Everything I Hate About Medical Students | Dr Hani
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- I share my experiences at medical school and discuss some of the challenges posed by being a working class black female at a predominantly white medical school in London. I have a rant about some of the things I hated the most at my university and some of the classic medical students behaviours that I found most bothersome.
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“Illness does not discriminate so why should medical school” yes!!!!
Eric Gehres fair point. I’m referring to it in terms of no amount of affluence will make you immune from sickness, it runs through all walks of life. As such this should be reflected in the medical doctors we produce. I’m in medical school and fully understand age, race and sex based predispositions and genetic traits. As a black female student, we’re severely under represented and not for lack of ability. I hope this is clear to you.
Exactly!
And I think its also the fact that yes, some disease might discriminate, but overall anyone can get sick from anything. And when there is implicit racist boas or misgendering for transnumbrella Patients. Care providers and Healthcare discriminates against them, but everyone can be affected by an illness. So, we should be teaching future doctors not only disease etiology, but teach about culture, and SES, racism, gender and how humans interact with the world. It will help them become better doctors. You aren't treating a disease you are treating a human with a disease, what they go through and how they see situations and life through their lens matters just as much as a treatment plan.
@Eric Gehres I know that, I meant anyone can get sick of anything, within their own gender or sex or race etc. Thought that was implied
Propofol Downthestairs you’ve completely veered off the point and are clearly committed to being the devil’s advocate therefore I believe this discussion can end here. Thank you for your input.
I'm a med student in the states and I really felt it when you talked about how others around you were advertising how they spent their days just studying and I wondered to myself "am I doing this wrong?" When people talk about grades around me, I just have to remove myself from those situations to take care of my mental health- imposter syndrome is so real man. Thank you for this vid, salam!
Not a medical student but just school in general. When i hear people saying how hard it is and are studying 24/7 i was like.. what is? But i get ur feel of doing it wrong. Nah sis. Some just think studying 24/7 is the way but its not. You time is important as well. Everyone studies differently
@@TokyoDogz absolutely! It was a hard lesson to learn but 2 years later, here I am with the rest of my peers
Seriously, when people ask, I say I really shouldn’t be here and have no idea how I’ve gotten this far. I’m working on this lol
@@daneeah1984 ayee im glad u have realized ur own worth
It's everywhere! In Morocco toi
THE NOT SHARING NOTES ... I’m telling you it’s not a competition 😭 I’m tired of rankings. We’re all here to help people it’s so stupid.
Ikr😪💔
I see this all the time, I knew of someone who always looked at me as if I was stupid only because she would score higher marks than me in the CATs
Alia Ayuni exactly- Sharing notes amongst people who do equal work is fair. It isn’t warranted when one person who fails to do the basic requirements of effort expects others to share their notes!
Ikr. Just share damn notes. We only have one goal to get a degree and change the world
SAME END GOAL LIKE WHY 😭
As a Arab Muslim female medical student in the UK I always felt like the odd one out and unfortunately all the friends I have in medical school are the people I’ve known since high school (they came to the same uni as me). I never really liked the whole “going out “ scene, it’s not my thing. I don’t drink I don’t party. I spent day and night in the library, I don’t hide the fact that I study and try. Everything you said about medical students hiding their efforts is so relatable. It’s not only that I feel like they make an effort to hide it, they also look at you a certain way when you study hard and show it. I always shared my notes, if I could help I would, if I see someone doing something wrong I’d tell them. It’s not my style to “hide knowledge”. As a practicing Muslim I truly believe that if you save one life it is as you’ve saved the whole of human kind, and to keep knowledge away from someone might deprive them of that. If I rank number one, it’s going to be because I worked the hardest, not because I was sneaky, so not my style. Thank you for this video, I watch a lot of medical students and doctors channels for 6 years now and I’ve never related to a video more than this. If you ever write a book I’ll be the first to buy it. You’re competent, extremely intelligent, beautiful and very humble. I’d love to have a friend like you in medical school.
you’re so sweet. i would have loved to have been your friend. maybe our paths will cross one day inshaAllah. eid mubarak ♥️
Vote for Hani eid Mubarak to you too beautiful 🤍🤍 inshallah
💗
Hala I will never understand what you have been through since I grew up in an Arabic country. I would feel the same if I were you. I'm studying masters in the US now and it was hard to adjust even though grad students are more mature and don't do much of what undergrad kids do. Keep up the hard work
Fatima Hussain thank you for your kind words Fatima 🙏🏼 I hope you do amazing in your masters 🤍🤍 keep it up
Honestly, you've hit the nail on the head regarding the elitist/ignorant and competitive behaviour being the complete opposite behaviour needed for the profession. We get this in the Finance industry, so I'm extremely perturbed this is happening in Medicine. Perhaps, it's a status game?
the same social ills just manifesting in diff industries we hate to see it
Ironically this is the very characteristic I experienced while attend a law school in the western U.S.
@Wonder Woman U there to acquire information not to make new friends there's other places for that.
@@maxmwegerano7400 You sound like a pleasant person to be around lol.
@@VoteforHani è5rè⁵
I agree with everything you said! Becoming a doctor ‘isn’t a flex’ we are becoming doctors to actually help others!! Such a good video thank you for talking about this!! ❤️❤️also yes I hate the competitiveness at medical school like we are going to become doctors anyway 😭
we all have the same end goal fr 😩
Do people become doctors to help people? Is it not to treat and manage disease conditions and prevent the onset of diseases
@@khalidal-waleed6282 If you want to change the world, become a scientist. Medical doctors get all the rep but scientist make the world go round.
you all prolly dont give a damn but does anybody know a tool to log back into an Instagram account..?
I somehow lost the login password. I love any assistance you can give me.
Omg when I actually meet a compassionate medical student all I want to do is protect them and constantly remind them to always stay grounded never lose sight of that ..... I’ve seen so many adapt and evolve to norms and I become disappointed and heartbroken I see it again and again with every class
"kim... there are people dying" the chat about withholding info and being secretive is mad interesting
MATE! kourtney did not lie!
“The library security guard has a different story to tell” I died
Very true he maybe a PhD student
She seems like the person that would actually ask the security guard if one of her colleagues spent more hours at the library then what they say. This discrimination against perseverance, undermining it as flexing, is just so backwards
Alessandro M. Lupacchini if you think that’s the point of what she said, you completely missed the objective of the video.
@@diaabnasir471 It may not be the point of the video but she said it.
If you don't see her lack of respect for people who study more than her you missed the objective problem of the video
@@imbored4615 Why are you so hurt she spoke about her experience? You are ranting all over the comment section like a rabid dog. Your first comment seemed constructive them your disingenuity started to manifest in your later comments.
Most med students I met are so pretentious. Im not friends with most of the med students at my school. I’m just here to get my degree and get out 💅🏾
Several cogent views brilliantly articulated !
Thought I was the only one personalities terrible where the real ones at
They are more along posers, nerds, obsessed with their boring studies, lifeless and act like what they are doing so great. Ya I couldn't stand them neither.
Same, I’m a pre-med student but I avoid a lot of other ones. I know it’s great to make connections, but it’s hard when everyone is acting like you’re better than the other. I struggle as a student and I find it hard to talk to other pre meds because they’re always about being the best of the best, which is great, but not very good for your mental health.
I dont think you should be proud of not having any friends on your course and group all med students together
I hated med school, everyone was still first year acting like they some surgeons. So glad to have finished with that whole mess and got my degree. Lord med students are mainly annoying, work obsessed, backstabbing, and not pleasant to be around.
@Wonder Woman yeah, I kept my distance from the students throughout my 7 years and focused on finishing, was so glad when it was finally done. Too many rich and I mean super rich snobs in med school.
@Wonder Woman ive been working in a hospital for the past two years it's a little less miserable lol
@@yondo1008 what specialty are u doing ?
@@user-mj6qr2ky9d I was img so I could only get into family medicine tbh. I know it's looked down upon but it's chill. I like it.
@@yondo1008 what's img and why is it looked down on?
Glad you like it
OMGGG when you said people thought you were "cool" and "funny", that is literally how they described me in med school! A lot of your experiences are soo similar to mine its scary. I was the only black personnn on my course so this has resonated with me so much
fr! it’s literally our blackness that is humorous 😩
this acc terrifies me the toxicity is reaaall
My black friends get this a lot and I never thought of it like that but people don’t even know them and they talk to them all kinds of crazy, like not how they would normally speak and it’s kind of rude
I completely agree with you about how so many students don't seem to be doing medicine for the right reasons. As a medical student who just finished my first year, I realize that the med student culture is very toxic and I'm still trying to figure out how to cope with it. Aha when you talked about having 1 friend in your class I related so hard. Out of 126 students I have 1 friend. I think its because I find it hard to relate to people and also as you said I think people think I don't take the studying seriously. It's a general bias here that international students are looked down on, which makes me feel very alienated and definitely adds to my impostor syndrome. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Dr Hani you are so eloquent and confident. As a second year black female Medic (1/9 black people on the course) up North , I am so glad to hear your experiences as I honestly felt so uncomfortable this past year; everyone appears to be obsessed with Medicine but I have always loved literature and everything else. Thank you for making me feel normal and for giving me confidence.
Side note: please go into politics you’re more eloquent than the PM.
As a UK medic, I completely agree. It was frustrating and isolating at times. It was somewhat a toxic environment. And the medical student brand is so true
I feel like this is a recurring theme for most black females in all universities/courses. People at my university would assume because I was black, I wasn't as intelligent as them so they wouldn't let me participate with them in group projects and would ask me to just type up what they said instead.
i’m sorry this happened to u as well 😫
Emcstea yeah as a Black women, in a big corporate company, being passive aggressive with white people is truly a useful and beautiful art form 😂
Same way. I noticed that some of my classmates will treat me, talk to or about me in a patronizing way. Unfortunately I was dealing with some very tragic and personal issues during my time in graduate school so this really got to me. I ended up suffering from imposter syndrome which severely affected my mental health. Although I was doing well with assignments it was other's perception of me and me trying to prove to others that I was equally as intelligent as them that really got me. It's really tiring trying to prove your worth to people who have already decided to put you in a mold. It was a very gruelling experience. Thankfully I'm done with grad school, but I did not enjoy the process. Thank you for speaking out about this. Now I know I was not the only one experiencing this.
You don't talk down to your viewers because you're a Dr and you're articulate, breaking info into easy chunks. You're smart as well as elegant..
yes the “medical student brand” ... finally someone I can agree with. I have other interests outside of medicine! I’m not stupid!
can you give me some advice on how to do that? I am planning to declare Nursing as my major next semester, but I really don't want it to take over my life and I keep on hearing how if you major in nursing your life is gone. I don't like that. And i know its not the same as medical school but i think the advice is transferrable!!
ROLANDE. time management! i use a lot of my hobbies to relax if i have extra time and i try to complete my work ahead of time; it’s hard not to get overwhelmed but you just have to remember you’re human before you’re a student
@@Adrienne000 thank you so much for that. i appreciate it.
This is why I intentionally chose my med school (only applied to one). I’m in the US and go to an HBCU med school. The culture is the exact opposite of what you and others in this comment section have experienced. There’s lots of collaboration, everyone is there to lift each other up, everyone provides resources to every one in the class and between classes, many people come from disadvantaged backgrounds, most students are black, most of the non-white students have either Middle Eastern, Asian, or Southeast Asian ethnicity, our training focuses hugely on health equity... I could go on.
Where do you attend??
nika f Not sharing that info on a public forum, sorry!
sharpasnails is not like they’re going come looking for you 😂
Radical Barrel27 People in this world are crazy, sorry! 🤷🏾♀️
Omg, I went to medical school in France AND it was the WORST experience ever I literally stop the studies because of how mean the students were to each other.Especially in France only the first 100 best can go to the 2nd year so people were coming in the class bang the tables interrupt classes so the new student would not be able to study.
That's disgusting. Like literally humanly disgusting and the fact it's allowed to continue by professors and the system makes it worse. I hope I never have to get treatment in France.
That sounds horrible!
What the hell that sounds horrible
France is most racist and ugly country in Europe.
As a black Muslim female medic this has been the channel I have always been waiting for 👏🏾 Thank you sis, please keep making these. And you are right, the “med student brand” in the US is just plain toxic.
Black success!! So proud of seeing a young black woman using this platform to speak truthhhh. Much love.
I'm so happy and pleased to see a doctor like you joining the workforce! Someone who's in touch with the real world.
You're incredible, honestly an inspiration. Don't let people's snide comments knock your confidence, you've got this 💪🏽💪🏽
awww thank you so so much i love this comment
Medicine in the US also has a very long history of toxic competition. Many med schools are combating the problem by switching to a pass/fail curriculum and the elimination of preclinical rankings. Because of that, my cohort is very collaborative! One of our licensing exams, whose score used to be a primary factor in residency placement, was also recently made pass/fail. It's by no means perfect and there is still a significant problem with racism in medicine here; but I at least appreciate my school's efforts to change the culture of medical training.
This talk needs to become more public, especially in the medical community, maybe a Ted talk? Finally, someone who gets it! Thank you for coming out and saying all that. A million times thank you.
Interesting, I was just speaking about this to my partner, as I'm applying medical school right now. Some years back, when my sister was still alive, she was attending a medical school in the states, and would constantly get comments or hear snide remarks from the white students about her appearance, particularly where it deviated from whiteness. One story that always stuck out to me was when the chemotherapy she was going through claimed her hair and she started wearing a wig, the comments turned from disgust at her natural protective hairstyles to "what it says about someone that dons fake hair" during rotations in front of patients, residents, and attendings. If these people can't be trusted to respect someone in the same programme simply because of colour, how in the world can they be trusted to provide proper care to anyone of colour unable to advocate for themselves?
OMG! I knew I’d love you and your channel. I’ve always love to be a MD and I’m currently studying for a pre-med degree and most of my classmates see me as “not serious” just because I “don’t fit” the persona they created for someone who wants to be a MD ( kill yourself reading and kill your fun in the process to prove a dumb point). Up until I saw this video, I always was in doubt if I will survive medical school when I get to go or if I’ll ever be good enough. I’ve a lot of things going wrong for me right now and I’ve to dropout for some time (don’t know how long) but I really want to say this to you, thank you very much for restoring the hope and faith I’ve always had for medicine and I, for sure thanks to you, will go back to school one day and be what I want to be. You and your stories are now an inspiration to me and THANK YOU ONCE MORE ❤️
awwww yayy!!! i’m so glad! you will deffo get through it if i could 😩😂
This is facts, I go KCL and the way that the EMDPS are spoken ab sometimes by the archetypal med student is gross. So a lot of us go above and beyond. But I’m with you I’m not tap dancing for anyone I have nothing to prove
no dancing today! good luck btw sis 😩❤️
I didn’t realize how bad I needed to hear this! Obviously I’m not a minority. Im a white, middle/upper class, American woman. However, the way you spoke about not fitting the mold of making medical school your brand really opened my eyes! I’ve always been worried about having to fit into that brand. I don’t want to isolate myself! I don’t want medical school to consume me and my life! I want to be dedicated and educated, but I don’t want to trade in every other aspect of my life to do so! So thank you for speaking on this!
Dr Hani could literally have a podcast and I'd listen to it _regularly_ ! the way you simply talk and carry your points is so eloquent!! I aspire to be like this :))
Late but you're so right! The irony of going into medicine because you want to help people and not even helping your classmates
I really appreciated your perspective on this as someone with a chronic illness! Sometimes I really wonder about how doctors understand my experience as a patient - the meds to help my condition have terrible side effects and sometimes I feel like doctors don’t understand or even care how that impacts people with my diseases quality of life. My GP is pretty good for this but my other specialists I see not so much... Totally agree about your points about the culture of medicine with competitiveness and making your whole life being a medic - it’s not healthy for the medic or the patient in the end, and builds on the social issues that keep that one type of upper middle class, parent was a doctor people as the dominant type of person going into medicine. It is also why so many people turn to alternative medicine rather than western medicine - patients are looking to be seen and understood as a whole person and bad experiences with doctors can turn them to seek help from others, and then the doctors will low key slag off the patient for looking elsewhere instead of reflecting on why. I feel uplifted knowing there are doctors like you out there!
Hani! This video spoke to me on every level 😭 You really hit the nail on the head in so many different ways. Particularly, the way Med school induces imposter syndrome in us, because we spend 5/6 years being treated like we’re not as smart as everyone else. I was genuinely terrified to start working as an FY1, even though I had passed all my exams with flying colours. Then when I started to work, received lots of great feedback from seniors and started to realise that actually wait, I’m a decent doctor 😭 I had to start unlearning my own view of myself.
I think the whole not making medical school your life does ultimately make you feel like you’re not good enough 😭 Which is wrong cuz we’re defo good enough. I’m glad you were able to make that distinction before starting F1. May Allah grow you in confidence and protect you!
ameen and thank you for such a thoughtful comment sis. i’m honestly alarmed by how many poc commenters have had the same experience????!! i’m so glad your FY1 went swimmingly i really hope i have a similar experience ❤️❤️
im starting med school in september so this was a really interesting and eye-opening video for me! also that bit abt how med students are super competitive... i really thought ppl would leave that behind in sixth form once we all got into med school but i guess not :( thank you for making this video and sharing your experience!!
Ikr. I completely agree I'm hoping to start in September and am so happy that we finally have a Somali British doctor on youtube, someone, I can finally relate to. Also, I was praying that people would have matured enough by now I'm dreading having to deal with ''I haven't touched a revision book but somehow get full marks kind of people.''
@@kaltunsuleiman9038 yes!! i am not somali but regardless hani really inspires me for her values and the way she approaches medicine !! i guess we will just have to hope we find like-minded people at uni who arent crazy competitive and want to work together and stuff!! hope ur results day goes well (if you're getting results) and good luck for med school
Same here, starting med school in september in the uk. I knew there was going to be competition, but like you said, it really seems stupid that people would go to the extent of hiding their notes to just get high ranks. I really hoped people would have matured from sixth form to med school. Good luck at med school! :)
Aasha V good luck to you too!!
Me too
I'm tensed
Woman. I am in awe. I’m not a med student, I’m just a woman who is done being a push over and you just set boundaries so strongly but fairly and I LOVE IT. You just own yourself and it’s AMAZING. WOW. I am rooting for you, I want to see you succeed. I want to see you lead us. You will be in history books I just know it in my core.
I recently finished medical school in South Africa and I'm so glad I came across your channel because you're incredibly relatable. It's incredibly strange and actually frightening how similar the general medical community is everywhere and there's so little room to effect change because of those ideas of virtue and intellectualism that are automatically attached to being a doctor as you've mentioned. I love what you're doing here❤️
Amazing video. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I’m starting med school in September and having not even started yet, I noticed so much of this behaviour in interviews. Literally just waiting around for the interviews to start. Specifically people shunning people going for foundation programmes / people from state schools. Heard things like “i wish I didn’t go to ‘x’ private school because we’re being discriminated against for contextual applicants” or the general idea that contextual applicants are lazy people who are so ‘lucky’ to get in with lower grades. They had 0 idea of how much harder it is to get good grades when your classes are packed, your teachers are overworked, your school is under staffed, you have no resources in your school, you can’t afford private tutors etc etc. I understand it’s easy to live in a bubble but it scares me a bit that aspiring medical students can be so small minded about people from different backgrounds. And these prejudices eg contextual= lazy continue to feed into systemic racism and general prejudice in medicine, as these people graduate. Your platform is an amazing voice and it’s great to see a medic finally talking about this. I will share your channel as much as I can, as the message needs to be heard so we can all continue to reflect and improve.
I ended up dropping out. I quiiickly got tired of being the fish out of water, and feeling like I didn't deserve my place in med school. All completely my own shortcomings/insecurities, but there are definitely a lot of toxic things about being in med school. I so wish this video existed 2 years ago! 😩 Glad to see that there's someone like you making a difference in the world and speaking up and out about these issues ✊🏾✊🏾💛
is it too late to go back?
@@Rolandesperspective probably not.... but I would have to start from the start again tho 😉
@@gracet.3789 better starting from the beginning now and being 2 years in, 2 years from now than starting from the beginning 2 years from now!
It’s disappointing that med school doesn’t reflect the people that they purport to be wanting to help.
I just found you while I study for my MCAT examination in Florida. It feels so refreshing listening to a black, female, Dr. Thank you for sharing! :)
I love EVERYTHING your channel is about - pls keep posting this much needed content!
i love you!!! thank you so much for supporting me 🥺😩❤️
I'm medical student in South Africa and this resonates with me so much.
I really appreciate your perspectives! I’m starting med school next year, and what you said about the sharing notes - this was so me, and kinda still is me to an extent, during high school and my earlier premed years. But what you said about how ultimately we’re all in this to save lives and getting carried away by a system that promotes hiding resources from each other at the possible expense of patient lives is a really good point and actually, I really appreciate you making that point because I think that’s what I needed to hear. It’s definitely something I’ll constantly remind myself of for a long time. I could actually go on and tell you other parts of your video that really struck a chord with me, but I’m writing a comment not a textbook. Liked and subscribed ❤️
This is the content I've been looking for. I intend to go to medical school and you've voiced all my concerns re the culture and students, especially about being apolitical and privileged. I see this among many med students/doctors on yt too and it's disheartening. it's great to finally find a doctor on here who knows what they're talking about
Girl I love you for sharing your views! THANK U FOR SHARING THIS!!!!!! I’ve always said that I would never let medicine define me/be my whole brand! The ditzy thing is BANG ON! Literally my life!! And yes you have the range!
Rooting for you Dr Hani. Guuleyso
mahadsanid walaal!
Thank you for sharing this! I had a similar experience at medical school. I had students who would dismiss whatever I said as being incorrect and it was so frustrating. It affected my confidence and trust in my medical knowledge so much that I still doubt myself 🤦🏾♀️
You come across as so smart and articulate and I wish you all the best with your career inshaAllah
ameen sis! and i’m sad that we had the same experience but i hope you can see how it’s not a YOU issue. i’m still relearning my confidence and i hope you do too cos we actually deserve so much better
Thank you for replying to my comment - that’s so kind of you!
I’ll make dua for you to achieve your goal of making a skincare line. My skin is the worst so I am happy to spend my money on your products inshaAllah! It’s so lovely to see a Somali medic thriving mA!
Thank you for having the courage to make this video 💖 As an EMDP student myself, it’s been really interesting to hear your perspective. I agree, there’s a lot of things that need to change about medical school and medical students x
its so true about med students coming from parents who are doctors *or are highly educated... they had lots of help in their process. My mother didn't finish her degree and my dad is a veteran who got his bachelor's and masters after 20 years in the military. it's just a completely *different hurdle and sometimes I feel like I don't have anyone close to get me through. I am literally figuring this all out myself
If parents are doctors might be easier to get work experience when applying to med school. Also can give guidance in applying to med school or during med school or after graduating med school.
I’m a 4th year medical student in a college that’s well know for it’s difficulty and for it’s very very genius students. Honestly, through out the past years I have felt different, and I totally believed that this was entirely my fault and that I should some how change myself and become an exact version of my colleagues otherwise I will never become a good doctor or even a doctor, that idea depressed me and put me under so much pressure especially that I’m always seen as ditzy and a clown 🤡 despite the fact that my grades are actually very high. Luckily, my perspective now have changed entirely after hearing you speak about your experience, which is surprisingly very similar to mine. Being a doctor or a healthcare provider shouldn’t be the center of your existence, you shouldn’t let this part of your life overshadow your interests and knowledge of different fields, relationships, and most importantly your rest and wellbeing. Seriously thank you so much for this inspirational video you have no idea how much it meant to me. Love u and your great channel ❤️❤️❤️
awww thank you so much!! i’m wishing you all the best with your studies too xxx
I ABSOLUTELY loved this video! It highlights so many things that are wrong with the culture of medical school! Thanks so much for sharing!
This video just changed my life. Thank you, represention is so important ❤️
Points were made! I appreciate you sharing your story. I was struck by how you coped with adversity by refusing to fit the mold. As a fellow black Muslim pursuing a crazy degree (phd in America) I resonated with feeling like an outsider from the offset and consciously choosing to protect my life outside of school fiercely. I want to have range when I leave this degree and still be the kinda person my friends from home want to be around and can relate to. I can’t wait to see more of videos 💕
As an Indigenous medical student from Canada, I can relate. Thank you for articulating what I have been feeling for the past 2 years.
This is a great piece. Thank you for your voice. I went to medical school at UT Southwestern and graduated in 1993. It's sad to see that things haven't really changed at all despite selection committees saying that they are trying to recruit more diverse students. Growing up Asian, I had a lot of my identity wrapped up in academic performance and it took me until my 40s (and a lot of therapy) before I grew out of that. If we continue to emphasize only academic performance, then we will end up with physicians who graduate medical school with a largely one-dimensional personality (like me, when I was 24).
Couldn't thank you ENOUGH for talking about this and making this video
you’re a 🧚🏽♂️🧬🖼🦋🩺🌿✨ doctor and not one of those 🩸🦠💉🔬🧪🌡doctors
Thank you for this video!! Starting med school in the US in a few weeks and I’m glad I was able to get your perspective
I really appreciate you for speaking on this! I’m currently a pre-medical student in the US, and I can already see a lot of the themes you mentioned. I think it’s really important to talk about this kind of thing. Nothing is going to change unless we talk about it, and do something about it. Also, I absolutely love you already, and I can wait to see your content in the future!
Thank you for this video!! I’m an aspiring medic taking a gap year to reapply. Something that really put me off medicine at some point was how some doctors I saw online, their whole LIFE evolved around it they had nothing else. I want to study my interest and do what i love like art and spend time with my family. I don’t believe in too much study, it’s about how you learn and the effectiveness. Thank you for being down to earth about it
One of the most articulate and meaningful videos I have come across in a while. Thank you for sharing your story and your intellect.
Thank you for posting this video. It resonates so much with me. When I was a pre-med student, I ran my self into the ground - I developed an eating disorder and dropped out my senior year - I eventually finished my bachelor’s after recovering. Then I became a patient advocate and saw how much of an effect health insurance, socio-economic status, and public policy had on people’s lives. I am shocked the hoops that so many patients need to go through to get the medical help they need (US). I’m going back to school to be a PA. I’m frankly terrified of re-entering this “medic-in-training” world, but having more grounded experiences to draw off of has really improved my mindset. I no longer feel the need to be the smartest or work the hardest to be of value and I know I’m going there to help others - not to prove anything to anyone but myself. Peace ❤️✌️
Wish I knew this going into med school. As a final year student, I can say the character (or lack thereof) of the people (both our student peers and some lecturers/seniors) made it more difficult than it had to be. Being the first in your family to study medicine also makes it such a learning curve, but we are paving our own way!
As a black women from London hopefully moving on to study graduate entry medicine this video was a God send. I’ve already experienced many similar things during my undergraduate degree. Wish you the best in your future!!
All my thoughts put into words!! This was so beautifully put! For someone who can't stand a YT video past 10 minutes, every minute of this conversation was worth it. Thank you!
I usually do something have have youtube on the side but I stumbled upon your video and was 100% engaged. I'm really glad you shared your perspective on med school! Pre-meds from the US are totally like this and I absolutely hate it. I would say I'm more of a relaxed student because if I were to stress all the time, the efficiency in my studies lowers. I'm Asian so this is kind of a shocker for those upon meeting me. In some cases, this deters other pre-meds around me as they're people who are seeking the answers and never wish to build lasting connections unless it's someone who has a high position.
I hope to be a doctor who is more relatable to their patients one day and understand or just be there to listen to the hardships they may have in their everyday lives. Just learning about people is really fascinating on top of medicine!
This is soooo amazing. I am a fashion designer and a medical student and I've hated the fact that people just expect my life to be totally about medicine and medicine alone, comments like "but fashion is just like your HOBBY right?", or "how do you have time for that?", or people thinking i'm not a serious medical student because i'm also a fashion designer and involved in other non-medical fields. They are both EQUALLY important to me, it doesn't have to be one or the other.
I studied humanities for two years before switching over to medicine and I absolutely agree with your take on arts vs medicine. I found it to be a very difficult transition, primarily because of the near total stunting of critical and creative thinking that is so encouraged in the humanities. When I finally made it to clinical years, especially psychiatry, it was such a relief to start engaging with people, society, the cultural aspects of healthcare. Thanks for making this video, really enjoyed it!
Really enjoyed this video!! These issues really need to be discussed and changed!
thank you angel! i’m so glad you agree!! x
I’m definitely late to the party but I’m so glad I watched this video! It’s crazy how similar black med students’ experiences of med school are!! There’s so much nuance that you picked up on here, the point you made about medics being on the whole apolitical is so overlooked but important! Thank you for making this video 💖
Sis you said you weren't going to drag them. You snatched their wigs! Yaaaaaaas!
New subscriber here!
A lot of Unis in the states are adopting a pass/fail system to avoid the cut-throat mentality! you should suggest it to the boards of medical school now you are a doc!
you have such a refreshing point of view. I really resonated with the withholding of information idea. This is a technique some people in workplaces will use to disadvantage others and prop themselves up, but at the end of the day it's the patient's who get disadvantaged and highlights the immoral and unethical attitudes these people hold.
Thank you so much. I am a black final year medical student in the UK. I can relate to everything you discussed in this video. My primary reason for doing medicine was to be the doctor who could relate to individuals from my background. I also grew up in a council estate and at one point was homeless. It is strange being in an environment where majority of people can't comprehend how the unprivileged part of society lives. There was a week in uni where they spoke about international health and brought in asylum seekers from the community to speak about their experiences in general and in relation to healthcare. To my dismay very few people turned up to those lecture weeks but would have happily attended in masses to cardiology lectures.
Hopefully you can become successful and pay back your family members💕
You hit the nail on the head. Just finished my first year of med school in the US, and as a black woman I've definitely battled with imposter syndrome and my peers perceptions of me
No, YOU went off! 👏🏾 So on point I had a very similar trajectory in terms of intercalating and love the incorporation of anthropology talking about the ‘sick role’ and illness vs disease. Big up you!
At 10:00 when you started saying why you wanted to become a doctor it brought tears to my eyes. We need more doctors like you. I've seen the things you're describing in the medical field and even remember the firs time I was responding to a relief effort and I over heard docs, pa's, nurses speaking down about the community we were treating. I was infuriated and probably could have been more professional with the comment I made. My point being is, we need docs like you who are here for the right reason. You're a genuine soul and your patients are lucky.
I’m not a med student. I actually have been out of university for 5 years. I attended one of the most prestigious universities in my state (I’m a Black American male.) Everything that you just described is precisely what I experienced in university. I ended becoming severely depressed as a result and thought that I was a fraud. I left school feeling like I was nothing. It wasn’t until I encountered other people who experienced precisely what I had, that I knew I wasn’t alone. After graduating, I visited a different school, and the atmosphere was far more relaxed and I actually felt more comfortable. That second school has a good record as well. I thought about medicine, but all of the reasons that you mentioned made me not want to focus on it. I’m far more interested in societal issues, not simply toeing the line and being “apolitical.” Mentally, I’m far better off now. Thank you for your video; I find it absolutely inspirational.
Good luck thanks for sharing your story
Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you! i needed to hear everything that you've said. I was putting so much pressure on myself especially because i don't fit "the mold" of a medical student. thank you.
Your reasons for studying medicine are so pure. Doctors investing in understanding patient cultures and approaching things from a transcultural perspective is paramount. Goddamn the UK needs more doctors like you
Genuinely my inspiration. I'm still in sixth form but hopefully, I can become the type of Doctor you are.
you will hamza and even better if you’re already planning ahead. i’m sending you all the luck and warm wishes xx
i wish there were more educated, warm-hearted professionals like you, hani. i wish you were my doctor. i am grateful to have you as an advocate. definitely voting for you.
I appreciate this video so much! This is a very good share of thoughts, opinions and experiences about what it’s like to study in a medical school. Although I didn’t study medicine, I studied Pharmacology but I still had similar experiences where sometimes I was ignored and not being recognized throughout my studies in the UK. I am a Malaysian and that time everyone simply thought I was a Muslim but in fact I am not. I explained to my coursemates during orientation that I am a Malaysian Chinese and further, I said that Malaysia is a multiracial country so a Malaysian doesn’t necessarily must be a Muslim or Malay. And after that people were just like oh i see cool and then they moved on and turned back to their peeps (British and European gang) and kinda left me out and didn’t include for any of their conversations later on. I was the only Asian in my course and no one really wanted to talk to me even though I had tried my best to engage with them plus the fact that during my first year my English wasn’t that great, I didn’t really have good friends. More importantly, the point I want to make is that my opinions or testimonies were rarely recognized and ignored by not just my coursemates, but also my lecturers. I felt so surprised and truly upset because I wouldn’t have thought I would get into this because of the fact that I was studying in the UK and a university that has been advocating for equality and for BAME. Also, when I was doing a final year research project, I was treated so differently by my supervisor from the other two of her students. And it was not just me myself thinking that she treated me differently but other PhD students who worked in the same lab felt the same too. I in fact had great passion and worked incredibly hard for this research project and I felt I deserved better treatment and coaching in the lab, so I went on to raise my concerns about getting discriminations from my supervisor to my advisor. My advisor said she understood my situation but really, nothing was being done. I personally think the stereotype of that BAME students are stupid or less clever that exists in lecturers are way more lethal and serious and could bring a huge negative impact to BAME students. And the true voice of BAME students need to be heard and recognized. To whoever have or is experiencing a similar situation, you shouldn’t beat by those stereotypes or any comments and keep on with your hard work!
Hey sis, love this video. I'm not from the UK nor a med student, yet I can relate a lot! I'm just finishing up my master's, and it took me years and years to realize I'm actually smart and capable. I realised that during most of my academic career I suffered from imposter syndrome where I was convinced I got by thanks to pure luck and not my own achievements.
I'm generally a quiet person, I don't speak up a lot but when I do I know I express myself eloquently and concisely ( English isn't my first language in case someone manages to find faults in my grammar here lol) and I can't tell you how many times people told me they were "positively surprised" clearly exposing the underlying belief they had I wasn't going to be as smart, without even knowing me as a person (both in uni and at work).
Being in academics as a minority of a minority (black + Muslim) is challenging to say the least. And one of the things I'm so very disappointed in is that people who are on the same academic level as me, or even higher and I should look up to (teachers who have a PhD), can be so astoundingly unaware despite my field being heavily connected to sociology, politics and much more. If anything it taught me that degrees don't say much about a person. Like you said, some people stagnate in personal character development ASIDE from academics and remain in their privileged bubble forever. I have to say it spiraled me into a crisis of sorts, because the notion I had that ppl at the top were all smart and socially aware turned out to be false 😭
I know you'll make a change and I'm hoping to do the same in my field in sha allah :)
omg thank you for this wonderful comment
@@VoteforHani i love your view on this. I'm a medical doctor in nigeria and what you say is so true, minus the bias, but that culture of being narrow minded without having diverse interests, to hoard knowledge except to show it off seems to be something we share in common.
In my class, we had quite a number of students breaking the norm and that was because my school was in a commercial area, Because it was obvious that some people had a passion for other things apart from Medicine, someone was also a model, someone had a tech company, people were into fashion design, event planning,business, and so on. But medical school can be a toxic environment, especially as the behavior is learned from our seniors and profs.
This is such a good video. Such an interesting point about the lack of critical thinking skills exercised when studying in a scientific field. I really hadn't thought about how white-centric medical research would be. The only frame of reference for that that I'd have is as someone with ADHD I know it's massively underdiagnosed in genders other than male? So of course that issue is pervasive across all conditions and any deviation from the "default". So important like you said to be able to merge a knowledge of social studies / politics / cultural psychology with medical science to deeper understand people and symptoms, especially as society becomes more and more diverse and multicultural, and we look towards a better understanding neurodivergent conditions and stuff. You're great
Hey Hani ! I loved the way you articulated your points and i whole-heartedly agree with your perspectives regarding the challenges any minority student faces in medical school. Unfortunately, i think that almost every academic career path consist of similar challenges. I'm now a P2 (second year) pharmacy student in the US...since first year , i began to notice group mentality ,pretentious behavior and inflated ego among some of my classmates and found that to be really annoying and unfair to the rest of the people in the class because it shows that they can't ever rely on those pretentious people for help or guidance, it just automatically creates separation. If those people can't help out one another in class and try to understand the variety of different backgrounds some of those students come from, then i doubt that those people can become well-rounded pharmacists , in the sense that they cannot see the person for who they are and what makes up that person (i.e. Their struggles/burden and possibly their disadvantaged backgrounds ) other than the fact that they are just another patient in their pharmacy. I think that pharmacists who exhibit that kind of behavior cannot develop solid pharmacist-patient relationships. My intention isn't to boast about myself but i have never hesitated to help others in my class such as sharing my notes or just sharing whatever knowledge i come across in the pharmacy field, i really don't see the benefit in me keeping to myself and focusing on only my growth if the field we've all chosen is to HELP those that are vulnerable! Sorry for my long rant but i really think that we are in the minority here (literally as well) with this perspective but hopefully more people that choose or have chosen to be in the medical field at least realize this and hopefully everything changes for the better as time goes on! Lastly, just wanted to say that you're a genuine person and truly an asset to the medical field, keep it up!
You're eyeshadow is so stunning, couldn't keep my eyes off it. And great opinions, you hit the head on the nail time after time. I'm honestly amazed you talked about the prejudice about med students because I've never heard anyone else talk about it. I'm 2nd year in Sweden, with the great majority of my friends not being in med, and never really being one to relate too much to other academic kids (because they all tend to fit into 1 personality type) and often actually avoiding telling people what I study just because of the qualities, good and bad, that they then assume I have, because I'm in no way that person. I totally get where you are coming from. I hate how everyone is trying to make it their whole identity. I'm so happy you talked about this, that med students IN FACT can have other interests and a diverse personality, and still do better in tests, who could've thought! All your other points about racismX ethnic and economic diversity were so spot on too but yeah aright I could go on about this forever time to wrap up. GOOD WORK I'm so happy you talked about this and that you realized you in fact are going to be a doctor who's a great deal more skilled and insightful than most of your peers. Keep it up.
And i just have to add, you are so so well spoken
This is genuinely inspiring. You are both genuinely humble and intelligent, and that is such a rarity nowadays. You're points on 20mins about disability was absolutely phenomenal.
Thank you so much for this video! Subscribing right away! I've just finished my application journey having gained a place to study medicine and I've noticed so many of these issues embedded even in fellow applicants and their attitudes to medical school and others around them. Not all, of course, but certainly a majority. These are clearly deeply engrained issues which we can hopefully challenge, and I pledge to do my best to that effect through my time as a med student! Because medicine is for patients not for doctors.
The medical school I went to was in the SE United States and was VERY segregated. You could tell that the class was split in half between people who had at least one parent who was a doctor and seemed to bet straight A's on everything (in medical school, how!?) and the second half which was struggling not only with grades but with the faculty, and these students tend to be non-white. The loudest people in medical school are the ones who shout how high of a grade they got and how little they study, yet they're the ones who score in the top 10%. That leaves the rest of us with the *very real* feeling of imposter syndrome, thinking we weren't good enough. This just leaves students who are struggling to stay silent and not share their problems, in fear of being shamed by people they perceive to be doing better than them. In medical school, you HAVE to reach out for help when you need it, especially if you're struggling with grades or residency applications or looking for opportunities/LORS . If your mom or dad isn't a doctor, trust me, medical school is WAY harder (as if it isn't already).
Everything you said Hani was completely true. If any of you are medical students watching this and feel offended, most likely you're part of the problem.
You seem really kind it’s wonderful to see other Somalis who are serious about education you are one of the most educated Somali I have ever seen
awww thank you! there are lots of really educated somalis tho!! xx
I can relate to this so much! I come from a refugee background and I also have a disability. I’ve always felt so left out amongst the elitist culture at uni here in Australia. I always downplay all my achievements as being lucky or being given special treatment because of my background.
I also LOVE that you don’t make being a med student a personality trait like some do HAHA. I honestly get so bored of being around people from my faculty because they won’t talk about any interests besides school and work.
great insights..hopefully the culture will shift for the better as the field diversifies..channels like yours are much needed keep it up 💪🏾
Starting grad med this September but can still identify with sooooo many of the points you made here in my medically related undergrad experience and med application cycle. Many of these attitudes are present from day 0, before you're even a med student and rn it seems as though healthcare courses do nothing to address it :// Although, I fully agree with the point on not always being able to blame the individual when its the system and environment that perpetuates/creates these attitudes. This is thee PERFECT vid for deans and course administrators to watch as you're bang on with every single point!
Amazing! So proud to see a Somali sister who broke the barriers! Although I live as far as canada I would clap for you. Happy to see you share your ideas. People are selfish and greedy, period!! Keep going!!! Thanks for sharing. I am sure it will benefit lots of people
Absolutely love this video. It's refreshing to see someone talk about the negatives of medical school or any degree, because without discussion there will be no positive change. Also it's great for prospective students to know what they are getting into- good and bad. I really look forward to more videos!
thank you sooo much!
This is really inspiring. These have always been worries of mine, as I am applying for medical school in October. I have always felt encouraged to be the change I want to see.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and experience. There was so much insight gained from listening to you speak. I really felt it when you spoke about realizing that you were worthy of holding space. Especially in a space where others were absolutely ruthless and undermining. I felt that. You are a force to be reckoned with and you are so much more than "cool." Cool is just a cop out, a surface assumption, a inhumane failure to recognize the extraordinary human that lies within.
omds i love your language, the way you speak is beautiful. listening to you speak for 30 mins is bliss, keep uploading im here for it
this was perfectly coherent what a wonderful perspective! thank you so much for typing this out man i loved the viewpoint
I love this so much I can’t handle it! You strike on so many deeply insightful points. I went to medical school in America and am a psychiatrist now, and I’m leaving medicine for a year to do a masters in creative writing (in Scotland to be with my partner). It is so refreshing and validating to point out the racial prejudice, privilege, hyper competitiveness, non critical thinking, lack of political awareness, the limitations it puts on your humanity. Thank you!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾