Column: So You Want To Be A...Medical Student

By Esam Al-Shareffi
Guest Columnist

Getting into medical school was not a simple task. Four years ago, I was a freshman undergraduate at Stony Brook University and the world seemed to have endless possibility. Too much perhaps, as I had no idea what I wanted to do, what classes to take or what career to plan for. I liked my honors chemistry class and so decided to major in chemistry sophomore year, but that was almost purely on a whim.

This sort of ambivalent phase continued until the beginning of my junior year. At that point, I forced myself to think of the future and, after much contemplation, I came up with a satisfactory plan. I would apply to medical school, in part to please my parents, but mostly because I thought that it would be a challenging process and that I would enjoy the academic rigor and the potential for touching the lives of many people.

That decided, there was the whole process of taking the required classes, studying and taking the MCAT exam. I was fortunate that, by junior year, I had taken many of the required courses and I was able to get some volunteer experience working at a local hospital. Next was the process of going to interviews, sleeping overnight in expensive hotels and finally, surprisingly, getting those hard earned acceptances from a few places whose admission committees were charmed—without the aid of bribes or coercion—into letting me in.

I of course picked Stony Brook, which had given me nothing but joy for the past four years of undergraduate education. I enlisted in their Medical Scientist Training Program, or MTSP. The MSTP is sponsored in part by the National Institute of Health and is an M.D./Ph.D. program meant to increase the number of physician-scientists.

I spent the summer prior to medical school doing MSTP-required research in the biochemistry department under the direction of a professor whom I greatly admire and respect. Although I had a great experience, I would strongly urge traditional medical students against doing research or anything remotely time-intensive in the summer prior to beginning medical school.

The reason I say this is because this is a time to do some of the things that you will no longer have much time to do, such as being with family and friends, traveling around the world, playing insane amounts of video games, or whatever else makes you happy. These are a few precious months to enjoy and recharge your batteries, particularly if you are entering medical school just after graduating from college.

But if doing research is something you are in love with, or if a time-intensive, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes up, then you should of course go ahead with it. The same goes if you hate research or clinical work, but like to make your decisions stubbornly against the advice of a random-but-well-meaning student you know nothing about. It is your life, after all.

The first week of medical school is a great time. This is an “orientation week” where you get to meet your fellow colleagues and make some new friends before the more hectic aspects of medical school take their toll.

A word of caution is in order. The ambitious will likely use this time of merriment and diversion in order to plot with their like-minded brethren to get a head start in their course work while everyone else is partying. I recommend that you instead enjoy this time and learn about the diverse backgrounds and life experiences of as many of your colleagues as you can. They will be in a talking mood, since they are in the same situation as you, and you will be surprised at some of the exciting and varied lives that your classmates have. It truly helps to be able to connect with a few of your colleagues and form friendships, so that you can survive the more arduous task and share your joy in the good times.

After that, the real fun begins. I had heard many stories about medical school being arduous, with medical students spending their days studying and having no real free time. I regret to inform you, my dear reader, that this is more or less the case.

Being a medical student requires a great deal of work. I mean that if you are a good student, you should be spending at least six hours a day reading your textbook, reviewing lectures or doing whatever it is that helps you best prepare for class. Some people are already accustomed to such a workload, or are diligent enough to make the switch with relative ease, but this was quite a task for me. Compounding the problem is the fact that even cramming for an exam takes a good two weeks and not a day or two. Still, on the whole, it is difficult to fail a class in medical school unless one completely neglects their studying.

I often joke with friends outside of medical school that the best way to describe it is that it's akin to being on a chain gang. The work is hard and the challenges numerous, but one gains a profound appreciation of life when in the company of others who are suffering as he is, toiling away all day. And instead of meaningless hard labor, you gain the tools to touch the lives of suffering people and relieve their afflictions.

I could fill up the remainder of this article with anecdotes regarding the infinite frustrations of anatomy lab; of dissecting human flesh and the irrational excitement one gets when successfully finding an embedded nerve; or the frustration of being in a party after the exam where the prevailing topic of conversation in one group was the answer to question number 14 on the final.

Instead, I want to give some general advice about medical school.

First and foremost, everyone has their own reason for attending medical school. I believe that about a dozen or so of my more than one hundred colleagues are here because of a certain “calling” to serve as a physician. Some, like me, are here primarily because of the challenge involved. Some are here chiefly because their parents were physicians and they feel compelled, either for cultural reasons or for parental approval, to follow in their footsteps. Yet others are interested in a stable and high paying job. I am sure there are many more reasons.

The one common ground I have observed in all of this, however, is that all of these students are conscientious individuals who are driven and dedicated to partaking in this awesome adventure and in graduating as productive and useful members of society.

I am honored to be in their presence and I cherish this opportunity fervently. If given the same chance, I urge you to take it.

Esam Al-Shareffi is a former undergraduate from Stony Brook University. He currently serves as Undergraduate Student Government parliamentarian and is a former USG Senator, Executive Vice President and Recording Secretary.