 What is up guys karma medic here and welcome back to another dose can you to the channel then hi? My name is Nasser and I'm now a final year medical student studying at Kings College London and in today's video I'm gonna be debunking or confirming the 10 most common myths about medical school Make sure you watch this video to the end because these are things that I wish I knew back when I first started So the first myth that everything that you learn in medical school is important technically kind of true I mean I guess you do need to know quite a lot of things in a lot of depth for each of the body systems a lot of Pathophysiology does turn out to be quite important and have good clinical application But it's not quite what it was like back when you were in high school back when we were in high school The syllabus was the Bible and you kind of needed to know absolutely everything that was on the syllabus You needed to know definitions memorize pretty much everything But once you get to medical school sort of the cellular biology or biochemical pathways Okay, you might need to know them for certain exams But in the bigger picture there are not as clinically important or relevant and as you move from high school to medical school There's sort of the shift of you focusing on what it is that you need to know what you think is most important And what is relevant for your upcoming exams and clinical practice as opposed to just knowing absolutely everything. Let me show you an example of this All right, so this is a clinical medicine textbook, which is absolutely huge as you can see It's honestly quite heavy for me to even just hold in my hand This has way more information than you'll ever need to know practicing medicine as a doctor And then this little book over here has pretty much everything you do need to know to practice clinical medicine as a doctor At least in your foundation years So this is high school where you need to know all of the syllabus and then this is medical school where you need to know What is relevant for your exams and for clinical practice? Don't get me wrong knowing a bunch of extra information from this huge book. It's probably gonna be helpful, but absolutely not necessary So myth number two medical school is so difficult that you won't have any free time this I want to completely Disagree with I like to think of studying the degree of medicine just like studying pretty much any other degree at University you're gonna have times where you have to do a lot more studying and things are gonna be more intense And you'll have less time to do the activities that you want to do but generally as a whole as a degree You definitely have time to do all the things that you want to like extracurriculars hanging out with your friends having a social life Relationships etc. I would actually argue that the first couple of years of medical school might be even easier than traditional life Sciences degrees because you don't have as many assignments and exams and essays running throughout the year You just have these really big exams towards the end of the year I hope this YouTube channel and other channels here on YouTube show you that you can absolutely have a complete life Outside of medical school you can pursue other interests like I have this entire YouTube channel I still play all my sports still hang out with my friends have a great social life Relationships etc. So it's definitely possible obviously different students will have different commitments outside of medical school You know part-time jobs or taking care of family members etc But as a whole I think you have as much free time as any other degree You just have to know how to manage your time well so you can make the most out of the free time you actually have So myth number three if you fail an exam you're gonna get kicked out of medical school sheesh I mean this this really is not true at all. So first things first the pass grade isn't set ridiculously high There are going to be exceptions here and there but generally exams aren't trying to trick you They're just trying to test you on the material that you need to study So if you put in enough time to study the material understand it well and commit everything you need to to memory Then you're probably going to pass but if you do end up failing an exam It is definitely not the end of the world. I've definitely heard this before I know before I got into medical school You know, there's this big notion that if you fail an exam you just get kicked out and that's it This is definitely not true at least here in the UK if you fail any exam Then you have reset exams where you get an opportunity to take that exam once again And even if you fail that reset exam sometimes There's even another opportunity to prove yourself to prove that you can move on to the next year and also know that at least In my medical school if you're on the borderline between pass and fail they look at each case Individually so they look at all of your previous grades and the extenuating Circumstances that you had etc etc to decide if you should pass or fail the year Also, once you fail an exam you get put in what's called the academic support program So this is quite literally a program to help support you to make sure that you don't fail the reset exam or fail the next exam That you take you get individualized teaching one-on-one sessions extra practice in the cadaver lab if you're in earlier years or extra practice doing Examinations clinical skills etc if you're in the further years And so generally speaking the medical schools try to take very good care of you because they don't want you to fail Medical schools want to have a high pass rate of students that get accepted to their degree So if you fail an exam, it's definitely not the end of the world You know think about what went wrong in your practice and your studying and how you can improve that moving forward to make sure that you don't fail again Myth number four is that the sheer amount of work and studying that you do in medical school can have significant effects on your mental health Now this one is definitely true medical school is a very long degree here in the UK. The standard program is either five or six years I know in the US and Canada. It's four years. It's a pretty long degree Especially if you've done an undergraduate degree already like myself So I've definitely gone through periods where I've been more motivated for medical school I've been really excited to jump out of bed and go to clinical placement And I've definitely been through periods where I just I do not have the motivation to go in and try and learn and do my own Independent studying at home etc etc So the key thing to understand is that because medical school is such a long degree such a tough degree It's that your mental health is going to go up and down throughout the whole process So one of the important things that needs to be learned is how to cope with that stress How to manage your stress and whatever way works for you so you can continue to study and learn and be active in the hospital Throughout all your years at medical school if you are going through a rough time mental health wise Please know that you're not alone You know as happy as I am in all these videos because I am genuinely happy like 99% of my life I've also been through periods where I've been really down I've been really stressed and you know medical school has just become too much on top of everything else in my life So just know that you're not alone It happens to pretty much everyone in medical school and there are plenty of support services to help you through times like that Every school will have the appropriate place where you can reach out to people who might be able to help if you're going through a Particularly difficult time. So make sure you use those resources you reach out to people your friends your family and also your medical school if you need Myth number five is that medical school is boring and I could not possibly disagree with this any stronger I have seen some of the most incredible things I think I'm ever going to see during my time in medical school and that ranges from everything from babies being delivered right in front of My eyes to being involved in surgery to I don't know crazy Diagnoses and rare diseases and pathology that you know, I feel like I might never see again in real life There's just so many interesting cases that you get to see as a medical student that the vast majority of people the general public will Never be able to see and it's amazing on top of that if your medical school has a cadaver lab But that is an incredible privilege of an experience. It's something that I don't think I'm ever going to forget You know physically being in front of a human being and being able to open them up and look inside them and dissect all kinds of Different parts. It's truly an incredible experience and then besides that, you know, most people who are in medical school find medicine very interesting I personally I'm always fascinated about what I'm learning whether that's in my lectures or things that I see in clinic You know, I like I genuinely spend my free time thinking about oh like how do the lungs expand and contract and like which muscles are pulling at This time, how does oxygen diffuse across the alveola? These are things that I find very very interesting and I like to think about because I find them interesting So yeah for me medical school has been genuinely exciting throughout the entire time All right myth number six is that everyone in medical school is extremely studious now This is kind of true kind of not true I think in medical school you get the entire spectrum of people You do have people who spend literally every waking moment studying in the library or preparing for exams reading up on lectures Etc. And then you have people on the far end of the spectrum who just like to go and have tons of fun You know cram for their exams last second and blah blah blah I think it's probably the same as most courses since medicine generally is quite competitive to get into I think you'll probably find a higher percentage of people that are more academically oriented that are more studious But it's definitely not every single person and if you are not that type of person Don't worry You'll definitely find other people just like you who like to have a bit more of a relaxed life more things to do outside of medical school Have a whole life outside of academics. There is really the whole spectrum Myth number seven is that medics live and breathe medicine 24-7 not honestly in my experience I have found this to be kind of true generally when I'm hanging out with medics even outside of a medicine context We tend to talk about things that we did in the hospital things that are coming up for us Whether that's about exams or assignments or applications, you know, it definitely does take up a big part of our brain So a big part of what we think about and a big part of our discussions for sure I think it's only natural because such a big part of our life is dedicated towards medicine But as with everything else, it's really important to find that balance and make sure that you have other Interesting things to talk about and other interesting things to do so that your whole life doesn't become medicine 99% of the day. Honestly, most people in medical school are full-on humans with full-on personalities interests and passion products outside of medicine It's only a small group of students who do absolutely nothing but study all day and think about eat breathe and live medicine Myth number eight is that it's too late to start medical school when you're near late 20s or 30s I get messages from people all the time who have done a previous degree and are telling me that they're gonna start medicine at the Edges of 22 23 24 25 and is it too late? Are there gonna be other people there my age? Am I gonna be able to fit in etc etc and honestly from my experience? I think there has been nothing negative for any of the people starting medical school at a higher age personally I started medical school at the age of 22 and I found plenty of other students who had started medical school at about that same age and Also medical students who had started even older at about 25 26 and honestly We've all gotten along with each other very well And we've also made friends with the younger students who started medical school at 18 and everyone's gotten along just fine In fact, some of my closest friends on the course are currently almost 30 and when I talk to them and when we hang out and when we study medicine I honestly never even noticed the age difference at all I think graduate or mature students studying medicine probably enjoy the course to the fullest because they've already figured out how it is They study they're confident in themselves They have their own social life their own friendships and relationships And so medical school kind of becomes a lot easier to manage at that time in comparison to maybe when you're younger 1819 going to uni for the first time and having the big stress that is medical school If you're a mature student starting medical school, maybe you're almost 30 at this time or you have kids at home What I would say is that you know, obviously your priorities are going to be different You're gonna have your family and your kids to take care of but having spoken to people in medical school who have that situation going on They've honestly told me that they don't regret their decision at all And that everything has been a lot smoother than they thought it was before they started medical school Myth number nine is that there's no time for relationships in medical school. I personally think this is absolutely not true I've been in a relationship for the four years of my undergraduate degree and for these four out of five years of my time in medical school Additionally, plenty of my friends have been in and out of relationships throughout these four years So there definitely is time to have a relationship if you want one You just have to manage your time well to make sure that you can keep up with everything else that's going on on top of medical school I honestly think it would probably help if your partner was in medical school because then it would be easier to understand your Time commitments and your schedule and your structure of constantly moving around between different hospitals, etc But it's definitely possible if they're not And then finally myth number 10 is that most people go to medical school in order to get rich and make a whole bunch of money Now I honestly think that this isn't true this notion of doctors making tons of money You know certainly is not the case here in the UK and then even in the US and Canada Most medical students take on huge huge huge loans in order to attend medical school And they pay off those loans for many years to come moving forward now Don't get me wrong doctors definitely get paid a decent salary It's definitely above the average starting wage out of graduation from university But I do think it's in proportion to how many hours they end up working at the hospital How stressful the job is etc And of course the money that you need to pay back from taking on your loans for studying for such a long degree You know if you're in high school and your goal is to make a lot of money I really think medicine is not the profession to go to there's so many other jobs where you can make way more money Way faster than going to medical school You know for example working in economics computer science Investments accounting Entrepreneurship starting a business there's plenty of ways to make way more money than being a doctor I also think that if you don't really enjoy medicine and have a passion for medicine It's gonna be hard to continue that motivation and that work ethic for such a long period of time And then of course once you actually start working your career is gonna be very very long So as a result I think anyone who's going into medicine just with the intent of getting rich is a bit misinformed And they're probably gonna have a really difficult time keeping up with all the demands of medical school And then you know the demands of actually being a doctor once they start working All right And I think that is it those are the top 10 myths that I wanted to debunk or confirm about medical school I hope you enjoyed this video and if you're starting medical school this year best of luck It's gonna be tons of fun And I'm sure you're gonna really enjoy it if you did enjoy this video Don't forget to leave a like on it and I'll subscribe to my channel to more content like this in the future And I'll catch you in the next one. Peace In this video, we're going to be confirming or debunking the 10 most common myths about medical school Make sure you watch the video the whole way through because I wish I had known all the stuff before I started I