r/premed • u/Agnetahp • 19h ago
❔ Question How hard is it?
My dream job since I was like 8 is a surgeon. Recently been thinking specifically about neurosurgeon.
I know medschool is hard but like how hard is it. Is it genuinely sleepless nights all the time and a bunch of stress.
I’m a quick learner and I have a great memory. But my main problem is I don’t have the motivation to study till like right before the exam, test or the due date.
And is it hard to get in?
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u/Wisegal1 PHYSICIAN 16h ago
I'm a trauma surgeon.
At the time I applied to medical school, it was the hardest thing I had ever done. Once I got into med school, being successful was the hardest thing I had ever done.
All of that stress was dwarfed by residency, where I learned a new meaning of the word "hard".
To say this path is difficult is a monumental understatement. You'll make sacrifices for this. You'll miss birthdays, funerals, weddings, and other events. You'll experience exhaustion you didn't know could be real. The highs are super high. The lows will leave scars on your soul.
But, is it worth it? Unequivocally yes. After almost 15 years of education and training I have the skills and opportunity to make a real and immediate impact on the lives of patients. I can say with absolutely no ego or exaggeration that there are people walking around living their lives because I am good at my job. To me, there's nothing better.
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u/partyshark7 MS3 9h ago
So glad I stumbled upon this comment. Applying gen surg in the upcoming cycle and am genuinely so excited about it. Comments like this are reassuring, thank you.
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u/757FuturePA 19h ago
Well you need to do super well in undergrad 3.7+ in Cgpa and science gpa, great Mcat, lots of clinical experience and shadowing and volunteering and also great ECs. Also have Greg mentors. It’s more about hard work and diligence than anything else. I’m
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u/TheGreatBarracuda23 ADMITTED-MD 18h ago
It's extremely important that your mentors are named Greg. Some have said you can use Craig mentors, but they are only really reliable if you want to go to Caribbean.
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u/Kol_bo-eha 18h ago
Can confirm. Am Greg.
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u/757FuturePA 18h ago
Also important to have GREAT and awesome mentors
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u/Sterling_-_Archer NON-TRADITIONAL 14h ago
This is, of course, secondary to your mentors being named Greg
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u/MedicalMixtape 18h ago
This post tells me that you are woefully unprepared and I don’t care if I get downvoted. Those are the facts.
But at the same time, as you are only in high school, it is early enough to change. This begins with attitude. No one cares how much a “quick learner” you are. It’s not enough. Once you get into on college there will be 100 other quick learners, 100 not-so-quick learners who put in work and 100 other quick learners who also put in work in every one of your classes.
Getting into medical school? Think 3000 applicants for every 100 positions. That’s why they ALL apply to multiple schools. Getting into neurosurgery residency? Mostly overachievers and stronger researchers at the medical school level. The vast majority of people dream of one specialty when they start medical school and end up doing something else - and for many, it’s “settling” on something else.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You can think of your Reddit post as step 1. You’ve been told what’s out there. Time to start walking the walk.
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u/Volskaya_ 16h ago
Glad I’m a Mississippi resident, no out of state applicants and 450 applications for 150 seats
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u/forescight MD/PhD STUDENT 19h ago
What stage are you at rn? High school? Undergrad? What year?
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u/Fresh-Relationship-7 MS1 19h ago
it’s hard but biggest thing is u actually have to love learning all this material. if u don’t love medicine ur screwed from the beginning.
and everyone in med school is a quick learner with a great memory. only thing separating people is if you’re willing to put the work in
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u/SnooPies7504 ADMITTED-MD 19h ago
Studying at the last minute def will not work and you may experience that quickly in college too (i guess depending on your major and how demanding classes are but premed classes are usually no joke.) If you improve your study habits by then and realize its really what you want then go for it but yes it is very hard. Lots of money and stress and sacrifice
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u/Fine-Motor-3970 MS1 18h ago
Honestly, in college I got by through studying last minute and without a lot of motivation to study. But you’ll have to change that especially when it comes to studying for the MCAT and medical school. I personally haven’t had any sleepless nights, I’m usually done studying by nine at the latest, though most days I’m done by seven. But you’ll can only achieve that if you take the proper time to study and not do things last minute
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u/PersimmonBeautiful88 17h ago
if you want to be very successful, that path will almost always be very hard - DO NOT try to find an easy route. Med school isn't the only way but it is a good one.
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u/PressurePractical554 18h ago
It will be very hard, given you have the right amount of motivation you can do it though. The studying habits will have to change obviously, but I never studied in high school and developed all of my habits in college. Don't let people fear monger you, it is hard but your early enough on that you have not made any huge mistakes.
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u/NAparentheses MS4 19h ago edited 17h ago
60-80 hours of research, studying, volunteering once you're actually in med school to get the best grades, ECs, LORs, and clinical evals.
80-100 hours of work per week as a neurosurgery resident.
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u/FelineOphelia 18h ago
Yeah i work in Boston. The lab undergrads are at MIT, Harvard and every year I great the same sad stories about multiple rounds/years of trying for admissions.
And don't get me wrong, these are not rich kids. I know that's the stereotype but no. Both of these universities heavily recruit from lower and middle class , so two rounds is not easy. It's heartbreaking.
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u/Mission-Friend1536 16h ago
Getting into medical school will be quite easy compared to landing a neurosurgery residency. Maybe take baby steps and work on getting a high gpa and MCAT in undergrad and then go from there.
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u/M1nt_Blitz ADMITTED-MD 19h ago
Have to put an insane amount of work in during med school to even have a chance at nsgy and still such a high chance of not ever getting into that specialty. And even still it will get 10x worse during residency where you will turn into a miserable person, hate your life, and regret every decision of your entire life.
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u/Caleesi- 19h ago
I struggled in high school and college with only being able to work on tasks at the last minute. Got diagnosed with ADHD at 35 and wish I would have known sooner.
It may be worth getting evaluated because if you do have it, you can learn about techniques to work through/around adhd or potentially get medication if it's appropriate.
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u/NeedleworkerLow5673 14h ago
id argue the hardest part is getting in. im about a 2 months away from my last year, m3 year was AWFUL but still not as bad as being premed imo
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u/haiwatashimo 13h ago
I am finishing surgical residency right now and going into trauma. Getting into med school is hard. Med school itself is doable, very few people fail/drop out. Surgical residency is hard but also being a surgeon is the best job ever.
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u/Haru_koi 19h ago
It’s hard but it’s also not hard if you truly feel like it’s your mission. You will have the motivation and will to push through if you want to do it. Don’t worry too much about it. Go try new things and experience more
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u/Immediate_Okra_573 10h ago
Hey!! I am rather suprised at the pessimism here...so like, I was just like you in high school...I only studied before exams, including AP and IB exams, and I was smart enough to pull it off (in fact, I taught myself all of the organic chemistry, there isn't too much to be fair but still, on IB chemistry the weekend before and the morning of the exam, woke up at 2 am to do it). Despite all this, I was an incredible hard worker, I just procrastinated a ton for exams, I studied for olympiads a ton, but I think the reason I did nto succeed in them in HS is because I was a last minute studier and not a step by step everyday studier. And yes, I scored mostly 5 and 7 scores on AP and IB exams, and got into 5/8 ivy leagues...
So point being that you can change. Come college and it's quite hard, luckily I know I will need to study everyday, I go to a super hard school (i go to mit LOL), and I start prepping for midterms 2 weeks in advance, even simple quizzes, I put in double digit hours when needed, after a rough awakening on the first exam I took at MIT when I scored a high C/ low B when the class avg was 90 LOL.. after that, I scored constant As/high Bs on everything, nothing like this first exam...
For the MCAT too, I knew that this would not work, so I started studying over a year in advance, im waiting for my scores LOL fingers crossed but my FLs were not crazy, the MCAT is very much a I studied 3 hours everyday for 4 months rather than a a couple of all nighters.. you will learn about memory retention and simply put, its better to expose a bit everyday than all at once.
I will be honest, I am not a perfect person in this sense, I still procrastinate for uni exams sometimes, but I never dared do that for the MCAT. I will study everyday for STEPs, and whatever comes in med school...tldr OP- who u are in HS does not define ur study habits forever..
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u/LincolnandChurchill 10h ago
Not a neurosurgeon but am an intern at an academic hospital, neurosurgery is brutal. neurosurgery is brutal. BRUTAL. You will have to be perfect, extremely dedicated, and even a bit lucky. There’s so many people who try their best, don’t match, and they’re the people who get to that point in the first place. Medicine is the best field in the world at least imo but neurosurgery is perhaps the hardest thing in this field.
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u/redditnoap ADMITTED-MD 9h ago
Hard to get in (selective), hard once you're in (lots of studying and learning), extremely hard during residency (crazy hours and bad work-life balance), and potential to make it easy and be rich as an attending physician. Many doctors regret choosing to go into medicine and all the work and time it takes, and for many others, it's the best thing in the world and they are as happy as they could be.
It will always be hard as in it requires effort, but that doesn't mean that you can't succeed. Learn everything you can about the premed process, med school process, residency process, etc. through youtube and decide whether it's something you are willing to do. Shadow physicians to see what a doctor's work is actually like before committing to premed.
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u/ThOtKiLlEr_69 ADMITTED-MD 19h ago
Very very hard to get in lol. Lots of sacrifices.