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what makes some people drop out?

Hi i'm an applicant for 2010 but just today i heard one of my cousins who studies in a med school decided to drop out but I coudln't dare ask him about it and apparently he wouldn't tell others.

:frown:

What sort of things make people drop out from med schools? I worry for him.

I know things like family and money can be an influence but my parents know for sure he's got no problem like that at all..

So i am guessing it's something to do with the medical training itself.

opinions please...

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Reply 1

m197

stressssssssssss

im on the verge...

Reply 2

terpineol

The work load at times, like being 37 hours away from an exam where pharmacology makes up 15% of the marks, you need to learn 160 drugs with mechanisms, side effects etc, a heap of neuroanatomy, physiology, and pathology. It can at times make the sense of humour fade...

Reply 3

gildartz

stress of the timetable? realising he went into it for the wrong reasons? looking past uni to see that it'll be even tougher? difficulty of the content that you have to learn? discovered he had another vocation? loads of reasons

Reply 4

ballerinabetty

stress, work load, illness, other commitments, family problem, hating the uni, hating the course, changing you mind about your career, not getting on with people, money.

lots of things can make people drop out of uni, medicine is no exception.
there is also the fact that 18 you are still really young. when you get out of your teens your attitude twards life and your goals become very different. so what you wanted at 18 is not always what you want at age 21 (no matter how dedicated you feel right now). growig up changes people.

Reply 5

Gizmo!

the usual reason is that the candidates are smart and 'onest enough to tell themselves that they dont want to do medicine.
you need to be pretty smart and independent to be able to do this, though, given the social pressure to stay on. not many med students are that smart - its far easier to barricade yourself in wif your books until you can pass exams, than axctually sit down and assess what you really want in life.

also family problems and illness may contribute, though these count as extenuating circumstances for resitting a year, so they are rare unless prohibitively problematic.

money is a rare one, most med school applicants are chosen from fairly well funded backgrounds.

Reply 6

Comp_Genius

probably with the depressing nature of the course (ill people etc.) ... i doubt it's academic reasons though, medicine isn't that difficult.

Reply 7

Becca-Sarah

Comp_Genius

probably with the depressing nature of the course (ill people etc.) ... i doubt it's academic reasons though, medicine isn't that difficult.

The concepts involved aren't very intellectually challenging, admittedly, but the sheer volume of stuff to learn is what's overwhelming.

I'd say unsupportive staff, coupled with ****** living conditions, with a small dose of extra personal issues, distance from family, inability to cope with the aforementioned volume of work. Etc.

Reply 8

foxyamy

Some people may also find that they can't cope financially, but may be afraid to ask for help. There is no way to be sure they didn't have difficulties with this. I know of a couple of people who in their first years found it really hard coping away from home, got themselves massively into debt, and didn't dare ask for help from their parents.

Reply 9

Gizmo!

for those of us who ave that option, of course... lots of us dont ave parents to fall back on financially. they are already falling back on us!

yes, inability to cope wif life away from the nest is a biggie.

Reply 10

studentjohn

Why do people drop out?

I heard quite a few people drop out of medicine in the first year. I though you must have been really clever to get there in the first place so the work shouldn't be a problem.

Reply 11

krisblade

One girl dropped out in the first week. Said she missed home which I personally find a pathetic reason to drop out of medical school for after only being away from home for seven whole days.

Reply 12

dichr0ic

krisblade

One girl dropped out in the first week. Said she missed home which I personally find a pathetic reason to drop out of medical school for after only being away from home for seven whole days.

yeah that's a sickeningly poor excuse

what did she expect?

ugh

Reply 13

petzneo

Some just don't like the degree...

Reply 14

krisblade

dichr0ic

yeah that's a sickeningly poor excuse

what did she expect?

ugh

UGH, I know! I think they let her defer entry as well, so she can just try again next year. It's so annoying when I know loads of people who really deserved her place.

I understand if she'd at least tried, but a week is pathetic.

Reply 15

anon1212

Medicine can be a really tough degree though in particular, I guess some people just can't cope with the workload and see themselves doing it for 5 years

Reply 16

ballerinabetty

i imagin people who drop out in the first year are people who didnt arrive with a realistic view of what studying medicine is like.
studying medicine and being a doctor are two different things. and it is alway said that 'it you want to be a doctor you seriously have to think about weather you want to be a medical student'

also from my experiance of uni people drop out for loads of different reasons;
hate the course,
hate the uni,
hate the city,
hate the people in their class,
hate halls/accomadation
people in the class hate them,
family issues, (inc getting pregnant, getting married or family members dying)
money,
illness,
lack of motivation,
change of heart,
depression(suprising amount of people drop out because of this),
failing,
a job,
dont like living away from home,
there just not mature enough,
visa runs out

any number of things really. you can never say, no matter who you are, that you will make it to the end of a uni course because you dont know what might change in your life between now and then. sometimes even the most dedicated and talented people leave because of things like money, family issues and illness. it life and its **** sometimes.

Reply 17

Chiko 1001

It's easy to talk about it being intense, expecting to work all the time yada yada, everyone jokes about it but until you've actually experienced a 9-5 monday-friday with study in the evenings and all weekend while your non medic flatmates are out till 3 and don't get up till 11, with 10 hours of contact teaching a week, it's hard to appreciate just what the reality is. Some people just don't suit the lifestyle.

Reply 18

dichr0ic

krisblade

yeah! what a waste :erm:

is it actually 9 - 5 every day though? i know someone doing engineering, which is pretty intense, and there are lots of 9 o'clocks and things ending at 5, but it's not 9-5 every day. and he always has lots of reading and problem sheets to do and he rarely goes out. something i feel sorry for him :erm:

Reply 19

Chiko 1001

dichr0ic

yeah! what a waste :erm:

Yes. The days where it's not 9-5 contact the contact you did get that day is almost always so intense that it takes you until 5 to write it up and understand it. Without keeping up to date as you go along it's physically impossible to cover everything at exam time so essentially, 9-5 at the very least in terms of time spent working and we start at 9am every single day without fail. Almost everybody then does at least a couple of hours in the evening to make sure everything's written up. You can sometimes skive off an evening if you have a generous timetable the next day with plenty of gaps but it's a totally different life to someone doing a less intense course.

[EDIT] This was written at stupid oclock when I was pissed off. The reality isn't quite as severe but is still fairly crap :smile: