crystelle_007 Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 does anyone ever feel overwhelmed in medical school? I came into medical school thinking i know exactly what i got myself into. Now 3 months into U of T, I find myself constantly catching up and no time for myself or life in general. on top of that, i've been carrying a virus since september which is something of a rarity for me. I heard that for U of T, the first year is brutal. will it get any better? or should i just start sleeping <6 hours a day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 I think everyone stresses out, probably worse at first. Even though we have tons of work, I'm doing ok but I could easily start panicking.. All my university years before certainly help in knowing how to work through it. Most of my class though were in an advanced panic state for the month of midterms and probably still are... I think at some point it's almost impossible to stay up to date in everything with exams and everything else. You really don't want to start cutting on your sleep - that's how you end up with a 3-4-week long cold :/ Make time for activities you enjoy, like working out or reading a non-med book, anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOC_Ma Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 Whenever people post being stressed out it's usually from uoft. Sigh. Is it just our school that make their students work like slaves? I heard/saw/knew other med students r having good lives in med school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiceWine Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 does anyone ever feel overwhelmed in medical school? I came into medical school thinking i know exactly what i got myself into. Now 3 months into U of T, I find myself constantly catching up and no time for myself or life in general. on top of that, i've been carrying a virus since september which is something of a rarity for me. I heard that for U of T, the first year is brutal. will it get any better? or should i just start sleeping <6 hours a day? i think it's a common theme among med students...esp at "top" schools. but I don't think it'll get better. In fact, I heard it gets harder in the second year (see the other thread made by a second year u of t med student) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Whenever people post being stressed out it's usually from uoft. Sigh. Is it just our school that make their students work like slaves? I heard/saw/knew other med students r having good lives in med school? I don't get the sense that UofT students work like "slaves", but the exactly one third-year clerk I've worked with was something of a stress-ball perfectionist who was excessively upset at not knowing the correct dosing of po Flagyl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dongzhuo Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 I don't understand what the stress is....there should be no stress. The only "stress" should come from identifying what specialty you want to pursue and how to gun it properly. Don't sweat bell ringer exams or neuroanatomy or whatever. Easy peasy. Almost no one ever fails, and your grades on them really don't dictate how you will match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Hey, don't sweat it. The overachievement bug hits everyone hard at first. The secret to med school is not just hard work, but smart work. Concentrate on your courses but try to reiterate them into the big picture. Since residency positions are getting a bit tight in Canada, I would try to study for the USMLE in relation to your course content. That way you will have a deeper, firmer grasp of the concepts of medicine. The best way to do that is to buy a question bank like USMLEworld. Well said.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman101 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Whenever people post being stressed out it's usually from uoft. Sigh. Is it just our school that make their students work like slaves? I heard/saw/knew other med students r having good lives in med school? Yes. 10char Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 I don't understand what the stress is....there should be no stress. The only "stress" should come from identifying what specialty you want to pursue and how to gun it properly. Don't sweat bell ringer exams or neuroanatomy or whatever. Easy peasy. Almost no one ever fails, and your grades on them really don't dictate how you will match. I agree! This is win advice. This is also not the first time I've heard it. Do your best, but don't stress out so much as all you need is to pass! We all are going to stress before exams but in the end, it doesn't help, only hinders. I am doing my best to take a 'big picture' and 'general' approach. So many experienced physicians and even residents I have spoken to have said that the real learning takes place after med school. It is a life of "just in time" learning. Get used to it. best, LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goleafsgochris Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Whenever people post being stressed out it's usually from uoft. Sigh. Is it just our school that make their students work like slaves? I heard/saw/knew other med students r having good lives in med school? Yes, lol. I went to Mac and it was easy till clerkship. Maybe I didnt learn as much in year 1, but I still passed the LMCC lol so it worked out. U of T sounds very cool because you are in toronto, but from literally everyone I have talked to who went there, now that I am in residency they say they would have gone to mac if they had done it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 Hah, my dad went to UofT and 30+ years later he still talks about how he'd have rather gone to Queen's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anxious_101 Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Honestly, I am finding 1st year MD at UofT to be a lot less taxing than my undergrad years (and, no, I didn't do an engineering undergrad). The biggest difference is the pressure isn't there to pull off those 90s. I am hanging out with friends, shadowing docs, and doing research more so than I did in the last 2 years of my undergrad. I did well on my first 2 exams in medschool, but I did screw up my last bell-ringer so maybe I should focus a bit more on studying in the future, but overall it's not that bad at all. Many of my 1T5 friends actually feel the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Hah, my dad went to UofT and 30+ years later he still talks about how he'd have rather gone to Queen's. any particular reason he would have rather went to Queen's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Seems that U/T give many of their students this overwhelming experience relative to other med schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anxious_101 Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Seems that U/T give many of their students this overwhelming experience relative to other med schools. I think it's nothing more than ppl falling into stereotype and hype. People only ever attend one medical school in their lives so how can they directly judge if one is "harder" than the other. I think it's largely just longstanding but ungrounded perceptions. At least in undergrad there is a little bit of added competition among peers at U of T relative to some other smaller schools, but in meds all schools have the same talent pool, more or less. Bottom line: I don't think U of T is necessarily a harder school than any other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 If that is the case, I'm glad to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman101 Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 I think it's nothing more than ppl falling into stereotype and hype. People only ever attend one medical school in their lives so how can they directly judge if one is "harder" than the other. I think it's largely just longstanding but ungrounded perceptions. At least in undergrad there is a little bit of added competition among peers at U of T relative to some other smaller schools, but in meds all schools have the same talent pool, more or less. Bottom line: I don't think U of T is necessarily a harder school than any other. People have friends in other med schools. I happen to know quite a few people in 1T4. Beyond a doubt their life is harder than mine. And many other med schools across Canada. Most med schools don't have a consistent proportion of their students failing on every exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anxious_101 Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 People have friends in other med schools. I happen to know quite a few people in 1T4. Beyond a doubt their life is harder than mine. And many other med schools across Canada. Most med schools don't have a consistent proportion of their students failing on every exam. If we assume that U of T is in fact more demanding of their students than others, does that mean U of T graduates are looked upon more favorably when matching for residencies? I ask because one of the docs that I shadowed last month mentioned how he does not take Mac graduates as residents. I am just curious if such "perceptions" that U of T is hard and Mac is "different" actually play out in the real world when carms comes around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japlanet Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 If we assume that U of T is in fact more demanding of their students than others, does that mean U of T graduates are looked upon more favorably when matching for residencies? I ask because one of the docs that I shadowed last month mentioned how he does not take Mac graduates as residents. I am just curious if such "perceptions" that U of T is hard and Mac is "different" actually play out in the real world when carms comes around? I've actually experienced the opposite - as a Mac student, I have noted that visiting students (Ottawa, UofT) have tended to be less clinically competent, though they may know more patho, they have a harder time treating/interacting with patients and other team members. Several of my preceptors have noted the same thing. So I guess it depends on what you value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 I've actually experienced the opposite - as a Mac student, I have noted that visiting students (Ottawa, UofT) have tended to be less clinically competent, though they may know more patho, they have a harder time treating/interacting with patients and other team members. Several of my preceptors have noted the same thing. So I guess it depends on what you value. might also have something to do with the fact that people are working in their home turf - Western profs know what Western students know and can do for instance and develop a working relationship within that knowledge base - they see dozens and dozens of Western students a year. It just makes things faster and even better off than when they are working with someone else. Can bias things I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 You are also going to sometimes just get a guy who hates a particular school for some silly reason ( bad experience in the past ). Cannot do much about that really, but there are a lot of others who will take you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 No Ontario school is seen as producing outstanding medical students. Well except maybe western, there students I have worked with from there were pretty good. Manitoba and MUN are also top notch (which had been stated repeatedly by staff at my residency institution). That being said, there are lots of clerks from every school who are good (which I define as good work ethic, fun to get along with, and intelligent). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 reminds me of a bunch of immature jokers claiming their penis is the biggest of the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 If we assume that U of T is in fact more demanding of their students than others, does that mean U of T graduates are looked upon more favorably when matching for residencies? Good God no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman101 Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 If we assume that U of T is in fact more demanding of their students than others, does that mean U of T graduates are looked upon more favorably when matching for residencies? I ask because one of the docs that I shadowed last month mentioned how he does not take Mac graduates as residents. I am just curious if such "perceptions" that U of T is hard and Mac is "different" actually play out in the real world when carms comes around? Honestly there are some docs that don't feel mac is "legit" because of the 3 year and "no exams" thing. I'm not sure if they're in a position of power to influence anything though. At least the ones I know aren't. In terms of clinical competence though IMO mac students look pretty decent. I'm not at UofT or mac btw, and I'm in 2nd year so its not like I've interacted with clerks from other schools yet. This is all hearsay and things I've looked into back when I was applying/accepting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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