Medical school is no joke.
In fact, becoming a doctor requires completion of one of the world’s most rigorous and
testing paths of any profession.
A substantial percentage of medical students burn out, give up, or are plain miserable.
Other students, like me, are the weirdos that actually enjoy the process.
Here’s how I did it and how you too can not only survive, but thrive in medical
school.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Don’t believe what others say.
Medical school doesn’t have to be a torturous and depressing time in your life.
I actually enjoyed medical school more than I enjoyed college.
By closely following every tip here, I’m confident you can grow to love the process
as well.
You’ll see that each habit builds off of one another.
By the end of the video, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
The foundational principle you must understand
is that medical school is a different beast entirely.
While you may have been a stellar student in college, the habits and strategies that
worked then just won’t work in medical school.
Too often, students are inseparable from their old ways, and they expect these old systems
to continue working in medical school, despite evidence to the contrary.
Brute forcing your way by trying harder won’t cut it and it won’t be sustainable.
This is the point where you say “I already know how to study and I already know how to manage
my time.”
If you truly want to excel and surpass your current performance, you’ll need to let
go of this tendency and instead embrace a new mindset.
You’ll need to experiment, track, and ultimately challenge your current assumptions and ways
of living.
This happened to me as well.
After a wildly successful college pre-med career, I thought I had everything figured
out.
But medical school was a rude awakening that my systems were far from perfect.
Number two, Hone Study Strategies. The information you have to learn in medical
school isn’t any more conceptually challenging than what you learned in college.
In fact, your college major may be significantly more difficult in certain respects, particularly
if you did something like neuroscience or bioengineering.
That being said, while medical school isn’t super conceptually challenging, the rate
of learning new information is monstrous and continues to grow each year as the scientific
literature expands.
As they say, learning in medical school is like drinking from a fire hydrant.
For this reason, active learning and efficient study methods are mandatory.
To thrive and enjoy medical school, study strategy optimization is not something you
can overlook.
No more passive reading of notes or Power Point slides.
Active learning, by definition, is more uncomfortable than passive learning, but it
pays dividends.
Becoming more efficient gets you better grades, which is already reason enough to invest the
time and effort.
But realize these benefits compound, as you’ll have more time for sleep, more
time for fun, and more time to take care of yourself.
As a result, you’ll be in a better mind space, be more effective when you study, and
enter a positive feedback cycle.
It’s possibly the most fundamental and crucial skill you should prioritize.
I’ve gone over the highest yield strategies in other videos, including what study strategies
I wish I knew back in college.
Number three, Organize Better Than Marie Kondo. Going hand in hand with optimal study strategies,
efficiency is paramount, but efficiency doesn’t come from brute force.
Rather, organized and streamlined systems will facilitate the process.
Organization strategies can be applied to multiple facets of your life.
For example, a clean study space is more than just something
pretty to look at.
Neatly organized and purposefully implemented work spaces that are maintained clutter-free
facilitate efficient work.
While it may seem tedious or superfluous, making your bed every morning and clearing
papers off your desk will help you focus and tend to your work with greater purpose.
I made a video of how I’ve designed my own work space.
Link in the description below.
In your daily schedule, lay out how you will
spend your time.
When is class, when will you eat, when will you study, and when will you exercise?
I personally opted for Google Calendar, as it is free, syncs seamlessly across my devices, and integrates
nicely with Gmail.
The exact calendar tool you use, whether in the cloud or on paper, is actually less important.
The key is being consistent with whatever you choose.
I go over how to schedule effectively in another video.
Link in the description below.
My favorite task manager is Things3.
I use it across my iPad, iPhone, and MacBook, but there are other great alternatives like
Todoist that work on PC and Android as well.
There are additional areas requiring purposeful organization and systems, including email,
habit tracking, groceries, and more, but that’s a topic for another video.
Number four, Leave the Ego Behind. While medicine draws many incredible people
to the profession, it also often attracts a large ego.
But allowing your ego to call the shots won’t help you in medical school.
It’s up to you whether you want to learn this the easy way or the hard way.
If you’re used to being at the top of your class, it won’t always be that way in medical
school.
Despite a top MCAT score, a near perfect GPA, and being awarded the single highest merit
scholarship at my medical school, I did not feel particularly smart in my class.
In fact, I was humbled by my colleagues.
Everyone has different strengths, and while I may crush cardiology, my friend would crush
renal, and a different friend would crush OSCE’s.
Once you get to your clinical rotations, you may not be treated very kindly.
Unfortunately, the culture of medicine is extremely hierarchal, with some specialties
being worse offenders than others.
For example, if you go into a surgical specialty, for example, it won’t be uncommon for you to be berated,
humiliated, or yelled at.
Now there is a fine line between tough love and abuse, and you should absolutely report
any transgressions.
At the same time, if every stern look gets under your skin, you’re not going to have
a good time.
The key is to remember that patient care is the number one priority, and if someone comes
across as abrasive, it’s rarely ever personal.
The ego sneaks up in another way - unwillingness
to ask for help.
Remember, asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
Rather, it is an indicator of strength.
Medicine is a profession centered around serving others – your patients.
Doctors are in many ways idolized and put on a pedestal, but we are humans too.
And as people, we need support, just like anyone else.
You’re likely to face at least one challenging time during your medical school training,
and having a network of friends and loved ones you can rely on is key.
As I’ve spoken about recently with the #SaveOurDoctors and burnout video, strong social
connections is one of the most powerful ways to ward off burnout.
Don't be afraid to reach out to others for help.
It’s not all about playing defense either.
When things get tough, sure, fall back on your social supports.
But creating that social support system was arguably one of the best parts of medical
school.
I grew close to many of my amazing classmates.
Medical school often attracts highly talented, compassionate, and impressive individuals
who are just plain awesome.
There’s no practical benefit in trying to go at it alone.
Again, this profession is based on the principle of connecting and helping others.
Share your notes, look out for each other, and help classmates who are struggling.
You can even practice the Feynman technique while you’re at it.
Number six, Prioritize Healthy Habits. If you’re a type A highly driven individual,
you likely push yourself to the limit at the cost of taking care of yourself.
I get it, I’ve been there.
I mean, who cares about sleep?
You’ve got to crank on this presentation and then pound out your Anki cards.
But what I’ve learned the hard way is that, paradoxically, making time to take care of
yourself actually results in improved productivity and effectiveness.
By prioritizing socializing on the weekends, rather than just playing catch up on work,
I felt more refreshed during the week.
I was able to focus more intently for longer periods of time, and ultimately increase my
output.
It’s much easier to endure a 19 hour shift on your plastic surgery away rotation (and
not even need caffeine) when you’re taking care of yourself.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t study on the weekends, but it’s crucial to practice
some self care at a regular interval.
When I was in medical school, I hit the gym and lifted 3-4 times per week, I prioritized
healthy plant-based whole food diet, I meditated a couple times per week, and set aside time
time each week to hang out with my significant other or my best friends.
Remember, all these habits all build off of one another.
If you practice more efficient study strategies, then you’ll have more time to relax and
self-care.
If you practice self-care, you feel more refreshed and become more efficient when you study.
You want to get into this positive feedback loop.
Slipping into the opposite, a negative feedback loop, is how medical school becomes miserable.
My goal with Med School Insiders is to create a generation of happier, healthier, and more
effective future physicians.
I’ve made mistakes as a pre-med, as a medical student, and as a plastic surgery resident,
and I want you all to learn from my mistakes and surpass my own results.
If you want to see how I practice these principles in my own daily life, be sure to follow me
on Instagram @kevinjubbalmd and the official Med School Insiders instagram @medschoolinsiders.
I also send out a weekly email newsletter outlining lessons learned, helpful tips, tools,
and study music to help you crush the week.
Visit medschoolinsiders.com/newsletter to sign up.
Thank you all so much for watching.
I love hearing from you guys, so leave a comment down below or shoot me a DM on Instagram.
Much love to you all, and I will see you guys in that next one.