Jordan P.

Photo provided by Jordan P.

If you're reading this, here’s the truth: medical training is going to suck. 

There will be sleepless nights, difficult days, and times you mess up. You will feel fear and guilt and sadness, and sometimes nothing at all. 

The reason I’m telling you this is because you will have plenty of people in your life who will try to comfort you. Your friends and family will tell you you’re so smart, that everything will be okay, and that it will all work out so just stop stressing. On the other hand, you will have people who tell you that you’re not smart enough, that you can’t do it, and that this journey is just too hard. Preceptors, classmates, random people on med school reddit, and the voices inside your head will make you question whether you’re enough. 

The truth lies somewhere in between. Too much reassurance can make you complacent, and too much doubt can break you down. This process is incredibly difficult, and you’re not wrong to be worried. But you are capable of doing this. You are smart enough and resilient enough to finish what you started. The stress will make you stronger and you will end up exactly where you are meant to be. 

Looking back, I wish more people had been honest with me and held me accountable instead of offering platitudes. I needed to hear “Yes, you’re smart enough BUT, if you want to reach your goals, you have to keep showing up and keep pushing.” As I approach residency, I find myself wishing I had put in that extra effort, if only to know one more thing that might help a future patient.

So dig in. Finish your Anki, do the extra questions, put in another 5 minutes. It will be uncomfortable, and it will be hard. But we get to do a job that lets us witness moments that define what it means to be human, and to me, that’s worth it. 

Jordan P., Fourth Year Medical Student

Several studies have revealed that medical students, physicians, and healthcare professionals experience mental health symptoms at rates significantly higher than the general population. Stethos[Cope] is a chapter of IfYoureReadingThis designed to help medical students and professionals cope with the unique stressors of medical training and change the narrative of mental health in medicine.

To read more letters and interviews from students, and to learn more about mental health in the medical community, visit the Stethos[Cope] home page.