u/FriendlyThroat2717

It seems like I’m having to rush through everything for the generic steps, and then once I get to the viva questions, there are like 6 Qs in 30 seconds. That’s one every 5 seconds but the examiner has to read it out to you, so more like one every 3 seconds. And on geeky medics, there are like 5 points per question.

So you don’t even have time to think; you sort of have to just regurgitate the response as a reflex and even then, you’re lucky to finish all of the vivas on time.

And when you sound flustered for speaking at a ridiculous speed, you get downmarked for seeming anxious.

Am I missing something or is this a ridiculous way of assessing competency? How are you all finishing on time?

Thanks.

I’m in fourth year but all of my friends have graduated and are working.

Whenever I go into the library, I am reminded of when I used to study there with them.

Everybody sort of has their own cliques from pre-clinical years so it’s hard to meet new people because everybody goes home after the lectures/teaching, and if you do meet people you get on with, everybody just rotates to New hospitals after a few months

I feel like Im yearning to be with my old cohort, because going to placement, going back to my accommodation and then studying all night is very lonely

When I speak to Junior Doctors, I realise that they are the same age as me, and I feel kind of useless.
I also wake up and think that my friends are working and contributing to society, but I am still living off of loans.

Whenever I speak to my friends and they tell me about how their shifts are going, I feel very hurt.
I spoke to a fifth year, who said that “ all of his friends are doctors now” and that he’s “ ready to qualify and start working”

Any time I encounter a module or topic that I struggle with, I have this toxic tendency to dwell on the fact that it is an obstacle which everyone in my old cohort has already surmounted; every revision session is something that they’ve already completed etc.

I feel like I spend a lot of time in my head because I do generally feel like I’m the ‘last one here’.

I wonder; does anybody else have experience being in this predicament? Because I have to get through two more years of Med school and it’s a very toxic headspace to be in.

Students at some universities can literally study for 5 years just to be able to get into medical school.

They can pass 20 exams and get really far through the course but then if they fail one resit a few weeks later, despite taking out thousands of pounds worth of loans, they are just thrown in the gutter and dismissed off the course.
In most cultures, failing and improving in school is encouraged because it makes for a more competent person in the relevant field. But at medical School, it’s like you’re not even allowed to fail when you are essentially completing your apprenticeship/ learning the trade at university.

Disclaimer: I understand that people can die if you make mistakes in a hospital, and I understand that people can’t just take the same exam 1000 times until they pass. But what I’m saying is, medical school should not just get rid of people for failing one resit that is a few weeks after the first. The person might not have had the proper technique studying all year, because everything they have done up to this point would’ve just been memorisation rather than learning practical skills.
It ruins peoples lives who have delicated a lot of their life to this pursuit and missed out o. a lot of things people have experienced because they study 50 hours was a week when the medical school just get rid of them and wipe their hands clean

I have been trying to get reasonable adjustments from my medical school for awhile now, after I was severely injured recently and needed 2 surgeries.

My dominant hand was affected pretty badly, and I have basically asked for exam modifications.

Ihave had numerous meetings with them, but I have heard horror stories about the pastoral team (and that it is meant to be one of the worst in the country; I’ve even seen it mocked on this subreddit a few times)

I’m so worried that I am becoming a liability to the medical school, forcing them to spend money on making adjustments for Me etc. It’s like they have me on a leash, and every year, I hear about rogue OSCE stations appearing, some circuits being ridiculously harder than others.

I know the medical school can’t legally “ kick me off” without a valid reason,, but I am worried that they might try and sabotage my life in ‘legal’ more underhanded ways, like purposely putting me on a circuit with extremely difficult stations, because every station has been audited, so technically we should be able to do every single thing that comes up…

I try to minimise any contact with the institution because any emails from them give me so much anxiety , after they have previously discussed my injuries among themselves, and then made me come to a meeting on one days notice, to which they said i’m not allowed to sit the upcoming exams a few weeks ago. The entire “ negotiation” seemed very underhanded.

Can somebody shed any light on what I should do here? My friend said I should consider getting Medicolegal aid to support Me in future tribunals.
This degree is the most important thing to me because it represents my future. And it keeps me up at night, worrying that these higher powers are trying to f*ck up my life