What to Expect

Medical students combine their interest in science with a desire to help others. It's a challenging program.

While Irfan Dhalla never saw anyone faint in medical school, he admits a cadaver dissection (an examination of a dead body) can be emotionally overwhelming, especially if you are working on the face or if you notice wedding band marks on the left hand.

That's something to think about. And if you think about it too long, you may not be cut out for medicine.

Medical school will also be difficult if you don't spend much time with your books. "Medical school is like a full-time job," says Jill Moore. She took the program at the University of Utah.

She studied four to eight hours each day. "A few days before [a] test, the prep time increases to about 10 to 14 hours a day."

Dhalla says he spent about as much time studying as he did during his undergraduate years in engineering physics. But he notes one big difference. "Although the number of hours are the same, there is a sense now in medical school that the amount of material you could learn is infinite," he says.

"I feel like I could always be learning more."

Medical students do not get letter grades. They are assigned a pass, fail or honors grade.

The idea is to reduce competition and to encourage cooperation between students. Moore has heard rumors about other schools where students destroy practice exams or give wrong answers to each other while studying.

"Our school tries to instill a feeling of camaraderie among us," she says. "So there is a lot of help from classmates, and we share our study guides with each other."

Moore also appreciates the material she is learning. "I enjoy the material and the clinical experience we gain. I think medical school is its own reward."