What is Med School Like?
Med school is probably one of the hardest programs to get into, in any country or state. Not everyone is cut out for it, and those that are, have to grind like crazy (like really).
Obviously, to get into medical school you’ve got to be extra smart, but also have an undergrad; either a science major or pre-med.
Once you’re done with those prerequisites, you finally get to start your journey as a med student. It’s a lot of work and you’re probably wondering what it’s like. Worry not, below we explain what med school is like.
Pre-Clinical
Year 1
First-year is mostly theory and learning lots of basic science, physiology and anatomy. It’s long lectures which will require you to memorize a large amount of information and material.
Expect to be studying all the time or you’ll fall behind. Also, you will be doing labs and dissertations. Be prepared to cover a lot of gross anatomies, which means studying every detail of the human body and its components.
Year 2
Here you finally get to study diseases. You will still be in the classroom but learn about procedures and treatments. Also, in most establishments, after the second year, you will be given an exam that will determine if you continue to be a medical student or not.
Clinical Years
Year 3
You finally get to learn more outside the classroom curricula. As of your third year, you are part of the medical team which is usually composed of an attending (senior physician), residents (doctors-in-training) and interns (first-year residents).
You get to see and experiment with the action in the hospital. You will go through clinical rotations where you will switch between many specialties; such as trauma, pediatrics, OB/GYN (if you’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy or Scrubs, you know what I’m talking about).
Here you get to observe how each specialty functions. While you’re doing that, you still don’t get to attend patients as you’re still a student and aren’t licensed yet.
Year 4
Your fourth – and final year is very similar to the third, you continue with the clinical rotations, except you may work in your preferred specialty and acquire more knowledge and experience.
Residency
Once you’re done with Med school, you’ll most likely do one year of internships and depending on your specialty a few years in residency. For instance, if you decide to be a family doctor, the residency is only 2 years, whereas, if you want to specialize in cardio, residency is between 5-8 years.
Also, as you know, med school is hard and demands 100% of your work to accomplish and survive it. You will most likely not have a social life. Romantic relationships may get difficult to maintain or commit to. Not to mention your student loans and debts which might stress you a lot during your learning years. To sum up, while medical school is academically difficult, it will also affect other aspects of your life.
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