In the depths of the night, a young medical student leans over a textbook, their eyelids start feeling increasinglyheavier as the clock on the table strikes 12:44 am. When you attend medical school, it is almost guaranteed that therewill be many late nights. Many people do not understand the amount of work and effort that must be put into getting a career in medicine. I interviewed my aunt, Dr. Alena Kirstein, a recent medical school graduate; she shared with me her honest account of her four years spent in medical school.
Dr. Alena Kirstein attended Nova Southeastern University for medical school. She merged her goal to help those in need with her love for science and decided she wanted to become a family medicine physician. A family medicine physician takes care of all ages, a common slogan for family medicine doctors is “We take care of people from cradleto grave”. Medical school is where aspiring doctors go to get an education in whatever medical field they desire. In medical school, students will learn the skills necessary for their field of medicine. Dr. Kirstein describes the medical school experience as stressful and competitive. She further explained, “Everyone there had high motivation which made the environment competitive academically.”
During our interview, Dr. Alena Kirstein emphasized the common difficulties faced while in medical school. “There were exams after exams after exams, studying after studying after studying,” she told me. Medical school requires students to learn lots of terminology and good memorization and studying skills are needed. The workload and amount of studying required during medical school have been known to take a toll on students’ mental health. In the article, Medical Students are at Risk for Mental Health Issues: Here’s Why, Sonya Matejko explains that “Stress, burnout, anddepression are risk factors for medical students with severe consequences.” When speaking with my aunt, she said that having friends in medical school with her helped her through the obstacles she faced in school. “It was nice that we could all humor ourselves through our difficulties, and the fact that we were all going through the same thing, so we all understood each other,” she told me.
After Dr. Alena Kirstein graduated from Nova Southeastern University, she was interviewed by many residency programs. A residency is where doctors get more training and real-life experience in their medical field withindependence. Dr. Alena Kirstein is fortunate that she can be more independent, “I do everything on my own, but someone will check on me to make sure I am doing my work correctly.” Medical residencies are a wonderful way for newly graduated medical students to master their skills before they are licensed to practice medicine. Currently, Alena is halfway through her first year in a residency program in Alabama which was her first choice of residency. “Many people are not as lucky though and do not get placed in the program that they ranked first,” Dr. Kirstein said. She is now officially considered a doctor but tobe board-certified, she must complete time in a residency. She will spend 3 years in her residency, most medical residences range from a span of three to seven years depending on which medical field they are in. “It is a nice feeling being able to help someone in need and know that all those nights that you stayed up studying were worth it,”Dr.Kirstein expressed when talking about her residency. My aunt’s main motivation to becoming a doctor was to be able to help others and make an impact in someone’s life and she is overjoyed that she is able to do that in her current profession.
However, medical residences can be challenging. “The biggest challenge is the hours, I work up to 80 hours each week,” Dr. Alena Kirstein said. My aunt also explained that it is difficult to figure out what you can do as a doctor anddeal with your newfound responsibilities. On the contrary, Residencies can be an extremely rewarding experience, “It is fulfilling when the people you help are appreciative, you feel like all your hard work has paid off” Alena expressed. There is one piece of advice Dr. Kirstein would give to someone who is thinking of attending medical school: “Know your motivation before attending medical school, having self-motivation is key to getting through all the difficulties and obstacles to becoming a doctor.” She believes her motivation made her persevere through the challenging times she experienced on her path to becoming a doctor.
