I should probably start with PLAYING FRISBEE AT 10PM in big bold letters, but that’s already been immortalised in another post. So let’s get on with the more “important” stuff:
#1 ZERO competitive culture
This is probably one concern on the minds of many prospective medical students. But I can tell you honestly, based on my experience thus far: the culture here is the complete opposite of competitive. We have a Pass/Fail system (i.e. no grades, no GPA), and perhaps that helps. Yet it’s not merely the system—it’s the culture. No one is striving to outdo anyone else.
In fact, people are so willing to share resources it’s unbelievable. In my team’s WhatsApp group, I ask dumb questions all the time and my teammates will go to great lengths to explain it to me until I understand. We all build one another up.
In my conversation with a senior, we both agreed that the sense of camaraderie is one amazing thing we truly love about LKC (NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine): “In five years, we’re going to be doctors together, in the same healthcare system… It just makes sense that we support one another along the way—instead of competing.” And that’s exactly what we’re doing.
#2 Very tiny fish in a gigantic pond?
This wasn’t entirely unexpected. I knew that med school would be full of smart, capable, high-achieving individuals. But—and I mean this in the best way possible—people are just so amazingly competent. Not only is everyone intellectually smart (duh), there are people who are phenomenal at sports, others who can do coding, exceptional dancers and singers, and many multi-talented individuals. There are people with leadership and charisma, people who have seemingly endless confidence and poise. There are people who seem to be mastering the content and reading far ahead of the syllabus.
We’ve all heard about the “small fish, big pond” analogy, and yes, sometimes that’s exactly how I feel. Sometimes maybe even more like “tiny fish, gigantic pond”. But I think in this case there are just two choices: either it gets to you, or it doesn’t. I’ve chosen the latter.
It all boils down to mindset. One, have a growth mindset. Two, challenge yourself—and compete against yourself only. Chart your own growth and break your own boundaries.
#3 Not every minute is spent studying
Here’s where I plonk in the big bold letters PLAYING FRISBEE AT 10PM. Contrary to the high-stress-cum-mountainous-academic-workload image I’d once conjured in my mind, there’s still time for fun. Of course, your experience can differ greatly depending on what you choose to prioritise. For me, I value building genuine connections and I love sports. So I find time to have meals with friends, sit down with my family, run or exercise, and play basketball. I’ve gone hiking twice since school started. This blog hasn’t gone to desolation—which is an extraordinary feat in itself.
Just a quick idea of the academic aspect: the academic rigour is not extremely intense; what’s more challenging is perhaps the heavy content—and the need for memorisation. In short, too much information to be jam-packed into too small a memory space. My puny brain barely holds on to the information for one TBL session, before everything leaks out and I desperately start cramming in the required content for the next.
The most unexpected thing…
So that’s it. My top 3 “most unexpected” things about medical school thus far. As with every experience, I came in free from preconceived notions. I had no idea what to expect, and in a way, that allowed me to simply experience.
The last thing I want to say, as cliché as it may sound, is that the experience has been unexpected in its amazing-ness. It’s weird, because with Covid, we’ve had so many things stripped away. Everything is different this year. It’s far from the full experience. Yet I’ve enjoyed every moment. So yes, it’s been unexpectedly amazing.
This page is where I share everything related to life in medical school. The posts here may take on a slightly more casual tone and journal-like writing style. Ultimately, they’re just honest accounts of a medical student’s experiences – which will hopefully give you a glimpse of what med school is really like. 😊