From being immersed in the medical student culture for almost 2 years now I have noticed a huge amount of anxiety among the students. Most of them seem to be fairly anxious about everyday tasks, but they really seem to get anxious when they are approaching a big test date or a large event. I think everyone gets anxious at times, and it’s good to now how to handle that anxiety.
My wife is a planner. She enjoys figuring out the logistics of every day, and trying to stick to it. Planning out when and how she will accomplish tasks helps her to keep her day and mind organized. On the downside, when there are changes that don’t follow this plan she has a hard time coping. There are not a lot of things that we can control in life, which makes it harder for people that are planners. So when small things change in a daily schedule, it tends to add stress to her day.
Lately she has been studying for Step 1 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Her studying was put to a halt by the fact that her exam has now moved to October. She has had a lot of stress relief knowing that there is a set date again. Before it was changed to October the date moved 3 times. All of the students had been studying more than 10+ weeks for a test that was only intended to have 5-6 weeks of study time. Some students were able to take their exam in Mid-May, but the seats available were limited.
With speaking with my wife I have found that there are a couple things that make medical students more anxious. This is not an all inclusive list, but it is some of the high points that I have found are common.
An unknown future. Being out of control never fun. There is a certain amount of unknown that comes with not being at the helm to steer the ship. This is a very prevalent in medical school in general, but most of the unknowns seem to occur in the last 2 years of medical school. The first big unknown for my wife has been trying to take her Step 1 exam. The Step 1 exam in general is a big unknown. The whole future of what field of medicine the student can go into is determined by this one exam. Students spend weeks studying and in the end, can achieve a score that is too low for the specialty they want to partake in. Another big unknown, that we have not reached yet, is matching with a residency program.
Important dates changing. All of the COVID-19 madness in the United States has created a lot of uncertainty for my wife. One major change has been the date for her Step 1 exam keeps getting pushed back. She was originally scheduled to take it in May of 2020, but she is now schedule to take it in October of 2020. Hopefully the date will not change again. Another major change has been the class scheduling. The medical school has been forced the shorten their rotations in order to fit all of it in the school year. The end of the school year has to be the same as they can not delay this year and just keep delaying.
Important test dates approaching. Finishing classes and starting new ones seems to put people on edge. After all, each student has a lot riding on this short 4 year journey through medical school. Tests stress people out partly because of the unknown. The student doesn’t know what the questions will be, how it will be graded, or whether or not they did a good job. It can be hard to relax and do the best job possible.
Long sessions of study. Long sessions is referring to days, not necessarily hours in a day. For example, studying for 5 days in a row without getting to have a break. This is very common for medical students as they have a lot of big exams. Having long periods of time without a break or relaxation period accumulates stress that lead sit anxiety.
Tips for the reader.
Don’t try to sleep with your mind running. Something good is to try to prevent all of the stress and worry in life from becoming anxiety. Something important for me is to resolve issues as quickly as possible, and try not to let them carry over into the next day. I find that this helps me sleep well, and not stress over work. If I can resolve these issues, I won’t be thinking about them, and in turn will allow myself to relax.
Plan for the best and expect the worst. It can be hard to have plans change, but when they do, you need to be agile enough to take another approach. Sometimes the many changes in life require us to have a backup plan. For everything with your education (and most of life) have a backup plan. It can take a lot of pressure off when things change.
Talk to others. If you are having a hard time with stress or a situation, you are not alone. There are many others who are going through the same situation as you, and they might be able to help. Never think you are alone in what is going on, because you’re not.
Find ways to take short breaks often. My wife has had success with taking short breaks to relieve some stress when possible. Working for a few hours and scheduling lunch or a 15-30 minute activity session is a good start.