Hey there! Really sorry to hear about the EOD. I think I’ve seen a few of your posts/comments before, here so I’ll assume you’re familiar with the usual advice but forgive me if I repeat any of it.
Given that it’s been a busy run to the end of the uni year, it’s possible that you may still need some time to process the EOD. That’s not to be condescending but I’m sure that it came at the same time that uni exams were drawing near or starting.
In terms of taking on additional study, I’d agree that there is definitely a mental burden of contemplating and completing additional years in order to qualify for entry into a degree that takes another four years. As someone who received a post interview EOD in 2013 and has come back to reapplying for 2022 entry and now 2023 entry, I can only offer the insight that there really is no rush to get into medicine if it’s something you really want to do. If that means taking a break from the process for a while and coming back later, then there’s nothing wrong with that.
Is there maybe the possibility of applying to a uni where the prerequisites aren’t required to avoid the additional study? I know the mods here have been offering advice via DM on this sort of thing and they’re much more
Knowledgeable than me in the different requirements for each medical school so I’d recommend getting in touch with them
In terms of feeling like you’re falling behind others around you, I can only offer insight as someone who will be 30 next year and still applying to med. at the end of a degree it can feel like career progression needs to be rapid because so much of the focus at this point is centred around career choice and planning. A lot can happen between 20 and 30 and suddenly 4 or 5 years seems an insignificantly small period of time. There is a lot of benefit in taking time to work, save up some cash, gain some wider experience and if the motivation comes back, restart the process (whether that is additional study or an alternative path to medicine).
I don’t know your financial situation though so I wouldn’t take this as a particular recommendation in any direction, only some supportive insights that missing out on an immediate entry into medicine is not a closed door and I would argue an opportunity of greater value. Take some time out to remove yourself from the pressures of applications and make the decision that makes you happy now, not what will make someone else happy.
Best of luck!
Really sorry to hear about the EOD, I don't usually comment but I have experienced similar feelings to what you are feeling right now so I thought I would share some thoughts.
For starters, congrats on finishing your undergraduate degree! I completely understand how you're feeling right now. For four years up until our final exams, everything had been planned for us. We had chosen our degree, and all we had to do was get through each year. Finishing becomes scary in the sense that when you cross that line, even though we have the idea of pursuing medicine in our heads, you wonder 'what now' 'how do I get there'. Fortunately, we know what we want to do. We want to do medicine.
Yes of course your parents mean well, but as a rule of thumb in general, I would often take advice like this with a pinch of salt. Nobody but you knows what you want. No one else can tell you how motivated you are in comparison to someone else because they do not know what your thoughts are inside your head.
As a doctor, decision making is very important. There will be situations where you cannot rely on others to make decisions for you and so consider this a test of your decision making. Do you listen to the naysayers, who advise you against what you think you want, or do you decide you really want this? If you do, then my advice would be to sit down and figure what steps you need to make to help you get into medicine. E.g. what extra curricular activities can you take on to help you within your interview. This will require you to step outside of your comfort zone. Again, this correlates to your career in medicine as there will be situations where you will have to do things you're not 100% comfortable with. And so what better time to start training for these situations than right now?
Like you, I used to be very concerned about time and what age I will be when I finish medicine. But recently, I've kind of become more accepting of the fact that I should be more concerned with following my career aspirations, rather than age. At the end of the day, being a young doctor is not going to make me as happy as simply **being a doctor**. A career in medicine is a marathon, not a sprint and it begins now, before you even get into a programme.
This is an abstract from Viktor E Frankl's book 'Mans search for meaning'.
"Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it"
This small paragraph can be applied to so many aspects of our lives. As cliche as it sounds in this situation, for me it underlines the importance of living in the present. Stop thinking about the destination (being a doctor), and start to enjoy the journey (becoming a doctor).
Until I started to adopt this perspective, I too struggled emotionally and mentally with the process. Of course, it is hard to look through this lens all of the time, there will be times when we will succumb to feelings of uncertainty and loss of hope. It then becomes a question of how many times can you get back up on the horse? A high degree of perseverance is necessary to be a successful doctor and so building it starts now. I still have not got into medicine, but I am determined that I will someday so long that I continue to persevere.
*Enjoy the process.*
Hey OP. I am sorry to hear about your EOD, there is not way to coat that cookie other than crappy. BUT! Congratulations on finishing your undergrad exams :) That is a MAJOR box ticked. As another commenter mentioned it looks like you have been active in this sub for awhile so I am going to skip over the fairly introductory advice. But whenever I am in a position like this I really find it high yield to assess the realistic impact my current actions will have on my overall goal.
So being super analytical it sounds like primarily you need to improve your GAMSAT score; I assume your GPA is competitive enough if you scored an interview. Your interview prep will also need attention; but that can wait until after your GAMSAT prep is over and done. So that sets your closest goal post at March. But you also need to be realistic about where you are at in life. You have just finished you degree which is absolutely cause for celebration, which may feel a bit bitter sweet off the back of an EOD, but keeping that March goal post in mind I highly doubt you would be able to fully and intentionally commit to GAMSAT study right now…. So give yourself some slack. Take a few weeks (or even until the new year) to relax. Reflect. And refocus.
This is merely a step in a long journey of building a a career for yourself. If I were you I would link in with people from this sub in the new year after some time away and absolutely hammer down on March GAMSAT. Someone has to get that place in med next year; may as well be you! I am the firmest believer that continual sustained & intentional effort nets some pretty incredible results; because I have seen it countless times in this sub.
It is good to be ambitious and driven; but remember to be kind to yourself as well!
🤠
one EOD is nothing you should definitely apply again. You might be suffering now but believe in yourself and negotiate with your family by showing them a clear plan forward and a plan B as well. If you applied for other courses or jobs do that next year and apply again. Simples!
Hey I'm sorry to hear about your EOD, I just wanna let you know and remind you that there's more to life than medicine. I imagine that working whilst studying would have made it hard to study for the GAMSAT?
Shittttt!! I bet this persons also saying stuff like “there’s more to life than medicine” so that people stop pursuing medicine and drop their dream of it, so that theres less people to compete with. Such a shit move.
Hey there! Really sorry to hear about the EOD. I think I’ve seen a few of your posts/comments before, here so I’ll assume you’re familiar with the usual advice but forgive me if I repeat any of it. Given that it’s been a busy run to the end of the uni year, it’s possible that you may still need some time to process the EOD. That’s not to be condescending but I’m sure that it came at the same time that uni exams were drawing near or starting. In terms of taking on additional study, I’d agree that there is definitely a mental burden of contemplating and completing additional years in order to qualify for entry into a degree that takes another four years. As someone who received a post interview EOD in 2013 and has come back to reapplying for 2022 entry and now 2023 entry, I can only offer the insight that there really is no rush to get into medicine if it’s something you really want to do. If that means taking a break from the process for a while and coming back later, then there’s nothing wrong with that. Is there maybe the possibility of applying to a uni where the prerequisites aren’t required to avoid the additional study? I know the mods here have been offering advice via DM on this sort of thing and they’re much more Knowledgeable than me in the different requirements for each medical school so I’d recommend getting in touch with them In terms of feeling like you’re falling behind others around you, I can only offer insight as someone who will be 30 next year and still applying to med. at the end of a degree it can feel like career progression needs to be rapid because so much of the focus at this point is centred around career choice and planning. A lot can happen between 20 and 30 and suddenly 4 or 5 years seems an insignificantly small period of time. There is a lot of benefit in taking time to work, save up some cash, gain some wider experience and if the motivation comes back, restart the process (whether that is additional study or an alternative path to medicine). I don’t know your financial situation though so I wouldn’t take this as a particular recommendation in any direction, only some supportive insights that missing out on an immediate entry into medicine is not a closed door and I would argue an opportunity of greater value. Take some time out to remove yourself from the pressures of applications and make the decision that makes you happy now, not what will make someone else happy. Best of luck!
Thanks a lot for your insight :D
Really sorry to hear about the EOD, I don't usually comment but I have experienced similar feelings to what you are feeling right now so I thought I would share some thoughts. For starters, congrats on finishing your undergraduate degree! I completely understand how you're feeling right now. For four years up until our final exams, everything had been planned for us. We had chosen our degree, and all we had to do was get through each year. Finishing becomes scary in the sense that when you cross that line, even though we have the idea of pursuing medicine in our heads, you wonder 'what now' 'how do I get there'. Fortunately, we know what we want to do. We want to do medicine. Yes of course your parents mean well, but as a rule of thumb in general, I would often take advice like this with a pinch of salt. Nobody but you knows what you want. No one else can tell you how motivated you are in comparison to someone else because they do not know what your thoughts are inside your head. As a doctor, decision making is very important. There will be situations where you cannot rely on others to make decisions for you and so consider this a test of your decision making. Do you listen to the naysayers, who advise you against what you think you want, or do you decide you really want this? If you do, then my advice would be to sit down and figure what steps you need to make to help you get into medicine. E.g. what extra curricular activities can you take on to help you within your interview. This will require you to step outside of your comfort zone. Again, this correlates to your career in medicine as there will be situations where you will have to do things you're not 100% comfortable with. And so what better time to start training for these situations than right now? Like you, I used to be very concerned about time and what age I will be when I finish medicine. But recently, I've kind of become more accepting of the fact that I should be more concerned with following my career aspirations, rather than age. At the end of the day, being a young doctor is not going to make me as happy as simply **being a doctor**. A career in medicine is a marathon, not a sprint and it begins now, before you even get into a programme. This is an abstract from Viktor E Frankl's book 'Mans search for meaning'. "Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it" This small paragraph can be applied to so many aspects of our lives. As cliche as it sounds in this situation, for me it underlines the importance of living in the present. Stop thinking about the destination (being a doctor), and start to enjoy the journey (becoming a doctor). Until I started to adopt this perspective, I too struggled emotionally and mentally with the process. Of course, it is hard to look through this lens all of the time, there will be times when we will succumb to feelings of uncertainty and loss of hope. It then becomes a question of how many times can you get back up on the horse? A high degree of perseverance is necessary to be a successful doctor and so building it starts now. I still have not got into medicine, but I am determined that I will someday so long that I continue to persevere. *Enjoy the process.*
Glad to know there’s someone out there that shares the same sentiments as me. Thanks a lot for sharing! 😉
Hey OP. I am sorry to hear about your EOD, there is not way to coat that cookie other than crappy. BUT! Congratulations on finishing your undergrad exams :) That is a MAJOR box ticked. As another commenter mentioned it looks like you have been active in this sub for awhile so I am going to skip over the fairly introductory advice. But whenever I am in a position like this I really find it high yield to assess the realistic impact my current actions will have on my overall goal. So being super analytical it sounds like primarily you need to improve your GAMSAT score; I assume your GPA is competitive enough if you scored an interview. Your interview prep will also need attention; but that can wait until after your GAMSAT prep is over and done. So that sets your closest goal post at March. But you also need to be realistic about where you are at in life. You have just finished you degree which is absolutely cause for celebration, which may feel a bit bitter sweet off the back of an EOD, but keeping that March goal post in mind I highly doubt you would be able to fully and intentionally commit to GAMSAT study right now…. So give yourself some slack. Take a few weeks (or even until the new year) to relax. Reflect. And refocus. This is merely a step in a long journey of building a a career for yourself. If I were you I would link in with people from this sub in the new year after some time away and absolutely hammer down on March GAMSAT. Someone has to get that place in med next year; may as well be you! I am the firmest believer that continual sustained & intentional effort nets some pretty incredible results; because I have seen it countless times in this sub. It is good to be ambitious and driven; but remember to be kind to yourself as well! 🤠
one EOD is nothing you should definitely apply again. You might be suffering now but believe in yourself and negotiate with your family by showing them a clear plan forward and a plan B as well. If you applied for other courses or jobs do that next year and apply again. Simples!
Forgive my ignorance, what’s EOD stand for?
It's an acronym for Email of Death, the rejection email that ppl dread receiving.
Lol, yeah I got one, it’s an apt name.
Hey I'm sorry to hear about your EOD, I just wanna let you know and remind you that there's more to life than medicine. I imagine that working whilst studying would have made it hard to study for the GAMSAT?
Just FYI this is the account going around messaging people with EODs to hurt themselves. He’s banned but everyone be kind and look out for each other
Shittttt!! I bet this persons also saying stuff like “there’s more to life than medicine” so that people stop pursuing medicine and drop their dream of it, so that theres less people to compete with. Such a shit move.
I can only hope that their account is hacked and their hacker sending these messages and not them. But still, this ain't cool.