All-nighters; 3 to 4 hours of sleep; missed family dinners; depression; constant flipping through pages and pages of diseases and drugs; hyperventilating and almost breaking down as you feel the walls of stress keep closing in on you – suffocating you. No purpose in sight as you drown in the process slowly yet steadily. No sense of direction, but your mechanical movements continue following the set of instructions given for the day…. week…. year. Just plain lost.

There is no medical student to date who didn’t experience the very feelings I just described. We tend to fall into a rigorous, monotonous routine of doing the same thing over and over again; we get so lost in the process of studying for exams and finishing assignments, that we completely lose sight of why all this began in the first place. We lose focus! The process becomes so strenuous that we sooner or later begin to run from the profession we chose. It’s quite normal for anyone to choose the easy way out and start avoiding it or quitting all together.

The point is that, the escaping and running away begins when your breaks begin to get longer than your working hours; when the studying becomes a second priority; when watching a show and chilling seems more important than your future, very soon even you will notice that you are legitimately running away from the stress. Note that in now way do I mean that you mustn’t go for a 2-day getaway with your family to some hotel with breakfast-in-bed or hear Ross yell, ‘We were on a break’ for the hundredth time. What I’m trying to say is that we must know that the only reason we take these breaks is to relax for a while before getting back to work. Yes, I agree it is stressful; I agree it tends to entirely take over your life at times; I agree you miss some important family gatherings, but take a step back – stop – think! Go back in time. Think of why you chose this path- this profession- in the first place. You knew what it asked for when you made the decision to take on this responsibility, but you still chose this despite all of those countless and terrorizing requirements. You agreed to make the sacrifices despite the hardships. WHY? Was it to prove yourself to your parents, your family, that person who never thought you would be successful, maybe even because you wanted to prove it to yourself? Was it because you couldn’t save the life of a loved one because you didn’t know how? Was it to hear: “Thank you doctor, you saved a life today”? Was it to help every person fighting for their life? WHAT WAS IT FOR? WHY DID YOU START? Remind yourself. 

Lastly, once you find that reason, hold on to it. Every time you feel like giving up remind yourself why you began in the first place. Your goals in life are so vital; they are what you live by. They give you the strength to go through and survive any and every kind of hardship that you face at any point in life. Motivation needs a source and that source serves as the strongest drive for any individual. It is very normal for the process to overwhelm you, but whenever that happens pull yourself out of it and look at the bigger picture. First, remind yourself why you started and then picture the end result. The first, serves as the fuel and the second, it is the vehicle which helps you keep moving and eventually reach your destination. There will be loads of diversions, but remember: they do not lead to YOUR destination. There are also many pitstops, but they are not your FINAL destination. Keep going. Always look forward and make sure you can imagine yourself at the end of that road fully content with what you managed to do because you chose to go on – you chose not pull out at the first sign of trouble; you were brave enough.