Tips for students who want to pursue a career in medicine

Doctors and medical students have a whole different lifestyle. They cannot go without studying, not a single day, and they work harder than most people. It wouldn’t be wrong to call them a different breed. 

Choosing a career in medicine is all about hard work. Sportspeople practice sports every day. Similarly, you must practice some changes in your life if you want to pursue medicine. However, you can never do all this if you aren’t passionate about medicine. 

Here are a few tips for you to change your lifestyle according to your career change. These will help you to fit into medical school and cope with the changing environment.

Be a man with a plan

It is just an expression, you can be a woman with a plan, but you must have a plan. Lay down your goals and aims. Consider every aspect, every best- and worst-case scenario. This habit of yours will come in very handy when you treat patients daily. 

Consider your path to pursuing medicine. How much do you need to score? How much do you need to work? What are your weaknesses? What is your strength? Which medical career is right for me? You must ask such questions at this stage. Later in life, you will replace them with different questions like, what is the best plan to treat this patient. Always think logically. Always have a plan.

Dedicate yourself to work

Medical school is not for the lazy ones. As a medical student, you cannot go a day without studying. You won’t survive. You need to change your habit if you are passionate about medicine. Dedicate yourself to work. I’m not saying that you must become a workaholic, but you need to prepare yourself. Doctors are always doing 12-hour or 24-hour shifts, and they barely have spare time. Therefore, change your ways if you want to survive in this profession.

Study smart and hard

Hard work is good, but smart work is more efficient. Medical students are champions in both hard work and smart work. You must study daily for 3-4 hours and work on your time management. The medical school syllabus is volatile. It is hard to remember the names of the drugs or branches of your arteries. Therefore, medical students revise and learn every day. They watch videos, make pneumonic, and study both smart and hard. Make sure you practice this habit to prepare yourself for future learning.

Connect with other medical students

Be friends with other medical students. You must stay in touch with your seniors as they can give you insights and share their experiences. They will help you to prepare for your exams. You may research all you want, but it’s always wise to connect with experienced people. 

They can be your friends, your mentor, and your guide to medical school. You can also ask for guidance from your professors and lecturers. These are busy people, but they often help their students and advise them on many important matters.

Leave anything that stands between you and your goals

You should prepare yourself to let go of anything that becomes a hurdle. Leave laziness, leave procrastination. It just blocks your path to success. Your focus should be on you and your goals. Stop checking your phone every moment. Turn off the internet and focus on your studies. Latest studies have proved that you retain much more when you are not distracted. The same goes for toxic friends and time-wasting activities. Just leave them.

Do volunteer work

Always choose to go for volunteer trainings like blood donation camps. These will help you gain experience, and you will learn many things beforehand. Moreover, these can help you discover if you are genuinely passionate about medicine. 

Medicine is a high-rewarding career for women and men both.  What motivates you to become a doctor? I cannot imagine how anyone in their right mind will choose so much effort and hard work over leisure. I can only conclude that it is the passion to help people. You cannot pursue a career in medicine if you are not passionate about it. The motivation is the look on the patient’s face when he thanks you. It has the power to change all your troubles into blessings.