It’s OK to try new things.

This one was a bit hard for me at first, and I don’t think that’s abnormal. How many times have we heard the phrase, “Humans are creatures of habit?” It’s kind of true, but it turns out that we miss a lot if we stay inside our comfort zones all of the time.

In the past year, I’ve tried new things — like running a half-marathon, dancing in front of an audience and trying new restaurants, among many other things. Shaking things up keeps life interesting, and it has definitely led to some really fun experiences.

Stay humble.

When things are going well, it’s so easy to become overconfident, but that can be really dangerous for the patients. I try to constantly remind myself of what a privilege it is to be here — and when I forget, I am lucky enough to have a group of people who remind me. Humility doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it can save lives, not to mention your patients and the members of your team will appreciate it.

You’re a person.

This may mean that sometimes you need a day off, so take a day off or push through until you can. There are also times that you’ll have a really emotional encounter with a patient or something bad will happen in your life outside of medical school. At these times, it’s so important to take care of yourself.

As much as I’d love to have the efficiency of a robot, that’s not the case sometimes. However, I figure that the fact that I am aware that I’m still a person will make me a better physician down the road.

The sacrifice will be worth it.

Since I took two years between undergrad and medical school to go to grad school, many of my friends experienced at least the first couple of years of med school before I did. They had told me many times of the sacrifice involved, but it was easy to convince myself that they were exaggerating or just overly exhausted and complaining. It turns out that sometimes they were, but I also found there is, in fact, a lot of sacrifice involved in this process.

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In a few short years, people will trust us with their lives; that’s an incredible responsibility. Thus, there are sacrifices that we must make. For me, the hardest one has been not being able to see my family and friends as much as I’d like. However, I’m fortunate to have loved ones who are supportive of my pursuits and who understand that sometimes I won’t be able to make it to events or that I may have to cancel plans. They, as well as I, know that this is temporary but necessary, and it will definitely be worth it on the other side.

There’s nothing else in the world I’d rather do.

While I was still in undergrad, one of my advisers said that if there was anything else that I’d rather be doing in the world besides medicine, I should do it. After a lot of soul searching, I decided that the combination of public health and medicine was exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. There was nothing else that could make me as happy or fulfilled, and that was when I knew this was the path I should take.

Throughout the year, this decision has been reaffirmed for me many times. Yes, there are some days where I question the decision, but I always know deep down that this is the right one and that I wouldn’t be nearly as happy doing anything else. It’s one of the best feelings I’ve experienced.

This article was originally published on Dose of Reality, the blog of the University of Michigan Medical School.

Please note some curriculum components mentioned in this article have been updated as part of the school's MD curriculum transformation. For the most up-to-date information, visit the UMMS website.