This post was adapted from a note I sent to my daughter who is studying medicine
Surviving the Challenge of Medical School Education
Feeling out of your depth, wishing you were having a break? You are far down a unique and imho privileged path and this is just one more bend, turn or challenging hill on the way to something special. It is hard to articulate the sheer delight and honor of medicine and while the system of education does much to purge your goodnesses, curiosity, and compassion out of you with massive demands of time and work it does not change the end result.
You are marching towards a threshold that is unique and exciting and not something that is easy for everyone to truly get or fully understand. I am, and I do, as you will too. I may not practice day to day medicine but the drivers and underlying passion have not changed one iota for me each and every day. You should read this commencement address: Curiosity and What Equality Really Means by Atul Gawande to get a sense of the importance of preserving your curiosity, humanity, and values that captures much of what I feel each an every day. I can relate to so many elements he describes and you will too.
I say frequently that the fastest path to understanding is to walk a day in the shoes and I would suggest you try to do that in this circumstance and work hard to preserve your curiosity even in the face of adversity and find the positive in every circumstance. There is no greater foundation to your values and what matters across all walks of life and indeed around the world than medicine but getting there, and staying on the path is especially challenging in today’s climate. Accept the challenge, acknowledge your own imperfections and difficulties and learn what you can.
Take what serves you and leave what does not – you are ultimately your own greatest teacher. You cannot control any of the externalities but do control how you perceive and respond to them
