Overcoming obstacles as a medical student: A journey of resilience

It’s no secret that the decision to pursue a career as a physician is one of the most challenging choices anyone could make. At the same time, it also has the potential to become one of the most rewarding decisions you make.

Medical students are tasked with putting in extremely long hours studying, borrowing lots of money, making sacrifices in their personal lives and maintaining professional integrity. These variables lead to the ultimate stressor for medical students—placement in a residency program that will allow them to continue their training in their desired specialty.

Matching into a residency program can be breathtakingly competitive, depending on the year you apply, your background and your chosen specialty.

The obstacles, however, are manageable. Thousands of medical students are successful in these endeavors every year. With the appropriate mindset, strategic approach and mentorship, these difficulties can become opportunities rather than obstacles.

One of the best ways to overcome these obstacles is to remember that they are often temporary. Short-term stress can lead to long-term rewards. Common problems students face, especially early on, include challenges with heavy workloads and time management, high stress levels, limited social lives and staying healthy. Below are my insights and ideas on handling these obstacles; I drew from my experience as a fourth-year DO student, my conversations with my classmates and my research on what worked for other med students.

Time management

When I got accepted into medical school, my aim shifted quickly from excitement to understanding how to manage the upcoming challenges and succeed. Many students have never experienced the sheer volume of studying and tasks required to be successful in medical school. To prepare myself, I looked at how other successful medical students managed their time. I watched YouTube videos, read blogs and attended events on this topic.

My goal was not to copy how other people went about their lives but to get ideas for creating a plan for myself. I used a calendar app and broke my day into 30-minute segments. For all the lectures I was watching, I doubled the time the lecture was scheduled to allow time for note consolidation. I rarely used the whole time I set aside. I put the lectures in first and then filled in my day with all the tasks I had to do after that, building in 15-minute buffer periods between tasks to allow me to take my time if needed.

At the end of the day, if I was appropriately disciplined, I would have ample time to have fun and relax. I would decompress by watching TV, napping, working out and spending time with friends.

Be realistic with yourself and what you need to be successful and maintain your mental and physical health. It is not possible to study for 18 hours a day, every single day, with no breaks.

I had colleagues who never opened a single study material on the weekends so they could spend that time with their families; that meant they had to put in their work during the week. I spent the vast majority of my weekends camping. I would download lectures and lay in a hammock in the mountains watching them to review material while also relaxing. There are all sorts of possibilities.

I would go some days where I didn’t get anything done, and that’s okay. We all have good days and bad days.

Be kind to yourself when planning your days and weeks, and give yourself grace when you fail. We are not just med students; we are also humans, and it is easy to forget that sometimes.

Stress management

Medical school comes with an inherent level of stress that is unavoidable. Medical school, and medicine in general, have very high levels of burnout. As with everything, everyone has different strategies to combat this.

Many schools offer counseling services to help students talk through their feelings and get help if they are struggling with depression or anxiety. There is no shame in getting the support you need; it will ultimately help you become a better physician for your patients.

In addition, fostering and nurturing healthy coping mechanisms—which can and should include getting professional care—can help medical students nurture their mental health and deal with stress. Additional healthy coping mechanisms include strong mentorship, physical exercise, making time for a hobby you love and seeking camaraderie and support from your colleagues and peers.

I personally use an app to practice mindfulness meditation. I also love camping and getting outside with my dogs, so I make time to go out into the mountains as much as possible. I also tried not to get overwhelmed by my long to-do list and focus more on the task at hand. These are just a few things that have helped me manage the stress of medical school.

Social life and physical well-being

Unfortunately, these are the first two things that fall by the wayside when we get swamped. It’s easy to feel like the time could be better spent on studying or working on other projects. In my first few months of med school, I often skipped exercising or seeing friends to study more.

However, I felt I was not being as efficient as possible. I also realized that I felt more stressed when I didn’t exercise or socialize.

Eventually, I learned that it worked well for me to set aside time for both on my calendar so that I had time that would be dedicated to them.

Academic challenges

Few training programs require their trainees to receive, digest and apply the sheer volume of information that medical students are tasked with from day one. The common analogy “drinking from a fire hose” is appropriate. Medical students must develop an advanced understanding of topics ranging from complex anatomy to detailed pharmacology, intricate pathology and advanced imaging techniques for nearly every system in the human body.

The information you learn in medical school takes a career to master, sometimes even longer. There is a reason you “practice” medicine—it’s a lifelong journey that medical school only scratches the surface of. Identifying methods of time management is critical. Without this foundational skill, students quickly become overwhelmed.

Almost every student develops study methods that work well for them. The evidence suggests that active recall, spaced repetition, interleaving, and teaching topics to other students are the best ways to understand and retain information for long periods.

What is critical to comprehend early is that medical education is, unfortunately, not amenable to a cookie-cutter approach. The study strategies used by some of your closest colleagues may serve you poorly in your education. It takes a high degree of introspection, self-advocacy and exploration to identify the best study strategies for you.

Trying different study strategies to identify which works best can be highly uncomfortable and waste precious time, but it is a valuable way to find out what can make your life a little easier.

The discomfort of trying different study methods often leads students to give up on experimentation and try to do what the most successful students are doing. However, following others’ methods without truly exploring your preferences can cause more stress and difficulty. Students may find themselves asking, “It’s working for them; why is it not working for me?”

Maintaining perspective

All of us who have had the great fortune to attend medical school have earned the opportunity to care for patients. This profession allows us to gain the ultimate trust of another person and alter lives for the better in ways not otherwise possible. It is essential to remember that we walk an arduous path. However, we can face these challenges with the correct tools, support and mindset.

Related reading:

Task failed successfully: How I turned my failed board exams into a triumphant residency

How I qualified for the Boston Marathon (twice) during residency