DON'T Quit. Dr. Hilsden's advice for MED students and pre-meds

Medical school is a difficult time, and we all have our doubts. There will always be a pressure or a temptation to quit at moments. I want to encourage anyone considering a career in medicine to stick with it. Many prominent MD youtubers have left the medical field. I want to encourage anyone in the middle to do your best to finish your training before you move on to another field. Really it's only by being a fully trained physician that you will truly know the ins and outs of the profession.

It's ok to have doubts. Let me encourage you to stick with it.

[jennymei]

“The reasons why you chose to go into medicine will not be the reasons why you stay in medicine”
This is so on point and important! As someone who recently finished residency, I 100% agree with this. It doesn’t mean you should leave the field. It just means you grew as a person, just like everyone does, and came to find your role as a doctor as it developed. Thank you so much for making this! There is definitely a bias in the content posted on YouTube and it can be very discouraging. Resilience, perseverance, and a whole lot of therapy are crucial and will get you through!

[jmcfarr]

The current tread on YouTube seems to be encouraging people to quit their jobs, start a YouTube channel and make money selling their subscribers products or the hope of a leisurely lifestyle.

[johncochran]

This channel is truly a breath of fresh air among YouTube doctors! It feels like after COVID, so many in the field just said, "Forget this, " and walked away. I know the issues are much deeper, but it seems like medicine is often romanticized, and some students and doctors discover it’s not what they expected, so they search for fulfillment elsewhere. Your perspective is a welcome reminder of the passion and purpose that drew many of us here in the first place.

[Emmiee]

I’m a resident and the thought of quitting is the only thing that gets me through the day. The prospect that I can do it gives me hope. I’ve never met a single doctor that took me under their wing and encouraged me to push through! I don’t have mentors or anyone to look up to. I feel lonely and scared on rounds. I have found myself on multiple occasions being suicidal while on-call, and for what? Deep down I know I wasn’t made for this. I’m just tired.

[OlufunshiAyo]

I love medicine. The idea of seeing a patient, listening to their concerns and using your medical knowledge to provide them a plan of management is very intriguing to me. However, I hate the emotional and mental stress prevalent in the profession. I failed medical school and was kicked out. I reapplied and got into another medical school and graduated. I am now preparing for my STEP 1 board exam. I am just embrassing the process. It is the journey that is "fun"....it is almost like I am numb to the emotional stress... I just know I enjoy medicine and thats all that matters!

[wassimboukhelkhal]

Thank you for addressing that really, medical school during the pandemic was very hard for me, I'm always doubting myself that i didn't learn well in the pandemic, i hope i will make to the end of my training, you gave me a little hope to continue my training

[saidnassr]

All i can say is that you can't advise anyone to stay or to quit, It is everyone's decision. Life in the field of medicine is not perfect and not everyone has the same experience or conditions... Not everyone has the same mental or emotional state. I am becoming a physician myself in a year and i am so greatful for being able to become one, but i can't advise people to do medicine or not to quit doing it... Yes we are a very important sector for our societies but we don't all live in the same frame... I had to write this because i felt that the video is biased in a way, i hope that i wasn't offensive.

[johnnyhuang]

Thank you Dr.Hilsden. I am a med student about to quite. I just feel like there are so many lack of attention and support for us. As a med student, we are not just stressed by huge amount of learning tasks, also get ignored by school leaders about our mental health and well being. Also our system over emphasize exam score than learning process. As I rotate, I see my attendings, great professors, as merely hard labor force workers for large hospital enterprise
owners. Maybe I see everything a very negative way, but it is the cruel reality. A reality of schools making money on students loan when they purposefully advertise the prestige of becoming a doctor. A reality that they limit the admission rate and standard so badly, African Americans and Hispanics have almost been racially segregated from becoming a doctor, and they are forced to leave the country to go to Caribean school to.pursue their dream. A reality of using residents as money making tools(80hr/WK with a minimum wage) for the cruel capitalists. A reality of using great physicians as advertisement for attracting more patients, which of course could generate higher revenue for hospital owners again. So the problem is you never get admired or becoming center of the system, and you are always working for someone systemically richer and higher who owns you and your work efforts. I do have empathy. I do have passion for medicine. Its just the more I get into it, the more uglyness I see, the more dissapointment I have.

[isamarfernandez]

I really needed this video. As an IMG currently preparing for the USMLE, watching these videos about quitting medicine makes one doubt whether you're choosing the right path or not. Thank you for normalizing our struggles in this career and for spreading a sight of hope after completing training. Keep posting videos like this please! - Much respect from the Dominican Republic

[peterreisdorf]

I appreciate videos like this. The more popular ones seem to be about quitting and have led me to doubt going into medicine. It is also hard cause I think most who are broadcasting quitting seem to have better career prospects through social media etc...

[Imash]

Studying for the MCAT right now; being a doctor is all I have ever wanted my entire life. This exam makes me feel like an imposter, and like ill never make it. So thank you, I will keep going.

[Sara-yjwg]

I found so much value in this. I'm in my second year of medical school and failed two exams recently and its made me pretty bummed out as of late. I've been comparing myself to other students a lot and thinking that maybe I'm just not cut out for this, added to the fact that I have ADHD... everyone just seems to be so much more studious than I am. I just thought that those things ultimately meant I should just drop out. I needed to hear every word of this. I cant thank you enough.

[neurogal]

Was feeling a bit doubtful but really appreciated hearing this ❤️ especially from a practicing physician

[elizbethkieffer]

There definitely needs to be more videos like this. I love people’s openness to admit that they are quitting medicine, but sometimes when that’s all you hear, you start to doubt wanting to be a doctor.

[asdfjklasdfjkl]

I'm having the hardest time right now as an MS2. Thanks for this video.

[AS-usee]

Thank you so much for this video! I REALLY needed to hear this. It's already hard being a medical student and hearing all the negativity about medicine makes it really worse. So thank you for the encouragement! 🙏🏼

[usbgamers]

I thought about quitting med school recently, and completely change my careers because I came to be disillusioned about the prospects of the job I thought was a fact. I was incredibly depressed, on the verge of tears everywhere, and said f it and took a week break to have a talk with my family

Now I made the decision to continue pursuing med school until I get my degree. Only two years left, why not just take it while I am at it? I can still change careers, hell, I might use it to elevate my position. Or at the end of the day, after the hardships, I might enjoy it. Who knows? It's the future after all. I'm just bracing through the burnout for now, and after I get a shiny "MD" after my name, I will see where the life takes me :) Life is not only black and white, opportunities lie anywhere, I'll just be on the lookout for them now on

[took_ya_handle]

Hey Doc. Thank you for being so encouraging - I find this message is quite meaningful for me as a non-traditional pre-medical student. To not quit, to know it’s okay to feel a bit of insecurity at times, and to ultimately see the day to reap the beautiful rewards of being able to deeply and positively improve the lives of patients.

[dayanatobar]

Thank you, Dr. Hilsden for this message. I watched this video during my first year of medical school and am re-listening now too. This is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you and take care.

[danielarchuleta]

I'm a little late here and don't know if you will even read this, but I wanted to thank you for this video. I've been heavily debating whether I want to stick to the medical route due to personal insecurities and this video helped me remember why I went the medical route in the first place. It's very easy to doubt yourself and choose other paths, but I think medicine is worth it in the end. Again, I can't thank you enough. This is something that has been bothering me for the past 6 months