Last week I had dinner with two former classmates from that time. We had not seen each other in over a decade, and after catching up on personal news and reminiscing about gross anatomy lab and our first nights on call, one of them said quietly, \u201cI hated med school. I wanted to quit.\u201d\u009d The elephant in our collective memories had broken free.<\/p>\n
With that elephant now running loose, and the three of us more comfortable with our own professional accomplishments, the conversation grew more honest. \u201cIf you look over my entire lifetime,\u201d\u009d my other friend said, \u201cthose four years were the lowest point in terms of self esteem.\u201d\u009d He held his hand out in the air, plotting an imaginary line that dropped precipitously to his knees.<\/p>\n
It took nearly 20 years for the three of us to learn that we had each been miserable as medical students. It has taken even longer for researchers to discover the extent to which such feelings exist among American medical students.<\/p>\n