Right on steph. Those are the key to gaining trust in th patient & your colleagues.

I am interested in knowing more about your statement which I highlighted above. Many things daily bring me much doubt, both with the school itself, as well as within my own little head. Have you graduated from SMU SOM? Thanks!

JP

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SMU SOM--4th yr. Nov/Dec - Family Med - FH. Jan -Infectious Disease -FH. Feb-Cardiology-FH. St Louis: Mar-Burn Unit. Apr-Neuro/the end!

not from smu (obviously) but i can see youre hitting a basic science slump......PM me if i can be of help but remember everyone feels the drudgery of ** and then you hit clinicals and at least its more hands on and less sitting there reading

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Med-Peds PGY1

official member of the VMD useless crew

currently the most useful "useless member" on vmd

best quote ever - stephew "and no, you may NOT exchange porn or other sexual content in the classifieds."

some swimmer from Ct
the problem with the gene pool is that there are no lifeguards.....and we have been offering swimmies

I'd go PM if it were truly personal, and I DO appreciate the offer. But... I think hearing some of what you have to say may be beneficial to others as well. I have heard others voice similar words to mine as the 1st semester has progressed, so I do realize it's not just me. Now I don't claim to be brilliant or anything remotely close, but I have been told that I am an extremely bright guy. But there are days when I just question whether or not I truly have what it takes to make it through this stuff. Grades are good/very good, but don't yet appear to be a measure of a lot thus far, except that I can follow directions and memorize a little bit of info. Adjusting to life as a student again, from the real world of being in a clinical setting is a challenge as well. Can you give me some thoughts on the wax and wane of confidence throughout this process? If it's best to do it via pm, have at it. Just thought others might like to share in the underlying rationale for the ** roller coaster effect.

Thanks!

JP

__________________
SMU SOM--4th yr. Nov/Dec - Family Med - FH. Jan -Infectious Disease -FH. Feb-Cardiology-FH. St Louis: Mar-Burn Unit. Apr-Neuro/the end!

you can put your own email up though i wouldnt advise- net bots might find you and junk mail the living crap out of your account.

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Steph
If you get a warning, put on yer manpants and stop whining about it.

First off its normal to feel overwhelmed by the vast amount of material we have thrown at us in **.....be more scared of how much you will forget once you start clinicals! ** can be very humbling.....and frustrating. Also man, intelligence is very relative. You can be in a room with 100 geniuses and be the moron or you can be in the room with high schoolers and be the genius. What i have noticed is a lot of people like to act the part of being a supergenius that never has to study and that they went to the caribbean despite being admitted to a US school bc they "wanted a foreign education" and they "have connections to get back into the US".....you should use those people purely for humor and laugh at them.....it'll remove the stress. What you're experiencing seems (from the very short post) is a type of feeling of overwhelmingness that "depressed" people experience. I'm not saying you're depressed but youre sharing that particular characteristic with them right now. (Remember the pathways in the brain for depression and anxiety are intertwined and depression and anxiety can be treated with the same medications.....so when taking both of those concepts into sight you can see how easily one can affect or cause the other) There's nothing to be ashamed about feeling overwhelmed and not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet. For me it wasnt until i met my girlfriend when everything really started to fall into place......even tho bc of her i started studying less! At Yale (i guess this fits bc this thread has to do with yale) over 1/3 of all the medical students are on a prescription anti-anxiety medication. When i had a physical with my doctor he was tellin me all this bc he had just gone to a CME at yale about SSRI's. They also estimated that close to another 1/3 abuse substances OR should be on an anti-anxiety medication. So thats somewhere from 50-65%.....so you are far from alone with what youre feeling. It's a shame in medicine that people see frustration, feeling overwhelmed and even lack of knowledge or a skill as a sign of a weakness.....There have been students that will lie and tell their attending they know how to do a particular exam and then come up to you in private and ask you to show them. Med school comes down to learning as much as you can. The grades wont matter after a while.....i dont remember what i got on any exams now. My honest advice is put up an emotional shield to plow your way thru what you have to every day. Dont think about how much further you have, just realize knowledge will come and the integration of all of it is when you begin to feel successful. Then take time every day to do something for you......whether is workin out, goin for a run, or meditation. By the way, we used to medititate for swimming......in fact most serious athletes have some form of meditation they do to relax and get their minds off all the pain theyre about to feel (i have a great technique of meditation that i would be willing to PM you with if you wanted.....i think my coach is including it in his next book thats going to be published soon). At the end of the day realize you did what you could that day and tomorrow is available to try again and master the material.....by 5th semester you'll feel like a doctor bc you'll think you know everything and then you hit clinicals and you'll realize you know absolutely nothing but its then that you'll start to be treated more like a doctor.....believe it or not, i was just thinking the other day how i missed ** bc all you had to do was sit and read for a few hours every day......but i remember bein there and feeling anxiety i dont ever want to feel again.....i guess the grass is always greener.....Just stick with it you'll be happy you did

__________________
Med-Peds PGY1

official member of the VMD useless crew

currently the most useful "useless member" on vmd

best quote ever - stephew "and no, you may NOT exchange porn or other sexual content in the classifieds."

some swimmer from Ct
the problem with the gene pool is that there are no lifeguards.....and we have been offering swimmies

You're quite perceptive. I was a bit down yesterday, thinking about the changes that have occurred leading to being "trapped" on a Caribbean island without family, old friends, etc. I was also looking too far ahead at the bigger picture, and to try to synthesize what I am learning now with any future knowledge base/understanding just made things seem that much more out of my control/overwhelming.

Prior to being here, I was really used to my routine where I saw clients all day, I was the one who was knowledgeable about what to do and how to do it. If ever aything deviated from my normal day, I knew what to do to get it back on track, and things were generally predictable.

Now I am the greenhorn, I cannot as easily predict where the day may go, and some of that uncertainty requires more adjustment than I had realized. But it seems that few students really process the emotional side of this game in a healthy way, and it is more obvious to me how people fall into unhealthy and disordered ways of doing/being by trying to gain control over what they are doing with their lives. Processing this emotion, as a means of healthy coping, seems to be an important component for me, especially considering the incidence of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, etc.

Fortunately, I have met some great people on this forum, and one of them suggested that we speak last night. So I called and spoke with ol' man, a 4th semester SMU student in Maine, and he helped to put things into perspective.

I think you're right, for whatever reason, most students seem to hide their emotions, which are otherwise seen as a weakness. Now I realize that's more than what you said, but... I have seen from day one how many are going (or have) started to abuse substances. Sadly enough, this could be addressed much sooner than now. Getting it out is sometimes all it takes to slide pass the crappy day one may be having.

I do appreciate your concern for me, and I do better understand how to play the emotional side of this game. I think it was a part that I, too, was neglecting. I think there are others who can benefit from this interaction, so I am glad you/we kept it public. Too bad it's on a "Yale" thread. I guess I should say something about Yale. Hmmm... I'll have to come back to that one.

Thanks again!

JP

And I have to give some props to Stefan, even though some of his statements seem premature... optimism is an important part of success in any endeavor--there are a million examples out there of people who have surmounted many, various, difficult challenges in life, and I bet if you asked, they would tell you how they frequently had to adjust their attitude to include optimism.

__________________
SMU SOM--4th yr. Nov/Dec - Family Med - FH. Jan -Infectious Disease -FH. Feb-Cardiology-FH. St Louis: Mar-Burn Unit. Apr-Neuro/the end!

You are going to be a fantastic doctor! I am glad everything is moving in the right direction. I love medicine! It truly is something special!!

Keep up the good work

When is she comming? I am getting restless...I have soooo many questions for her.