10 Signs you're a med student

Khadijatul Kubra Muneer is a 3rd year Premed at Oman Medical College.

You get glared at in restaurants Whoops, were you overheard discussing the symptoms of coproporphyria over dinner again?

You can't get rid of that formaldehyde smell No amount of showering can disguise it; you're like the walking embalmed after a session in the anatomy lab.

When you do, you dream about snuffing people No, it's not because you're a psychopath! But when you do manage to fall asleep, it is not unusual to dream about everything that could go wrong if your scalpel slipped or what would happen if the patient woke up in the middle of surgery.

You're always rushing You're constantly dashing from the labs to the lectures, and they're usually at opposite ends of the campus – if not town! As a result, you usually miss lunch and float through your classroom sessions feeling light-headed.

You read the back of every container Ever since that lecture on microbiology and genetics, you can't stop checking what goes into every product you use. Not even the shampoo is safe from scrutiny

You speak a language no one understands You used to say, "Excuse me, I'm just stepping to the ladies." Now you say, "Excuse me, my transitional epithelium is completely squamous-like."

You haven't slept in years With all those volumes of new words, diseases and their symptoms to learn, you can't remember the last time you slept for eight hours..

You can't help but launch into mini lectures You come across an artificial sweetener when out with your siblings and start ranting on and on about Phenylketonuria until you realise that you are the only one left at
the table.

You're addicted to journals You haven't read a gossip rag in ages and don't even know who Agyness Deyn is, but you're bursting to discuss the clinical review of medically unexplained symptoms you just finished reading about in the British Medical Journal.

You have a set of friends for life After going through the madness of this experience together – the late nights, the missed meals, the cadavers – the students you've shared this unique experience with will be your mates forever.