Self-Care on the Pre-Med Journey

Being pre-med is tough. I don’t discount that at all. I know there are days when your non-pre-med friends are hanging out and you’re cooped up in the library studying as hard as you can for a biology or chemistry exam or the MCAT. I know you’re spending your Saturdays providing service to your community and your Sundays volunteering at the hospital or working on research. Yes, I remember those days. I remember the frustration that comes with needing A’s instead of B’s in every class and having to explain to everyone who was not pre-med why the difference between the two was so great. I remember being completely overwhelmed most of the time. And if I could go back to all those years ago, I would’ve told myself to chill a little bit and learn to take care of myself if I ever hoped to be able to take care of someone else.

In order to be a good pre-med student and to be successful in medical school and in a career in medicine, you have to be determined. You have to have the drive that allows for delayed gratification and says: ‘I can pass up these things that look great momentarily because I have something better down the road.’ In order to excel as a pre-med student, you learn to weigh what’s important for right now and what’s important for the long term and you make decisions on what you can do accordingly. Unfortunately, some (read: many) people struggle with making these decisions and sometimes give more weight to being perfect than to maintaining their sanity. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not endorsing kicking it 7 days a week and acting like that A in physics is going to manifest itself, but I am telling you that you have to learn to take care of yourself on this journey. Because after pre-med comes medical school, and after medical school comes intern year and residency, and after residency comes the challenges of being a “real doctor,” so the stress isn’t going away any time soon. If you learn to take care of yourself now, you’ll be much better able to do so all along the journey. 

Unfortunately, physicians have the highest suicide rate of any profession, with physicians reportedly committing suicide at a rate double that of the general population. Double. I can’t help but think that this is, at least partly, because it’s so ingrained in us from pre-med years (for some, even earlier) that we have to make the highest grades, be the best applicant, and be the best in everything that we do; and we may not learn to reward ourselves or seek help to deal with the stress that comes with trying to maintain perfection.

So, let’s look at some things you can do to take care of yourself at this stage in your journey. Some that I learned towards the end of college, many I learned in medical school, and some I’m still working on to this very day.

Give yourself a break each day

Give yourself at least 30 minutes every day where you’re not doing anything remotely related to being pre-med. Not studying, working on your personal statement, thinking about everything you have to do, etc. This could be watching Naked and Afraid, eating a meal without a book open in front of you, going to the gym, making TikTok videos, painting your toenails, anything! Write it into your daily schedule as your time to “do you.” You’re not a robot, give yourself a break away from it for a little bit every day. 

Do a little something nice for yourself on the weekend

Don’t break the bank, but treat yourself to something nice each weekend. Now weekends are prime studying and volunteering time, I know, but also time that you can reward yourself for a good past week and prepare yourself for the week ahead. This “something nice” that you decide to do should not include spending a ton of money or getting arrested, it may be going for ice cream or dinner with friends, taking a fun class, or going to a party (post-COVID) for an hour or two, something that doesn’t fit into your daily 30-minute break.

Repeat positive affirmations daily

Encourage yourself daily! Find you some Bible scriptures or inspirational quotes (hello, the internet) or even make some affirmations up and tell them to yourself every morning after you brush your teeth or every night before you go to bed, whatever it takes. Doing this repeatedly will etch this positivity into your muscle memory that you are “more than a conqueror,” that you “can do all things,” that “today, something is great is going to happen.” 

Sleep!

A healthy amount of sleep is absolutely essential for memory and learning. Now I certainly pulled my share of all-nighters before big exams but, let’s be real, that’s senseless. Make yourself a good study schedule, set a routine, and when it’s time to go to bed, go to bed! Those flashcards will be right where you left them when you wake up. If you’re one of those people who can take a nap and wake up refreshed and ready to study, then take a nap, friend! But if you’re like me and after taking a nap your whole day is a wash, you wait until nighttime to go to sleep. Bottom line: get some rest, nobody wants to deal with you tired, cranky, and with bags under your eyes, and your grades won’t be better for it either.

Brag on yourself

Don’t go overboard and become proud and boastful, but when something amazing happens, celebrate it. If (when) you rock an A on that microbiology exam, call and tell somebody who will be proud of you! Post it on IG that your article was published or that you were accepted to an internship. If you don’t feel right telling others, print your successes and tack them on the fridge and do you a happy dance every time you open the door for food. Shoot, send me an email, I’d be happy to gas you up. Because you deserve it, gotta celebrate the Ws. 

Get a cheerleader

This may be your roommate, it may be your LS or LB, it may be bae. It may be your grandma…You would literally have to fight my grandma if you told her I wasn’t the smartest and brightest and best doctor in the world. When I tell y’all that woman gasses me up and always has! She was calling me “doctor” when I was a freshman in college. And that’s what you need, somebody who will always be in your corner, whether you tell them you made a 98 or a 38, somebody who can encourage you when you’ve had a rough day, somebody who will make you feel like you have it all together, even when you know you don’t. And, if that person happens to be somebody who can get a prayer through, you’re in business!

Avoid toxic people

You may have relatives, high school friends, or college friends who tell you that it doesn’t take as much time and effort as you’re putting into your studies. Or people who remind you that no one else in your family is a doctor so it’s okay if you don’t make it. People who don’t have big goals for their own lives so they downplay the dreams you have for yours. I am literally still learning at this stage in my life that everybody’s not meant to share your full journey with you, regardless of what they’ve been to you in the past. These are people that you may need to learn to love from a distance or people that you have to let go on about their business and you go the other way and handle yours. There are enough folks out there who will build you up that you can replace those who only mean to bring you down. One of the best things you can do to take care of yourself is to let toxic people go. They’ll find someone else to burden with their negativity. It doesn’t have to be you!

Seek professional help, if needed

I think this should be a requirement in medical training, for the reasons I mentioned above related to the suicide rate for physicians. Particularly as Black people, we hold this stigma related to mental health and are slow to seek care when we need it. Don’t do that. Your college has resources available to you and there are other virtual and public options as well. Being pre-med is tough and it’s tougher when you have other personal factors at play at well. If you need help, get help. Doing so doesn’t adversely affect your ability to get into medical school or be a great doctor; it may actually increase your chances of both. 

Avoid toxic people

Yes, that’s here twice for a reason. It’s them or your well-being. It’s them or the white coat. Choose wisely.

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These are a few ideas, there are certainly many more things that you can do to keep yourself healthy, happy, and whole as a pre-med student. Do you have other ideas to share? If so, please include them in the comments below. If you need any specific advice or feel as if things are headed in the wrong direction for you, feel free to contact me by email and we’ll come up with a plan together!