This article is part of a larger project by The Michigan Daily News section’s Campus Life beat. Reporters spent time observing and interviewing students from various academic programs at the University of Michigan to share what their daily lives and academic experiences are like. Read the other stories here.
From long nights poring over organic chemistry textbooks in their undergraduate years, to watching their first surgeries in the operating room, University of Michigan Medical School students face a long journey towards becoming doctors. The Michigan Daily sat down with three Medical School students to find out more about their daily lives, their reason for attending Medical School and what advice they would give to aspiring pre-med undergraduates.
Noah Yonas, first-year Medical Student
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, first-year Medical School student Noah Yonas, explained most of his time is spent watching his asynchronous lectures. First-year students engage in the Scientific Trunk, which includes foundational courses in molecular and biological sciences, physical diagnostics and therapeutics. Students also engage in pre-recorded asynchronous lectures and in-person active learning sessions.
“Being a first-year student means that a lot of our time is spent in lectures,” Yonas said. “There are certain electives that we do get an opportunity to go to the hospital, but I think the first-year emphasis is more so just for building that foundation. And I mean, like it or not, that really does come through the classwork.”
Yonas said he wants to be someone aspiring medical students can look up to because he found it helpful to know others on the same academic path.
“I think that the most powerful thing in this world is seeing someone who’s done something before you because it gives you the thought in your head,” Yonas said. “And if you can never have that thought and you can never have that seed, you will never act upon it. You’ll never act upon any of your intentions, any of your goals, knowing that no one else has done it before you; it’s a scary path to walk alone for the first time.”
Yonas’ advice to undergraduates is to understand the importance of drive, self-reflection and confidence in one’s decision to pursue medicine as a career.
“This is a long road,” Yonas said. “Make sure that you fully weighed the value of your decision and make sure that it’s your own personal choice. In the sense that your motivations to why you want to come to the field are things that you can reflect on or remind yourself of even in the toughest days. I truly believe people who work hard all have the aptitude to be able to do this at the end of the day.”
In their second year, Medical School students enter into the clinical environment through the “Clinical Trunk,” consisting of an introductory four-week course teaching students about health care teams and patient care. The course prepares students to enter the clinical space through clerkships, where they will rotate through different departments including internal medicine, pediatrics and neurology over the course of 48 weeks.
Second-year Mana Yacim
Medical School student Mana Yacim is in her second year. She said in an interview with The Daily her current schedule mainly consists of day-long clinical rotations, in which she takes part in surgical procedures and patient rounds at the hospital.
“The past three months I’ve been on my surgery rotation,” Yacim said. “We would typically get there pretty early in the morning, rounds on patients and then go to the (operating room) by 7:30 (a.m.). And we could spend anywhere from one to two to up to seven hours in the ER doing procedures.”
According to the U-M 2023 Entering Class Profile, 12.7% of entering students completed an advanced degree, which includes a master’s degree or a doctorate, before coming to the Medical School.
Yacim is one such student. Before attending medical school, Yacim completed a master’s degree in education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she also worked with underrepresented communities and at local hospitals through Teach for America. She said she hopes to return to St. Louis after graduation.
“Wanting to work with urban, underserved communities is something that I’m really passionate about,” Yacim said. “I went to college and did (Teach for America) in St. Louis, which was a big, urban, diverse population. (I) got lots of opportunities to work in hospitals there, and I really liked how I was able to give back to those communities. I’m hoping when I’m a doctor, I’m able to work in those same kinds of environments.”
Since Medical School students don’t begin to select electives until their third or fourth year, the first two years are designated for students to build their foundational knowledge. Some students are unsure about which department they will pursue once they graduate, while others explore their interests throughout their academic years.
Third-year Cara Ferguson
Medical School student Cara Ferguson is in her third year. Ferguson said in an interview with The Daily she knows her future as a doctor will be in pediatrics. Ferguson said initially, she wanted to enter into surgery but changed her path when she noticed how happy she was on her pediatric rotations.
“I noticed that my head was always on a swivel when there was a pediatric patient around,” Ferguson said. “I think I always knew that that was going to be a good fit, but I was willing to part with surgery. I had the most fun on the pediatric rotation. My friends told me I seem the most joyful on that rotation.”
Ferguson said she felt medical school has given her the privilege to be involved in the special moments of people’s lives.
“There have been times in med school where I’ve been in the room where somebody’s giving birth to their first child and I’m like, ‘How did I get here?’” Ferguson said. “At the same time, on the other end of the spectrum, there have been times I’ve been in rooms where people are getting the news that they have cancer that’s no longer treatable, and it’s a similar feeling like, ‘How did I get here?’ What a privilege it is to be here to share in those highs and lows with people, which can be vulnerable but really intimate.”
Daily Staff Reporter Claudia Minetti can be reached at cminetti@umich.edu.