I am sure everyone in university can agree that the best part of the semester is when it ends and we all get that long glorious break. I know this was my most stressful semester thus far and all that kept me going was the three weeks of bliss at the finish line. But when I got there, all I could think was "what now?"
The first few days, I was in denial that I had no more to study. I felt I was wasting my day away and that I had to study. But, every time I began to prepare myself to study I realized there was nothing left. I realized I was done and needed to relax. I did not do that though. I ordered my books for next semester so that I could study for those classes during my break. Pathetic, right?
The only reason I am bringing this up is to raise awareness about stress. Stress is an unavoidable part of life that we all deal with. But, there is such a thing as a healthy level of stress and an unhealthy level of stress.
Educators feel that students should be pushed and challenged to succeed, which is completely correct. The only way to get better is to challenge yourself, but when are you pushing too hard? When your students develop anxiety and depressive-like symptoms, you need to stop.
Pre-med programs, accelerated B.S./M.D programs, and medical schools do not understand this and provide students with an unhealthy amount of stress. I felt like I should be studying during my break just so I could avoid some of that stress. It is not okay for me to feel like relaxing is a waste of time, because just like some stress, relaxation is necessary.
There needs to be a healthy balance that I feel sometimes is impossible to find. But, I stress, I have anxiety and I am sometimes depressed. I get through it though. Obviously many of us do. There are many doctors (not enough, though). I understand that we are becoming doctors and we will be the difference between life and death, but we are people too. Educators need to take that into consideration.
If you are a med student, good luck! We are all going to need it and we are all in this together. Also do not be like me, enjoy your break. We all know you deserve it.
