Welcome to the Clone Wars
Picture this:
It’s day one of med school. Everyone’s eyes are wide with terror, clutching their Gray’s Anatomy like it’s a holy text. There’s always some genius in the front row with color-coded pens and pre-read chapters. The air is thick with ambition, nerves, and the unspoken fear that maybe you’re not as ready as you think.
Fast forward a year—everyone’s a copy of everyone else. Same hair, same notes, same conversations about “that one anatomy professor.”
Med school has a way of sanding down the edges until there’s nothing left but a perfectly polished, utterly replaceable, half-burnt-out medical zombie. Nobody tells you that’s not just boring—it’s dangerous.
The Myth of Monomania: “Medicine First, Everything Else Later”
There’s this myth people love to push—always with that smug look:
“If you focus only on medical school, you’ll become the best.”
It sounds noble. Pure dedication. All-in. But it’s a lie.
The person who only lives and breathes medicine doesn’t become the best—they become fragile. They’re the most likely to burn out, quit, or just fade into the crowd. Medicine is supposed to make you better, not smaller.
You’re Shrinking, Not Growing
If all you are is a med student, you’re cutting away everything interesting about yourself.
And the world—especially the world of medicine—doesn’t reward robots.
It rewards people who can think, relate, adapt, and reinvent themselves when the game changes.
Why Robots Get Replaced (By AI, and by Life)
This is exactly why, as medicine evolves, it’s not doctors who get replaced by AI—it’s the ones who made themselves robotic and one-dimensional.
(I break this down in more detail in AI Won’t Replace Doctors—It Will Replace These Doctors.)
The Commodity Trap
If you let medicine become your only identity, you’re not building a legacy—you’re just manufacturing a commodity. And commodity med students are everywhere.
Same study routines, same test scores, same war stories about 3 a.m. cramming and skipped meals. They’re brilliant on paper but can’t hold a real conversation or connect with patients—missing the one skill that actually builds a career. (If you think I’m exaggerating, see my full breakdown in How Poor Communication Skills Can Ruin Your Medical Career.) They can be replaced in a heartbeat, and nobody even notices.
The Outliers Stand Out
But the ones who don’t play by that script?
They’re memorable. They have stories, skills, and perspectives nobody else does.
These are the students who start side projects, who explore tech, business, or art, who treat their med journey as the beginning—not the whole story.
Those people are rare. That’s why people remember them.
Burnout: The Med School Meat Grinder
Let’s not pretend:
The med school grind chews people up. If you make your whole life about grades, lectures, and clinicals, you don’t just burn out—you melt.
When the “Perfect” Student Breaks
I’ve seen the so-called “perfect” med students absolutely disintegrate after one rough exam or a bad review.
Why? Because there’s nothing else left in them. No passion, no backup, no resilience.
The curse of being number one is that you fight for an impossible honor in a competition that only exists to you. You spend your whole life climbing a ladder nobody else is even looking at—and one slip feels like the end of the world.
But here’s the real secret: winning more often starts with failing more—sometimes in public, sometimes spectacularly. (I break this down in detail in How to Win More by Failing More.)
Real Story:
I watched a classmate who never missed a lecture or a quiz have a literal panic attack when he failed his first midterm. He was so wrapped up in “being the best” that he had no emotional armor when things got tough.
The Resilient Ones Have a Life Outside
Funny thing:
Some of the most chill, productive—even happy—med students I know are the ones who have side hustles, who hit the gym, who joke about failing but get back up every time.
The system wants you to believe that extra is a distraction.
The system is wrong.
The only real distraction is becoming a one-dimensional, replaceable shell of a human.
The Loneliness of the Med Bot & the Graduation Black Hole
Nobody warns you about the loneliness of becoming just another med bot.
Your circle shrinks to people who only talk shop. You lose track of old friends and hobbies. Suddenly, you realize you can’t remember the last time you felt excited about something not school-related.
What Happens After Graduation?
Then graduation hits—and you’re left staring into a black hole. If your whole self was “med student,” then graduation is an identity crisis.
That’s when the regrets show up, and you can’t get those years back.
The Antifragile Student: Why Being More Makes You Unbreakable
Here’s the paradox:
The med students who aren’t obsessed with being the best actually last longer and go further. They’ve built a life outside lectures.
When setbacks hit, they bounce back because they’re more than their GPA.
Real Relationships, Real Skills, Real Adaptability
They build real relationships, find opportunities everywhere, and adapt fast.
Medicine becomes part of their story—not the whole plot.
Case in Point:
A friend of mine ran a tiny med school podcast on the side.
She nearly flunked pharmacology, but guess what? By the time she graduated, she had a network of doctors, researchers, and a job offer in med-education.
Her “distraction” became her future.
How to Escape the Trap (Yes, You Can Do This)
If you’re feeling guilty every time you do something outside of med school, you’re playing the game wrong.
You were never supposed to fit a template.
Actionable Steps:
1. Protect Time for Other Passions
- Schedule time every week for anything that isn’t medicine: gym, reading, building a project, learning a language, whatever lights you up.
2. Make Friends Outside Med School
- Yes, it feels weird. Do it anyway. New circles, new ideas.
3. Document Your Journey
- Start a blog, a notes page, even just an IG story. Build your brand, not just your resume.
4. Forgive Yourself for Being Human
- You’re not falling behind. You’re just refusing to disappear into the clone army.
The Real Endgame: Who Do You Want To Be?
The best doctors, leaders, and creators didn’t get there by shrinking their lives to fit med school—they got there by making medicine fit into their lives.
Challenge yourself:
Build your life around med school, not for it.
Because when the books close, the exams end, and you finally hang up your white coat…
who do you want to be?