How to cope with being trapped in the medic bubble?
Hello everyone,
I'm currently a first year GEM student and whilst I love the course, I'm starting to dislike being stuck in the medic bubble. I live with all medics, I spend all day with medics, and we're segregated at a different campus to all the other non-GEM medics/other students. Most people I've met on on the course are nice people and there are a few people I can see I will probably be long term friends with, but it gets very lonely sometimes. The common factor between all of us is medicine and it's the only thing really spoken about, especially when we have coursework and exams coming up. There's always just a mass panic of people talking about failing and how much work they haven't done etc.
I sometimes sit alone in my room feeling overwhelmed and it's not even because of the workload, it's because I a) feel like I'm not good enough in comparison to all these hardcore medics who live and breathe medicine, and b) sometimes I just want to have a normal chat with someone but don't want to disturb anyone because they are all busy studying in their rooms or the library (which is probably what I should be doing but I feel like I'm coping ok atm). I've joined some societies and do get to do stuff that is different, but that's only for a couple of hours a week. The rest of the time I'm just sat on my own feeling down, feeling like I should be like them working my socks off like them, which is understandable because it's GEM and we've always been told it would be intense.
I have a long way to go until my clinical phase and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for coping
I'm currently a first year GEM student and whilst I love the course, I'm starting to dislike being stuck in the medic bubble. I live with all medics, I spend all day with medics, and we're segregated at a different campus to all the other non-GEM medics/other students. Most people I've met on on the course are nice people and there are a few people I can see I will probably be long term friends with, but it gets very lonely sometimes. The common factor between all of us is medicine and it's the only thing really spoken about, especially when we have coursework and exams coming up. There's always just a mass panic of people talking about failing and how much work they haven't done etc.
I sometimes sit alone in my room feeling overwhelmed and it's not even because of the workload, it's because I a) feel like I'm not good enough in comparison to all these hardcore medics who live and breathe medicine, and b) sometimes I just want to have a normal chat with someone but don't want to disturb anyone because they are all busy studying in their rooms or the library (which is probably what I should be doing but I feel like I'm coping ok atm). I've joined some societies and do get to do stuff that is different, but that's only for a couple of hours a week. The rest of the time I'm just sat on my own feeling down, feeling like I should be like them working my socks off like them, which is understandable because it's GEM and we've always been told it would be intense.
I have a long way to go until my clinical phase and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for coping
Hey, are you at Warwick? (Your description seems incredibly familiar...) I'm a 3rd year there if you want to chat - medicine or not!
It's still early days and you will find people with a similar outlook to yourself, it just may take a bit of time and a bit of reaching out. In my first year I had a good group of friends who were a mix of house-mates and people from CBL groups, we used to go out probably once a night for drinks and we would keep the chat off the topic of medicine (if you brought medicine up you had to buy a round of shots...).
Other societies at the uni's main campus are another good consideration, as well as pursuing any sports/hobbies locally and not attached to the med school if possible. Sometimes this is tricky due to timetabling and things, but it's certainly possible.
I think the initial keenness does die down. There will always be those loud people bragging about how much work they're doing, but just focus on yourself and what you need to do to keep yourself happy/comfortable.
It's still early days and you will find people with a similar outlook to yourself, it just may take a bit of time and a bit of reaching out. In my first year I had a good group of friends who were a mix of house-mates and people from CBL groups, we used to go out probably once a night for drinks and we would keep the chat off the topic of medicine (if you brought medicine up you had to buy a round of shots...).
Other societies at the uni's main campus are another good consideration, as well as pursuing any sports/hobbies locally and not attached to the med school if possible. Sometimes this is tricky due to timetabling and things, but it's certainly possible.
I think the initial keenness does die down. There will always be those loud people bragging about how much work they're doing, but just focus on yourself and what you need to do to keep yourself happy/comfortable.
Original post by Anonymous
Hello everyone,
I'm currently a first year GEM student and whilst I love the course, I'm starting to dislike being stuck in the medic bubble. I live with all medics, I spend all day with medics, and we're segregated at a different campus to all the other non-GEM medics/other students. Most people I've met on on the course are nice people and there are a few people I can see I will probably be long term friends with, but it gets very lonely sometimes. The common factor between all of us is medicine and it's the only thing really spoken about, especially when we have coursework and exams coming up. There's always just a mass panic of people talking about failing and how much work they haven't done etc.
I sometimes sit alone in my room feeling overwhelmed and it's not even because of the workload, it's because I a) feel like I'm not good enough in comparison to all these hardcore medics who live and breathe medicine, and b) sometimes I just want to have a normal chat with someone but don't want to disturb anyone because they are all busy studying in their rooms or the library (which is probably what I should be doing but I feel like I'm coping ok atm). I've joined some societies and do get to do stuff that is different, but that's only for a couple of hours a week. The rest of the time I'm just sat on my own feeling down, feeling like I should be like them working my socks off like them, which is understandable because it's GEM and we've always been told it would be intense.
I have a long way to go until my clinical phase and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for coping
I'm currently a first year GEM student and whilst I love the course, I'm starting to dislike being stuck in the medic bubble. I live with all medics, I spend all day with medics, and we're segregated at a different campus to all the other non-GEM medics/other students. Most people I've met on on the course are nice people and there are a few people I can see I will probably be long term friends with, but it gets very lonely sometimes. The common factor between all of us is medicine and it's the only thing really spoken about, especially when we have coursework and exams coming up. There's always just a mass panic of people talking about failing and how much work they haven't done etc.
I sometimes sit alone in my room feeling overwhelmed and it's not even because of the workload, it's because I a) feel like I'm not good enough in comparison to all these hardcore medics who live and breathe medicine, and b) sometimes I just want to have a normal chat with someone but don't want to disturb anyone because they are all busy studying in their rooms or the library (which is probably what I should be doing but I feel like I'm coping ok atm). I've joined some societies and do get to do stuff that is different, but that's only for a couple of hours a week. The rest of the time I'm just sat on my own feeling down, feeling like I should be like them working my socks off like them, which is understandable because it's GEM and we've always been told it would be intense.
I have a long way to go until my clinical phase and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for coping
work smart not too hard. I know people that are working part time in pre-clinical years while also doing medicine. Focus on you, not anyone else. Just because they are all studying all the time.. that doesn't equate to being successful at med school. Work life balance is the holy grail, your well being is crucial -just make sure you are also not too relaxed. Have a decent time table and be around people with similar outlook in life -ypur company shapes you. Best of luck
I am so scared that this will happen to me at uni, I cannot stand being around people who are too similar so I understand your pain.
Have you tried getting involved in societies and meeting people from different courses?
Have you tried getting involved in societies and meeting people from different courses?
Never mind, you have.
Okay, do you take time off? You really need to reserve one day, even if only a few hours, in a week where you do nothing but go out and enjoy yourself. Have you got non-med friends who you could go out with? I think it is so important to have friends with whom you never talk about studies because it gets so ****ing tiring having EVERY PERSONS IN YOUR LIFE talk to you about one thing and one thing only. I get it, I really do and I feel so awful for you.
Form new friends then, I would advise.
Okay, do you take time off? You really need to reserve one day, even if only a few hours, in a week where you do nothing but go out and enjoy yourself. Have you got non-med friends who you could go out with? I think it is so important to have friends with whom you never talk about studies because it gets so ****ing tiring having EVERY PERSONS IN YOUR LIFE talk to you about one thing and one thing only. I get it, I really do and I feel so awful for you.
Form new friends then, I would advise.
Original post by Anonymous
I am so scared that this will happen to me at uni, I cannot stand being around people who are too similar so I understand your pain.
Have you tried getting involved in societies and meeting people from different courses?
Have you tried getting involved in societies and meeting people from different courses?
Original post by Marathi
X
I'm not at Warwick haha, I'm at Nottingham. It's clearly a trend though.
I'm hoping that once our first formative is over things will settle down a bit more since we won't have anymore for a couple more months after.
I have joined a few societies that are based over at the main campus but they aren't really weekly ones, more special events kind of ones plus it is a bit of a trek to go over to the main campus. As for local sports, the city we're in has awful public transport and ideally I'd need a car or someone to drive me to get to where I want to be so for the time being the gym and sports socities at uni are the only ones I have easy access to.
I think I'm just going to go in with the mindset that next month is a new month and hopefully it will improve a bit
Original post by Neurocandid
work smart not too hard. I know people that are working part time in pre-clinical years while also doing medicine. Focus on you, not anyone else. Just because they are all studying all the time.. that doesn't equate to being successful at med school. Work life balance is the holy grail, your well being is crucial -just make sure you are also not too relaxed. Have a decent time table and be around people with similar outlook in life -ypur company shapes you. Best of luck
This is the mindset I'm trying to have. I don't want to become someohe who studies aimlessly for hours in their room. Also, I generally do and feel a lot better when I have a schedule which I know includes downtime. I'll try to broaden my social circle
Original post by Anonymous
I am so scared that this will happen to me at uni, I cannot stand being around people who are too similar so I understand your pain.
Have you tried getting involved in societies and meeting people from different courses?
Have you tried getting involved in societies and meeting people from different courses?
It's hard because we're based at a different campus in a different city to the rest of the university. I've joined a few societies based here which has helped because at least I can mingle with people who aren't stressed out first years
Original post by Anonymous
It's hard because we're based at a different campus in a different city to the rest of the university. I've joined a few societies based here which has helped because at least I can mingle with people who aren't stressed out first years
yeah I have been in a situation before where other students' stress stressed me out more than stress itself. I would say distance yourself from these student wtaf The thing with work is, you cannot be given more than what is manageable so all you need to do is ORGANIZE your time and you will be fine! You will be fine, trust me! These stressing out students are the ones who are going to burn out in like year 2, honestly see if you can do things like study where these students are not, maybe a local library or something like that
I used to find if I was at a loose end or feeling stressed that exercise made a big difference. Going to the gym, out for a run or whatever you enjoy doing, it helps give a bit of perspective on life and time to process things from the day. Especially when you're covering a lot of material each day sometimes I think the brain needs a break from thinking and you need a break from other people for a bit!
Otherwise I guess I would recommend pursuing societies at Uni to see if you can meet people from other courses. I lived with medics for the first few years and then moved in with non-medics thereafter, and I much preferred the latter situation. Like you said, you see other medics all day! And life can end up revolving around medicine and fellow medics. Especially around exam time I appreciated being able to do my own thing without watching all my housemates stay up until 1-2am revising, the stress surrounding exam time is very contagious. It was nice to be able to leave my revision and leave my room to have sane conversations with sane people!
Also as has been mentioned, you're pretty early on in the course and hopefully some of this fervour will calm down.
Otherwise I guess I would recommend pursuing societies at Uni to see if you can meet people from other courses. I lived with medics for the first few years and then moved in with non-medics thereafter, and I much preferred the latter situation. Like you said, you see other medics all day! And life can end up revolving around medicine and fellow medics. Especially around exam time I appreciated being able to do my own thing without watching all my housemates stay up until 1-2am revising, the stress surrounding exam time is very contagious. It was nice to be able to leave my revision and leave my room to have sane conversations with sane people!
Also as has been mentioned, you're pretty early on in the course and hopefully some of this fervour will calm down.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous
Hello everyone,
I'm currently a first year GEM student and whilst I love the course, I'm starting to dislike being stuck in the medic bubble. I live with all medics, I spend all day with medics, and we're segregated at a different campus to all the other non-GEM medics/other students. Most people I've met on on the course are nice people and there are a few people I can see I will probably be long term friends with, but it gets very lonely sometimes. The common factor between all of us is medicine and it's the only thing really spoken about, especially when we have coursework and exams coming up. There's always just a mass panic of people talking about failing and how much work they haven't done etc.
I sometimes sit alone in my room feeling overwhelmed and it's not even because of the workload, it's because I a) feel like I'm not good enough in comparison to all these hardcore medics who live and breathe medicine, and b) sometimes I just want to have a normal chat with someone but don't want to disturb anyone because they are all busy studying in their rooms or the library (which is probably what I should be doing but I feel like I'm coping ok atm). I've joined some societies and do get to do stuff that is different, but that's only for a couple of hours a week. The rest of the time I'm just sat on my own feeling down, feeling like I should be like them working my socks off like them, which is understandable because it's GEM and we've always been told it would be intense.
I have a long way to go until my clinical phase and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for coping
I'm currently a first year GEM student and whilst I love the course, I'm starting to dislike being stuck in the medic bubble. I live with all medics, I spend all day with medics, and we're segregated at a different campus to all the other non-GEM medics/other students. Most people I've met on on the course are nice people and there are a few people I can see I will probably be long term friends with, but it gets very lonely sometimes. The common factor between all of us is medicine and it's the only thing really spoken about, especially when we have coursework and exams coming up. There's always just a mass panic of people talking about failing and how much work they haven't done etc.
I sometimes sit alone in my room feeling overwhelmed and it's not even because of the workload, it's because I a) feel like I'm not good enough in comparison to all these hardcore medics who live and breathe medicine, and b) sometimes I just want to have a normal chat with someone but don't want to disturb anyone because they are all busy studying in their rooms or the library (which is probably what I should be doing but I feel like I'm coping ok atm). I've joined some societies and do get to do stuff that is different, but that's only for a couple of hours a week. The rest of the time I'm just sat on my own feeling down, feeling like I should be like them working my socks off like them, which is understandable because it's GEM and we've always been told it would be intense.
I have a long way to go until my clinical phase and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for coping
hey
I ended up living with medics and it was v stressful. since then I have never lived with medics and my stress levels have been fine.
id recommend doing what youre doing already, g going to societies, doing what works for you thats the biggest thing to overcome.
keep your own study schedule and checklist and go at your own pace. some people spend 2x as long but it doesn't mean they know any more than you. That was my biggest hurdle when living with medics and trying not to get down about it, esp as I spent time in my room alot when in the flat. id recommend doing daily exercise it really helps your stress and mood!
drop me an inbox if you'd like more of a chat about it
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