Being Social with Your Peers

00:01 Welcome back to the premed lecture series. This is lecture three. We’re going to talk about the importance of being social with your school peers. Now, medical school is a challenging environment.

00:13 No one can take on this challenge alone. As the famous proverb states, “It takes an entire village to raise a child.” The same is true of raising doctors.

00:22 It takes an entire village. Having an academic and a non-academic support system will be absolutely vital to your survival and success in medical school. So, let’s talk about the importance of your peers and why you need to be social on medical school. Some students may think that they don’t need anyone’s help. They got to medical school on their own. They studied on their own.

00:45 They’re not going to change anything now. Well, you may have been able to go through college on your own.

00:51 But to be frank, you probably won’t be able to do so in medical school.

00:56 So, why do I stress the importance of engaging with your peers? Why even make this video about it? Isn't it common sense? Well, I went through medical school and I’ve also functioned as a tutor for medical students for many years. Almost every single student that I worked with in medical school who had difficulties lacked the good social friend and social network system. They often feel isolated.

01:19 Not having a good support system makes medical school that much more challenging.

01:24 It’s challenging on its own and now, they’re tacking on a second problem.

01:27 So, what I want you to do is avoid falling into this trap. Just be yourself. Be social with your peers.

01:33 Engage. Avoid becoming isolated. That's very easy to accidentally fall into.

01:39 All I'm recommending is that you have fun with your classmates. Be social.

01:43 Your classmates will become your lifelong friends and frankly, the best study partners you could ever have.

01:49 What are some simple ways to engage and connect? Medical school is a small community of students and professors. Actually, the practice of medicine itself is a small community.

02:00 We, as doctors and medical students, have to stick together and support each other.

02:05 The work we do is very challenging, both physically and emotionally. We need each other's support.

02:11 When you receive that acceptance from medical school, after you scream and get so excited, go online.

02:17 Look for a Facebook group or a WhatsApp group. This will usually be created by an upper classman in the incoming students. Make sure to join this Facebook group or WhatsApp group.

02:28 Try to be involved with initial conversations, or even if you’re not chiming in, just see what people are saying. Senior students in your medical school may be sharing advice or giving recommendations. It could be like books to look at or things to go enjoy with your friends, or you guys go out to dinner, or it could be recommendations on where to live.

02:47 Either way, follow along. Be social with your peers. Try to follow up with these gatherings.

02:52 Developing your social circle is absolutely important. Now, when you go to school and go to lecture, don’t immediately go home after lecture. Again, this is probably common sense to all of you but be social. Hang out after class. Talk to students. Join study groups. The last thing you want to do and I’m saying this again for your own sake, you don’t want to become isolated in medical school.

03:17 That is the deadly trap. Now, don’t forget to keep engaged with your friends from outside of medical school and your family. Mixing these social interactions with topics and people of just medical students is not all that good for your mental well-being. So mix it up. Don’t forget.

03:34 Your friends from before medical school and your family will keep your social network more balanced.

03:38 Now let’s summarize what we’ve talked about. Number one, be social with your peers.

03:43 Avoid becoming isolated. You'll have more fun in medical school and actually enjoy your studies when you have a fun study system and social support to study with.

03:52 The students who isolate themselves are often the ones who develop academic problems.

03:57 Avoid becoming isolated at all cost. Don’t forget to stay in touch with your friends from before medical school and outside and your family. These are going to be the core of your support system.

04:09 Have fun. Study and learn. It’s the joy of medical education. Thank you.