Meet Tharsan Kanagalingam a third year medical student at Schulich School of Medicine and VP of the External Affairs Committee here at TARMS.

Here is what he has to say.

What strategies do you use to regain a sense of peace?

I journal every night, I’ve done that since I was like 12 years old, not consistently but it’s something that has always helped me. I’ve done it consistently for the past 4 years and honestly there is something really satisfying about reading something you wrote about yourself, your feelings, thoughts from that exact date 2 years ago or even a year ago. It’s like you get to see yourself from a third person’s perspective because you change so much in a year, for better or for worse. One thing I learned reading back on everything I wrote is it’s important to think about what failures and successes mean in the grand scheme of things. I’ve quickly realized that all those failures I lost sleep over and all those successes that boosted me up, very rarely mean as much a year later. The relationships I’ve built, the memories from celebrations, being there with friends and family through good and bad, those are the things that stick with me as time passes.

What would you say to someone who thinks they are the only ones having a hard time in medical school?

I think everyone feels the need to make it seem like your life revolves around medical school and only medical school. You have friends, family and your own personal interests. Even in this silo of medical school, life goes on around us and that comes with its challenges. The worst thing that happened to you, is the worst thing that happened to you. Pain, suffering, sadness are not relative. It is easy to get lost in the pace of school/clerkship, but honestly take the time to deal with what you need to deal with. None of this is finishing in a day, god knows how many years it’s going to take to finish school and training. You taking the time to deal with your issues is going to be the difference maker of making the experience easier or more difficult than it already is.

What is one change that you’d like to see made in the culture of medical school?

We talk a lot about mental health, about patient’s mental health, our own mental health, but I think we should encourage mandatory mental health days. I don’t think anyone should feel guilty about taking a day off for non-academic reasons, whether it is for a friend’s wedding, to attend a show or to be with friends and family when you experience a loss. I want to be a good physician, better than good, I want to be a great physician, but I also want to feel like my life is not isolated to medicine. I want to look back at my medical school experience and think I worked hard to do well in school/clerkship, and I also got to build these memories with my friends and family. If we are really serious about a change in culture I think there should be mandatory mental health days that we are required to take off for our own wellness in order to encourage a change in culture.