accepted it as heavenly. However, as I progressed in my studies, I realised that medical school subjects rely more on memorisation than logic. Memorisation necessitates repetition, so no matter how bright you are, you'll need to mix in some discipline and a strong work ethic to have a successful medical school career..

I am the first in my family to attend medical school. It was neither a choice made out of coercion nor pressure. It was merely a last-minute option.

On a split road of doubt, I almost always choose the challenging path, and as much as I convince myself that I love a soft life, I find myself more efficient when I have a busy desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while most people were learning new skills, honing old ones, and engaging in a variety of productive activities during the months of lockdown, all I did was cook. Oh, I cooked a ton! Maybe that should count as something, I don't know, but I did turn my kitchen into a mini cooking fest.

My path to medicine was fraught with apprehension (as it should be). After all, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Nonetheless, thousands of feet above sea level, I was on my way to study medicine in a country whose name I had to Google. This has been a humbling journey with lessons I will not soon forget.

The windy afternoon I wrote the first draft of this post, my head laid wearily on my pile of notes as I stared into nothing. I was preparing for my Internal Medicine state exam, and despite the exhaustion that had reduced my assimilation by a significant percentage, I couldn't stop myself from continuing. 

Being a medical student means you have an opportunity at many firsts- the first time seeing a live surgery, the first time drawing blood, the first time studying all through the night, and a first time failing at some of those firsts. The issue isn't failing; it's being so accustomed to failing that you forget how to thrive. So, while you don't have to be the next Steve Jobs to succeed in medicine, doing the bare minimum isn't optimal either.

“I knew this was a stupid idea all along”, I muttered to myself as I quietly tore off the page I attempted to calculate my GPA. This was after a disastrous online exam session during the pandemic. By the way, I hate online exams. Never again! Unexpected circumstances, such as the virus that brought the world to its knees, can change the momentum you thought you had a lock on. In medical school, a lot of things happen by chance.

Therefore, you've got to believe in something- in God or in your abilities.

Myth #3: You no longer have a social life

As a young girl who, by 16, had seen a ton of Korean dramas, I painted a glamorous picture in my head of a university student- I’d go to uni during the day, work the night shift at a coffee shop, meet a guy who falls head in love with me, ace my exams... Ah! In the words of David Hundeyin, a Nigerian investigative journalist, I sold myself a fish story, and boy did I fall hard for this story.

Medical school is a draining experience. You're wedged between a stack of post-it notes and textbooks one minute, and then you're sprinting to an exam hall in 31°C weather while on a coffee diet the next. We've seen it all. What they do not tell you, however, is that this backbreaking (literally...from assuming the weirdest positions while I'm studying) journey does not hinder you from doing the things you love. They also don't tell you that not all medical students drown in coffee before an exam. I personally stopped drinking coffee when an episode landed me in the emergency room.

Just do it!

Vloggers, fitness instructors, rappers, actors, volunteers, and writers are just a handful of the things I saw individuals devote time to because they enjoy it while in medical school.

We make time for them, not because we had an abundance of free time.

We don't put in more effort than everyone else who aspires to be the best at what they do. Knowing that there's a day when we'll be the bridge between our patient and death is what drives us beyond the limits we're expected.

Myth #4: There is intense competition

This isn't a widely held myth. Until my 3rd year, I always believed this was a fact. To some extent, I still think this is true. In medical school, it's a rocky field to play on, but it's not a survival of the fittest if you make the appropriate friends.

It's difficult enough to be far away from home and family, but it's considerably more difficult when peer competitiveness is a source of stress. Building a family away from home of people who offer kindness to one another is not often emphasised enough during med school discussions. 

As a result, the pain of saying goodbye to a friend who lives on the other side of the ocean after spending a large portion of your adult life as a friend in a tiny town is intense. Especially when you see their back go into the hazy horizon as you part with words that sum up all of your time together. Goodbyes are difficult.

Authoring a blog, joining a society, participating in a competition, embarking on a student exchange programme, solo travelling, keeping a diary, and even speaking in class were inspired by friends who pushed me out of my ordinary bubble. This is not to deny the countless type A personalities in med school who know best how to compete for their way to the top, but who's to say that a few different eggs make the whole basket?

MU-Pleven Class of 2022...🥂

***

Passion is powerful. It allows you to go through a painful process and then waits for you at the end of the tunnel—with pleasure—when the pain is through.

Six years ago, I made the reckless decision to study Medicine. I chose Bulgaria, a country more than 6000km from where I lived. This is the story of many firsts, failures, fatigues and flying colours. 

A month ago, I took the pledge to forge ahead, despite the uncertainties, in a career that takes from you but gives you more...in the Noblest of professions. Today, I aspire to be like the news anchor who, in an unpopular TV show I watched years ago, altered the life of a family with her microphone.

When I realise I'm no longer a student, I'm still nervous; partly because those students' benefits have vanished (literally...send help!), but mostly because I still don't dare to recognise someone's relief from suffering now depends on my decision.

However, after a series of email that is no longer addressed as “Dear Jelilat," may I be given the honour to not hold back and reintroduce myself? Yes, I will take the honour... and the Honours.

 

Dr Jelilat Kareem, MD
(The Shy Medic)