Exam Stress in Medical School

Sometimes studying medicine can feel like you’re doing multiple degrees at once: pharmacology, cardiology, psychology, anatomy, epidemiology, and so much more.

As medics, we are expected to know a huge amount of information, and that can feel really overwhelming at times. Pulling your hair out, you ask yourself, “Do I really need to know every enzyme in the TCA cycle?”

This answer is no. You don’t need to know everything, and we aren’t expected to, at any stage in our medical school career. We aren’t expected to get 100% in every exam or to know the side effects of every drug or to know the intricacies of every single bone in the body.

That’s why we’re students. We’re here to learn and to make mistakes and then learn some more. Even in your clinical years, you’re not going to get everything right, and at times it can be really demoralising.

Am I supposed to be a doctor? Am I good enough? Aren’t I supposed to know everything?

These thoughts have gone through my head a number of times. Sometimes it can feel as though doctors are always expected to be perfect, infallible saviours. Even the oldest and most experienced consultants were in our shoes, fretting over protein synthesis.

The greatest doctors aren’t perfect. The greatest doctors are the ones who make mistakes and then learn from them. So as exam season comes up, remember that you are here to learn and grow. Take breaks and breathers, and be kind to yourself. We are all capable, we all belong here, and we are all more than a grade.

We have some wonderful posts in our ‘Exams 101’ series that explains some of the ways that you can deal with exam stress, especially as we come up to end of year assessments. Please check these out!

As always, if you want to share any of your experiences at medical school with us, email us at welfarehub.nottsmed@gmail.com. If you’re struggling with any other issues, have a look at our website to find some resources that may help you.