Dropping out...?

[ozziemandril]

Hello, i'm a first year medical student. I've done one term so far. In general i'm feeling i have made a mistake choosing medicine. I have felt this since the middle of the first term. I don't enjoy the teaching because i don't find it challenging. I mean there is a lot to learn but it isn't necessarily difficult to understand or stimulating. I feel that a purely scientific degree or an arts degree would be more challenging in this respect.
However i have the horrible feeling in the back of my mind that i would always regret it if i did drop out (mostly because that's what my mum would continually tell me). I've been told by many people that the true challenge of medicine comes when you come to apply your textbook knowledge to a living patient. But i'm not sure whether i can stand 5 years of training for something i'm not even sure about. I also realise i should have thought a little more about medicine before i applied. None of my friends doing medicine feel the same. Some people are a bit down because of the workload. But i'm questioning whether i want to do the course at all.
If anyone else has felt this or has any advice i'd like to hear from you. Thanks.

[Gizmo says -]

its a pretty shit degree if you dont want it, and the career is worse, macca.

you can always transfer at the end of your first year, so it counts to get as good a grade as poss now.


you might just be bothered by other extra curricular stuff maybe though, dont discount that. is there a luvvie in your life? or summat like that.

[Luci]

Hey,
I sort of felt the same, I already did quite a few medical subjects in depth, and although the workload is high, it is not really difficult; I also did a minor in computing science and math, so I know what difficult and challenging means, since math is not really my strong point. I really had to work hard to even understand it!
With medicine, it was usually pretty logical, but I know I really want to become a doctor, since I really like knowing it all and stuff, but whenever I don't find it challenging enough, I find something very difficult for me (like graduate level maths....)
It does change though, as you get further you go much more in depth and you discover certain systems in the human body that are very fascinating and can be quite tricky to grasp. Plus, you have to know a lot to understand how it all works.
And that's the thing, you have to start at the basics... And basics in general aren't really that difficult
And it's not really 5 years, it it? You'll get your clinical years at a certain point.
So the question is, do you want to become a doctor? Have you shadowed any doctors? Or have you done a nursing internship? That would probably help you make a well informed decision.
I would recommend finishing your year anyway, then do an internship, and if you feel medicine is not for you, then quit; there's no point in doing something you don't like or doesn't fit you.
But then don't regret it afterwards! Don't let your mother tell you it's a shame or whatever; mothers know you the way they want, not necessarily the way you are (however nice they can be!!).

You know what's best for you

good luck!

[Bambi]

If you aren't sure about dropping out, don't. You can later if you decide you want to but you wont get back in if you change your mind after already dropping out. A science degree is more difficult in some ways, the material is definitely more challenging but med is in different ways. As you are only 1st year it's a bit difficult. If you were further along I would say stick it out and at least get a degree then do something else if you want. You could think about transferring to an MBPhD course so you get some real science stuff too but you have to stick out the first couple of years of med for that. Maybe you are just struggling with the adjustment, it's not what you expected so you sort of instinctively hate it but you might find that you grow to love it once you get over that. I would at least stick out the year but come September if you decide against med you want to have options so look into other courses at the same time.

[Androo]

You're not the first person to find out that medicine is challenging in a way that is completely unlike other courses. The challenge is in integrating huge reams of information. There is very little in the way of intellectual challenge in medicine, especially the first few years, in my opinion. That said, clinical medicine is different and does require a lot of critical thinking, to decide on differentials and investigations etc.

However, its not a philosophy or a science degree, and there is limited scope for challenging established knowledge that you are just expected to know. I don't think it could be any different. Medicine is unlike virtually all other degrees as it is a vocational degree course, which is a kind of paradox, since a degree is supposed to be academic, not vocational. There is simply too much to learn (and I'm not sure "learn" is always what happens) at medical school to sit around debating whether viruses are alive, the politics of the NHS etc

But remember than medical school is the first step of a marathon. Don't forget you can do a BSc, PhD, go into research, indulge any of a thousand choices of career with a medical degree. Your medical school will have plenty of support structures to help students in your position, so you might find it helpful to access some of those. Although you might not know many people who admit it to your face, there are in fact many people who think the way you do, right up to, and past graduation.