Wellbeing for medical students

AMSA's Keeping Your Grass Greener Guide

I think this is potentially one of the most important issues for medical students today. Because let's face it: medical school is pretty draining. And it doesn't get any easier - once you graduate, you become an intern. Sure, you're getting paid for hanging around the hospital rather than you paying the government to let you (i.e., uni fees), but most often you have a ridiculous workload. On top of that, we've all still got to find time to study so we don't accidentally kill someone.

It's a heck of a burden to bear. In other jobs, if you stuff up it's not so much of a big deal. Sure, your boss might haul you over the coals for stuffing up that order and losing a valued customer. You might get fired if you really stuff up. But in Medicine, if you make a mistake someone's life is at risk. Mortality is a risk, and if your mistake isn't quite that as bad as to kill someone, you might still cause significant morbidity issues for them. Pretty stressful, no?

But luckily as a medical student, I don't have patient's lives in my hands. I'm not in charge of making any difficult decisions. I'm just here to learn as much as I can. Which is downright stressful too!! I'd be lying if I was saying I wasn't a perfectionist. I think at times I come pretty close to fulfilling the DSM-IV-TR criteria for OCPD, especially around exam time. And medicine is pretty competitive. Sure, our marks aren't scaled and what one person gets doesn't affect another person's marks, but we're all intelligent, driven people and we don't want to look stupid in front of our peers and superiors.

Of course, I manage to make a fool of myself on a regular basis by being generally stupid; today was no exception.

And then there is the workload. Eating and sleeping seem to be optional. I haven't had time to go to the gym in months, yet somehow I've lost 5kg because I haven't had the time to look after myself. Plus I take the stairs.

It seems ridiculous that we are going to be looking after other people's health, when we hardly manage to take care of ourselves at times! And it's not just our physical health that's at risk - medical students and doctors suffer from mental illness too. As someone who struggled through a prolonged and severe major depressive disorder with generalised anxiety, I know just how devastating it can be. Therefore, it's an issue that is close to my heart. My depression nearly threatened to take everything away from me: my relationships, being a medical student, even my very life. Which, of course, pretty much sucked. But for some reason, people feel that because you're a medical student or a doctor, you're supposed to be immune!

Additionally (and understandably), medical students are scared of seeking treatment for fears of stigma and potential harm to our future career. I delayed going to see my GP about depression for AGES, thinking I could just "intellectualise" myself out of it. In the end I had to go and see a psychiatrist, which was pretty much the best move I ever made. And depression doesn't stick with you forever - it can be cured. Just because I was depressed doesn't mean that I am any less of a person, or I'm not capable of being a doctor. My judgement certainly isn't impaired, and I find that I can respond with empathy towards patients because I can really understand what they might be going through.

So fellow med students: looking after your mental health is IMPORTANT. Don't delay getting treatment - it's only going to harm you. I nearly failed a year because I was too scared to talk to the medical university faculty about my problems, for fear they'd think I wasn't good enough to be a doctor. But now I'm all better and back to kicking butt (or attempting to, at least, haha)

And get a hobby!! Have you noticed that consultants can talk for hours about their hobbies? I often wonder where they find the time for them, but I've come to realise that you need them to be successful. You need something outside of medicine that you can enjoy. It's healthy, and is something that all successful doctors realise! Cooping yourself up in your room doing nothing but study isn't going to help you in the long term, and it certainly won't help your future patients.

Don't forget to smile :) Life is good!