They believed a flood would come.
The flood never came.
Some believed in the cult more.
Others left the group.
In this post I will show you how a cult helped me match the residency of my dreams.
A cult that existed in the 1950’s believed a flood would come and wipe out the members of earth.
It didn’t come.
No real surprise. The surprise came when some members of the cult grew stronger in their faith despite them being wrong. WHAT?
You read that right. Despite them being wrong after believing the flood would come and giving up their life (family, job, etc.) to serve the cult, they grew stronger in their faith. Why?
They decided that the flood didn’t come because they were so faithful and thus they saved everyone because they believed. This is a psychological idea that haunts all of us.
Here is how understanding the psychology of a cult will help you succeed in medical school
Cognitive dissonance essentially states that if there is a disagreement between a belief (flood) and reality (no flood) the mind will do it’s best to rationalize it (we were strong in our faith so the flood didn’t come). That puts the disagreement to rest and lets the cult carry on.
So how did this help me? Think about it. You are told things like:
“You have to have a 99th percentile to go to this medical school or that residency”
“You have to have tons of research”
“You have to know someone on the committee”
“You will not make it”
“You have to have only X to get Y”
The list goes on. The thing is, we start to believe it. And we then cannot believe that someone with 7 C’s in undergrad can go to one of the top medical schools in the country (I know her). We say things like “she must have known someone on the committee” or “her parents must have donated a ton to the school”. We say anything to validate the fact that what we thought can’t happen just happened.
Once you understand this, you will see that this idea has seeped its way into your life. Those models on the runway do not always have genetics to get them there. Those professional athletes actually worked their butts off to get there. Personal statements actually do matter. Research does too.
See where this is going?
I realized that the things I was being told were half truths. Yes, an MCAT can make up for crappy grades in some instances. But, the MCAT isn’t everything. And just because you aren’t in the top of your class doesn’t mean you can’t match into the residency of your dreams or get into the medical school you want.
I realized early in my career that the flood isn’t under my control. The only thing I can control is what I believe and how I respond to that.
Are you still believing you can control the flood?