Name: 6 Things They DON’T Tell You About Medical School
Uploaded: 2026-03-12T17:44:21.000Z
Duration: 8 min 15 s
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Medical school makes it impossible to have a life.

It's like drinking from a fire hydrant, and

you'll only ever find happiness at the end of the tunnel.

But what if I told you much of what you've heard about medical school is completely wrong?

Jubbal medschoolinsiders.com the stereotype of medical school is that you won't know much of a life beyond studying and burying your nose in textbooks or notes.

You might be surprised to hear it's possible to have more of a life than you think for two main reasons.

First, while there is certainly more volume of content to go through than in college, you'll have few demands on your time outside of the classroom.

As a competitive pre med, you might have been juggling research with volunteering, with clinical experience, with leadership experience, and

In medical school, your top priority is focusing on learning the information and skills required to be a competent physician.

In other words, for most medical students, the long list of extracurriculars becomes heavily truncated depending on your intended specialty.

Research will likely be your second professional priority outside of your studies, but

there is far less focus on volunteering, clinical experience and others.

It depends on what specialty you're pursuing.

This is good news if you're pursuing a more attainable specialty and bad news if you're pursuing a more competitive specialty.

My friends pursuing more attainable specialties were able to lead a more balanced life, spending additional time outside of academic pursuits, not worrying about having the highest number of publications or setting the curve on block exams.

My friends pursuing more competitive specialties spent more time studying, more time doing research, and

some also pursued additional leadership opportunities.

To find out where your desired specialty stacks up, check out our videos on the most and least competitive specialties link in the description Medical school is going to be stressful no matter how Zen you may be before orientation.

Because medical school demands so much of you, you'll be operating at near full capacity for extended periods of time.

Therefore, any hiccup or speed bump in life that would otherwise be manageable can feel disastrous and stress levels spike through the roof.

The secret isn't powering through and denying your emotions.

Instead, you need to figure out what techniques best serve you when tensions rise.

Maybe it's exercise, meditation, confiding in loved ones, journaling a hobby, or any combination of these.

Failure to invest time in stress mitigation techniques can be disastrous for your mental health and longevity.

A colleague of mine began experiencing stress induced headaches under the pressure of studying for the MCAT in college before his junior year.

After the gauntlet of MCAT studying, his headaches subsided during junior and senior years under the reduced workload.

However, the issue resurfaced at a higher intensity under the rigors of medical school, and

he ultimately dropped out well before earning his MD Next Pre Meds often mistake medical school's difficulty with its volume make no mistake, medical school is certainly challenging, but

it's not because of the conceptual difficulty of the material rather, it's a consequence of the volume.

There are a few exceptions that many students find challenging, however, including cardio and pulmonary blocks, which rely on more mathematical equations and fluid dynamics than other organ systems.

Depending on your major in college, you may actually find the content in medical school to be easier from a conceptual difficulty and understanding perspective.

Those who pursued engineering, math, physics, neuroscience, and

other critical thinking heavy majors will find the content of medical school far easier to wrap their heads around.

Where just about everyone will be surprised is the pace of learning.

You'll be expected to learn a large volume of information incredibly fast.

It's not uncommon to feel perpetually behind, but

it becomes far more manageable once you accept the messiness of effective studying and embrace active learning techniques.

Which brings me to the next point, which is that your study strategies are likely dog excrement.

This fact is harder for the valedictorians and straight A students to accept than the students who struggled.

High school and college are comparatively far more forgiving of subpar study strategies than medical school.

Many students who achieve a straight 4.0Gpa in college and set the curves feel assured that they'll be fine in medical school unless they've been following our study strategy advice, which we recommend.

Even in high school and college, they're usually in for a rude awakening.

Passive techniques such as re reading notes or even worse, re listening to lectures are woefully inadequate to perform well in medical school.

Optimal learning isn't just about repetition, as many assume.

Rather, it requires creating new neuronal connections and strengthening them.

This occurs most effectively through recalling information rather than recognizing it, and

by interacting with the information in multiple, novel ways, not just one.

Unfortunately, most students don't employ active learning techniques, of which there are multiple we walk you through in our study strategies playlist because they are initially messy and uncomfortable.

Passive techniques, on the other hand, are easy and familiar.

The problem is that passive techniques are far less effective.

If you're interested in learning the most amount of information in the least amount of time and getting back to living your life in college, you're often juggling multiple assignments across your classes throughout the semester.

In addition to quizzes and midterms before your finals.

These serve as frequent check ins, keeping you on track with your studying and warding off excessive procrastination.

For the most part, medical school has fewer assignments and fewer quizzes, thus requiring more self directed learning to keep on track.

Depending on your medical school, exams will likely be less frequen than in college and each test will hold greater weight on your final grade.

Without honing your discipline and avoiding the temptation of procrastination, you'll be in for a bumpy ride.

This becomes even more extreme during the clinical years where you're more isolated from your classmates and Generally only have one shelf exam at the end of a 4 to 12 week rotation.

Medical school is a far more intimate affair than college.

Rather than thousands of students per entering class, there are only a couple hundred if that.

Most medical school classes range between 100 to 200 students.

Even the largest class are only a bit over 1000, whereas college classes may be an order of magnitude larger.

While you can disappear in the crowds of college, you can't do the same in medical school.

You'll know every classmate by name and vice versa.

Unless you attended a smaller liberal arts college, you'll be surprised that there aren't several hundreds of students in lecture hall, but

There will be more small group sessions such as problem Based learning or pbl, and

And in the smaller, intimate setting of medical school, there is no hiding.

the last thing you want to do is solidify a questionable reputation, especially early on in medical school as it's near impossible to shake.

While your college might have felt like a melting pot, you'll be amazed at the level of diversity in medical school.

The overwhelming majority of college students arrived straight from high school, but

your classmates in medical school will be from all walks of life.

The average age of entering students is usually in the mid-20s, depending on the program, but

it's not uncommon for some students to be well into their 30s and beyond.

Many will have come straight from college, but

some will be transitioning from other careers, be accomplished athletes, or even have served in the military overseas.

You'll be humbled by the exceptional individuals you'll have the honor of calling your colleagues.

Medical school is an adjustment for everyone, but don't forget these six underappreciated realities.

If you find yourself struggling with your academic performance, study strategies, research output, or other aspects of medical school, remember that we're here for you.

We know exactly what you're going through because we've been there.

Many of us, myself included, are the sons and daughters of immigrant parents and the first to pursue medicine, let alone a career in healthcare.

But just because the odds are stacked against you doesn't mean you can't exceed expectations and become a top performer.

We'll even show you how we got multiple top 10 medical school acceptances, got our entire medical school costs covered through merit based scholarship, mashed into the most competitive specialties for residency, and

Learn more@medschoolinsiders.com if you'd like to be a part of Med School Insiders, we are currently hiring.

We're looking for a Director of Content and also a few writers to help us create and manage our growing YouTube and social media presence.

Visit medschoolinsiders.com hiring or click the link in the description for more details and how to apply.

If you enjoyed this video, check out why getting into Medical School is so hard and how to stand out.