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Last time you were sitting in a waiting room looking at your doctor’s photo on the wall, perhaps you didn’t think about everything that led up to such a portrait. Of course, they went through college, medical school and residency, but that alone isn’t the full picture. The road to medical school is a long, grueling process and it certainly takes a toll.

This is evident in the high cases of suicide rates among medical students or those on the track. A study done at the University of California, San Diego showed that pre-medical students are twice as likely to be classified as “severely depressed” or suicidal. But we hardly need to look as far as California to find the reality of that study. Look into your nearest Organic Chemistry class or Bird Library study room to see just how hard this statistic is affecting our campus.

This reality is not inevitable or unavoidable, just ignored by our university and by advisors. Ignoring such an issue prevents them from addressing its magnitude. Certainly, the stress of a heavy workload and competition are significant on their own, but the thought of medical school applications adds a new level of stress. Course work with extracurriculars, volunteer work and research amass to an unfathomable juggle.

“The competition to get into top medical schools is fierce. It may seem like your entire future depends on it which puts a tremendous amount of pressure on students to be at the top of the class,” said Robyn Symon, producer and director of “Do No Harm”, a film about the mental health issues that doctors experience. “Classmates need you to fail for them to succeed. It’s a cutthroat culture that few understand and can feel very isolating.”

While these conditions can be unequivocally stressful, we should be able to utilize our university and advisors to conquer and thrive in spite of them. But the reality of being pre-med at Syracuse University isn’t that forgiving.

McKenna Graham, a pre-med student at SU and president of the Rebecca Lee Pre-health Society, said she has a “love-hate relationship” with pre-health advising.

“They discourage you from applying if your application isn’t near perfect or perfect,” she said. “Once someone states they got a bad grade on something or didn’t do well in a class, there is a feeling that you might not get into medical school and your whole future is ruined.”

Kaitlyn Marcotrigiano, an SU pre-med student said the university doesn’t focus on creating a “well rounded candidate” and that “they just want you to check the boxes.”

“You just never feel like you are doing enough,” Marcotrigiano said.

As a pre-medical student, becoming a doctor is the only lifestyle and future that I can envision for myself. No other life sounds satisfying enough and my passion lies nowhere else. But I, like so many, am not the perfect pre-medical student. Being told that my C in Organic Chemistry or my lack of a perfect extracurricular schedule will keep me from the only future I see acceptable, isn’t just painful, it’s debilitating.

Dr. Pamela Wimble, a physician and activist for prevention of suicide among medical doctors said, “Students who thrive in pre-med and continue thriving in medical school are the ones who are willing to take on any amount of work and stress, regardless of the toll it takes on their health. The medical education system screens for people who are willing to submit to abuse.”

This stress and depression does not suddenly dissipate upon graduation; it is carried into the next phase of life. According to the American Medical Student Association, medical students commit suicide at a rate three times higher than other members of their age group. Concertedly, medical school provides additional stressors which culminate with those already present. The harms of a toxic pre-medical culture affect the medical student, the doctor and the medical field.

To say that pre-medical culture at SU is competitive is an egregious minimization. The competition is merciless and seemingly never ending. We are forced into isolation so we can attempt to cater to the expectations placed upon us. The race to some day save lives is turning fatal for far too many. These four years of pre-medical requirements are meticulously crafted to fit the perfect medical school application.

Our efforts and struggles are being dismissed by our advisors. We need support, mutuality and an understanding that it is okay to not be the perfect applicant. SU and its advisors hold a vulnerable population in their hands. Marcotrigiano believes that solving the problem starts with the school recognizing that “not all paths to medical school are the same”. The ‘perfect pre-med student’ is not anyone’s reality and is simply impossible. Our university holding pre-medical students to such an expectation is unproductive and entirely harmful.

That portrait you see in the waiting room is deceptively simple. Behind that frame is years of isolation, despair and doubt. We don’t all make it to the frame. Your future doctors are dying.

Caden Denslow is a Social Work major in a Pre-med track. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at crdenslo@syr.edu.

Published on February 12, 2023 at 11:06 pm