"Preconceived Expectations" by MSIH first year blogger Samantha Krieger

     The moment I sent in my acceptance letter to MSIH headquarters, I told myself that I was going to move to Israel and begin medical school without any expectations. I wasn’t going to speculate on a life in the Israeli desert, who my classmates would be, what medical school would entail, nor how I would fit in to the Israeli society. I was just going to pack up, move to Israel, and start medical school open to all possibilities. However, that was an unrealistic expectation to set for myself. I had plenty of preconceived notions as to what studying medicine in Israel as a foreign medical student would look like – whether I had verbalized them or not. For the next few minutes, I am going to explain both my expectations and the errs in my thinking.

     My medical school expectations are somewhat easier to describe so I will start with these. I expected medical school to start at 8:00am and end at 5:00pm every day, like my father's and grandfather’s schools were structured. I expected to have more class time than I had time to study, more labs that I had time to attend, and more books than I could fit on my desk. Basically, I expected to be busy with studying and classes 24/7. 

This image depicts our weekly schedule.
Plenty of free time!

     Well, I was wrong. So far, two months into medical school, we have class from 8:00am to 1:00pm most days with classes scheduled from 3:00pm to 5pm two days each week. While labs are an important, interactive, helpful, and a mandatory part of our schedule, we don’t have that many labs in our first year – at least not yet. To top it all off, I only have one book that it's on my desk, though that in part is due to the everchanging field of technology. In today's world of medicine and knowledge-gathering, most of the information that you need is google-able. Most of our recommended books are offered via the library in an online pdf version and helpful learning resources are only available via the internet. In fact, the main problem that I find myself struggling with is the overabundance of information at your fingertips. With all of these resources, I find myself wondering what exactly do I need to know, a rather different challenge than the ones I was expecting to face.

Many of us took advantage of the relaxed schedule during the summer and spent our afternoons at the pool!

     My expectations of living in a different country – well, that’s a whole other ball game. For some reason, when I pictured myself living in Be’er Sheva, I thought the city would be fairly small and centered around the campus. I expected most of the city to be filled with students and faculty and I hypothesized that my apartment building might be mostly student-filled. I thought that the city would cater to the student lifestyle with lots of spunky café study spaces, peaceful yet quirky bookstores, and fresh bars. I thought that, because I thrived in a college city across the country from my hometown, I would easily figure out how to successfully adapt to a new country.

     Once again, I was wrong. The problem with all my expectations was that I didn’t factor in the effect of living in a different country with a different mindset and priorities than I was familiar with. First of all, Be’er Sheva is a much larger city than I originally imagined and it is certainly not centered around the university. However, as Ben Gurion University grows in popularity, it seems that the campus is expanding to fit the needs of its students. Yes, the city is filled with students and faculty but there are a lot of non-campus affiliated residents living in Be’er Sheva as well, such as the huge Russian and immigrant population that reside in Be’er Sheva, completely autonomous from the university. My apartment building does have a few students but all my neighbors are locals working throughout the city. As for the student lifestyle, I may be unfit to speak on this topic. The Israeli school year does not begin until the end of October so most students have not yet moved back to the city. Student life is not in full swing with only our school and other international programs occupying the campus. That being said, Be’er Sheva itself does not seem comparable to a typical, American college town. It lacks the study spaces that I am accustomed to finding in just about every town. I am not sure where Israelis typically study but without cafes or bookstores littering the city, the on-campus library would be the only available option if it was equipped to handle the number of students who attend Ben Gurion University. Simply put, it is not big enough. Don’t worry, when you move here, we will share with you all the study spaces we frequent but just know, they are less conventional than you are probably used to. On a more upbeat note, Be’er Sheva has a million intriguing, funky bars. No matter where you are in the city, you won’t have a problem finding a great place to grab a drink.

     I could go on and on about the differences living in Israel but I will save that for another time. Until then, I want to leave you with the following quote from the American writer and politician, Ruth E. Renkl:

     “You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.”

     Where ever you choose to go to medical school, you will need to adjust to a completely different lifestyle and program than you are used to. Rather than fixating on the problems, view every experience like an adventure and you will have an incredible time.

Until next time,
Samantha