What Are The Dirty Truths About Medical School?

The things that no professor, admissions officer, or maybe even student would want to tell you about medical school.

This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by Richard Schaller Jr, Colorectal Surgeon




That they are preparing you not necessarily to be a doctor, but to pass a test.

In a traditional 4 year medical school, the first 2 years are the basic science/classroom learning years. This is when students learn an unfathomable amount of information and basically a new language. Gross anatomy…you learn every muscle, bone, nerve, organ system in the human body inside (literally) and out. Then you also look at it under a microscope in histology, while you also learn how it develops from a single cell in embryology. You learn all about the chemical reactions that make it happen in biochemistry. That's the first 4 months. Once you get a handle on the normal, them you learn about the abnormal in pathology and microbiology and physiology. You may also have classes instructing you on how to perform a physical exam and interview a patient and you spend a lot of time in a lab looking at slides or specimens and dissections. It is a lot.

At the end of the first 2 years, you have to take the United States Medical Licensing Exam, Step 1. You must pass this test to move on to year three, where you start working in a hospital with other doctors and real live patients with real problems. Your knowledge or opinion will often not mean a goddam thing, but you learn side by sude in the real environment.

The point is you need a passing score on this standardized test to progress. Every US medical student takes it. You are compared to your peers. There are study courses/test prep you can take. Questions banks exist. It is a BIG DEAL.

Why?

Your score on this test will determine your future. Specifically, a better score will allow you to pursue more competitive/desirable residency programs and specialties. If you just pass with a 185, good luck to you even getting the lowest medical residency spot. If you excel with at least a 240, then your options are almost limitless. That one number will get you noticed and open doors for you.

Schools of course want to train competent doctors, but they also want their students to do well on this test, so the school can say we sent our students to this residency program or 90% of our graduates got into 1 of their top 3 residency choices and over 94% of our students passed this test the first time.

It is a standardized test, multiple choice, single best answer. The results form a bell curve. There are metrics/advanced stats about your test score and how well you will do on step 2 and 3. Schools can pound their chests all they want about their integrated or innovative teaching modules, but if their students don't score well, they don't place well into residencies. Then they don't attract top applicants. You get the idea. They will teach you what you need to know for the test, because they have to keep the machine moving.

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