 All right guys, what is going on? In this video we're going to talk about as myself as a fourth year medical student, would I do medical school again? Is it actually worth it? All right guys, what is going on? I'm Alex here with MD Journey, and if you're one of my subscribers, stay with me helping you succeed on your medical journey with less stress. Did you say it? So in this video we're going to talk about the question, is medical school actually worth it? And I feel like I'm in the perfect part of my medical journey to answer this question. You may not trust the first or second year med student to answer this because they're just kind of going through the grind, but at this point where life is pretty nice, things are pretty chill, would I do it again? Would I go through all the stress and adversity that I went through the first three years and tell you about it? And I'm going to give you my three things that I loved about med school and three things that I didn't know or disliked about med school and then you can make the decision on whether or not I think it's worth it. So let's get to number one, which is you become the expert. So all of us have a little bit of ego inside of us and maybe a lot. And we enjoy it when somebody comes up to us and be like, hey, can you help me with this? Can you show me or teach me more about this? And we love that because as physicians, you're going to have to educate your patients day in and day out. You learn really quickly that in one month, maybe even a week, you learn more about the human body than most people will in their entire life. And so for the rest of your life, regardless of where in your career you are, your family will stop you to show a rash, to, you know, talk about back pain or muscle injury that they have, or even talk about more serious health complications, but you're going to be the person that they turn to. Your patients, as a third year med student, even when you're just starting, are going to rely on you to explain things like diabetes, heart failure, COPD, cancer, things that they don't understand. They're going to rely on you. And a lot of you guys are probably in your late teens to early 20s. And as a 20-year-old, you're having somebody in their 40s, 50s, and 60s turn to you for advice about their medical needs and what they should be taking, you know, how they should be taking care of themselves. That's freaking powerful. I can't think of many careers where as a 20-year-old, someone's trusting me with their life. And so you becoming the expert is one of the coolest things about medical school. And it really goes understated. So number two, and I can't stress this one enough, you meet the most amazing people. Yesterday, as a fourth year med student, I was giving tours of my medical school to potential applicants. And they were asking me, what were my favorite things about med school? And I looked to one of my fellow tour guys, who is my tank mate, and I realized that, you know, he, including every other individual that I've kept a close bond with in med school, are some of my favorite things about med school. They're my favorite people. And the people I've met in med school really have made my experience. I remember back to when I was applying to med school, the interviewer asked me, like, what's something you're looking for in a med school? And I told him that I wanted four years that could remember back in a positive sense. I didn't want med school to be just a stepping stone to residency. I wanted to remember those four years. And the people you meet guys are going to allow you to do that. They will be some of the smartest people you meet, some of the most inspirational, motivational people you'll ever meet in your life. And one thing I learned is that the definition of hard work is going to dramatically change in your life by the people that you surround yourself with. These people will work harder than you ever imagined that you could. And at a pure inspiration, you are going to as well. It's not only just a motivating factor. Med school requires a lot of your time and you're going to be around these people for a majority of it. So it's nice having people around you that kind of know what you're going through. That's you're able to socialize with them. You're able to study with them, cry with them, laugh with them, whatever it may be, you get through the grind together. And it's truly a community if you build it and you find the people around you that you want. So you're definitely going to look back at the people and your friends as one of your favorite aspects about medical school. So number three, and honestly I have to admit this is probably my favorite, you become a much better version of yourself. I kind of mentioned how your definition of hard work changes or your definition of a lot of things change. Your definition of compassion, caring for people, working, hard, studying, building relationships, those all truly transform. I don't really remember what kind of person I was like four years ago, but I know for damn sure that I'm a much better individual and version of that person. I can look back at my four years in medical school and realize that I've made some major strides. I'm about to become a physician in a few short months which is crazy in itself. I'm about to, I'm currently engaged and I'm about to be married to a wonderful individual. I have a side business coaching med students and pre-meds which I never imagined I would ever be doing. I'm a self-published author. I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my entire life and there's so many more things I can look back and understand that the reason I'm the person I am today is through the challenges that I face in med school. Each university makes a different and a more improved version of yourself. So med school is going to challenge you but the version that you become through each challenge and through each success is going to be totally worth it. So hopefully you're feeling a little bit inspirational knowing med school is awesome but we got to talk about the cons because anything worth it definitely has setbacks and drawbacks so we're gonna get to three things about med school that aren't so fun and may make you reconsider whether or not it's actually for you. So number one, you have to be okay with being good enough. Med school will tell you that you are not the smartest person. You are about to be humbled real quick and there is basically the saying that 50% of a med school class is going to be in the bottom 50% duh but it can hit home that 50% can be you because you will meet extraordinary individuals that are smarter than you, that work harder than you and things may just go their way. You're not gonna have the highest grades. You know, things always won't work in your favor. So you have to be okay and this is one of the most challenging things for us as pre-meds and med students who've scored really well on their exams to this point on if you're considering the seal to be okay with not being the best. You may have been your valedictorian you may have scored really well on your SAT and MCAT but you get to med school and other people have done just about the same if not more of what you've done. So you have to be okay and this is kind of the idea of the imposter syndrome I'll link a video down below on how you overcome this in med school but it's one of the biggest challenges and it really makes people self doubt whether or not they were made to be a physician. So check out that video down below if you guys want more tips on how to overcome what we call imposter syndrome in med school. So getting to number two, med school is freaking expensive. I know you guys are aware of this but I wanna tell you a quick story. I was going on a rotation and one of the fellows on my neurology rotation told me that he knew that I was spending based off of my tuition roughly anywhere from two to $500 a day to be with him. So he valued the time that I was spending with him so he wanted to teach me and that was a great perspective but I didn't realize first of all that I was spending that much every single day. So there are days where someone may have canceled a rotation and they said don't come in or there are days where I wasn't focused or I wasn't learning or paying attention in class. I paid $200 to $500 regardless of what the end result were but you have to remember that regardless or not if you have a productive day in a class or a rotation or you learned something you're still paying for it regardless. So that's kind of a stressful feeling to have knowing that you really won't make a decent salary until maybe three to seven years after med school when you finish your residency and you're actually in a technique. So the fact that the loan payments that you'll have are going to occur and you're going to have a huge loan burden if you're paying for med school with loans and scholarships you're still going to have a huge financial burden. So that's a stressful part and it really makes people can reconsider whether or not they actually want to put themselves through that. If you want more tips on managing money there'll be another video linked below on that and you guys can check out the blog post on it down below too but med school is expensive so you have to ask yourself am I willing to put myself through the financial burden hardship for a good seven to 10 years before I even start making a decent income. And the final con about medical school that really bugs a lot of students including myself is delayed gratification sucks. You want to become a physician when you go in your interviews you say I really want to help people I want to do procedures I want to do surgeries whatever it may be but even as a med student your first year, first two years may be spent in the classroom and you may not have that much clinical exposure. You want it to be on the bedside helping the patient or being in the OR or being in the ER but you have to realize that the first two years you're not going to get that much patient exposure as you'd expect it so there's a delayed gratification there. In addition to just talking about getting clinical exposure we already kind of touched on the money aspect. Many people may choose to become a doctor for many different reasons but one of the side benefits is that you make a decent income to support yourself as well as your family but you don't make that until three to seven years at least after medical school. So it's the question of one are you okay with waiting until your 30s to start living your life while a lot of your peers may be getting their first jobs in their mid 20s early 20s there is a big gap that you have to be okay with working long hours, studying long hours, studying for expensive board exams and the end result is still several years down the line and so I'm going to echo the point that delayed gratification sucks but it's part of the process. So you have to understand if you're not willing to put in the time now to get something much further down the line then you may want to reconsider your field because what I find in my classmates guys is that people even into four years of medical school are starting to reconsider their decision because they know they still have a lot more time with residency and fellowships before they even get to kind of what they consider to be the finish line because they didn't expect to put as much work as they did through three years and not really have much reward at this point. At this point we're still applying to residency we're going through more stress to get our first jobs and so they didn't expect to put so much work in for very little reward realizing that they have to put even more work in for what they want to have is their final destination which is becoming an attending physician. So delayed gratification sucks but it is part of the process. It doesn't know that it is one of the biggest drawbacks of medicine but the people that get through are okay with it. So to end the video I'm going to answer the question what I go through medical school again is the fourth year knowing what I know now and the answer every single time is absolutely yes. I feel like I can't be the person I am today who which I enjoy by the way without going through this experience and I know that I'm meant to become a physician. I'm meant to take care of people I love communicating and I love saving and changing lives as a healthcare provider and this is the career for me. What I want to study for anatomy again what I want to study for biochem again absolutely not but I know it's part of the process and the pros for me at least outweigh the cons. So for me medical school is worth it but if any of the cons I mentioned really do scare you definitely comment below send me a private message and I'll be happy to kind of help you through your decision making. It is a very important decision to make but I find that the people who make it with a lot of thought definitely enjoy the final decision that they made. But hopefully this video was helpful if it was make sure you give your boy a like for the video subscribe to the channel if you want more content like this and as always comment down below for two different reasons one so I can understand your questions and your concerns are on your medical journey I can make videos and answer questions particular to you and two if you comment down below with any question you're automatically entered for my monthly draws for my books as well as my video course for free. So comment down below join the community like the video subscribe to the channel and stop babbling I will see you guys in the next video take care guys.