Home for the Holidays

Thanksgiving and Christmas are upon us. I have no idea where 2021 went, but it’s almost over. The holidays don’t just mean ham and turkey and presents. It also means getting to see family and friends. And it means a “break” from classes. This is time that should be used wisely—to relax and catch up but also to re-commit to your goal of becoming a physician.

Now, as fair warning, sometimes the holidays can be distracting or stressful on this journey to becoming a physician. While it’s probably the most real in medical school (when everyone thinks you’re a doctor and they all bombard you with medical questions that you don’t know the answers to) it can start getting rough during the pre-med years too. You may run into unwanted questions, you may run into negative people, or you may get a little too comfortable and forget you have to go back to school!

So how much longer until you’re a doctor?

Somewhere between the macaroni and cheese and playing Family Feud (or Bingo or Spades or whatever your family likes) this questions is gonna come up. And it will literally come up every holiday from now until you’re a whole doctor. So get ready for it. You may also be asked about your classes, your grades, where you want to go to medical school, etc. Some of these may be questions you don’t want to answer or don’t even have an answer to! Do the best you can with answering them (don’t be rude to your aunties), but don’t let these questions stress you out. If it’s taking a little longer than you planned to get accepted into medical school, then let me say it louder: DON’T LET THESE QUESTIONS STRESS YOU OUT! Tell them Dr. Anderson said it’ll take as long as it takes…and keep it moving to the sweet potato pie.

The nay-sayers

I’m the first physician in my family. I was/am blessed to have a supportive family who prayed harder for me to reach my goal than even I did at times. But haters are real- they’re out there, and sometimes they share your last name, sometimes they stay in the house with you, sometimes they are friends you’ve had your whole life. Watch out for those people. It’s easy to “forget” about them when you’re away at school, but during the holidays is prime time for them to rear their ugly heads (and mouths). They may say things like: “If it’s hard, you can just quit and save that money you’re spending on school.” Or “I don’t know why you’re trying to be a doctor anyways, no one else in the family is a doctor.” Or “So now I guess you think you’re better than all of us because you’re going to school to be a doctor.” Or any other such foolishness….people will really say anything these days…

I truly believe that everyone ends up at the limit of where they allow themselves to go. I don’t think that we all end up as far as God intends for us to be though… It isn’t your job to push, pull, or drag anyone else along while you’re pushing, pulling, and dragging yourself. That includes people you’ve known and loved for a long time who may very well be content where they are. Because you want to be a physician doesn’t mean you think you’re better than anyone else- it just means you’ve decided you want something else…and you’re making it happen. Regardless of what anyone says, you should never feel bad about that.

Don’t forget you have to go back to school!

I used to love holiday break (and you better love them too because they get shorter and shorter until they disappear during your medical training!) You get what a few weeks off for Winter Break? WEEKS! Enjoy that time. But don’t forget that you have to go back to school. There is no amount of holiday kicking it that should make you think it’s okay to just throw away your dream of becoming a physician so you can say at home and kick it full time. No ma’am and no sir. Enjoy it while it lasts then pack up and get back to campus. As for Thanksgiving Break, especially don’t forget about having to go back—because when you do go back you’ll be walking right into final exams.

Also, if you made a grand plan of studying for your MCAT over the holidays, don’t get de-railed from that plan! First though, make sure it’s a realistic plan! Let’s face it, you’re not really going to get through any MCAT prep questions on Christmas Day—don’t play yourself. Do take the time to relax some, visit with your family, and eat some free food. But if you tell yourself that you’re going to study some during the break, DO IT! 

[This isn’t where this post was going, but you can also check with physicians at home in your community to see if you can shadow during the long break.]

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It’s (almost) the most wonderful time of the year. I hope you enjoy the holiday breaks you’ll have from school for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope you eat plenty of good food, have lots of belly laughs, and that you come out of the holidays prepared to go into 2022 and have your best semester yet!