How To Deal With Imposter Syndrome

“Do you have imposter syndrome? How do you deal with it?”

People assume that imposter syndrome goes away, the farther along you get in training. Once you get into medical school, you assume it’ll fade. When you match into residency, surely that will silence it. If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong, you know it doesn’t work that way. The voice just finds new material.

For me, imposter syndrome hit hardest during rotations. I’d watch classmates answer questions with confidence while I hesitated. I’d compare the number of publications on someone’s CV with mine. I’d convince myself that the admissions committee must have made some clerical error letting me in. The rational part of me knew better, but my feelings were real.

Here’s what I’ve learned: imposter syndrome thrives in silence. The more you keep it tucked away, the bigger it grows. 

The first time I admitted out loud to a mentor, “Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong here,” they didn’t laugh. They didn’t dismiss me. They nodded and said, “Me too. Even now.” That cracked something open for me. I realized imposter syndrome isn’t a reflection of your inadequacy. It’s proof you’re stretching yourself into spaces you once only dreamed of.

I also had to reframe what “competence” looked like. Being the fastest to answer a pimp question doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be the best doctor. Memorization has its place, but so does listening deeply to a patient, making a team feel calm in chaos, having the humility to admit what you don’t know, and then go learn it. I had to start valuing the skills I brought to the table instead of pretending the only thing that mattered was speed or trivia knowledge.

Another shift came when I realized the people I admired most weren’t flawless. They made mistakes. They asked for help. They grew openly. It made me wonder: what if confidence isn’t about knowing everything, but about trusting that you can figure it out? That you can fall short, and learn, but that you can still belong.

Imposter syndrome probably never vanishes. At least, it hasn’t for me. But I no longer see it as evidence that I don’t deserve to be here. I see it as a sign that I’m in a room that once felt impossible to enter. And I remind myself: nobody accidentally ends up in medical school, or in residency, or in the OR at 2 a.m. You didn’t trick your way here. You earned your seat.

So, the next time you feel that familiar tug of “I’m not enough,” pause and ask yourself: what story am I telling right now? Then rewrite it. Instead of “I don’t belong,” try “I’m growing.” Instead of “I fooled them,” try “I worked for this.”

Because the truth is, you do belong. And the more you believe that, the more you’ll give others permission to believe it about themselves, too.