“What am I willing to sacrifice to get this?” This is a question that I’m sure every medical student has asked them self during their matriculation. As you know, people have sacrificed their life for what they thought was important, and medicine is no different.
I can see it happening even now; many medical students have decided to sacrifice their health in order to secure better grades and a better residency spot. It starts with coffee, then caffeine pills, then Adderall, and finally alcohol and drugs. Was the sacrifice worth it? Sure it allowed you stay up many hours past your classmates, and therefore study more, which allowed you to do better than everyone else; but was it worth it?
Unfortunately, the sacrifices aren’t just limited to health but your family also. When my mom finished medical school, she was the only person in her class (that came in married) that hadn’t gotten divorced. There is so much competition in medical school that it is easy to rationalize that, for now, medial school comes before your wife, your kids, your family…they should understand right….I mean, you ARE doing it for them. But at the end of the day, who was this sacrifice really for?
Yesterday, I started thinking (hypothetically): So I sacrificed my social life and friends in college to get a 4.0 and a 44 on my MCAT, ok, now what? So I made it into a top US News medical school with a great reputation, high average Step 1 scores and big name faculty, ok, now what? I sacrificed my marriage and time with my kids in medical school so that I could graduate #1 in my class, get AOA status, and secure a great competitive neurosurgery residency, ok, now what? I spent the next 7 years of my neurosurgery residency making sure that I was the very best resident, practically living at the hospital to impress my attendings and secure great recommendations for my upcoming application to a fellowship in skull base neurosurgery; ok, now what? I secured the skull base fellowship and finished, of course #1 out of all the fellows, securing a great faculty position at Harvard’s Mass General Hospital………….ok, now what? After all this I am the big cheese in the eye’s of man and I’m getting paid (finally) around $600, 000 a year, but my wife is gone, my kids don’t know me, I’ve taken up smoking and drinking to forget my problems, and my relationship with Christ is basically nonexistent. At the age of 34 (when I’ve finally completed all this) I’ll sit down and ask myself, was it worth it?
Unfortunately, while you are working through medical school, its hard to realize that this great rat race can cause you to give up what matters most in the end. Seriously; of course God required sacrifices from the Israelites, but to Him, the sacrifices weren’t the object of importance:
But Samuel replied:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the LORD?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (2 Sam. 15:22)
Of course medical school requires some sacrifices, which is why those that shunned the college party life usually have less trouble making it in. But to what extent should we sacrifice to get what we want? This isn’t a question that anyone can answer for you, but I implore every student that has been accepted to medical school to take serious thought to this, because it can affect what truly matters in life.
Thought provoking post..
I want to say, “Welcome to the realities of medical school” but actually, welcome to a great lesson in “just living”. As with everything, one has to come to terms with what you are willing to sacrifice and how those sacrifices affect every aspect of you life.
In medical school, if you pursue grades alone, you will likely miss the thrill of mastery of knowledge and establishment of a knowledge base from which to treat your patients. Sure, the details are there but you have to find a way to see the “big” picture and fill in those details without consuming yourself in the process.
The other piece to this puzzle is to be patient with yourself. When you are not doing this, those around us help us to do this. There will be things in medical school that you will fail but you won’t be a “failure”. There will be things in medical school that you will totally master but you won’t be the “master”. In the end, you will be the best physician that you can be and that turns out to be a pretty good thing!
Nothing other than honestly doing the best that you can within “your” physiological limitations will work. You do this because you want to do this and medical school is such a short part of the process. Now that I am more than five years out, I realize how little time and how little medical school had to do with the actual process by which I have become a physician. I hone my craft daily and those tests of medical school are far behind me and of little consequence even though I worked hard at the time.
Good thoughts on a subject we all have struggled with.
Like the changes to the layout of the blog as well!
Great post as always! Indeed, sacrifices exist, but to obey is crucial per the noted Biblical reference. I thank God for leading me to your blog. I do know folks who see medical school as life, thus loved ones can wait…sure that is understandable for medical school is not easy.
However, I concur with a lady I visited today that time is ticking and another year has passed–we must make most of every moment. Yes, loved ones may understand that you need the degrees and also one cannot give what they do not have, but the future is not in our hands, meaning–per my opinion–one must stroll in this life with wisdom and under God.
Time will not wait until medical school. Even though I do not see the full picture since I am currently an aspiring med student, time management and prioritizing is key. Who or what is your treasure? Is medical school your life or PART of your life?
The interesting thing about life is as we advance chronologically, academically, vocationally, etc, the more responsibilities we have…I thank God for your eternal perspective in life.
On one other note, people around us–near or far in third world countries–need us. Knowledge is important but sensitivity to The Great Commission and personal growth in Christ is not to be forgotten or taken for granted, but is key…
i think chinedum said it best “Knowledge is important but sensitivity to The Great Commission and personal growth in Christ is not to be forgotten or taken for granted, but is key…”
this is from a Christian perspective. and i agree with it.
i think it is also important that we seek to glorify God in our chosen vocation, i.e. do the best we can. this does not mean we neglect out societal roles that God has given us, e.g. son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, etc.
If we can keep to the same principle of loving God with all our heart mind soul and strength, and apply it to our chosen vocation which we have to believe is God’s will in our lives, then doing the best we can in our medical career, and loving our loved ones, and giving it all we have with our heart mind soul strength, wil be the least God can expect from us.