Neuroscience is... hard. So is not being motivated.

We just started learning neuroscience in school and, unsurprisingly, it is absurdly difficult. The internal anatomy of the brain is very complex and due to decidedly subpar teaching by most med school professors, I have no idea WTF is going down most of the time. All that is possible is to keep plugging away and hope that things eventually start to make sense. Good thing I chose right now to start feeling lazy for the first time all year, haha!

Doesn't this brain look complicated to you?

Lately, life has been pretty good to me. I got chosen to serve on the executive board for something at school that will give me great exposure and networking opportunities. My exam grades from last block came back and they went up again (constant improvement since the start, maybe they will give me a "most improved" award at the end of the year). We had spring break a little while ago and I had a lot of fun camping with some buddies from school. Somehow though, none of these positive events had any effect on my willingness to work, or even my level of satisfaction.

Burnout is an interesting phenomenon, especially since it seems that there is some cognitive incompatibility involved. I still am very passionate about the field of medicine and remain 100% committed to my career goals. Not a day goes by where I don't stop to appreciate the opportunity to pursue my dream career. Despite that though, I find myself incredibly unmotivated to do anything related to school at all. I'm definitely not alone. I see a lot of my fellow medical students in this same boat -- especially since almost everyone is struggling with neuroscience. There has also been a lot of literature published on burnout among medical students, why it happens, and how to counteract it (here's one JAMA article for reference). I do not think I am at the level of burnout yet, but I could easily go down that path if I weren't careful.

I have a lot of respect for my fellow students who are still able to keep up their pace, even when confronted with insurmountable difficulties. A few students I know are on the verge of having to repeat the year and so the stakes are especially high for them. Med school is a breeding ground for stress, anxiety, poor self-esteem, and frustration. It stands to reason that burnout and depression are significant factors in determining the success (both academic and personal) of medical students.

So how do we prevent (or treat) burnout? Wellness and having a strong social support network are critical, as this article would suggest. Eating well, exercising often, getting good sleep, having fun, maintaining closeness with family & friends, having a sense of spirituality -- the very things medical students are prone to deny themselves! It's not very useful to starve yourself and deprive yourself of sleep in the name of medicine, but sadly I know more than a few students who do this. It's a difficult situation because sometimes you have to choose between good scores and being happy. Woe to you if you are one of the medical students who struggles to pass even after putting 60-70+ hours/week into studying. At that point, maintaining a healthy life balance is nearly impossible.

What med students need to do more of.

I definitely am proud of the fact that I have tried very hard to maintain a good balance (post-breakup) with all of these things, and for the last month I succeeded while still doing well on my classes. I have been slipping up a bit and maybe that is a factor in why I am not feeling as motivated. Well, I will just have to work harder in the hopes that it will help shake this study funk off!

P.S. If the journal articles aren't working for you, let me know and I'll find a better way to link them.