
The journey to becoming a physician is tough, but it doesn’t have to be a journey you travel alone. I want you to always remember you are not alone; you have the support of your family and friends. But another support system we sometimes seem to forget is our colleagues, the students sitting right in the seats next to us, who are studying for the same exam and trucking through the trenches with us. We often say it’s hard sometimes to share our struggle with our family and friends who are not in medicine because sometimes they just don’t understand, but your classmates do! I want you to find your tribe in medical school, whether that’s one close friend or 10, find them and lean on one another for support, guidance, accountability, inspiration, tough love, friendship and strength. You shouldn’t go through medical school and feel as though you don’t have anyone and you are alone.
I found my tribe of closest friends in medical school and we make it our duty to hold each other accountable, share our successes, vent, express ourselves and push one another. We enjoy activities outside of medical school and make an effort to do things we enjoy outside of medicine as often as possible. We know that we will never be or feel alone because we have each other. We started our journeys together and we will all finish our medical school journeys together in May.
I want to leave you will a few pearls of wisdom when you find your tribe:
- Study with each other and help each other stay the course.
- Hold each other accountable at all times.
- Push each other to be the very best.
- Support each other.
- Communicate often.
- Laugh a lot.
- Do activities outside of medicine as much as possible.
- Encourage each other.
Do you have your tribe in medical school? Share any stories you have!