Medical School Hard? (Explained)


It may seem traditional, but every parent dreams of their child becoming a doctor one day.

While there is a range of professions we can pick from these days, becoming a doctor has its own prestige attached, which is unparalleled.

However, being a doctor requires great dedication, patience, and effort on our part, and it is, by no means, an easy task.

Doctors have immense responsibility on their shoulders, and not everyone can handle the pressure.

That being said, if you’re thinking of taking on this responsibility, you’ll want to know whether becoming a doctor is easy or not.

So is Medical School Hard?

Yes, Medical school is hard. Medical school is demanding as it involves learning a vast amount of complex information over a long period of time (14 years), with examinations intended to eliminate all but the best student.

It is also costly, with the medical student having to deal with tuition fees of $50k per annum.

Every test you take, such as your SATs to the tests to finally qualify you for your residency will require all of your dedication and hard work.

Medical school is hard because it’s designed to sift through all the students leaving behind only the brightest.

Therefore, medical school can be incredibly challenging if you aren’t prepared to study consistently and devote yourself entirely to this field.

Be ready to continually study to the extent where other aspects of your life need to take a back-seat.

So now we have answered the main question, we’ll discuss what makes medical school hard.

What is the hardest thing about Medical School?

While several factors make medical school so challenging, perhaps the most difficult is that students are expected to memorize an enormous amount of information.

Additionally, students are also tested practically and theoretically.

The intellectual difficulty of all the courses is also much higher compared to regular undergraduate degrees.

Cramming so much information for multiple tests each week can be super stressful and can leave students feeling mentally and physically exhausted.

Even the best students have to study for hours on end if they hope to do well in their exams.

Students often end up neglecting their social lives entirely to keep up with the demands of medical school.

How hard is the first year of Medical School?

Walking into new classes on the first day of the semester, new students don’t know what to expect. Perhaps the most challenging part is that new students don’t anticipate how demanding even the first year can be.

The first year is all about adjusting to the workload. While other undergraduate degrees have a first-year that is relatively calm, in medical school, there is a mountain of work from the get-go.

Furthermore, the first year has pre-clinical courses that can be dull and monotonous, with a ton of memorization being required which can be pretty hard.

Furthermore, the competitive environment can feel toxic to newcomers, especially before they get the hang of it.

How stressful is it being a Medical Student?

One of the biggest causes of stress for medical students is the fact that they are bombarded with, and expected to assimilate an enormous amount of information in a short time.

Even the brightest students can struggle with this, and this can lead to a lot of self-doubt and disappointment.

Additionally, this stress often leads to a lot of mental health challenges which can further impair the learning process.

The medical school environment is incredibly competitive, and students who fall behind can experience extremely high levels of stress.

How hard is Medical School compared to an undergraduate degree?

For most students, medical school is more difficult than an undergraduate degree. Medical school material is more complex, needs to be learned rapidly and there is a vast amount of it.

Medical school can be divided into two halves to understand the difficulty better. The first two years are classroom-based, and consist of quizzes, exams, and theoretical learning much like a regular undergraduate degree.

However, the sheer scale of information that students are expected to cram is much higher than any other degree.

The material for just one course can be as much as the entire course combined for any other degree.

The second two years of medical school are perhaps the most challenging.

Students are now tested practically and are expected to work overnight, working almost 60-70 workweeks.

Days off are rare, and students have to make time for tests as well.

Additionally, handling situations such as delivering bad news and dealing with patients can be much more stressful than anything a regular degree can offer.

Is Nursing or Medical School harder?

Nurses can attest to the fact that medical school is much more challenging than nursing. Medical school students have so much to study that they can rarely make time for anything else.

Nursing and becoming a doctor are two related yet different fields.

Both have rigorous training, selection, and application processes.

Nursing school requires students to learn a great deal of information in a short period and has challenging tests as well.

Additionally, not only is the learning material a lot, but it is also much more challenging and requires all of your focus.

Is it harder to get into Dental or Medical School?

Getting into dental schools can be more challenging because the number of schools teaching dentistry is limited compared to the number of medical schools.

With a high number of applicants for dentistry schools, more students can be rejected every year.

However, medical schools have a much more competitive GPA pool compared to dental schools, but they also have a greater number of seats.

Medicine is a broad field and dentistry is more specialized, therefore there exist vast differences in the curriculums of both.

However, as it remains, dental schools are more challenging to get into due to a lesser number of seats.

Final thoughts

Medicine is one of the most important fields of today, and it helps improve the lives of humanity as a whole.

That being said, medical school is an incredibly challenging process that can put the determination and skill of the best students to the test.

However, the rewards of going through medical school and coming out on top are well worth it.

Just remember to adapt, learn, and push yourself as hard as you can.

Hope you have found this article interesting and helpful, for further articles relating to medicine see below