MEGATHREAD - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread Mk II

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I've always wanted to be a doctor from a very young age. I worked very hard in school consistently and got high grades. I am in year 11 now and I've doing little bits of revision for the past few weeks but haven't completed revision for all of my subjects. My first exam is in just over 4 weeks and my third exam in just over 5 weeks. I'm predicted to get 8A*s and 2As. I've been having panic attacks, literally pulling my hair out and crying because I feel as if there just isn't enough time to achieve my predicted grades. I originally started revision 2 months and 3 weeks before the first exam then did loads of revision the first week then just stopped when I started getting depressed from bullying at school etc.

I feel as if I have ruined all of my chances of becoming a doctor now and it is my whole word. My main goal in life. I haven't even started revision for English lit & Spanish and I haven't finished 'learning' some of the material for most of my subjects.

How can I stop stressing out? I know this is all completely my fault but how can I stop going mental and depressed over the situation?!

Reply 7721

Marlo Stanfield

100% not. Seriously calm down. I completely appreciate why you're stressing out now, when I did mine, I thought similarly too. You've got plenty of time, mountains of time I'd go so far as to say. The important thing is to start revising now. Don't bother with some grand plan but tackle a couple of topics a subject every day. Pay a lot of attention to past papers.

GCSEs are only the first step, and tbh quite a small step in the road. Eating healthily, exercising and having fun with your friends are also important in feeling good. When you feel good, you're better suited to revising well. Good luck.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7722

NW86

I honestly think you need to take a breath and read that post back to yourself.

As someone who finished uni a few years ago I am genuinely worried that gcse students think and worry to this extent, pulling your hair out and crying is way over the top, you've been predicted those grades for a reason, because you're capable of getting them, stop being mental.

Reply 7723

Elwyn

Just work hard now and worry about medicine when you know what your grades are.

Reply 7724

Someone123123

Whereas you can't erase the past, you can try and do something about the future.

I appreciate you're not in a happy state of mind at the moment but how about you take a day or 2 off to calm down and then return to your revision. That's the best you can do. From then on, what happens, happens.

There's still time!

Reply 7725

anniema

Stop for a minute and breathe. This is only one part of an entire load of things that universities will look at in your medicine application. So, if you don't get the grades you're predicted, it isn't the end of the world.
However, there is nothing to say that you won't get the grades you are predicted. It's likely that you are closer to achieving them than you realise! The important thing is that you calm down and start revision slowly, now. Don't forget that on top of the 5 weeks until your first exam, you have the time in between exams to continue revision. There is still hope :smile:

Good luck!

Reply 7726

twohanprincess

Calm down. I've felt the same way as you in the past, and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a few years ago, and take it from me, you can't go on feeling this way. I'd talk to your school counsellor/mentor about the hair tearing, this is obviously a form of self-harm and you can't let it continue or it'll get worse. Are your parents aware of what has been going on?

Do as the others before me suggested - study a couple of topics per day for different subjects. Make sure you take regular breaks in between studying so you don't feel 'burned out' - I was once told that studying in small chunks, and then having a 15-minute break in-between does wonders.

Give yourself some time off. Like I say, I totally understand that you want to do well, and you're obviously very driven. But you need a bit of relaxation time every night. Read a book for pleasure, listen to some music, watch a movie, exercise - whatever!

Ultimately, you haven't ruined your chances at all - you sound like a very dedicated person who has worked themselves up a little too much.

Reply 7727

username424118

Original post by aspiringmed

The most important thing to learn in order to get into medicine and eventually becoming a doctor is to learn how to deal with stress. You have plenty of time, just start your revision and you'll be fine. Remembe that breaks are just as important as studying.

Reply 7728

Hippokrates

As somebody who came out of my GCSEs knowing I hadn't done anywhere near enough revision my advice would be to stop worrying. I still did better than I aimed to do with practically no revision at all. Keep calm you have lots of time to revise just try and do a past paper a day.

Reply 7729

GiveMeAChallenge

No! Don't get me wrong, GCSEs are important but theyre not that important. As long as you get a B in sciences/maths (or maybe a C, im not sure) then you will be accepted onto the A-Level courses- this is where you need to achieve high grades so you can then go to study medicine at uni. Don't worry! If you are predicted A* then im in no doubt that you will easily be able to get a B. From my GCSE experience, i only started revising like a month before-ish and that was plenty of time. But you need to remember, the more time you spend panicking and being stressed over it, the less time you are spending revising. :smile:

Reply 7730

calumsteele1

calm young one, your chances are still fine! :smile:

GCSEs are a lot easier than you think, its not hard to get through them with excellent grades with out revising day and night for years before hand ... just sit down and take a breather! with regards to medicine though your chances are still good dont worry, from what i know of medicine they still place the vast bulk of the decision on Alevels.
just try calm down on these and dont over work your self you'll do fine dont worry, its bloody hard to screw up your GCSEs anyway :P

Reply 7731

Dirac Delta Function

Original post by aspiringmed

Calm down! Have some confidence in yourself.

Reply 7732

Miracle Day

GCSEs really aren't important.

/thread

Reply 7733

Elwyn

Original post by Miracle Day

GCSEs really aren't important.

/thread

GCSEs are the most important academic selection criteria for most medical schools. Pretty much all applicants will have AAA A2 predictions, GCSEs are the only way they can distinguish between candidates.

Reply 7734

cyfer

Stop stress?

My advice:
1) Go to mass on Sunday. I am an atheist but forcing myself to go to mass and sit down, where I ignore what the guy is saying and instead only going through the motions of standing/sitting/kneeling makes me think about stuff and calm down
2) Go to the park, either a walk or a bike ride
3) Dress up warm and sit in your backyard either revising or just thinking. Just remember to take a sweater, hat and maybe gloves.

Try to get up in the morning but don't keep to a night schedule, just go to sleep when you are tired. If you overextend your night, the next day your body will force you to go to sleep early so it balances out.

Otherwise try to maintain a constant diet with rigours throughout the day e.g. Eating at 12:00-1:00 even though you have no restrictions as complications with that part of your body can just further frustrate situations.

Reply 7735

nickster146

seriously dont over stress, thats the worst thing you can do. just put all this stress behind you and from now on work as hard as you can and get as good grades as you can. even if you dont get 8 A*s, a few A*s and a lot of As should be good enough so dooooont woooorry.

hearing about GCSE worries makes me feel young again... :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7736

andrewpeters

It's natural to panic, everyone does including your peers. So calm yourself down, plan your revision and get an edge.

Reply 7737

pshewitt1

you're worried about GCSE's ... I got 7 A*'s 3 A's 1 B without doing much... I then preceded to fail my A levels because I did no work, HA! ...so yea, do work for A levels, GCSE's are surprisingly easier than you are making them out to be

Reply 7738

Hippysnake

I flopped my GCSEs, so don't worry. Infact, think of it like this. If you're pulling your hair out over trivial GCSE exams, then how are you going to fare at medical schools where the exams are considerably harder? Nay, how are you going to fare when it comes to treating patients and training for post-grad exams?

Chill out ye?

Reply 7739

The Socktor

You can only destroy them by giving up on them.