Studying medicine, in a nutshell

To all aspiring future doctors, nurses, and medical students, the act of studying medicine should be the top priority in life. But why would anyone in their right mind sacrifice their money, time, or mental health to study something like medical sciences? 

In essence, for two reasons: it is incredibly interesting and the egoistic desire to help people. More on the latter in this blog.

Some of us realized that we wanted to study medicine early in life, whether we played with our toy stethoscopes, examined our siblings, or saw the beauty of the medical profession in the media. Maybe a great illness befell you (or someone close to you) at an early age, only for a medical professional to alleviate your pain and/or heal you during that illness.

These unexpected and sometimes profound moments leave a permanent mark on our psyche and pave our way to becoming medical doctors/nurses ourselves. 

Apart from these profound philosophical and psychological revelations, many people go into the medical field for the wrong reasons. It is no wonder since the job itself is stable and comes with a comfortable lifestyle and a relatively high social status across cultures. 

In my mind, studying medicine itself is a privilege in a sense. To know so much about the human body, from basic genetic components that serve as precursors of certain diseases to its anatomy, physiology, and many of the modern medications that are rapidly developing and provide new treatment options. Being a medical doctor is one of the greatest pursuits a human being can achieve.

But what exactly do you learn in medical school?

In a nutshell, medicine is a field in which you build knowledge on top of each other, collecting more and more information as you go through medical school. 

Firstly, you learn about basic cellular and molecular mechanisms, which seem unimportant at the time but become increasingly more important once you figure out that these basic principles govern every process in your body. Biology, biochemistry, and genetics teach you the principles of the inner workings of your cells- from enzymes controlling your metabolism to the way our genetic code replicates, allowing us to reproduce without (potentially severe) consequences. Some would argue that many of the lectures on biochemistry are nonpragmatic, and I would completely agree. But on the contrary, these lectures provide a firm base on which you can build every bit of knowledge that comes after that. Another point I would like to make is that studying these non-pragmatical phenomena is far easier if you take into account that you will not learn something like it anywhere else other than medical school. (Let’s be honest, who would even want to memorize the entire Krebs cycle in their free time?!) To appreciate the subjects you learn, it is of utmost importance to understand the privilege you are given to learn about some of the most fascinating phenomena that baffled history’s greatest minds. 

After you have a grasp of cellular biology, you are ready to build your medical knowledge pyramid. You learn about almost every possible macroscopic and microscopic part of the human body. Anatomy teaches you the topology of the most important bones, organs, blood vessels, nerves, and everything in between. Almost every branch of every major blood vessel and every nerve is systemically studied to get a firm grasp of the location of these structures. Anatomy doesn’t stop at that. Once you know where every anatomical structure is, you are taught to be aware of the possible anatomical variations (not all people have a heart on the left side of the chest after all). Now that you know where everything is macroscopically, you need to learn how every organ and tissue looks under the microscope. 

Histology dissects almost everything you learned in anatomy so that you can figure out how normal tissue and cells look when everything in your body functions as it should. Physiology is the next big thing you learn in medical school, a scientific field that teaches you how the human body actually functions. You study how every organ works individually as well as how each of the organ systems interacts with each other.

But what happens when things in your body start going downhill? Here comes the fun part of studying medicine. Now is the time to tackle pathology and pathophysiology. Pathology and pathophysiology are like histology and physiology, but instead of teaching you about a healthy, functioning body, they teach you what happens in various diseases and conditions. Once you learn the basics about the normal and abnormal human body, the next big thing in line is pharmacology, i.e., you must learn what to do with your disease-ridden body. Congratulations! You just passed the preclinical part of medical school. It is worth mentioning that I left out incredibly important subjects like embryology and immunology, but you get the idea.

Unlike the preclinical part, clinical medicine is far more practical in terms of the subjects you’re studying and the professors you encounter. Internal medicine provides a solid base for thinking like a true physician. You will go on rotations with your attending physician and try to combine everything you learned and apply it in real-world situations. After countless hours of studying and sleepless nights with textbooks as your only company, you will finally feel like a doctor. Of course, medical school doesn’t end there. You have to go through every major specialty in medicine to learn the basics about each of them. Some students find that rather disheartening, but on the bright side, in clinical medicine, you will learn everything in a much more practical sense. 

I think I covered and explained the basic route medical students go through in order to become medical doctors. Once out of medical school, you will have a good “knowledge pyramid” for practicing medicine. Well, not really. 

Medicine is an enormously large and complex field, so each physician chooses a specialty that interests them the most. So once you specialize in a certain medical field, you must know everything about that part of medicine, right? Wrong again.

The medical field is getting increasingly more complex with each generation, and to be a successful physician, you must be informed of all the new diagnostic and treatment options available. So to dedicate your life to medicine, you must love it in one way or another, no matter how egotistical or altruistic your motivation truly is. 

Summary:

Studying medicine is a demanding yet deeply rewarding journey that requires total dedication. People pursue it for various reasons; some are inspired by early life experiences or a desire to help others (even if ego plays a role), while others are drawn by the job’s stability and status.

Medical education is built like a pyramid of knowledge, starting from the microscopic (cell biology, genetics, biochemistry) to the macroscopic (anatomy, physiology). Though some early subjects may feel impractical, they form the foundation for understanding more complex medical concepts.

Once foundational knowledge is built, students move on to learn about diseases through pathology and pathophysiology, followed by pharmacology, which teaches treatment strategies. This phase marks the end of preclinical studies.

The clinical phase is hands-on and practical. Students apply their knowledge in real-life settings, rotating through different specialties and working alongside experienced physicians. This is when they begin to truly feel like doctors.

However, finishing medical school doesn’t make one a master. Medicine is vast and ever-evolving, requiring lifelong learning and specialization. Ultimately, to survive and thrive in this field, one must have a genuine passion for it, whether fueled by altruism or ego.