Blog Post Focus
This blog post is to explore the competitive nature of medical school. I’ll share my thoughts based on my experiences and observations.
How competitive is the environment at medical school?
Intense Competition
The competitiveness at medical school is intense. It will vary program to program, campus to campus, but overall it is intense. Some people may not notice just how competitive it is. To others it will be overt and in the face all the time. How noticeable the competitiveness is depends on time, specialty, and the group you surround yourself with.
Overachiever Magnet
First of all, medical school attracts overachievers. Many of these people either always found things to be easy because they are academically gifted, or they are voracious studiers. Either way, medical school is a concentration of very academically gifted individuals and individuals who are used to doing all sorts of activities. Pretty much anyone who spends any time with their classmates will see a collection of smart minds and dedicated individuals. Even if one is generally a loner, when tests come about they likely will appreciate that they are in a competitive group.
A Spectrum of Collaboration-Sabotage
Many people who come to medical school are kind and want to collaborate with others, but several are not kind and do not want to collaborate. Stories abound of students who help out their fellow classmates, but also stories abound of students who try to sabotage their classmates. While many have excelled up to this point in their lives through gifted minds and applied work ethic, some have gotten to where they are by conniving and tearing down others. Be wary!
For the most part, expect people to be neutral. They want to be the best they can be, but don’t want to go out of their way for everyone because they see others as competition – and they are. Every medical student is competing for fewer residency spots than there are students. There ARE losers in the competition of medical school (that is, losing in the sense of not matching. Without matching to residency the path forward to becoming an autonomous and financially independent physician are unclear).
A New Reality for Some and a Continued Slog for Others – Putting in Effort
Second, some medical students have never really had to try before. Suddenly, they are able to focus all their time and energy into a singular task. The four years of medical school are long for anybody, but especially for those who are already burnt out from endless studying in college, from endless club activity in college, from endless physical activity in college. Some students will feel they have already been burnt out at both ends by the tine they come to medical school.
Top-of-the-Top to … Average?
The slog of medical school and the new, more-intense-than-ever-before demands can make a former high-achiever…average or below-average in this new group of medical students. The students who up to this point have not been burnt out and are able to apply themselves wholly to medical school are a real force. They have the emotional and physical state to endure seemingly perpetual studying, club activities, volunteer activities, and making mentorships. Anyone who goes up against a person who for the first time has passion or a singular focus will feel just how competitive the environment can be if their passion and focus is not equal.
Time Around Peers
Third, time is a factor. How much time do you spend around your peers? If you are a loner you may not feel the competition at first. You may see the competition in the test results—you study harder than you ever have before and suddenly you are consistently average in the class, for instance. Perhaps four years roll by and little by little you see some acts of sabotage by classmates or medical students of other schools on your clerkship rotations.
Retrospection
Looking back, anyone will gain a greater appreciation of just how competitive medical school is. On the other hand, maybe you spend a ton of time with your cohort. You will see groups sequestered in study rooms for hours. Some more productive than others. Some proclaiming themselves great or exclaiming just how long and intense their studying is.
In medical school, for some it is validation to study longer than other people—or at least to state they are. It may be a tactic to make others anxious and study more than they can handle. Basically, in time anyone will notice strange competitive behaviors of other students.
The Effect of Desired Medical Specialty
The desired medical specialty will decide a lot about the competitiveness of your environment. Surgical fields and certain other fields like anesthesiology, radiology, and dermatology are historically more competitive than others or fluctuate in competitiveness. Primary care fields have traditionally been less competitive.
If you spend lots of time with groups of students desiring those very competitive specialties then you likely will see these people engaging in creating clubs or running for national positions, getting involved in research and publications, and always looking to improve their scores. They need to stand out and look very impressive on their applications compared to other applicants. On the other hand, if you spend time with people desiring primary care fields you may or may not see such aggressive resume-building activity.
There are Losers in the Long-Term
Of note, every year more and more medical student positions outnumber available residency positions so the sheer competitiveness of medical education rises. Traditions of ever greater numbers of research, publications, volunteering activities, leadership activities build into greater and greater expectations.
Medical school ten years ago is less competitive than it is now, which is less competitive than it will be in ten more years if current trends continue. *Note, ERAS residency applications have changed how many “experiences” can be included in an application, but that shifts a focus ever more to scholarly activity, which does not have a limit
More Intense Than Most
Surround Yourself with Support
Medical school is more competitive than likely any academic environment you experienced before. You will want to surround yourself with good people to make it through. Get support from your family and friends. Find some good friends in medical school. Surround yourself with people of similar goals.
Surround Yourself with Those of Similar Goals
If you want to land in an ultra-competitive specialty then find out what other people desiring those spots are doing. Or, if you want to get a spot in a niche field, find out what other people desiring that field are doing. Even though medical education as a whole is super competitive, you can be a part of a supportive group. You can share resources, grow together, learn together, and achieve great things together.
Conclusion: Medical School Is Very Competitive
Yes, medical school is very competitive. Probably more so than any other academic environment you have been a part so far. Some colleagues will be boons and some potential barriers. Surround yourself with support and those of similar goals. Find out what you have to do to succeed and do it!
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