I have been on the pre-med path for years. I started college excited to one day become a doctor, but I quickly learned that excitement was not part of the culture. From the beginning, pre-med students are taught to compete with one another. We are forced into difficult STEM courses that are often graded on a curve, which turns classmates into rivals. I saw people hide resources, give wrong information on purpose, and do whatever they could to get ahead. It was toxic. And it was normal. We were told this is how the system works. That medicine is hard and only the strongest survive.
For students like me who are first-generation, low-income, and people of color, the struggle is even more intense. Many of us come from underfunded school districts and never had access to quality science courses or academic support in high school. We enter college already behind, and while others can afford tutoring and private MCAT prep programs, we are left trying to figure it out alone. There are so many unwritten rules and silent expectations. The MCAT becomes the final wall. It is expensive, confusing, and relentless. And for many of us, it has been the one thing standing between our hard work and the chance to apply. I have watched friends walk away from medicine not because they lacked potential, but because they ran out of money, time, or hope.
What makes this even more frustrating is that once students reach medical school, the expectation suddenly shifts. They are told to be team players, to collaborate, to care deeply about community and compassion. But so much of the pre-med environment trains the opposite. I never aligned with that. From the start, I believed in helping others, sharing resources, and lifting up the people around me. That mindset was not common. The system rewarded those who hoarded knowledge, competed aggressively, and stayed silent about their struggles. I saw how much harm it caused, not just to individuals but to the entire pipeline. And now medicine wants us all to unlearn what it allowed to grow. That contradiction is exhausting.
Even with everything I have experienced, I am still trying to get into medicine. Not because the system made it easy but because I know I belong here. I have worked hard, supported others, and stayed grounded in the kind of person I want to be. I want to become a physician who listens, who shows up for people, and who remembers what it feels like to be overlooked. I am not chasing a title. I am fighting for the chance to serve, to heal, and to make space for others who were never given the benefit of the doubt. I am still here because I know that people like me are needed in medicine, not as tokens but as leaders.
The pre-med process should not break people down just to see who can survive it. It should prepare students to become compassionate and competent physicians. It should build community, not destroy it. The way we train future doctors says everything about what we value in health care. If we want physicians who lead with empathy and care, we have to create a pathway that reflects those same values. I am still trying to get into medicine because I believe it can be better. And I want to be part of that change.
Jordan Williamson is a premedical student.
