Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Advice for first-year medical students

Jamie Katuna
Education
June 29, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

A few days ago I received a message: “Any advice for incoming med students?”

As an old, wise, seasoned, now-second year medical student, I know everything. Just kidding — I fumbled my way through first year like everyone else, and just like you will too. No piece of advice allows you to opt out from the challenges of medical school year one.

My advice isn’t the “normal” recommendations incoming medical students receive. You know the stuff: Experiment with study habits until you find one that works for you; get involved with clubs; talk to your professors; get an exercise routine; make time for yourself; meal-prep your food; get enough sleep; etc. Different variations of these things work for different people, and you’ll figure out your version at your pace.

My advice is more how to perceive and analyze your experiences as you navigate a new world.

One: Trust your gut. Medical education is far, far from perfect; but it continues this way due to inertia. New students don’t know enough to speak up against it, and senior students who can see its problems in hindsight are busied with new problems in a new environment. If something feels off, unethical, inefficient, unfair, or incorrect— trust your gut and speak up. That’s how we can change a system.

Two: Establish a purpose and find ways to tap into it. There will come a time when you’re swimming in studying and none of it feels relevant and it’s been three days and you still can’t understand it, so you tell yourself that you don’t want to do this anymore. (This is when I fantasize about working as a farmhand—outdoors all day, getting sweaty and sunburnt, working manual labor—it sounds magical.) You need to tap back into a purpose. Human beings don’t work well if we don’t think what we’re doing is meaningful. I suggest writing down your purpose in a journal and revisiting it, or adding to it, when you reach these frustrating, I-wanna-quit states.

Three: Be adaptable about your identity and address yourself with curiosity rather than harshness. Fail a test for the first time? Fabulous — what a great learning experience. The only one to forget your white coat to a practical? Interesting, you must be stressed. Cut the one nerve you were trying to isolate on the cadaver? Ask another group to show you theirs. The Making-Of-A-Doctor is a messy, challenging, sometimes hilarious endeavor and the learning curve is enormous. Let yourself ride that curve. You’ll end up where you need to be.

Jamie Katuna is a medical student.  She can be reached at her self-titled site, Jamie Katuna, and on Facebook.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

A physician on timeshares: Who are they right for?

June 29, 2018 Kevin 3
…
Next

A patient is left with a choice: financial devastation or blindness

June 29, 2018 Kevin 11
…

Tagged as: Medical school

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A physician on timeshares: Who are they right for?
Next Post >
A patient is left with a choice: financial devastation or blindness

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Jamie Katuna

  • How to spark the attention of patients

    Jamie Katuna
  • How to foster and encourage genuine, curious learning in a medical student

    Jamie Katuna
  • While managing her schedule, a medical student learns 2 important concepts

    Jamie Katuna

Related Posts

  • Advice for graduating medical students

    R. Lynn Barnett
  • 3 pieces of advice to new medical students

    Natasha Abadilla
  • How medical education fails minority students

    Shenyece Ferguson
  • Medical students: It is OK to not feel OK

    Jamie Katuna
  • Physicians and medical students: Unlearn helplessness

    Jamie Katuna
  • Polarizing medical students do not foster discussion and education

    Anonymous

More in Education

  • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

    ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD
  • In the absence of physician mentorship, who will train the next generation of primary care clinicians?

    Kenneth Botelho, DMSc, PA-C
  • The moment I knew medicine needed more than science

    Vaishali Jha
  • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

    Ankit Jain
  • Medical students in Korea face expulsion for speaking out

    Anonymous
  • America, our health care workforce training isn’t evolving alongside our needs

    William Wertheim, MD, MBA
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Meds
    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Why great patient outcomes don’t protect female doctors from burnout [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why ADHD in women is finally getting the attention it deserves

      Arti Lal, MD | Conditions
    • How a $75 million jet brought down America’s boldest doctor

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Why ruling out sepsis in emergency departments can be lifesaving

      Claude M. D'Antonio, Jr., MD | Conditions
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check

      Joshua Baker and James Jackson, PsyD | Conditions
    • The dreaded question: Do you have boys or girls?

      Pamela Adelstein, MD | Physician
    • A world without antidepressants: What could possibly go wrong?

      Tomi Mitchell, MD | Meds
    • Rethinking patient payments: Why billing is the new frontline of patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • The silent crisis hurting pain patients and their doctors

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • What happened to real care in health care?

      Christopher H. Foster, PhD, MPA | Policy
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
    • Why great patient outcomes don’t protect female doctors from burnout [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why ADHD in women is finally getting the attention it deserves

      Arti Lal, MD | Conditions
    • How a $75 million jet brought down America’s boldest doctor

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Why ruling out sepsis in emergency departments can be lifesaving

      Claude M. D'Antonio, Jr., MD | Conditions
    • The hidden cost of delaying back surgery

      Gbolahan Okubadejo, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Advice for first-year medical students
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...