Everything I Hate About Medical Students | Dr Hani 

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.

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!

“Illness does not discriminate so why should medical school” yes!!!!

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.

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?

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 😭

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 💅🏾

“The library security guard has a different story to tell” I died

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

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.

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

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.

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.

yes the “medical student brand” ... finally someone I can agree with. I have other interests outside of medicine! I’m not stupid!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 💪🏽💪🏽

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?

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..

Black success!! So proud of seeing a young black woman using this platform to speak truthhhh. Much love.

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!

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

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 ✊🏾✊🏾💛

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!

It’s disappointing that med school doesn’t reflect the people that they purport to be wanting to help.

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.

Late but you're so right! The irony of going into medicine because you want to help people and not even helping your classmates

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 ❤️

you’re a 🧚🏽‍♂️🧬🖼🦋🩺🌿✨ doctor and not one of those 🩸🦠💉🔬🧪🌡doctors

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

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!!

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!

I'm medical student in South Africa and this resonates with me so much.

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❤️

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 ❤️❤️❤️

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.

Rooting for you Dr Hani. Guuleyso

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 :))

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

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

as a kid and teenager from a so-called 'working class' background, I was involved in the cub scouts, then scouts, football team, hockey, then Red Cross junior paramedics, then Reserve Army, often as a junior leader or Cpt, and I assumed medical school would be all about teamworking and group work; I was shocked to find medical school was the most uncooperative and hostile environment I ever experienced - it caused me so much mental distress, infighting in group work and worse, far worse than anything medicine was really about!

I love EVERYTHING your channel is about - pls keep posting this much needed content!

Not a med student or even adjacent to them but I really enjoy your videos and perspective.

OMG! It's so upsetting that future doctors are that insensitive, rude, and straight up prejudice! I would not want to trust my life with some of your colleagues.

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.

Well this turned out to be an obscenely long comment, im sorry, i couldnt stop the word vomit lol. but since this might be a tad long for anyone to read, tldr: thank you for being the first person ive heard to actually criticize the med student personality, it made me feel a little better about myself after some not so great recent events in my life. I just came across this channel. im white af so I wont say I totally feel your experiences because I will never experience that myself. all i can do is empathize and learn some new perspectives, which i did, and you honestly seem like an awesome person I would love to have as a classmate. Mostly however, I was just so happy to see someone not think the sun shines out of med schools ass. I had a bad time so far, to put it briefly. got diagnosed with severe impairing ADHD (which, as an immigrant from a country where psychology is still lagging by a few decades, was not even a concept in my or my family's mind), a couple comorbid mental health issues, intense self-loathing that festered for decades, sequelae from abuse, family dysfunction, etc etc etc, but i was eventually forced to repeat a year after the toll of everything affected my academics. Going through that process of being analyzed and judged on under the guise of "caring administration" was like being a piece of crap under a microscope, my deepest vulnerabilities forced on display in front of dozens of my teachers and faculty (what choice do you have but to "happily" play along when your career on the line and an anchor of debt around your ankle), hours and hours of psych tests and fitness for duty, asshole therapists, medical debts and extra year of tuition, multiple invasive interviews, the never ceasing fear, shame, and isolation, losing touch with all my classmates, many of whom fully embrace the stereotype you discussed (two of my classmates woke up every morning at 4 am for jogging and ran marathons. the fuck). I saw that type of med student everywhere. my mother still insists I be that person every day and I have to lie about every aspect of myself, or lose the kindness she is showing me right now. I couldnt understand why I just couldnt "snap" into that med student persona you talked about, I couldnt study myself into a migrane that lands me in the icu like my mother did. I couldnt follow along, couldnt make friends or connect to anyone, and when I made the naive mistake of being open with my diagnosis because I was excited to finally get answers (and sooo much relief. the adhd symptoms had gotten so bad i was honestly scared I had some brand new alzheimers that starts in your teens), but I was immediately seen to be "weak". Nothing concrete, but it was like some general attitude changed, and I became invisible and irrelevant to my classmates. I didnt know what I was missing, and thought I was just trapped in a hostile place where I didnt belong yet always dreamed to be in, that I both hated and also wasnt good enough for despite all my efforts, like being tossed into a play you've never rehearsed on opening night, surrounded by worldclass actors who keep waiting for you to say your damn line already and you hear the murmurs in the crowd getting louder and louder until your inner voice begins to scream your failures at you and it is all you ever hear. Hearing you talk about your perspective on that persona was the FIRST time ive ever heard someone discuss it in an unironically critical non-meme way. This personality always been my primary goal and frustration, but this actually helped. Thanks for making me feel a little less fucked up. Hope stuff goes smooth for you. dms open if you ever want someone to rant with about what a fuckin bitch adhd is.

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!

I'm barely halfway through this and I *love* this video. Particularly that whole "medical student brand" thing. Ugghh... I'm not a medical student yet. I am in undergrad right now and will be applying when I finish. But here, in the United States, people make being "pre-med" their whole identity and it really is quite annoying. Like their entire world revolves around a field they aren't even in. Like... I'm actually a healthcare professional. I work as a Paramedic. But to hear these "premed students" talk, you would think they have always been in Medicine, and their entire day - from sun up to sun down - is all about studying, studying, research, studying, studying, studying, aaand... studying. I just cannot connect to most of those types of people. I really can't. Alright. Rant over. Finishing you video now.

As an Indigenous medical student from Canada, I can relate. Thank you for articulating what I have been feeling for the past 2 years.

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!

Mashallah Hani, I'm from America but everything you said still stands true here. Sorry, you had to go through that in medical school, sadly being black even after graduating medical school will come with its struggles (That's why it's important to converse about these issues!!). Thank you for making this video and I love all the content you have made so far. I'm looking forward to your future ones too :)

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.

Absolutely love your videos - keep it up Hani! As a hijab-wearing young woman in a very white cohort of med students I've had a diff experience in the sense that I don't feel at all part of the med community. I literally have my circles of friends outside of the med school in the city I study in, and my social life is otherwise popping in the spaces I've curated. As soon as I step into the med school, it's a different story. And *I know* it would be so different if I didn't wear a hijab!

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!

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

Biomedical in Edinburgh, I felt like this for 3 years, only made a few friends ,who could relate, most ppl are so pretentious and condescending I can't stand it sometimes , but I just think like someone said in the comments I'm just there to get my degree and get out.

Sis you said you weren't going to drag them. You snatched their wigs! Yaaaaaaas! New subscriber here!

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.

sis why arent there any ads playing on your videos,please monetise them and Hani can you do a videos on dry skin and AHAS and BHAS,thanks and a very well done on this video, like it's so gooood sis allahuma barikkk!!

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 :)

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.

Lol I graduated from medschool this year, and I hate medical students. I'll say it with my chest

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! :)

Genuinely my inspiration. I'm still in sixth form but hopefully, I can become the type of Doctor you are.

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!

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!!

I’ve only watched the first ten minutes and I cannot emphasise how much I relate to this video. Especially how people undermined my intelligence, just because I don’t bang on about med school 24/7

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

Really enjoyed this video!! These issues really need to be discussed and changed!

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).

This video just changed my life. Thank you, represention is so important ❤️

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.

Hani, you spoke the T R U T H in this video, the absolute raw truth, thank you, I loved everything about this rant. You're right, the medical profession needs to reflect the diversity of our population. And the way you've spoken about the social model of disability, and the psychosocial/cultural/environmental determinants of health - these are all things that my med school tries to cover through its modules, but I feel like a lot of my peers don't grasp the importance of it, to some it feels like a chore to learn, they say they've come to medical school to learn medicine not 'sociology' or 'psychology' etc - but this view pisses me off so much, for the exact reasons you've described so well, this video spoke to me so much, I was just nodding and nodding. We need to snap out of the spoon fed system we get at med school, critique and question, and discuss, and don't take everything for fact - otherwise how can change come about ? Loved this whole rant. Thank you.

I am really enjoying your videos especially your video on the lack of black representation of medicine it really opened my eyes to the reality of medicine which also led to me to do some more research on it and I found out recently that a st George medical student and a senior faculty had partnered up to create a handbook on how diseases look on darker complexion so hopefully it can be implemented in the medicine course soon. Good luck on your skin care line btw I really appreciate what your doing x

I agree with everything you said! I did another degree before going to med school in London and the differences in the student experience and the general atmosphere is quite surprising. I originally thought it was just because I was older, but I soon realised it’s because my personality is not ‘medical student’ and the majority of my year couldn’t go 5 mins w/o talking about medicine.

I don’t study medicine or have the desire to but I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I learnt a lot. Liked & subscribed ❤️❤️

what you said about the ruthlessness of medicine is so spot on!! i never studied medicine but i did a biological sciences degree where so many people refused to share notes or would lie about how much they studied. it was such an unnecessary competitive environment, i think it's quite common in life science degrees.

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

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 💕

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

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 ❤️✌️

you're so true, it's insane I thought I was the only one who just don't fit in in that atmosphere in being competitive and fighting against each other I literally don't have friends at all in medical school. I hate even being there. Our professors talk down to some of us and often say bad things about our intelligence and make us feel like we are useless. it's pissing me off so much, but others seem okay with it I wish I could study medicine in another country, not in russia, I can't take how just being in university is the guarantee to being scolded for no reason like ten times a day. like come on, I'm not eight years old I'm twenty. some of people my age are already having a family and children, working full-time job. And I'm here just to being scolded for not tieing my hair? or the fact that I forgot a notebook?

I'm actually pre-med and I completely agree with the only fact-learning point, I can't exactly recall the class but it was either chemistry or physics. When I questioned a note we were to learn they almost immediately replied "Oh that's just the way it is, you just have to know it" at first I brushed it off because I realized they didn't know either, and what's worst it's not even their fault they were subjected to this on-going system. It wasn't learning it was memorizing simply to get a grade that is supposed to translate to your worth or intellect but even Frederick J. Kelly, the person that invented standardized test, stated “These tests are too crude to be used and should be abandoned." I think the fundamental of education in the sciences especially have fallen short in the face of the workload. Thus, I completely agree with that point as well as others.

Idk why this was in my recommended but I’m so glad I’m here.

I made friends with anyone who was sincere and genuine. I often found some people with a religious focused background to be best friends with - Jewish/Christian etc. Law students are the worst. Most have medical people in their family but the white ones never were from middle class families (not always well educated) but still reasonable wealth. I am Asian British (Chinese British) and hate assumption that I am super smart in medical school - I am in the middle and have to work insanely hard - pressure on East Asian students always been top by stereotype is stressful.

Philippines here. The competitive behavior and Doctor flexing is 100% true in our situation as well. :'(

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!

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 thought you were going to give advice for med students on how not to piss of the junior docs but then you just came out spitting some straight facts 👏🏾 The competitive and toxic culture of this course is so frustrating I feel like the only way to get through it is to just disengage and then people just assume that you’re a certain way. Some of the stuff I’ve heard come out of medics’ mouths is so unbelievably entitled and ignorant I can’t even comprehend. I can’t wait to qualify and graduate and actually be around normal people

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

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

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!

Wow. I’m a current med student in the US and everything you said applies to my experience as a black, Muslim woman... it’s sad, but I find small joy in knowing I’m not the only one seeing these things

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