3rd year medical student, hating this course. What should I do?

I about 2 months into my 3rd year of medical school and I'm really starting to not enjoy this programme. Don't get me wrong; I understand that this is a difficult course, I experienced that in 1st and 2nd year. But this feels different. I'm genuinely not interested in the content I'm learning. When I revise, I either get bored or frustrated and when on placement, I just want to go home. I'm getting distracted very easily and preparation for my upcoming Progress Test has been disastrous. I keep telling myself that I'll find a specialty/subsection of the degree that I enjoy but it hasn't come so far. What should I do? I feel like dropping out wouldn't do me any good. I appreciate any advice. I understand that this isn't exactly a unique situation too so let me know if there's another discussion similar to this.

I about 2 months into my 3rd year of medical school and I'm really starting to not enjoy this programme. Don't get me wrong; I understand that this is a difficult course, I experienced that in 1st and 2nd year. But this feels different. I'm genuinely not interested in the content I'm learning. When I revise, I either get bored or frustrated and when on placement, I just want to go home. I'm getting distracted very easily and preparation for my upcoming Progress Test has been disastrous. I keep telling myself that I'll find a specialty/subsection of the degree that I enjoy but it hasn't come so far. What should I do? I feel like dropping out wouldn't do me any good. I appreciate any advice. I understand that this isn't exactly a unique situation too so let me know if there's another discussion similar to this.

It's worth remembering that were you drop out of medicine, you would not be able to reapply to a UK medical school again. You'd need to be 100% sure that it was the right thing for you to do, both educationally and from a future career point of view.

That sounds so scary tho, too final. Hope op makes the right choice for them

What was your motivation for applying to medical school?

Good question. I always enjoyed human biology. Around the age of 14/15, I started reading Siddhartha Mukherjee's books (Emperor of all Maladies, The Gene); yes, I know very boring/typical medical school applicant story. I did work experience in A&E when I was 16 which I found really cool. I also clearly ruled out a research/academic career because I found lab work really dull so a clinical setting seemed more suited to me.

But frankly, I'm not really sure what led me to choose Medicine over other interests I had. I loved history, philosophy, following politics, debating. I'm actually an editor on the student newspaper which I find much more stimulating than my actual degree. I think I might've been subconsciously swayed by the fact that I could say "Hey I'm a doctor". 17 is definitely too young to choose this career path. I understand now why they make you wait till grad school in America.

Good question. I always enjoyed human biology. Around the age of 14/15, I started reading Siddhartha Mukherjee's books (Emperor of all Maladies, The Gene); yes, I know very boring/typical medical school applicant story. I did work experience in A&E when I was 16 which I found really cool. I also clearly ruled out a research/academic career because I found lab work really dull so a clinical setting seemed more suited to me.

But frankly, I'm not really sure what led me to choose Medicine over other interests I had. I loved history, philosophy, following politics, debating. I'm actually an editor on the student newspaper which I find much more stimulating than my actual degree. I think I might've been subconsciously swayed by the fact that I could say "Hey I'm a doctor". 17 is definitely too young to choose this career path. I understand now why they make you wait till grad school in America.

You can be a dr via a phd instead. Maybe you could finish the degree and work in a and e.

That is 100% not how it works, at all.

An academic doctor (i.e. someone with a PhD) is not the same as a medical doctor (someone with an MBBS). You cannot work as a medical doctor in A&E, or any other medical specialty, without a medical degree (i.e. the MBBS). No PhD, in any field, will replace the requirement to have a primary medical qualification for that.

I think the two sentences are separate.

You could say “hi I am a doctor” with a PhD.

Or, you could finish the degree (MBBS) and work in a&e..

OP. Am sorry you are feeling like this. I think if you can push through and finish the third year it could be a good option. 1, you may well find that the clinical side works better for you. 2, it may consolidate for you that medicine isn’t for you, but if you leave at the end of the third year then you may well finish with a different kind of degree, as I believe this can happen at some unis. 3. You could pause and intercalate, you could pause at the end of the third year and just have a year out. You could pause have some time out and a thinking space, and never return at that point.

Sounds easy for me to say just stay and do it. I know it’s not that easy. Take advice and talk about how you are feeling with those close to you and from those at the uni and on your course. I am sure you are not the only person who feels like this and has felt like this so they will hopefully have some more experienced advice and support available for you. Take it.

Lastly. Bit boring but worth bearing in mind. We are heading very fast into a recession. Entry programmes for companies are getting more scarce, there are a lot of worries about job security, especially for higher than living wage jobs and it will get a lot worse possibly over the next two to three years. The grass may not be greener on the other side. If you decide to jump ship, may be good to have somewhere to work already in place before you do.

All that said. Look after yourself and your mental health. That is the single most important thing.🤗

Lastly, I went through a period of feeling disinterested and unable to have any momentum a year or so ago. I thought it was in my head. Turned out I was anaemic. I am not suggesting you are anaemic, but perhaps looking after yourself better physically, lots of sleep and vitamins and eating well might help a bit ? Take care.

Thanks so much for your response! It's great to get perspective from someone who has been through it. I definitely feel that learning all of these conditions and OSCE skills is frustrating and borderline angering. My roommate has heard me randomly yell out "oh for f*ck sake" more than enough times for mixing up Lymphoma with Lymphoblastic Leukaemia or Myasthenia Gravis with Lambert Eaton etc. I also had a terrible experience learning upper limb examinations, where (long story short) I completely humiliated myself in front of a patient.

I do see your point about a medical degree also being a pathway into non-clinical jobs. I'm starting to see the value in just pushing through for the next 3 years (inc. intercalation). I hope, like you say, it gets better after this. Thanks again for your input; really appreciate it.

Hello! Sorry, I didn't see your reply initially. Thank you for checking in. I'm almost finished with third year now and about to intercalate next year in a subject I genuinely do find interesting (Global Health). I'm still quite unenthusiastic about the MBBS course overall but I've talked at length with people who reassured me that you don't have to practice medicine after. So I'm really considering two options now...

(1) Complete the full MBBS degree and look for jobs outside the NHS. I'm very interested in health policy and economics so perhaps civil service, consulting, health journalism etc. Still very up in the air but lots of options from what I've heard.

(2) Apply for a Masters in Public Health (MPH) next year while I'm intercalating. If I get in to somewhere good, I may not return for my clinical years and simply graduate with an intercalated BSc and whatever 3 years of medical school counts towards.

Anyways, would love to know what you think. I can't tell if I'm being hopelessly naive but this has made my course more bearable.

Hello! Sorry, I didn't see your reply initially. Thank you for checking in. I'm almost finished with third year now and about to intercalate next year in a subject I genuinely do find interesting (Global Health). I'm still quite unenthusiastic about the MBBS course overall but I've talked at length with people who reassured me that you don't have to practice medicine after. So I'm really considering two options now...

(1) Complete the full MBBS degree and look for jobs outside the NHS. I'm very interested in health policy and economics so perhaps civil service, consulting, health journalism etc. Still very up in the air but lots of options from what I've heard.

(2) Apply for a Masters in Public Health (MPH) next year while I'm intercalating. If I get in to somewhere good, I may not return for my clinical years and simply graduate with an intercalated BSc and whatever 3 years of medical school counts towards.

Anyways, would love to know what you think. I can't tell if I'm being hopelessly naive but this has made my course more bearable.

I'll definitely look at the different career paths for public health; even considering doing a Masters in the US or somewhere abroad. But I'll get to that once my final exams are out of the way.

I'm a medical student at King's College and I'll be doing by intercalation here. I did apply externally to two (slightly long shot courses) at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Oxford University. However, I think they were more favourable to applicants with industry experience, as you mentioned.

Over the summer, I'm going to do some work experience at a charity that provides healthcare to refugees. Also looking at maybe doing some volunteer research for MPs on the Health Select Committee.

Anyways, I really appreciate you reaching out to me all those months ago and continuing to keep in touch. I still have a lot to figure out but it's good to be able to talk about it.