From third year through residency, your clinical training will consistently challenge your belief in yourself. Relegated to menial tasks, being ignored/overlooked, and constant evaluations make it hard to feel anything other than insignificant. When you add in the solitary nature of various medical settings, constant fluctuation, high-stress environments, and the natural competitiveness of most medical professionals, you have a recipe for depression and anxiety. An antidote to this feeling is remembering for your patients that you are the doctor. Patients will remember you and the medical team for years to come. So even when you don’t believe in yourself, you can lean on the fact that your patients trust you.
Additionally, in the third year, you will have a gift that you will never again have: time. You have the time to sit and be with patients, to listen to their needs, to their worries, to their fears that no one else has. Take time to sit and be with the people that you treat. Their courage will inspire you, their circumstances will humble you, and most of all, you will remember that you are no different from them. This gift of time and your presence makes you a vital team member.
Yet, you are more than your medical career. Your personality, interests, and life are not defined by what happens in the clinical environment. You are more than your job, more than your grades, your specialty, more than where you go to residency, you are more than a salary, more than STEP scores, and you are more than a doctor. There will honestly be moments when you feel your entire life is being swallowed by medicine, but in those moments, commit to continuing to do the things that make you, you. When you get the chance, put down the books and go out with friends, play video games, dance, sing, go skiing, walk outside, or play your instrument. You will find that the more your commitment is to your wellbeing, the more you will have to give to others.
Now lastly, if there is ever a time, as there was for me, that you begin to think that maybe everything feels like it is too much, a time when your mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional health is at the breaking point. Please remember this: You are infinitely more important than a job. You are worthy of respect, you are worthy of happiness, and you are worthy of success. Give yourself permission to do whatever you need to do to put your wellbeing before anything else.