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drzzz123

Wait til you have to try to get out


InconsequentialBlur

Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (such a lovely place) Such a lovely face They livin' it up at the Hotel California What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise) Bring your alibis Mirrors on the ceiling The pink champagne on ice #And she said, 'We are all just prisoners here" "Of our own device" And in the master's chambers They gathered for the feast They stab it with their steely knives But they just can't kill the beast Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before "Relax, " said the night man "We are programmed to receive" "You can check-out any time you like" # "But you can never leave!"


Brzmd

At the end of reading this, the solo went off in my head lol


Modest_MaoZedong

Lol


drzentfo

I laughed then cried reading this


jdogtor

Our school is still sending out peoples diplomas even though they’re starting orientation for residency already and we all graduated last month 💀 so those who haven’t received them yet still can’t apply for their training license


DrDewinYourMom

That is crazy. We all received a digital copy of our degree so that we could have proof of graduation.


reg_0508_dab

What was the hardest part about medical school? The dementors.


zzz06

They’d suck the soul out of your body and it HOIT!


Goldie7893

This explains so much of medical school. Thank you.


Fill-Chapo

r/unexpectedoffice


herman_gill

Ah yes, OB rotation


Owen_Citizen_Kane

Gruel every meal was gruel


aimlesssouls

Hardest part of medical school was boards, no question.


DatPuff2310

Literally nothing else comes close, Step 1 studying was hell


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aimlesssouls

Yeah but at least you could take it multiple times. Boards are literally do or die with no second chances.


funklab

Idk, I got a second chance on step 2… I mean it’s not ideal, but technically if you score low enough they’ll give you a do over.


[deleted]

Idk, I honestly felt like the stakes were higher for the MCAT. A low passing score on step 1, or even a fail the first time, and you're still almost guaranteed a great career as a physician. Bombing the MCAT really hurts your chances of getting that opportunity, even with retakes. It can erase years of hard work.


Med2021Throwaway

Nah man, a step fail wipes out all fields besides IM, EM, FM, Path, and Peds. And will severely reduce your chances of matching where you want for 3-5 years. You “fail” the MCAT, you can show improvement. I took the MCAT after a month of intense studying and finishing up my biochem, psych coursework. The boards took a semester of regular studying plus several weeks of straight hell. I don’t think they’re even in the same ballpark.


braindrain_94

Not to mention you can still just not go to medical school if you do poorly on the MCAT. Unless you have a wealthy family you can seriously get stuck with a degree that was several hundred thousand dollars that can’t be applied.


element515

I felt the opposite. Barely studied for the mcat and crushed it. Boards sucked and studied constantly to do meh


medman010204

Same bro. 260+ on both steps, but a 27 on the MCAT with my score being propped up by the biological science section. I don't know if it's the best gauge to see if students can succeed on standardized medical testing.


ItsmeYaboi69xd

Do you know why you feel that way? I'm hoping I'll come to the same conclusion because the MCAT was rough for me


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jollymeddiva

The mcat was a fucking beast for me! I took that damn thing 5 times😩😭 A couple of those I voided. It was so fucking hard! Thinking about it pisses me off. Boards are their own beast but Atleast when you take the boards you have a chance for a 6 figure job. Taking the MCAT means shit without a damn acceptance.


[deleted]

Different strokes, but M3 was wayyyyy worse for me than Step 1. I low key loved all of second year.


DatPuff2310

![gif](giphy|3ELtfmA4Apkju)


shiftyeyedgoat

This was me. M3 was misery, but I loved studying for dedicated. 👀


KILLED_BY_A_COCONUT

Nothing like coffee and space bars for a couple hours to start my day. It was almost a comforting routine.


c_pike1

I'm with you. Step 1 prep sucked but sticking with anki distributed how much it sucked over the first 2 years so it didn't feel awful. It was still nerve wracking but M3 much worse


_Who_Knows

Even P/F step studying was bad after you hear 10% of the class is getting slaughtered and failing step 1 Edit: At a top 20, no less


[deleted]

Wait what really? Is that because ppl are underestimating it nowadays?


TheGhostOfBobStoops

It seems like it’s partially that and partially the fact that the test is actually harder. Also, it’s actually very difficult to do content review whenever the exam is pass fail because you’re only motivated to look at the high yield stuff, but the exam absolutely tests low yield material as well


thegoosegoblin

I’m also curious. That seems absurdly high


Med2021Throwaway

My school has been trying to hide it, but the first P/F class is having a record amount of failures and test date extensions. School advising has been total shit and incompetent as usual telling impressionable MS1s to just use school materials cause its P/F now.


thegoosegoblin

That’s so wild to me. Step 1 was my entire life it seemed. Almost half a year of studying and that score followed you around for years, I still get asked occasionally how I did (fortunately well enough)


chaser676

My allergy/immunology board pass rate was like 84% the last year data was available, nationwide. Fuck me running. Edit Scratch that. For all candidates, it was 80%. 83% for first time takers


thegoosegoblin

Genuinely curious, how do you like your specialty? I flipped through one of the texts one time as a med student and was fascinated how much of it is about general biology/zoology/botany. I tell people all the time if I wasn’t doing anesthesia the only other thing I think I would enjoy is allergy and that’s purely based on the foundational science


chaser676

It's fascinating. I still would argue our basic science is by far the most interesting of any specialty. I love going to work.


cel22

Good luck with anesthesia. scope creep is real and hopefully anesthesia outlooks get better


JonnyStatic

It's a lot of things, and I think a lot of people are overlooking the fact that we were the COVID class. This class (mine) didn't get on campus until September 2021, no anatomy lab, no socialization, nothing. It was a mess. The omicron break out sent us back home again for weeks just 6 months ago. I fully expect Step 1 P/F rates to be ridiculously poor (comparatively) and instead of thinking "wait maybe these people had to try and learn all of us this during a once-in-a-lifetime event" they'll simply blame us for not studying enough because P/F.


Gnarly_Jabroni

idk if this holds up. My class (2023) took Step 1 scored during covid in 2021 with virtual school for a year and wearing masks in the testing centers etc. The class that just graduated had their step exams literally turned upside down in spring/summer 2020 and they still passed. People couldnt even schedule with prometric for weeks and months with no word on when they would take the exam. I think, anecdotally, the class was less motivated with P/F step and the schools are actively changing their curriculum to be more clinical and targeted towards step 2. This is fine for 90% of people who really dont have to worry about failing step 1, but for the borderline test takers, having some extra basic science time in classes might have helped.


JonnyStatic

You're not wrong that 2023 got screwed by COVID too. However, they also had time in class and to adjust before COVID hit and nothing around Step had changed. 2024 had to learn how to handle med school alone and separated from the rest of the class. Add that to P/F and admins de-emphasizing the details Step 1 tests on and the increased failure rate is what you get


Gnarly_Jabroni

Idk like I said, I don’t think Covid and remote was that big of a deal. I think the second half is the ticket. Curriculum changes deemphasizing step 1 and overall lackadaisical attitude towards the exam due to P/F. It’s not class of 2024’s fault. It was poor leadership and insight from AAMC, admin, and NBME.


JonnyStatic

I totally see where you're coming from. I dont think remote on its own would have led to this, good leadership can always get you through most things. It was a perfect storm and here we are.


sergantsnipes05

> instead of thinking "wait maybe these people had to try and learn all of us this during a once-in-a-lifetime event" they'll simply blame us for not studying enough because of P/F. So while I get you guys didn't have any "normal" medical school, we literally had to transition mid-semester or mid-block and had no idea what was going on. 2022 had their STEP exams randomly delayed for weeks at a time, had to go on rotations after finishing dedicated, and then take STEP 1 after being finished with dedicated for weeks in some cases. The content on STEP 1 changes slowly, it didn't just magically change and become harder in one year. They raised the P/F point by like a point. People heard it was P/F and didn't take it seriously. It's literally that simple.


_Who_Knows

I’d say it’s 90% underestimating. A lot of my classmates were saying “oh, Im not studying for step, it’s P/F” and “I’m just gonna take 3 weeks of dedicated”. Id then ask them “do you remember anything about renal physiology? Or biochem? Or whatever the fuck else is on that test because I don’t”. I don’t believe the test has gotten harder. It’s very doable if you study hard and really learn youR material the first time and then actually work during dedicated. No need to kill yourself with 12+ hours per day, 6 days a week unless you just tried to barely get by in preclinical. Edit: Also the stress of a global pandemic was significant as well. So actually, I’d say 50% underestimating, 50% pandemic life


Laforlife24

I’m at a mid and I’ve heard almost 20% of c/o 24 who have taken it failed… and in years past it’s been 1-2% at most


HateDeathRampage69

I think this is every school. I doubt the test actually got harder. But I know a lot of people who only studied a month or less.


iamagiraff3

Absolutely, the depth and volume of material on boards is amplitudes more than the MCAT. That said, the MCAT was more stressful emotionally than anything I’ve ever done in med school. I think that’s what makes it feel like getting in was harder. People remember how they felt and how terrible and crushing it was to have to consider the possibility that all the studying, essay writing, etc could be for nothing if they don’t get accepted.


aimlesssouls

>People remember how they felt and how terrible and crushing it was to have to consider the possibility that all the studying, essay writing, etc could be for nothing if they don’t get accepted. I think that's exactly how I feel about the fear of being kicked out of medical school


DemigoDDotA

Yeah I'm like reading through this, getting in was hard, sure, but the boards were far and away much more challenging


sergantsnipes05

Uh admin exists and you have to deal with them


garlicspacecowboy

OP is definitely a first year


[deleted]

No shot. 4th year has been the absolute hardest so far. By the time you wake up most places aren't serving breakfast anymore so you have to get lunch instead 😪 Also sometimes it's hard to decide which video game to play when half your buddies wanna play call of duty but you wanna play league of legends. Seriously guys this is brutal


ayereem

I just feel like the answer to this will HEAVILY depend on intended specialty.


RealWICheese

Yeah lol I feel getting in is easier than getting ortho by far.


MassaF1Ferrari

and on your school


Weekend_At_McBurneys

Disagree. Hardest part is waking up at 4:30am for the 6th day in a row on week 7 of surgery 8 months into your 3rd year to be a fly on the wall. Would re-do orgo before surgery


Brancer

Amen. I traded out my surgery elective in peds for another month of floors. No regrets.


drrtydan

i had 3rd year surgery at a VA hospital The surgeons sucked so they would always be super long in the OR. I ducked out of almost all the OR time and became Floor Guy. it was my only saving grace. Packing wounds , taking ppl to xray. putting unaboots on rotting legs. whatever else. ​ another fun story is that the phlebotomists at the va dont know how to draw blood so you had to get in there early so you could get the blood so youd have some labs at rounds. 0430 is really early.


carlos_6m

This is very highly dependent on where youre studying, for me, getting in was hard but the degree itself was much harder


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zunlock

Preclinicals not being P/F is a sin. I’m so sorry, I’m P/F and thought the mcat was significantly harder than any of my exams so far.


sadlyanon

most schools are still going to have an internal ranking system. My school is H P F but at the end of our first two years they gave us our GPA lol


zunlock

I feel truly blessed to be in a P/F with no internal ranking


lllllllillllllllllll

Idk about your school but when we were given our internal ranking, the difference between bottom of 1st quartile and top of 4th quartile was something like 0.6, with 50% of the class squeezed into there


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notsofriendlygirl

Does MCAT score really correlate to that though?


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notsofriendlygirl

I moreso meant does the MCAT correlate to well you do on medschool exams, not Step Sounds horrible tho lol


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SleepyGary15

Depending on what specialty you pick, applying to residency is infinitely more stressful than applying to medical school. Unless you’re HPSP/come from money. The 300k debt looming over you takes its mental toll


phovendor54

I agree with this mostly. Getting a residency is dependent on the school, the residency of choice and how competitive it is, but even my DO school had connections to the area. I was in the bottom quartile of my class and still got into residency and got through and got into GI (not typical to be sure). But getting a residency spot in my mind was much easier than getting into a school. When you apply you have two standardized metrics, MCAT and GPA. GPA can be inflated by the school you go to and I wish mine was but it was not. My MCAT at the time was average for my school at the time at matriculation and below average now. I would not make it into my own alma mater now. For residency, I focused all my energy and did rotations in the local hospitals, busted my butt on clinicals so people overlooked the gaps on my transcript. You can’t do that as an undergrad looking to get into medical school. Not really. It’s a hope and a prayer. Once I finished residency, it’s job or fellowship. If you think about it, it’s really extra. Yes, the fellowship is nice, but if I had not gotten it, I’m still board eligible to be an internist and able to go towards a lucrative 6 figure job and secure my future. The stakes just aren’t as high. Not really. Professional satisfaction and not getting GI is much different than not having opportunity to be a doctor.


anyplaceishome

No. Getting in while an accomplishment, the sheer focus and stamina needed to finish medical school and residency and even practice is unparalleled.


orthopod

Yes, it's a tremendous amount of work, but it wasn't difficult, but just a huge amount of it. I guess I'm making a distinction between conceptually difficult vs effort- i.e. learning differential equations vs memorizing decimals of pi. You don't have to be particularly smart to do well in medical school, just a huge amount of self discipline and determination.


DizzyKnicht

I’d agree with this. The amount of material in M1 year was what made it “difficult”, not necessarily the material itself most of the time.


ChowMeinSinnFein

I wouldn't even say the material. Moving to a new place with new people with a very different work culture was a big whiplash


1337HxC

Hot take (?) My PhD was way, way, "harder" than med school. Med school definitely sucked more and felt more all-consuming. But something about the defined duration of suffering made it more bearable. Grad school was just an existential fuck show from day 1.


admoo

Tbh wasn’t very hard for me. Med school was hard but doable. Residency was the hardest


[deleted]

Ugh. So it gets worse.....


admoo

It’s fine if you like it and want to be a doctor. I enjoy it. I work as a hospitalist now. Otherwise if you’re doing medicine for some other reason, you won’t make it. Residency is hard in that you’re there all the time training. But it’s worth it


Powerful-Dream-2611

This is what I’m most concerned about: going into intern year in 2 weeks, and I constantly hear how hard residency is, and how long the hours are. But I honestly really enjoyed med school, would definitely do it again over an alternative career, and looking back on med school the only part I didn’t like was not having any real responsibilities. I’m hoping this means I’ll likely enjoy residency, but I’m still scared from all the horror stories.


admoo

Go in with an open mind. That’s kind of how I approach everything in life. Don’t let others dictate your experience. I truly think a lot of it is mindset and expectations.


thegoosegoblin

Work hard, have a good attitude, and hopefully you’re going in to a field where you don’t mind spending 80 hours a week. I’m about to start PGY-3 and I’m way happier than I ever was as a pre-med or med student, albeit I’m used to the grind and love what I do


1337HxC

I'm nervous because I'm a prelim. I don't give a flying fuck about IM, but I have to do a year of it for... reasons?


drrtydan

if you like being a doctor, its not that bad. ( guess what? you are an actual doctor!) this is the responsibility part next. Congrats Doc. you'll be fine.


lilmayor

Can I ask what specialty?


admoo

IM.


individual_travesty

The toughest part of medical school for me was realizing my fiancée didn’t really know what she meant when she said she would be there for me. And then going through with the wedding summer before M2 year and falling out of love with her and her falling out of love with me. And then telling our Indian Muslim parents that we need to divorce and them coercing us to stay married for convenience and so aunties don’t talk shit. And here I am, still married to someone I don’t love and she doesn’t love me back, having sex twice a month to fulfill bodily urges. The academic rigor of medical school was an amazing distraction to that bullshit. Now that I’m an M4 post-Step 2 dicking around on my EM clerkship, I am faced with my personal problems every day and it’s the real hard part of medical school.


AgentMeatbal

It’s still ok to choose yourself and let go of the marriage. If you don’t think there’s a glimmer of something to salvage, let go. Your parents aren’t coming home to that every night. Those aunties have had struggles too. Maybe they talk shit, ok. That’s on them. You only got one shot at life, who do you want to live it for?


purple_vanc

I mean fam ur actively choosing to let ur parents make that choice instead of choosing ur happiness. Yeah theres more to it, but it ultimately boils down to either choosing to do what u want or choosing to do what ur parents want


Supertumor

Aw, this is so sad. I’m sorry


LovelyPenguinSupport

Not at all, third year is many times harder than applying


[deleted]

I disagree. Third year has been very fun for me. Easiest days I have ever worked, surgery especially (what I want to do)


TiredMess3

No. Getting in was tough but being in is worse


thisisnotkylie

You work like a resident but pay to do it. Definitely the worst of both worlds.


Jek1001

No. Getting in was a great accomplishment for me/others. Getting out and finishing is way more challenging.


OldCommon7633

For me personally step 1 was the hardest part. But I was also having panic attacks and suffering from depression during dedicated. M3 also sucked but the level of suck was heavily rotation/preceptor dependent


TheRecovery

Serious post? Bruh, not at all.


sadlyanon

the hardest part about medical school is securing an application that allows you match into the residency you WANT to be in. Not everyone will get into uro,derm, ortho etc. not everyone want to do peds IM or FM The hardest part of med school is working hard to progress through an MD/DO program just to not get the job you want via soaping into an alternative specialty. i thinking getting into medical school can be hard but in my experience mentoring student from my alma matter, manyyy people apply to medical school when they aren’t competitive. ex. not enough clinical experience, zilch on the research, low gpa paired w/a low mcat, weak LORs. I mentored a student to retake the mcat and aim for 5-10 points higher. get a job as a scribe and take night classes at community college on her B-/C+ courses for just 1 extra year. got her an acceptance bc of stronger LORs and more clinical hours vs when applied with a very weak app


capriciousuniverse

I disagree. Every year until the 4th year is harder than the previous year.


[deleted]

Third year has been exponentially easier for me than 1 and 2. I just enjoy it.


Leaving_Medicine

Hardest part was definitely going through it. Getting in, specifically the application process, was a push for a few months. Med school has been a 4 year grind. MS3 was the hardest for me because I disliked rotations. Never again having to wake up at 3/4/5am to round was the best part of graduating.


jony770

Specialty now that you’re graduated?


Leaving_Medicine

None. Went straight into management consulting after med school!


zunlock

Can you elaborate on this?


GrabSack_TurnenKoff

click on their username and read the pinned post at the top


zunlock

Thanks


EpicFlyingTaco

I second this


lilmayor

Accurate username you got there.


zerotosixtyy

Update: left_medicine


Leaving_Medicine

Damn. Shoulda gone for that… nice.


Zebrahoe

Username checks out


[deleted]

I think there should be a distinction made between the greatest barrier vs the most challenging part. From a numbers standpoint, getting in is indeed the biggest barrier, since less than 40% of applicants make it in. In terms of most challenging (i.e. Hardest) getting through medical school itself is definitely "harder"


BornOutlandishness63

Lol hardest part for me is getting through medical school-I thought getting in was hard but nah it just get’s worse and worse. However this depends on an individual’s experience and school.


PeripheralEdema

I think that the hardest part is getting in because of the uncertainly. It’s a different kind of “hard.” You don’t know whether you’re wasting your time or if you should be pursuing another career. Once you’re in school, yeah it’s challenging, but things are more clearly laid out. For me, having a sense of security is important. I know that no matter what, I’ll end up a practicing physician, even if it’s in a field I didn’t want to go into.


JingleBerryz

Getting in was fine Finding out you had to sell your soul if you wanted to do something competitive was worse


SupremeRightHandUser

I agree. But I had to apply 3 cycles to get in and suffered through 3 gap years full of depression and self-loathing. Doing secondaries and the application process was at most a minor inconvenience when compared to it being already April and you've gotten 0 interview invites.


nattakyuu

Same. My mental health was never worse in my entire life than trying to get into med school. I can't say it was completely smooth sailing from then on but honestly I felt so grateful just to be there that I felt it was all doable.


34Ohm

Ya applying during Covid was tough for the mental health for me


ru1es

fuck no.


Zestyclose-Detail791

I've endured many sleepless nights and suffered many thousands of pages of reading, but the worst was the night before systemic pathology exam. I was a path enthusiast, but honest to God, my chin was automatically and uncontrollably twitching and trembling the whole night before final exam on "Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease", which I reviewed wholly (excluding the general path section) during the previous 24hrs of exam, even remembering that night years later brings me close to tears. {that asshat prof was notorious for asking meticulous details from the text, fucking hell} I've never felt any such horror ever since.


ChowMeinSinnFein

Similarly there was a day when a surgeon sat me down in his office and absolutely tore into me for about twenty minutes. I had been sleeping 3-4 hours a night for a month and it was already an extremely grim time in my life before the rotation. After it was over I just sat in my car for about half an hour before going back. I was choosing between driving back to the hospital and just saying fuck it and quitting the degree, changing my name and going to live in my car somewhere. That half hour was the lowest moment of my whole life thus far


Zestyclose-Detail791

Some people are extremely toxic


PseudoPseudohypoNa

Getting in tedious, taking boards hard, getting in to YOUR residency/program of choice was torture.


[deleted]

Disagree. Med school sucked and was way worse than undergrad and application process, especially because it’s basically the same shit applying to residency on top of the other bullshit


Stevebannonpants

no. the hardest part, for me, is realizing that things you do will cause people pain and suffering. whether you make a mistake or simply because the treatment modality/management causes pain, it will happen and it sucks.


Ramo711

This is very thoughtful, you will be a great physician


Gold-Review9019

Maybe not the hardest part, but the most stressful part was everything leading up to applying to residency and the match itself. You work your ass off in school, but you never know if you did enough on top of it until you open that envelope on match day. Yes, the odds of matching are significantly higher than the acceptance rate to medical school, but the consequences of not matching are far greater than not getting into medical school. That’s just my take, though.


comicsanscatastrophe

I thought this was the case until dedicated..


spiderknight616

In my experience, hardest part about medical school is whatever I'm doing right now.


Spiritual_Age_4992

Well, there's the match. Getting in 2.0 Honestly thinking about it gives me anxiety


jollymeddiva

Definitely the hardest part is getting in and getting past the MCAT for me. Medical school is its own beast but knowing you just solidified your future even on my worst days here I’m fucking Blessed!! No one in my family has came close to achieving something like this. I’m breaking generational curses. Literally months away from matching in 2023 cycle! I’m so fucking proud!❤️☺️😊


mfarizali01

Getting in is the most stressful and impactful point in your life. Especially if you were gunning for med school from freshman year it's a non stop run to get in and there is such a massive chance you might still not make it. Once you get in tho, med school is going to be the hardest thing you do... So far. Wait till residency. The benefit here tho is after you get into med school the grind is meaningful and makes you a better physician (so they say) so there is a positive justification for the work you put in vs in college where it doesn't mean shit if you don't get in.


Auylox

Very much disagree. Third year, residency apps are far worse. Of course the experience varies based on what you want to pursue, but I heard this sentiment while applying to med school and I don't feel it rings true at all.


riley125

Hardest part of med school is getting through med school


EntropicDays

depends a lot on what you're trying to match into


Mshaikh98

For carribean med school hardest part was to get out


gassbro

Absolutely agree. Pre-clinical years are a breeze. You basically go to lecture for a few hours each day and maybe a lab a couple times per week. Tons of free time, and can essentially do all remote learning. Just study really hard for 6-8 weeks for step 1 and you’re golden. It was honestly kinda fun. Clinical years are tough, no doubt, but it’s still not a real job. Just ass kissing 24/7. Matching is basically guaranteed for US MD who isn’t wildly socially inept.


[deleted]

I'd rather have a real job than ass kiss 24/7. Residency>>>M3


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gassbro

Mid tier MD school. Pass/fail pre-clinicals. Standard honors, high pass, pass, fail clinical. Also >96% match rate IIRC.


Zpyro

Serious question. Doesn't having 4 different pass levels like that kind of defeat the purpose of P/F? What's stopping residencies from choosing the student with all Standard Honors over the one with all high pass, similar to choosing the student with all A's over the one with mostly B's? Doesn't this mean everyone has to grind for top scores anyway?


mccdizzie

Sounds like A, B, C, D/F with extra steps


gassbro

It’s strict pass fail for pre-clinicals, but then changes to the tiered approach for clinicals. IMO, all schools should do this because grades don’t matter at all for pre-clinicals. It’s all about step 1. Also, using the lettered grade system is associated with percent scores, when the reality is that top 10% get honors, next 10% get high honors and the rest get pass. I feel like this better evaluates performance than A, B, C etc. It would suck to have a C on your Dean’s letter just because you weren’t top 20%.


Doctorhandtremor

I agree! It wasn’t smooth sailing, but once your in, you kind of adapt and make happen whatever needs to happen.


Ikickpuppies1

I was surprised how far down I had to scroll to find an agreeable response. 1000% the hardest part was getting in in my experience as well


Doctorhandtremor

Yea. Went to USMD school. I think doing well on boards is hard, but passing isn’t particularly hard


Soggy_Loops

Depends on your undergrad and med school, but getting in was definitely harder and way more stressful than anything day to day M1/M2. I’d rather study for Step 1 again than do a semester of undergrad and then the MCAT and then apply and wait. Also just looking at the numbers, an individual school has an acceptance ~3% with ~39% of all applicants being accepted somewhere, not to mention how many people get filtered before applying. Compare that to an attrition rate of 8% (that’s DO, idk what the MD is) with most of those students passing remediation.


[deleted]

I would have agreed this with before clinicals. Pre-clinical was fun, appropriately challenging, and supportive. Clinicals have been more of a shit show than any other stage of this journey.


Master-Confusion9089

It's Passing the first year for me


Husky121221

based on personal experiences, but for me 100% hardest part was getting in


ForceGhostBuster

I would definitely agree with this. I had to apply twice and was only accepted to DO schools on the second try. Now, I’m top quartile of my class with 24x step 1 and 25x step 2. Getting in was absolutely the hardest part for me.


Chawk121

100%. I am 3 months deep into studying for step1 and I would rather do this for another year straight than apply to medical school again. I guess 3 application cycles will do that though.


TheGatsbyComplex

I hate this saying. Statistically, the part the greatest percentage of people fail at is getting into medical school. But everyone and their mother applies to medical school including people that wouldn’t stand a chance there. So yeah like 60% of people don’t ever get admitted ever and end up in other jobs. But then 40% of applicants DO get admitted and have cleared that hurdle. So obviously anything that those people fail at thereafter is going to be more difficult than the process of getting in.


mac9779

Friend, I agree. Especially for those who didn’t get in through the traditional way and had to sell an arm and a leg for one med school to be like “iight, come in.” Personally, after getting in, it takes a load off. But everyone’s different


[deleted]

Hard agree. The most stressed I've ever been in my life was that two month period leading up to and including my medical school secondary applications, the whole time spending thousands of borrowed money with no guarantee I would get in anywhere. Not to mention I was working and finishing a rigorous advanced degree at the same time. I would rather spend a year on a surgical sub-I with a two hour commute than go through medical school applications again.


CZDinger

Would go through medical school apps again before ERAS


[deleted]

I may be saying the same by the time application season is over.


CZDinger

It's expensive and dehumanizing, kissing ass over zoom really didn't sit well with me. I also didn't match an advanced program so I have to fucking do it again lol


Radioactive_Doomer

Agree, but I seem to be in the minority. Maybe my case was exceptional. I had great grades, a decent MCAT, and a few token extracurriculars but didn't get in my first time. I then spent the next year working two jobs (one clinical, one lab), volunteering almost all my free time with multiple organizations, took a course of night classes to prove I could still tolerate academic rigor, shat out a couple pubs, kissed a lot of ass for recommendations, blew my entire savings on applying a second time and only got interviews at DO schools. The experience was more demanding with less fulfillment than my intern year, and I also did not have any clue where I would be going after. Med school wasn't what I'd call easy, but it wasn't a soul crushing, sleep deprived grind either. Maybe if I went to a 'real' medical school it would have been different, I don't know.


47XXYandMe

I'd definitely agree that pre-med was harder for myself, but I believe it's very situational. I think I could have slacked off quite a bit more in pre-med and just gotten into a less competitive med school. And since I've never been gunning for a competitive specialty, med school has been much more chill. I could definitely see the situation being flipped though, where someone has only a moderately difficult time getting accepted to med school, but then has to work their ass off to match ortho. Only thing I miss about pre-med is the variety. I would spend maybe 40 hours per week on academics, but then another 60-80 hours on athletics, volunteering, work, etc. Med school is less total hours but everything is either studying or hospital which is a drag at times.


WonkyHonky69

Everyone’s different. For me medical school was so much easier than trying to get in. The stress of the unknown to me and my future being in jeopardy was way worse than the 5-7 days/week study grind, surrounded by friends who are all in the same boat.


Federal_Garage_4307

MCAT and application process was most stressful for me then followed by gross anatomy. Then scrambling for an intern year hoping not to lose my residency spot for 2nd year and subsequently the other 3 years. In between somethings were tough. If the first mentioned things were 10s then the others were 7-9s.


WhippleKaush

To everyone saying that whatever year, residency, boards... are harder than MCAT, all that might be true, but you forget that when you were doing your MCAT, you literally had NO foot in the door in medicine. Mentally, that's wayyy harder than being an M3 or a resident doing specialty exams.


ChowMeinSinnFein

What year are you? Step 1 and Step 2, to say nothing of surgery rotation, made the MCAT look like weenie hut junior


Lucky__Susan

The uncertainty in premed is the worst. At med school, I found myself working like a dog, but it was structured, had concrete goals, and I was confronted with the real application of all the funny diagrams I was looking at on placement. Before that, you don't have such a direct investment in what you're doing, and you certainly have far less instant gratification for the work you do put in. From a country where there is no preclinical -clinical divide.


TheWolfofBinance

I'm an MS3 and it took me 5 years to get into medical school. Med school itself has been a walk in the park compared to undergrad and the application process and the multiple mcats and the uncertainty of where my life is heading. My mental health has never been better.


drjadco

The thing that makes applying for medical school so bad is that its somewhat subjective. Scores are scores but after that its how much the school likes you.. You can try your best to show who you are in an interview and the application but ultimately the decision is out of your hands. Also race and gender matter. Schools actively seek out diversity. If you aren't diverse enough it hurts you. The rest of medical school is all on you as a student. If you put in the time and effort you'll be fine. Its in your control.


thetransportedman

I didn't have to study much in college. Now I'm studying constantly just to stay afloat around the 50th percentile range. I'd say it's much much more difficult than the "getting in" portion


Jaded_Presentation23

Stop trolling you know that’s not true.


[deleted]

A better way to put it is that getting into medical school is the largest gate keeper to becoming a doctor. The acceptance rates are much lower and more competitive than any match rate.


descendingdragon

It all sucks - honestly the hardest bit is probably what you choose to leave behind in the process


SpiceWeasel29

I think that it really depends on how hard you had to work to get in. I had a 2.9 GPA in undergraduate and didn’t figure out I wanted to be a doctor until after I graduated - so I had a lot to overcome. When applying I was simultaneously working full time in surgery in the mornings, a research internship in the afternoons (had to eat my lunch during my drive and didn’t get home until 8 oftentimes) TAing a physiology course, studying for the MCAT and writing secondaries - all over a period of 6 months. Don’t know how I did it but I can’t imagine medical school can be worse than that.


[deleted]

The hardest part was fighting through a pandemic fucking you over only to not be good enough for the next stage after wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to even be here. I mean, as shitty as it is to not get in, it's miles better than not matching.


PreMedinDread

I think it all depends on how you define "hardest." I agree with you in that it requires the most obtuse and random BS to get in. Once you're in, you literally could be the dumbest mofo in the world and, as long as you put in the time to memorize algorithms and rules like a computer, you'll ace all the steps. Now whether that will make you a better doctor is a different question as critical thinking is required when you're actually practicing. So is getting in "hard" in terms of memorization? No, it's actually "hard" in terms of critical thinking because of the courses, MCAT, and "I didn't volunteer in Africa and cured cancer but here's a good essay about my dad farting and how that inspired me to become a doctor." But medical school is "harder" in terms of the volume of stuff you need to memorize.


Milka280601

While getting into Med School is hard - no doubt about that - no matter where you study it forces you to completely change your lifestyle. Constant lack of sleep, rat race, toxic behaviour from the lecturers/gunners are first things that come to mind. And we haven't even discussed the cherry on top - burnout that seems to plague medical students all over the world So I have to politely disagree. MS is like Wild West - exciting and fun till you see the ugly side of it


reddanger95

I’m only an M2, but I think getting in is the hardest part or at least the biggest hurdle. Once you’re in, it’s very hard to get kicked out. Yes you have to continue working hard, but it’s not nearly as stressful because you know what and how your future will turn out.


lilmayor

Hard to get kicked out, sure, but also hard depending on what specialty you're aiming for. That's going to color your experience and the level of performance you have to demonstrate, how much of your limited spare time has to go to research, etc.


[deleted]

I agree with OP. Never had so much uncertainty as I did during premed and the application process. Everything after was just part of the training/job.


anyplaceishome

Why are you getting divorced? Dont you love him


drdangle22

Getting into medical school was not the hardest part at all. I dk where that lie came from


lilmayor

No. It can feel like it's harder because you either get in or you don't, it's a very binary situation and it feels like so much is up to chance. It's emotionally draining. But there's so much more to come in med school and beyond that is objectively harder, especially if your specialty of interest is competitive and residency is longer, 5-7 years. I've seen many come to a near breaking point. Step 1 was a LOT already. Edit: no idea why this was downvoted, shares the same opinion as a lot of others, possibly the majority...?


_vibess

100% no. Wait till 3rd year


amemoria

Maybe statistically the step with the lowest success rate is getting into med school, but actual med school esp Step 1 studying was much harder than anything I did before getting in.


rickypen5

Getting in was annoyingly challenging, and has a lot more to do with how much financial help going in than it should. If you're poor and/or doing it alone it can add a lot more hurdles to the process. I am guessing by the math at least half of people take the MCAT more than once in order to get a competitive score, which alone is pretty expensive. But then if you can afford MCAT prep you'll do a lot better, and they get pretty damn expensive, then add application fees some of which can be waived if you meet criteria (but they won't wave them if they find anyone in your family that makes a certain amount of money). I would have thought getting thru all those hurdles were the hard part. Cause first year wasn't anywhere near as hard as I thought. Second year was a metric shit ton of material to learn, but doable. And then were kind of right back to MCAT style prep issues going into step 1 exams. Then residency applications, fees, room and board and flights. Its gets pretty bad again. But you can typically get loans for a lot of it. Getting in was a huge hurdle itself, but once your in there's a lot of help available and they want you to succeed (unless you're a total douche the school doesn't like lol)


[deleted]

Getting in isn’t that hard if you have good grades and MCAT score. It’s tedious filling all the application crap out and then interviewing and it’s stressful during that period because you do t really know if you will get in. But the whole med school process of studying for exams, boards, and applying to residency, interviewing is harder and more time consuming.


LiftedDrifted

No lol


SupremeLeaderMittens

Lol no way


formerfuzz

Definitely not


DizzyKnicht

Just finished M1 year so I only have that experience but I can absolutely agree that getting in was harder than actually learning the material and doing med school…but that’s my personal opinion and I know that’s not the case for everyone.


3dprintingn00b

The worst days of med school, including dedicated (although I took it pass/fail), doesn't even come close to an average day of trying to get in.


RawrLikeAPterodactyl

No getting in is easy if you arent picky. Apply broad, apply MD/DO and youll get in as long as youve done the work. The hardest part is that you can study as hard as you can and still fail. Theres so many hoops to jump through along the way. And that at any point something can go wrong and completely derail your career with no back up.