Bernard Virshup, M.D.

Coping in Medical School

"[The] analysis of attitudes in teaching is a bright gem, sharply and beautifully cut. I doubt that I have seen anything on the subject so concisely and so cogently put." —Norman Cousins

Here is an invaluable guide for medical students by a physician and medical educator of uncommon passion and sensitivity.

For most students, medical school is a radically different educational experience from that of the college years. It is a time of great learning, to be sure, but it can also cause much confusion and distress as students strive to absorb the enormous amount of information they must learn and to deal with the fear of failure that it can bring. Other stresses present themselves as well: the anxiety that accompanies the student's first close contacts with those who are sick and dying; the need to accept responsibility; the sharp curtailment of a social and personal life; and the anger—both inner and outer directed—which often arises in the medical school pressure cooker.

In this book, Dr. Virshup, in a calming and reassureing voice, teaches the reader the psychological coping skills needed to deal successfully with medical school. There are chapters on a broad variety of topics including building a caring support network; maintaining a sense of individuation and indentity; dealing with guilt, anger, and depression; and making full use of intuition and creativity. Above all, this is a practical book, for almost every chapter contains psychological exercises that allow the reader to put the insights Dr. Virshup offers into practice immediately.