It’s a very common feeling. Particularly as a M4 just a few months out before intern year. Soon, we are going to be providing medicine, treating patients, recommending treatment. We can sign off on treatment, which is terrifying. When we’re on a plane and someone asks if there is a doctor on board, we can (and should) respond.
There’s this feeling–impostor syndrome–that suggests we as med students, and soon to be interns, aren’t good enough to be prescribing physicians. We’ve seen our mentors become incredible physicians and now it is our turn. But are we ready?
One of my advising deans, Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell, discusses the impostor syndrome phenomenon here.
In her article, she notes how it is becoming more common to feel this sense as an impostor provider, regardless of gender. She recommends how medical schools have a duty to utilize their education, particularly the M4 year, in helping soon to be minted doctors feel confident in their abilities.
What do you think? How do we better support M4s in their transition to become a competent and confident physician?
