Feel hopeless... anyone else?

[medschoolstudent]

I've almost done putting in my time here.. and i feel like i know nothing... totally feel down and out... anyone else feel like this? how does one keep going?

[Ubuntu]

just think of how many people would give %&$^# just to be in your position but never had the opportunity..and think of the X amount of patients that will be thankful you are where you are so you can help them in the future...enough said..buckle down, get it done...just do it

[ZIMAgo]

The average grade on the 5th semester comp was a 64, just a few points above passing. That's 64th %tile, not % so i' guessing the average raw grade was closer to 50%. That means the average med school student retains 50% of what we were suposed to learn in med school, but it's alright- passing on the Comp (and the USMLE) is a 62.

[medschoolstudent]

But thats exactly it, how does one feel like they can help people and be a good doctor with only remembering half of what i know? i feel like i retain nothing...

[Ubuntu]

Im sure you actually retain more than you give yourself credit for...being a MD is life long learning...you will not always remember everything but you will always be learning something

[ZIMAgo]

The average patient sees the average doctor, not HouseMD, but someone still needs to take care of them, and there is already a shortage of even those average docs that will be only worse by the time we're done. Not to mention you will learn most of the hands on stuff in clinicals. Still pretty scary how little we retain in school- dont worry though, I just started reviewing and it comes back easy, and stays longer the second time around.

[Ubuntu]

The average patient sees the average doctor, not HouseMD, but someone still needs to take care of them, and there is already a shortage of even those average docs that will be only worse by the time we're done. Not to mention you will learn most of the hands on stuff in clinicals. Still pretty scary how little we retain in school- dont worry though, I just started reviewing and it comes back easy, and stays longer the second time around.



lol EXACTLY

[teratos]

Don't stress over it. You will use very little of your basic sciences in the future. You DO need to pass the boards, however. Make sure you look at the areas where you scored poorly and kit those hard in your review. You SHOULD feel like you know nothing. There is such a huge volume of information you have just attempted to commit to memory.

[wao99]

But thats exactly it, how does one feel like they can help people and be a good doctor with only remembering half of what i know? i feel like i retain nothing...

In the words of Dr. G: "There's no way you're gonna remember all this... just do your best."

Something along those lines :cool:

[dreileen]

One of my professors from Texas used to say "if you try to put a gallon of information into a shot-glass for a brain, you are bound to spill some".

If everyone who has gone before us can do it, we can too. I think that is why "Rudy" is one of the movie choices in the library. Success is getting up once more than you were knocked down.

Tenacity = M.D.

[slevit1]

Trust me, you know more than you think you do. I felt the same way when I started clinicals, but it turns out that more often than not, I know what's going on and can come up with the answer. Still sometimes, when I think about what I know, I don't come up with much, and I wonder if I remember anything from the first two years. But, when the time comes that I need to know or remember something, it has a way of popping back into my head. No way you'll remember everything, and every day I'm amazed at how much more learning there is to do, but you'll be surprised how much you really do know.

You'll also probably be amazed at how much more you learn in clinicals, and how much easier it seems to remember when you're actually looking at it, instead of hearing about it. Once you see it, everything starts to come together.

[DrFraud]

I've almost done putting in my time here.. and i feel like i know nothing... totally feel down and out... anyone else feel like this? how does one keep going?

Hang in there. You know more than you realize. Your hospital rotations are right around the corner and believe me the time totally flies. The difference between the drugery of basic sciences and clinic is night and day. Try your best to improve on areas that you are scoring low in, do as many USMLE World questions that you can, and listen to a few minutes of Goljan review each day. Before you know it you will be in a hospital delivering babies and sutering head lacs....

[BrianB4837]

You are at the beginning of a very long road. Remember you are at the very beginning of a minimum 7 year journey. Think about what you knew at the end of college. Now imagine yourself 7 years prior to that (finishing 9th grade). Only this 7 years you learn about 5 times as much, now think about that gap.

If you are feeling this way now, be careful, because you will feel that way again and again, when you do poorly on a path exam, when you prepare for step 1, when you sit around a hospital and feel ignored by residents and attendings, when a patient insults you, when you are criticized by an attending, when you study for step 2, when you get rejections from residency programs, when you get an interview and it's a trainwreck, when you match into a program that's not your first choice, when your senior residents give it to you, when you don't get your choice of (or any) fellowship, and it goes on and on and on and on.

But in the end, you love getting up and doing it every day.

[BrendaB_MD]

Think of it this way:

The field of knowledge is an infinite plane. The stuff you know is represented by the area of a circle within that plane. The circumference of the circle is the boundary of your knowlege and represents your awareness of what you don't know. Paradoxically, the bigger the circle, the bigger the circumference (the more you know, the more you are aware of w hat you don't know).

Feel better?

[stateofequilibrium]

how does one keep going? Because you're probably at least tens of thousands of dollars in debt now, can't stop. Keep going until your eyes bleed.

[tegraphile]

If nothing else, these people have taught you it's best to have a cynical outlook on life.

[ZIMAgo]

Think of it this way:

The field of knowledge is an infinite plane. The stuff you know is represented by the area of a circle within that plane. The circumference of the circle is the boundary of your knowlege and represents your awareness of what you don't know. Paradoxically, the bigger the circle, the bigger the circumference (the more you know, the more you are aware of w hat you don't know).

Feel better?

Did you get your stuff from the guy at Sunset or from ole' freak that sports the fedora at the casino?

[valueschool]

Think of it this way:

The field of knowledge is an infinite plane. The stuff you know is represented by the area of a circle within that plane. The circumference of the circle is the boundary of your knowlege and represents your awareness of what you don't know. Paradoxically, the bigger the circle, the bigger the circumference (the more you know, the more you are aware of w hat you don't know).

Feel better?

i really like this analogy

[wao99]

Funny quote from class today: "Long term memory... the capacity is vast, students tell me: "my brain is about to pop"; No there's still plenty of room in there..." -Dr.D

[DrFraud]

Think of it this way:

The field of knowledge is an infinite plane. The stuff you know is represented by the area of a circle within that plane. The circumference of the circle is the boundary of your knowlege and represents your awareness of what you don't know. Paradoxically, the bigger the circle, the bigger the circumference (the more you know, the more you are aware of w hat you don't know).

Feel better?

I understand your point, but i think i sprained something in my brain trying to work this out while Im cramming my 4th year material.....