You know you're in med school when....

[RinaBe]

When you come across mechanisms that are "not yet known" in your studying and are grateful that no one has figured it out yet.

Hahaha, yes. Or come across very likely mechanisms/processes that are still in clinical testing and your prof says "just be familiar with this issue but don't memorize it because this might not be the case."

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[Erina]

Hahaha, yes. Or come across very likely mechanisms/processes that are still in clinical testing and your prof says "just be familiar with this issue but don't memorize it because this might not be the case."

Similarly, I stopped complaining that we crammed all of anatomy into 7 weeks when my professor started saying, "We don't have time to cover that, so ignore it" at least once during every lecture. At least there was one advantage to the fast pace of medical school...

 

[ydobon]

Similarly, I stopped complaining that we crammed all of anatomy into 7 weeks when my professor started saying, "We don't have time to cover that, so ignore it" at least once during every lecture. At least there was one advantage to the fast pace of medical school...

When everything and everyone around you is so hectic you take a break and realize you're doing fine. The only reason you feel stressed is because part of the culture of med school is to appear overworked and slightly panicked, whether you are or not. So, you go back to studying and remember that you actually enjoy it!!!

Nobody
MS-II

 

[Depakote]

you realize you're paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for feelings of inadequacy and the possibility of stress induced gastritis.

 

[Depakote]

You have medical student's disease by proxy.

(i.e. your MS1 girlfriend is convinced you have neurofibromatosis or whatever other disease you're studying that week)

 

[KaraKiz]

when you come home from the exam and have to pull your least-dirty clothes out of the hamper to wear to the after exam party...

 

[MartianOddity]

When everything and everyone around you is so hectic you take a break and realize you're doing fine. The only reason you feel stressed is because part of the culture of med school is to appear overworked and slightly panicked, whether you are or not. So, you go back to studying and remember that you actually enjoy it!!!

Nobody
MS-II

I know what you're talking about.
Being the one who seldom falls into a stressful pattern, I rather enjoy watching my fellow Med Students stress themselves into small fragile fragments which will shatter if you even give them the smallest shake.

Isn't it hilarious that the people who are the most stressing companions also are the ones with the highest grades? Generally speaking, of course.

 

[Kappy1]

When you schedule bathroom time, thinking about cutting down on it, or eliminating it all together so you can study.

 

[Ashers]

When you're glad your patient tells you you're "gifted at doing paps" in front of your attending, even though that may be the weirdest compliment you'll ever receive.

 

[Depakote]

I know what you're talking about.
Being the one who seldom falls into a stressful pattern, I rather enjoy watching my fellow Med Students stress themselves into small fragile fragments which will shatter if you even give them the smallest shake.

Isn't it hilarious that the people who are the most stressing companions also are the ones with the highest grades? Generally speaking, of course.

no wonder I'm not stressing out. (or rather, not stressing my friends out.)

 

[Jwax]

no wonder I'm not stressing out. (or rather, not stressing my friends out.)

Me, too. I was stressed at the beginning of this test block week, but as I've gone through it and my grades are so very marginal, it's kinda hard to care. I've kinda given up on the notion of improvement and am holding out until next semester so I can get a fresh start.

You know you're in med school when you've spent the last two weeks getting excited about the post-test block Halloween party.

[We have "themed" parties that you have to dress up for after test blocks, so you can't really do the pull the least dirty item out of the hamper.]

 

[urgentcase]

Third year:
- when you really, really want to go home and someone says "you can go home if you want to," you DON'T go home

when a resident tells you after 8 hrs of surgery that you can eat lunch soon... in 10 more hrs.

 

[WiscDoc]

Or, alternatively, you know you are in medical school when the professor can't cover everything in the miniscule time alotted, but you are somehow still responsible for everything and more. However, the problem is that you have two practicals and one final that week, so you have only 12 hrs to study six weeks of lecture material (and for two practicals at the same time) that would normally take about a year to properly cover. And, of course, right before the practical, more stuff is added to the list than is removed.

Where are you guys going to school? We are never responsible for anything not in the course book or lecture. Lectures tend to follow the course book very closely...

 

[spicedmanna]

We are never responsible for anything not in the course book or lecture. Lectures tend to follow the course book very closely...

Oh heck, it's probably all in there somewhere.... It's a systems-based curriculum, so we skip around a lot. But, yeah, I should read more...

 

[girlofdestiny]

You fall and scrape your arm while out for a run and your first thought is:

Thank goodness for platelets!

And your second thought is about the clotting cascade.

Sad but true.

 

[monkeymeg2]

when you realize daylight savings time is approaching and get ridiculously excited...now the burning question is: should i use the extra time to study or to sleep?

 

[da8s0859q]

You fall and scrape your arm while out for a run and your first thought is:

Thank goodness for platelets!

And your second thought is about the clotting cascade.

Sad but true.

I can appreciate this just from pathophysiology in undergrad (which I'm doing right now).

 

[doc20]

When you schedule bathroom time, thinking about cutting down on it, or eliminating it all together so you can study.

When you schedule to study GI in the bathroom time, and all of sudden everything starts to make sense. i.e only while sitting on the toilet seat

 

[Noeljan]

when you are in a non medically related conversation and you start making mnemonics for things. All of the sudden you realize what you are doing, haha.

 

[Depakote]

You walk past a room where a couple of guys are using power tools on a severed arm and your first reaction is "cool, can I watch?"

(they were rehearsing a wrist joint replacement)

afterward, you go study in a room with 12 human brains in buckets.

this is completely normal to you

 

[nka1985]

when you realize daylight savings time is approaching and get ridiculously excited...now the burning question is: should i use the extra time to study or to sleep?

Ha, I was studying for my first anatomy exam last week, but I chose sleep. I did pretty well though (definitely better than I expected), so I don't regret my choice.

 

[ksav]

...you've been studying so much that everything is blurry.

...you've finished histo, but decide against taking time off since anatomy ends in a week... hence worsening the blurriness of the eyes due to too much studying and not enough sleep

 

[tch001]

From my neighbor (we live in a not so nice neighborhood):

"you take your anatomy notes out of your bookbag when you walk home from the library late at night, so in case your mugged you can just hand over your bag sans precious notes"

 

[smq123]

...you've been studying so much that everything is blurry.

...you've finished histo, but decide against taking time off since anatomy ends in a week... hence worsening the blurriness of the eyes due to too much studying and not enough sleep

Your eyes are probably blurry because you're not blinking enough as you read so much.

Get artificial tears from the drug store (preferably the ones without preservatives). Put them in the refrigerator. When your eyes get blurry and strained, use the cold artificial tears. They feel so good and will help your eyes clear. I did this when studying for Step 1, which helped a lot.

 

[ksav]

Your eyes are probably blurry because you're not blinking enough as you read so much.

Get artificial tears from the drug store (preferably the ones without preservatives). Put them in the refrigerator. When your eyes get blurry and strained, use the cold artificial tears. They feel so good and will help your eyes clear. I did this when studying for Step 1, which helped a lot.

thanks... i'll give it a try!

 

[Engin]

In anatomy lab:

Me: "Hey, dude, can you give me the blunt?"
Me: ....
Me: "Wow, that meant something totally different in college."

And a totally different smell too. Not that I would know.

 

[Depakote]

you've found yourself wishing humans lacked some pretty significant anatomical/histological structures... just so you didn't have to learn about them.

 

[Packamylase]

you've found yourself wishing humans lacked some pretty significant anatomical/histological structures... just so you didn't have to learn about them.

I've totally said that!

"Man, I wish we didn't have arteries!"

 

[nka1985]

You look at a standardized while learning the abdominal exam and try to imagine them with no skin so that you know what you're palpating, percussing, etc.

And you think it's really cool to know that the psoas muscle is the human version of filet mignon.

 

[nlax30]

You look at a standardized while learning the abdominal exam and try to imagine them with no skin so that you know what you're palpating, percussing, etc.

And you think it's really cool to know that the psoas muscle is the human version of filet mignon.

Haha.....yeah, and it doesn't stop once anatomy is over. I find myself staring at necks now thinking about the coarse of the carotids, brachial plexus, the scalenes, etc....

......there's something seriously wrong with us.

 

[bambi]

When you have gone insane and think your mouthwash says it protects against plague instead of plaque.
(More of a Uk one) Someone says Martini and you think physiology rather than alcohol.

 

[ZipsPwn]

"I hate work. Some days I wish someone would rob this place and just shoot me in the process."

"You mean like Xiphoid?"

 

[LowlyPremed]

You know you're in med school when Thanksgiving is considered a study day. We have exams this week.

 

[braluk]

When you have to spray axe or other body spray on in-the-hamper-but-still-relatively-clean-socks because they are always the type of clothes that run out first during exam time when you dont have time for laundry

 

[agranulocytosis]

You know you're in med school when you go check up the NCAA scores on espn.com and see NHL, the first thing you think of is Burkitt Lymphoma.

 

[Jwax]

You have a conversation with a classmate that goes like this:

Me: Hey, are you okay?
Friend: [Sigh] No.....
Me: What's wrong?
Friend: [Pause] Green phlegm.

 

[Drogba]

You have a conversation with a classmate that goes like this:

Me: Hey, are you okay?
Friend: [Sigh] No.....
Me: What's wrong?
Friend: [Pause] Green phlegm.

(Cue dramatic piano motif) Dun dun dun!

 

[Bushido416]

you know ur in med school when you get a cold or a headache and think I don't need to follow this recommended dosage I'm going to be a doctor!

 

[SugPlum]

you know ur in med school when you get a cold or a headache and think I don't need to follow this recommended dosage I'm going to be a doctor!

I tried this undergrad with some meds. But I always follow the recommended dosage for acetaminophen.

 

[nka1985]

You know you're in med school when Thanksgiving is considered a study day. We have exams this week.

We do too...Written anatomy test Thurs morning, practical Friday-but I studied during my cross-country flights for the holidays. Someone on the plane asked me why I was studying on vacation, and all I could think to say was "I'm in medical school." I think they expected me to elaborate, but really, that says it all. Sigh.

 

[FutureDoc2011]

When your "study break" consists of taking a practice anatomy practical!

 

[nka1985]

When your "study break" consists of taking a practice anatomy practical!

...and it's really not cool that they scheduled our practical on a Friday afternoon.

 

[not me]

1. People see you sitting in public spaces staring intently at a large image of a penis on your laptop

2. Man boobs make you think of finding the PMI

3. You find yourself going to less class than you did in college because lectures are on video.

4. You or someone you know owns Operation and it was purchased recently.

5. Being forced to sit through classes on physician sensitivity and cultural understanding makes you think of House.

More than one person has bought you Operation and thought that they were really funny/original

 

[nabs86]

When you stop studying renal long enough to pee and you think about what your urine is composed of and how it got that way.

 

[da8s0859q]

When you stop studying renal long enough to pee and you think about what your urine is composed of and how it got that way.

I do this as an undergrad, too, going glomerulus / Bowman's / through the rest of the nephron by component / calyces / ... .

I'm hopeless.

 

[nka1985]

When you sprain your ankle, and immediately start to think about the fact that inversion injuries are more common than eversion injuries.

Sad but true.

 

[wanabdoc]

All small talk with fellow classmates inevitably starts with "so how are classes going?" instead of "are you coming to x's party this weekend?"

 

[MastahRiz]

When you schedule bathroom time, thinking about cutting down on it, or eliminating it all together so you can study.

Wait... you don't study in the bathroom?

 

[GodoShingo]

When you have sleep problems and haven't been able to get a minute of sleep for the past three days (and you are actually going nuts) but still don't mind, because that means 8 hours of more studying.

Seriously, I didn't sleep at all in three days. Normally I dont require more than 5 hours a sleep a night, but I'm really astonished I didn't get into a coma.
The side effects were hallucinations ("What was that?! Anyone there?!") and sudden hysterical laugh attacks ("hahahahaha...hahahaaha....HA-HA-HAAAAA!!") and the sudden outburst of "I'm in so deep my misery!" and "Wow I've managed to ace my knowledge about the glycolytic cycle!".

 

[Depakote]

When you have sleep problems and haven't been able to get a minute of sleep for the past three days (and you are actually going nuts) but still don't mind, because that means 8 hours of more studying.

Seriously, I didn't sleep at all in three days. Normally I dont require more than 5 hours a sleep a night, but I'm really astonished I didn't get into a coma.
The side effects were hallucinations ("What was that?! Anyone there?!") and sudden hysterical laugh attacks ("hahahahaha...hahahaaha....HA-HA-HAAAAA!!") and the sudden outburst of "I'm in so deep my misery!" and "Wow I've managed to ace my knowledge about the glycolytic cycle!".

um... you might want to get that checked.