No one is ever fully prepared for medical school. These words of wisdom passed on to us from upperclassmen was unsettling, but true. As we progress through each year of our program, we see those same principles apply. In year 1, it was getting used to studying every single day. In year 2, it was figuring out how to balance studying for boards and passing our classes simultaneously. Then in year 3, we are tossed into our first clinical rotations where everything we learned through didactic is used to treat real patients, with real chief complaints. Rumor has it, year 4 externships and residency afterwards will induce the same type of nerve-racking experiences, but we will get through it just as everyone else before us did. For my class, it started in 2018 with a community that failed together, succeeded together, and grew together.
Everyone knows medical school is hard, but you really don’t understand how hard it is until you see for yourself. Most of us felt this way entering year 1, especially being the 1st class enrolling into a new academic curriculum. It was frustrating to feel like the “guinea pigs”, but our class embraced it together. Being a small class of 30 became our biggest strength. Throughout the year, we took pride in being the first ones to take on this challenge, laying down the groundwork for the future classes to come. Every obstacle and hardship we had, we tackled it with a smile because we knew we had each other's backs. We spent endless hours together in study rooms, anatomy lab, and each other’s homes. We spent more time with each other than with our own families. Because of this, we developed a strong sense of community, becoming a family away from home. We got close enough to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and completion of big assessments together. Seeing each other laugh and smile outside of school was the most rewarding feeling. Things as simple as playing fantasy football, grabbing food, and playing board games strengthened these bonds. Later on, a classmate also created a Facebook group page called the WesternU DPM Supporters. Whether you were a student, significant other, or family member, a space was created for everyone and their support system to feel at home with one another. Whatever we had going on in our personal lives, we could extend the invite to others on that group page, this exemplified the type of community we have at WesternU.
As expected, year 2 was even harder than year 1 for various reasons. Introducing pharmacology, microbiology, and pathology was as difficult as advertised by the upperclassmen. Boards came closer each day and classes did not slow down for it. On top of that, COVID-19 caused us to transition toward online curriculum to finish our final block of didactic. When we thought we finally had it all figured out, a new challenge presented itself. We all had to learn how to study under new living conditions. For a lot of us, it was harder to study at home. Whether it was internet issues, family distractions, or bad lighting, we all had our own struggles adjusting. The biggest challenge was not being with each other for months leading up until boards. However, we found ways to communicate with each other and check in frequently as a result. We used GroupMe and Microsoft Teams to share study resources which were extremely useful. We did whatever we could to support each other from afar. We had the common goal of all of us getting through boards in quarantine together. By the end, we had actually grown closer because of it.
Entering year 3 has been without a doubt the best experience for all of us. Although it has only been a short while, everyone in the class has stated that this year already beats the 1st two years by far. We share our experiences privately and meet weekly via zoom for didactic. Listening to each other's stories and experiences has been amazing. We all have made it a long way since we started, not knowing what we got ourselves into. Our community we found in medical school will be with us throughout rotations, clerkships, residency, and the rest of our careers moving forward. Knowing that we are all in this together allows us to be confident in any adversity we will face.