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Medical student and hating it

Pre-clinicals can be a bit dry. A lot of it becomes more relevant as you progress with the course. I can assure you that knowledge of antibiotics will be very relevant to you in practice, even when you become a psychiatrist. In an inpatient setting I spent just much time if not more trying to sort out physical health complaints as I am dealing with psychiatric issues.

If you enjoy clinical skills sessions that is a promising sign that you will enjoy clinical part of your training and the job itself. There is always going to be aspects of the course or work that are not that interesting but must be done.

Did you join any societies? It is usually a good way of meeting people with similar interests and making friends. London medical schools have active psychiatry societies for example. That could help you to keep your interests going whilst you work your way through pre-clinicals.

Thanks for your response. Are you a psychiatrist now? It's interesting that you say you treated physical health complaints too, I wasn't aware psychiatrists dealt with that side. I suppose it's better in that way as you're treating the whole person!

I haven't joined anything but I went to a great talk on psychoactive drugs that actually made me feel better for a couple of days. The psychology society at my uni isn't very active at all though unfortunately - there is one in our affiliated uni but it has its meets in the middle of the day for some reason.

I was thinking of trying to find a psychiatrist and asking if I could shadow them for a couple of days. Always worth a shot, even if they say no. The problem is finding one!

Reply 21

hedgemonkey

7

Original post by meat12345

My parents had no bearing on my decision and I'm very lucky that they will support me in what I choose to do, be it staying at medical school or leaving.
I originally picked London because the universities were good and the city was exciting, lots of things to do. I now realise we have no time to do the things, everything closes after 11 in Central and tubes get a lot less exciting when you commute every day. (who would've thought)

Yes exactly. Grown ups and Parents, who usually are aware of these matters therefore should guide their child and inform them. If parents are kept out of the loop how will they advise the children who can benefit from their experiences. Teenagers think they know everything, but that is where firm parenting can save the day and prevent the issues that you are now having.

Reply 22

username1236842

8

I disagree. My parents had no bearing on my choices and they were wary of me doing medicine as they knew no-one who was a doctor and thought being one was a near impossible task. I think it's a students job to think carefully about their career choice and where they want to go. Parents can give advice but I'd disagree with the idea of "firm parenting" for a 16-17 year old trying to decide how they want to live their life.
My son is currently applying to universities and I've helped him look at areas he's interested in and the details of courses and looked at unistats and league table data with him, and the fact that many of the things that put a college high on a league table don't necessarily make it a better course for an undergraduate.
He had the final decision on his course though and refused to have any parents with him when he went to open days as he wanted to wander around and soak up the atmosphere of the place and went alone or with friends, and he decided on his final 5 options.
I think shadowing a psychiatrist for a day or 2 may be interesting, although I started off thinking I wanted to be a psychiatrist but ended up a GP as that's where the more treatable psychiatry is these days, and you do need to know lots of pharmacology etc for that. You should be doing psychology and sociology soon (I did them in 1st and 2nd year) and they may get you more excited again.

Reply 23

belis

17

Original post by meat12345

Thanks for your response. Are you a psychiatrist now? It's interesting that you say you treated physical health complaints too, I wasn't aware psychiatrists dealt with that side. I suppose it's better in that way as you're treating the whole person!

I am in core psychiatric training at the moment. It usually falls down on the core trainee to deal with the physical problems. As a consultant you tend to see a bit less of this side of things.

Generally speaking when working with inpatients you do need to take some ownership of physical health problems (if only to identify that patient A has problem B and something needs to be done about it).

We also get some interesting referrals from AE from time to time as patients with known history of mental health problems are sometimes triaged straight to us regardless of what they present with. My best gems so far where 'schizophrenia' that turned out to be an acute MI, 'psychosis' that was in fact meningitis and 'panic attack' that was in fact DKA. It helps to be able to spot those early.

Plus you are the first point of call for emergencies (from heart attacks to patients overdosing and ligaturing). In some psychiatric trusts there is no crash team so you are it until ambulance arrives :eek:

.

If you are not already a member I would suggest signing up to the Royal College as a student associate: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/discoverpsychiatry/studentassociates.aspx They organise a lot of events that are worth going to.

Reply 24

seaholme

19

I can empathise! If you're on a course with 2 pre-clinical years of lectures then it is a long boring slog. Followed by a BSc (potentially, depending on where you are). THEN and only then are you unleashed on actual medicine. So you should know that the course gets much more engaging/better when you actually get into clinics. It's just a long way away when you're in first year. I found medicine really tedious in years 1 & 2 and it really helped with my enthusiasm/everything when I got to clinics! 9-5 lectures on random things like protein structure and stuff just killed me. Remarkably little of it has been retained into the present day :tongue:

Also I massively feel you with the London shock factor. I miss fields and trees and quietness and fresh air (oh beautiful sweet fresh air). What helped me was finding the green spaces in London. There are a lot of parks where you can go for a run or cycle and the air is fresher and you can smell leaves and the outside world without getting a lungful of something. It's my favourite thing to do and I can't wait until lighter evenings.
One other thing if you always have a cough is you should think about getting yourself checked out for asthma. I developed it when I came here, despite not having had it since I was about 5. Cigarette smoke, taxi fumes etc. seem to trigger it so I try to avoid those things (I'm sure you can appreciate this is hard!). Turned out my can't-breathe-what-the-hell-how-unfit-can-I-be moments went away when I got myself an inhaler.

Reply 25

Sambo2

10

Original post by meat1234

Hi all,

I'm a first year medic at a London medical school and am really hating it.

However I'm not sure if it's the course overall or London which I dislike - and I really don't know if I should stay and hope it gets better, leave now, transfer to a different university for medicine (is this even possible?) or transfer to a different course.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this decision, or give me some of their own experiences?

I feel very lost - I always thought medicine was the right course for me.

Any input is welcome. Thank you.

Pre-clinical is rubbish for most people - stick in there.

Reply 26

arminb

3

Original post by meat1234

Hi all,

I'm a first year medic at a London medical school and am really hating it.

However I'm not sure if it's the course overall or London which I dislike - and I really don't know if I should stay and hope it gets better, leave now, transfer to a different university for medicine (is this even possible?) or transfer to a different course.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this decision, or give me some of their own experiences?

I feel very lost - I always thought medicine was the right course for me.

Any input is welcome. Thank you.

Thats why you should always do the course which you are passionate about. Was there something else you were considering before going to medical school? If you are brave enough, maybe change to that. Or, just stay there try your best to make it then go and pursue your interest on your own. I assume medicine is a hard course so you need be passionate about it in order to cope with the workload so maybe its a good idea to try to find interest in it. I dont really know if you can change to another course but I am guessing you might be able to switch to things like biology or natural sciences if they interest you more.
I was kind of on the same boat as you. Because my parents were both doctors everyone was encouraging me to become a doctor as well. But the harder I tried, the more I hated it. So I decided to study history. I will not earn as much money, but i will be doing what I enjoy doing.Which ,to me, is more valuable than money or status. But everyone has his own values.
I hope I've been helpful :smile:

and good luck with whatever you will decide to do.

Reply 27

username1236842

8

I doubt transferring to a different uni would make any difference, the last 3 years are fairly similar wherever you go with just rotating through different specialities at different hospitals and general practices.
If you dislike all aspects of the preclinical course then you may not be cut out for medicine as the course teaches you how the human body works and surely that was what you were expecting to learn?
In what way were you expecting the course to be different? You need some background knowledge of the way the body works and the pharmacology of drugs before you can understand how diseases affect the body.
Is it just being away from home that you don't like and the fact that it's a big change in your life?
Psychiatrists need to know alot of the physical medicine because with our aging population an increasing proportion of psychiatry is psychiatry of the elderly whioch involves dealing with people with dementia and delerium and knowledge of the physical illnesses affecting them and how the drugs they are on for their other conditions may affect their minds is essential.
Alot of people think psychiatry is more glamorous than it is and think of Woody Allen type psychotherapists, not people trying to stop 80 year olds yelling all day and wandering down the road in their nighties.

Reply 28

doctordee

Honestly, maybe the course isn't for you.. Sometimes and most times it really has nothing to do with uno

Reply 29

doctordee

Honestly, maybe the course isn't for you.. Sometimes and most times it really has nothing to do with uno

Reply 30

username2909422

4

Original post by hopes

I'll swap Plymouth for London lol

Oh my word

I don't blame you

Reply 31

PocketMerlin

9

Original post by meat1234

Hi all,

I'm a first year medic at a London medical school and am really hating it.

However I'm not sure if it's the course overall or London which I dislike - and I really don't know if I should stay and hope it gets better, leave now, transfer to a different university for medicine (is this even possible?) or transfer to a different course.

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this decision, or give me some of their own experiences?

I feel very lost - I always thought medicine was the right course for me.

Any input is welcome. Thank you.

Fellow London (KCL) medic here!

Try to throw yourself into an activity group/sport/society. I think a lot of people do find pre-clinical years really tough, and it's definitely not what most of us thought we'd be doing when we sent off our UCAS applications all that time ago, but it's a necessary part of the course which will give you a basic knowledge underpinning for clinical years. However, this is your chance really to get involved in societies more and find your people amongst one of the many many groups out there.
Personal example: In my first year I joined rowing, and despite the 4/5AM starts it's been one of the best decisions I've made here, because during pre-clinical years it gave me an outlet, a huge group of friends, and a new sport to explore and take time learning about. I've been part of the club ever since, and in that time I've learned more than I can imagine, I've led, I've taught others, I've been part of some phenomenal teams and met some amazing people. I think one benefit of pre-clinical years is the free time you have, so it's really let me take advantage of that.
Obviously that kind of thing isn't for everyone, but the benefit of being at a London uni is that there are so many groups out there for so many different (and sometimes very niche) interests. There are also clinical groups at most medical schools which allow you to attend workshops etc etc and learn a bit more about specific interests. At King's (or GKT if you prefer) I know we have, for example, a club which basically involves you teaching homeless people basic first aid; we have another club in which you mentor young kids; we have another club which allows you to attend workshops in cardiology... the list goes on. That kind of thing may let you explore your clinical interests a bit further, whilst meeting likeminded people from your uni.

I'm not sure if by first year medic you mean that you've just completed first year medicine or you've just started (we're just at the turn of the term), but I know being at a London university can be pretty isolating sometimes, because we don't have that campus based structure. It can be tough to make friends, and at the bigger universities there is perhaps an element of 'clique-iness' as groups form rapidly then tend to stay together. Feel free to send me a PM anytime- I understand how it can feel.

Medical student and hating it

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