Just wait.

You’re familiar with the scene. A bright-eyed recruit fresh out of boot camp is eager for the front lines when he is abruptly put in his place by the hardened veteran. “You just wait,” he tells the private, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

It’s funny how easily this scene translates into the world of medicine. As you might expect, before anyone becomes a doctor, they must take a string of exams and venture through more levels of education than Dante’s Inferno. At each step along the way, we are constantly looking to the people on the path before us to get their input and knowledge; this happens so often that my roommate and I have a running joke about it. Amidst the helpful advice and pearls of wisdom there is usually a subtle grain of sand embedded somewhere in their discourse:

“Just wait.”

In the lecture to follow these two ominous little words, the take-home points are usually that A) your current training is not that difficult, and B) it gets much harder down the road (usually where they are currently at). So as they said before, “Just wait!”

Now I can’t say for certain why each person says this (I’m sure it is often with good intentions), but almost without fail, they do say it. And if you’re like me, you start to get worn down by the barrage of people ahead of you telling you that once you enter [insert level of education here] and have to prepare for the [insert difficult test here] that your life is just going to be exponentially more difficult and miserable.

I got this my whole life. In high school, it was the pressure of entering college and doing well on the big, scary SAT. But that’s nothing compared to being a pre-med major and having to prepare for the MCAT, because at this level if you want friends then you don’t want med school. But even that can’t hold a candle to the med school life and taking Step 1. This is where you trade in your relationships and healthy living to get into residency—but just wait, because there in residency you will relinquish the last vestiges of your sleep to finally become a [zombie] intern, the final stage before the pinnacle that is doctorhood (unless of course you decide to do a fellowship, which provides a few more years of insomnia and another beloved exam).

Had enough yet? Me too. If you’re like me, by the end of that paragraph, the whole idea of becoming a doctor sounds a lot less appealing. But that’s not my final point here. I write to offer the encouragement that is too often engulfed by the “just wait” vacuum. The path to M.D. is not only doable, but, dare I say it, enjoyable. I have loved the path of training I’ve embarked on and continue to progress on. And despite all the people who provided premonitions to the contrary, I was and still am able to find time for friends, family, and fun. Date nights with my fiancé, following my favorite sports teams, staying active and spending time with friends—all of which I’m still able to do without taking away from my responsibilities. Does that mean it is without its challenges or difficulties? Certainly not. I have a whole blog post dedicated to that. But in the end, if you know this is the path you’re meant to be on, then by all means push forward. You will meet those challenges and come out all the stronger once you overcome them. The most important thing to remember is that you will adapt. If you told me in 5th grade that my homework would eventually take hours/whole days instead of minutes, I certainly would have gotten overwhelmed! But you adapt and acclimate over time to the challenges around you, and those obstacles that sounded so terrible at first are not so bad once you get into the swing of things.

Bottom line: Don’t let the people who tell you to “just wait” get you down. They’re most likely trying to express to you that it does in some ways get more difficult. But guess what? That’s ok. You’ll adapt, you’ll figure it out, and you’ll enjoy it. There’s a lot of joy to be found in the midst of the challenges we face in our medical training. Don’t believe me? Just wait. You’ll see.

As you can see, med school leaves no room for fun.

EMT mass casualty simulation.

And no time for hanging out with friends.

Class group BBQ!

All you’ll do is study.

At M&T Bank Stadium with my cuz. #RavensNation

And you certainly don’t have time for significant others.

Caesars Head State Park with my fiancé.

Just wait.

USCSOMG Class of 2018

Jeremiah White

Formerly from the Baltimore area, I graduated from Bob Jones University with a degree in pre-med. Having interacted through MedEx with the faculty and students, I knew the doctor USCSOMG will graduate was the doctor I wanted to become. If I’m not hitting the books, you can probably find me spending time with my better half or on the basketball court. It is an honor and a privilege to be a member of the class of 2018, and I’m excited to share my passion for global health, children’s health, and health education with my peers. “To whom much is given, much more shall be required.”