Dr Dean Eggitt
GP | Teacher | Politician | Speaker
- January 28, 2026
- 8:30 pm
- 8 Comments
🩺 Clinical Reflection Case: The Night Out That Wasn’t
You’re in your final year of medical school. Tomorrow is your clinical pharmacology exam – a tough one, packed with mechanisms, side effects, and prescribing protocols. You’ve planned your revision carefully. Flashcards, mock questions, case-based reviews. You’re nearly there.
It’s Friday night. Your housemates – all non-medics – burst into your room, laughing, dressed up, ready to go out. “Come on,” they say. “You’ve been studying all week. Just one night. You need a break.”
You hesitate.
You miss them. You miss being spontaneous. You miss feeling like a normal student. But you also know that one night out could mean one mark too few. And in medicine, that matters.
You decline. Politely. Awkwardly. They’re disappointed. One rolls their eyes. Another says, “You’re always working.”
You spend the evening revising, but your mind drifts. You wonder if you’re losing touch. You wonder if they understand. You wonder if you’re sacrificing too much.
The next day, you pass the exam. Not just pass – you do well. And when you’re on placement the following week, prescribing for a real patient, you realise that the knowledge stuck. That the sacrifice mattered.
But the tension doesn’t go away. You learn that being a doctor means constantly negotiating between personal connection and professional commitment. That perseverance sometimes looks like saying no. That self-motivation isn’t just about studying – it’s about choosing your future, even when it costs you something in the present.
Being a doctor requires self-motivation and perseverance. Imagine being at university and your friends ask you to go out for the night, but you have an exam coming up and need to revise. How would you cope with the pressure of balancing work and personal relationships?
I would probably talk to my friends about exam times and how it’s vital for me to revise and get good results as the medical field is extremely competitive. I’d also remind myself that I could always spend time with friends later.
It is very important to maintain personal relationships, as they will provide the support that you need to thrive. In busy exam times, I would prioritise work and revision, however, I would put in effort to talk to my friends and family, even if it is only a brief conversation.
I would try and find a balance where certain nights were dedicated to studying and others to going out and these would only change around exam times adding more studying if necessary, this way my friends would learn to rely on me without me having to compromise my study time. I would also remind myself that if they were good friends they would realise my sacrifice and respect my decision.
I’d do my best to communicate to my non-medic friends that the field comes with sacrifices that have a real impact on real patients. I’d also try to keep in mind that my true friends will be there to stay no matter what, and that I can always spend time with them after that set of exams is done.
I think it’s important to keep relationships and maintain work without over lapping one another or putting one before the other.
I think it’s important to prioritise the things that will be more beneficial long-term and I would miss out on experiences with friends if it meant it would get me further in my academic accomplishments.
it is important that i remember my mental health is as important as my studies. however, i think needing a break is very dependent on what is coming up. if i have an exam nearing, i would rather, for my peace of mind, study for that than go for a night out. balance is impossible
I would have to organise the times where I can afford to be free and create a balance between seeing my friends and studying for tests which I need to do well on