Medical school is very intense and it will of course try to prepare you for life as a doctor. There is so much you need to know that, without platforms like AceMedBoards, it would be impossible to fit all of that knowledge into your five years or so of medical school.
There is a certain way of thinking about medical school that will help you to understand your life post-graduation. Think of medical school as learning by the book and your residency as to what you actually need to know.
There are so many unwritten rules once you enter the world of a medical doctor, nurse, surgeon or any other person working on the frontlines in the medical world.
In this article, I will go over several things that you will discover for yourself once you enter your chosen medical profession after medical school.
1. Funding Varies Wildly
Every hospital will function differently. Some are going to run smoothly and have everything you need to be able to do your job effectively, and others are going to be far more of a challenge.
Proper funding can be your biggest challenge if you find yourself in the wrong hospital. Since many of them are private and for profit, there are going to be shortcuts to maximize profit, particularly when the hospital is in an underserved area and not in a big city.
This issue has been laid bare due to the pandemic where many hospitals didn’t have enough protective equipment. Many were forced to buy their own from sites like Healthcare Unlocked.
2. Residency Is Like A Year Long Interview
Landing the residency of your dreams is the goal of many medical school graduates. You dream of finding the perfect place where you can grow as a medical professional and enjoy life post residency where you once started out.
This could very well happen, but you have to realize that your residency is a sort of probation period where you will be continuously evaluated. It isn’t simply on the job training.
You are going to be judged, not just by how able you were to learn the intricacies and density of the knowledge you need to move forward, but also on your professionalism while doing the residency.
How were you able to work with others? Do you have a good bedside manner with patients? How teachable are you? These are all areas in which you have to prove you have what it takes to continue and possibly even stay on with your post after you’ve finished your residency.
3. Think Ahead As Soon As Possible
When you get your undergraduate degree and start thinking ahead, it seems like you have so much time to figure things out. Those ten years ahead of you seem like they will take forever.
The reality is that since those years are experience dense, you will find it flies by faster than you’d imagined. And in that time, it pays to start thinking about your specialization as soon as possible.
This will help you avoid any wrong turns that will slow you down and end up making you lose time in the process.
*collaborative post
