Are you headed to medical school? Congrats! I’m sure you are already getting a taste of the sacrifice involved in this journey, from your FAFSA application to the hefty deposit needed to secure a seat in your school’s incoming class. Simply put: you’re investing in yourself, but here are some things that I recommend you don’t invest in for medical school.
Skeleton
I have a bone to pick with you. You don’t need a skeleton because your school has at least a couple. But, but, but…Ezra, how will I memorize all 206 bones if I don’t have a skelly to study during the late night hours at home? You’re going to have to trust me on this: you’re going to learn the bones. Not only will you learn them, you’re going to learn them much quicker than all the nerves and muscles. Netter’s Human Anatomy will be your bible and will actually depict the testable minutiae of skeletal anatomy, like the spiral groove of the humerus. You can’t count on a manufactured skeleton to show you all those details.
An iPad
This will be argued. I bought one for medical school, but to be quite honest, an iPad is a much better investment for life than it is for your most rigorous academic endeavor. Instead, get yourself a powerhouse laptop. You need a computer to easily access the endless amounts of PDFs, participate in virtual interviews, watch video lectures, and to take exams. Even in the clinical years, a pen and notebook are easier to carry around the wards than a clunky tablet. If you have some extra bucks, then go get an iPad for entertainment.
Board exam crash courses
You don’t have to worry about this just yet, but board exams come down the pipe quicker than you think. Don’t fall for the crash courses. The enormous bank of information you must know for board exams must be learned through practice questions and content review. An 8-hour crash course is a money grab.
A dog
Brrrr….Ok ok ok. Listen: I love dogs. I really do. I want you to enjoy life, and this is just an opinion-based article. However, if you’re living by yourself, your unpredictable schedule will be unfair to your best friend. Also, if you pay regularly for dog sitting or daycare, that is going to be quite expensive. Get a cat instead.
Janky at-home fitness equipment
You will absolutely be pressed for time. I remember getting very overwhelmed at the outset of first year and quickly purchasing a pull-up bar and a set of resistance bands. If I was feeling busy, I told myself I would just bust out some sets on these contraptions and call that a work-out. But let’s be honest…none of these items gets you motivated to work-out. Get yourself to a gym. Head straight there right after class and on weekend mornings—you can find the time. Besides, getting out of your house/apartment will do wonders for your mental health.
A second white coat
I know you’re looking forward to your white coat ceremony! You deserve it. However, I am here to argue that you only need one white coat. When they send out that email asking if you’re interested in buying a second white coat for your clinical years, go ahead and relax. I promise I’m not a lobbyist for the washing machine industry, but I'll declare right here and right now that your white coat will be okay in the suds. Ba-da-bing ba-da-boom: a clean white coat! Besides that, you may not even end up wearing your white coat on several rotations (you will quickly find out how unbreathable these things are). If I failed to convince you so far, maybe I can philosophically persuade you that maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t be giving your school any more money than you have to.
An OMM table
This one is for my osteopathic peeps. Your school will have an OMM lab filled with all the tables you need to cram for your OMM practicals. A ton of people will be in there the night before, making it convenient to ask your peers questions (and trust me…you’re going to have questions). It’s harder to do that if you’re only with another classmate at home with an OMM table. Besides, it’s worth it to reminisce with your med school buds about how you all collectively lost your minds at 2 AM in a luminous OMM room.
Not only is the OMM lab a better environment, but the OMM tables available to purchase tend to look cheaply-made and bulky. I don’t think it’s worth it, especially since medical school involves moving around for rotations.
An engagement ring (directly prior to or at the beginning of first year)
Don’t mind me…just pushing my limits to see how much y’all tolerate my chutzpah. Let me preface this by saying I have never been at the stage in a relationship where popping the question was reasonable. However, I think you should be on the safe side and wait a bit on this momentous decision. Here’s the thing: you do not necessarily know how your partner is going to handle the rigors of dating someone in medical school. Whether you like it or not, medical school will become your first priority. You will make friends with classmates, partake in study groups during the evening hours, and will find it difficult to not think about your studies while with your partner. In many ways, how your partner handles the first year of medical school speaks well to how they might respond to you moving around for rotations and residency, the long hours you will work as a resident, and the call you might take as an attending. Give it some time.
At the time of this article, I am finishing up medical school.
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