How much free time do you have in medical school?

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DocMom1

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This three-part question is directed toward medical students who were non-science majors and who only took the required pre-requisites prior to matriculation:

How free time is there in your first year of medical school to pursue hobbies, other interests or relationships?

To what extent does the amount of free time one has vary depending on which school one is in (i.e., state school v. vs 'elite' school, assuming both are P/F)?

Do you feel that you had substantially less free time than your classmates who were science majors and went beyond the pre-medical requirements by taking biochemistry and anatomy for example before matriculating?

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This three-part question is directed toward medical students who were non-science majors and who only took the required pre-requisites prior to matriculation:

How free time is there in your first year of medical school to pursue hobbies, other interests or relationships?

To what extent does the amount of free time one has vary depending on which school one is in (i.e., state school v. vs 'elite' school, assuming both are P/F)?

Do you feel that you had substantially less free time than your classmates who were science majors and went beyond the pre-medical requirements by taking biochemistry and anatomy for example before matriculating?

There is no real answer to this. It all depends on the persons goals. Do you want to be a FP doc or go into derm? The level of competitiveness plays a huge role into how much your gonna study. Also not everyone learns the same way. Some people can read things once and get it, others need to work on it more.
With that said, you can have all the free time you really want. We have people that go out every night, play semi-professional sports, or travel every weekend to be with their SO. On the other hand we have people who never stop studying. Its up to your goals, study habits, time management, and drive.
 
I majored in chemistry so I can't answer your questions from the perspective of a non-science major, but I wanted to point out that the amount of free time you have in medical school will probably depend more heavily on your personality (tendency to procrastinate, style of studying, etc.) than on your science background.
 
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The allo forum is for med students to discuss issues that are relevant to med students; they frequently will post in pre-allo to answer questions that pre-meds have. Accordingly, this post is being moved to pre-allo.
 
I was a non-science major who did my prereqs at a formal postbac (Scripps). I went to a top 25 school that had letter grades and thought I had plenty of free time. I did lots of research during med school, worked out 3-4 days a week, went out at least 2x weekly in m1/2, and at least once weekly during m1.
 
I majored in chemistry so I can't answer your questions from the perspective of a non-science major, but I wanted to point out that the amount of free time you have in medical school will probably depend more heavily on your personality (tendency to procrastinate, style of studying, etc.) than on your science background.

Agreed with this entirely (and the other post) - it really comes down to your expectations and goals.

If you're one of those people that HAS to get the absolute highest score possible on every exam, then you're going to have no free time. If you wanted to, you could easily spend most of your time studying in order to really memorize every nitty gritty detail. On the other hand, if you go to a P/F school and are only concerned with passing (mind you, you work hard, but you're not interested in getting 90+ on the exams), you'll probably have plenty of free time.

I don't go to lectures and probably spend an average of 2-3 hours a day studying (in reality, my studying is very uneven, i.e., I'll go a day or two without studying and then knock out 5-6 hours to catch up). I probably run about average, maybe a little below, in my class in terms of performance. However, I have TONS of free time - more than I should I think. That's a trade-off that I'm willing to make. However, I understand that that's not necessarily the case for all med students.
 
3rd year?-Close to none depending on the rotation--eating like a 12 year old fat kid, have no life, stressed the hell out, my weekends are meaningless

2nd year? Studied my butt off and it paid off but I still had time to sew my royal oats. I went out every other weekend and had time to workout/cook/ take care of myself.

1st year=a joke
 
You should always have time for relationships unless your SO is incredibly needy/demanding. You have to make that person a priority if you want it to work.

I get to enjoy my hobbies on most weekends. During the week I have a couple of hours a night I could be doing whatever I want.

In certain parts of second year (early), the amount of free time you have is ridiculous. Early in first year you're too busy getting used to it to have too much free time, unless you're not very worried about doing well.

Medical school takes up a lot of time but it doesn't consume your life if you don't let it.
 
Will I ever have time to sit and play a video game for like a REALLY long time? Preferably multiple times a week, I don't need a girlfriend if yes.
 
Will I ever have time to sit and play a video game for like a REALLY long time? Preferably multiple times a week, I don't need a girlfriend if yes.

I've racked up 100+ hours on BF3 since it came out. I don't know if that counts as a "REALLY long time," but that's my experience. And that's only playing BF3 - I obviously do other things with my time.
 
So, are the P/F curricula at different schools equally demanding?
 
I've racked up 100+ hours on BF3 since it came out. I don't know if that counts as a "REALLY long time," but that's my experience. And that's only playing BF3 - I obviously do other things with my time.

Aren't there incentives to doing well in medical school? Like AOA?

And do grades factor in to the residency you get? or is it just the USMLE? What is the difference between Steps 1 and 2 in terms of the residency you get?
 
Aren't there incentives to doing well in medical school? Like AOA?

And do grades factor in to the residency you get? or is it just the USMLE? What is the difference between Steps 1 and 2 in terms of the residency you get?

Preclinical grades "factor in" but at a very low level, bordering on irrelevant. Your Step 1 and clinical year evaluations are going to make or break you for residency. Which is why some places can get away with P/F systems in the early years. I had a mentor who used to advise folks that the "dirty little secret" about grades the first two years is that the grades don't matter -- they are just a means to an end to keep people studying because you are going to need that info on Step 1 and on the wards. Step 2 usually doesn't play much of a role in residency selection -- many paths don't even need you to have scores back before the match. However if you do poorly on Step 1, you can try and bolster your application by taking step 2 early and doing well.


As for non-science majors, I didn't notice much disadvantage after the first week or so of things like biochem. Med school moves at a very different pace and with a very different focus such that college courses compare to med school about the same as grade school sciences would compare to college. That being said, you ave to put in a ton of hours in med school. It's not like college at all. Basically if you treat your lecture and study time like an approximately 60 hour per week job, meaning 10 hours per day of academic work and 5 hours on each weekend day, you will be in very good shape. That schedule basically means starting your day by 7 each day and winding it up at dinner time, and working each weekend day morning. And the evenings and weekend afternoons/evenings will be all yours. Plenty of time for hobbies and interests in those off hours.

Then 3rd year and all bets are off because you may be working 80 hour weeks with overnights and weekends during some rotations, and still have to study for a shelf exam in your 'spare' time.
 
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agree with what others have said but I'll put in that some people seem to need to study much more than others just to get by, and I don't think you can really know that about yourself until you get here.

since I haven't attended multiple med schools I can't say for sure, but we all have to learn the same stuff and from anecdotal accounts from friends at other schools it doesn't seem like there's much difference in difficulty.

Grades from 1st and 2nd year are pretty irrelevant, even AOA I think they focus mostly on 3rd year grades (unless you're inducted early). Grades are a factor in residency but step one is the biggest factor, followed by clinical year grades and LORs. Step 2 is less important but some will say it can make up for a sub-par step 1 in certain situations.
 
agree with what others have said but I'll put in that some people seem to need to study much more than others just to get by, and I don't think you can really know that about yourself until you get here. ..

agreed. I always recommend taking the approach of doing too much in the beginning, and then cutting things back after a couple of exams if you are overshooting. Many people never get to cut back. But yeah there's always someone who puts in 90 hours per week just to be below average, and someone else who seems to ace every exam without missing a happy hour. It's impossible to know which of these you will be, and most are somewhere in the middle.
 
You can make as much free time as you need in med school. It may not be as much as undergrad, but it is possible. Some might need to have less free time than others, and don't feel bad if you fall into this, since everyone learns at a different pace. Your first semester is more of a trial, trying to see how to handle the coursework. And to feel out what your goals are, etc. Trust me, you won't have to give up your hobbies, or fear that you can never go out for drinks or meet other guys/girls for dates/sex.

Personally, I felt I had MORE free time in 3rd year. I went out much more than the 1st 2 years..
:p
 
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Will I ever have time to sit and play a video game for like a REALLY long time? Preferably multiple times a week, I don't need a girlfriend if yes.

You can easily set aside 2-3 hours to play a video game(i doubt that counts as a long time for some :/ )
 
so do you guys feel that you have more free time right now than before when you were a premed student since you have your own goals now?
 
wat

are you guys lacking free time in college? the only time I've ever had more free time was when I graduated and didn't yet have a job
 
well school takes up quite a bit of time at least for me...maybe I need to improve my study skills/ time management skills :/
 
Will I ever have time to sit and play a video game for like a REALLY long time? Preferably multiple times a week, I don't need a girlfriend if yes.

Of course.

I had multiple raiding 85's until recently :rolleyes:
 
It's good to see that free time can be a regular experience! I think the hardest thing for me will be keeping school outside of my free time and learning to develop the ability to genuinely relax
 
NickNaylor plays BF3....

My life has meaning now.
 
so do you guys feel that you have more free time right now than before when you were a premed student since you have your own goals now?

Um no. I think you probably have approximately an additional 30 hours a week of free time as a premed as compared to a med student. Med school is a lot more work than college, no matter how you want to slice it.
 
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