is your life experience lacking? lol

[Dr. Biology]

When was the the first moment you realized because of the premed life style you don't get to experience as much as your non premed friends? for me it was when my friend who is a engine mechanic in the Air Force and his brother who is a manager at a construction company went out to eat with me. The air plane mechanic was talking about how his first day at work this other mechanic came in to work stoned and caused 1.5 million dollars worth of damage to an bomber they were working on and his brother was talking about how this idiot he works with stuck his hand into a machine while it was running to "clean it better" and got his arm completely crushed. Has anyone else had this problem?

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[Boolean]

The first day I was volunteering I noticed a patient having some serious difficulty breathing. They were (patient) at the end of the hallway, and this was during our crossover from day shift to night shift. I don't think the night shift person had arrived yet. I notified the charge nurse that there was some issues, and someone was sent in immediately. Somewhere between the time the nurse got there and the time I left the patient began to seize. This patient ended up having some very serious issues go down (I don't quite know the details, but they called a code at one point, and practically everyone on the floor was in that room)

I maybe got the make the difference between someone living and not. That's a hell of a lot more life experience than clubbing and partying would be for me, at least. I wouldn't give this lifestyle up without one hell of a fight.

 

[Dr. Biology]

The first day I was volunteering I noticed a patient having some serious difficulty breathing. They were (patient) at the end of the hallway, and this was during our crossover from day shift to night shift. I don't think the night shift person had arrived yet. I notified the charge nurse that there was some issues, and someone was sent in immediately. Somewhere between the time the nurse got there and the time I left the patient began to seize. This patient ended up having some very serious issues go down (I don't quite know the details, but they called a code at one point, and practically everyone on the floor was in that room)

I maybe got the make the difference between someone living and not. That's a hell of a lot more life experience than clubbing and partying would be for me, at least. I wouldn't give this lifestyle up without one hell of a fight.

haha the worst thing ive had to deal with in volunteering is an unruly patient who wanted her sons to bring her street drugs because the doctor wouldn't give her pain pills, and she refused to let the nurses in her room because she wasn't allowed to smoke in her bathroom...

 

[TexasSurgeon]

When was the the first moment you realized because of the premed life style you don't get to experience as much as your non premed friends? for me it was when my friend who is a engine mechanic in the Air Force and his brother who is a manager at a construction company went out to eat with me. The air plane mechanic was talking about how his first day at work this other mechanic came in to work stoned and caused 1.5 million dollars worth of damage to an bomber they were working on and his brother was talking about how this idiot he works with stuck his hand into a machine while it was running to "clean it better" and got his arm completely crushed. Has anyone else had this problem?

Sophomore year. All of it. Then I realized that I didn't want to sacrifice too much in life for being premed. I started to manage my time better. It's surprising how much work you can do in 12 hours when you focus

 

[Boolean]

haha the worst thing ive had to deal with in volunteering is an unruly patient who wanted her sons to bring her street drugs because the doctor wouldn't give her pain pills, and she refused to let the nurses in her room because she wasn't allowed to smoke in her bathroom...

An experience nonetheless though, no? Certainly an interesting one, haha.

 

[kk123]

haha the worst thing ive had to deal with in volunteering is an unruly patient who wanted her sons to bring her street drugs because the doctor wouldn't give her pain pills, and she refused to let the nurses in her room because she wasn't allowed to smoke in her bathroom...

Some of the things people get upset about...lol

I had a great deal of real life experience because I had to work throughout high school/college. Social life....now that's another story....

 

[Dr. Biology]

It just kind of sucks that I spend 5 days a week studying in my room and I only take 2 evenings a week to see my girlfriend. All of my friends are having all these crazy experiences while the most exciting part of my day is memorizing hormones, learning the process of muscle contraction or figuring out how many moles of O2 are in a 16 bottle of water.

 

[Reckoner]

When was the the first moment you realized because of the premed life style you don't get to experience as much as your non premed friends? for me it was when my friend who is a engine mechanic in the Air Force and his brother who is a manager at a construction company went out to eat with me. The air plane mechanic was talking about how his first day at work this other mechanic came in to work stoned and caused 1.5 million dollars worth of damage to an bomber they were working on and his brother was talking about how this idiot he works with stuck his hand into a machine while it was running to "clean it better" and got his arm completely crushed. Has anyone else had this problem?

So you're saying if I hadn't been premed I might have one useless arm and a $1.5 million debt to repay? I see what you mean, that sounds awesome.

 

[Optimus-Prime]

You could always take a gap year

 

[Ismet]

When was the the first moment you realized because of the premed life style you don't get to experience as much as your non premed friends?

If you don't have time for a life outside of school, you're doing something wrong. Be more efficient with the time you spend on academics and you'll have time to do whatever your "non-premed friends" do.

for me it was when my friend who is a engine mechanic in the Air Force and his brother who is a manager at a construction company went out to eat with me. The air plane mechanic was talking about how his first day at work this other mechanic came in to work stoned and caused 1.5 million dollars worth of damage to an bomber they were working on and his brother was talking about how this idiot he works with stuck his hand into a machine while it was running to "clean it better" and got his arm completely crushed. Has anyone else had this problem?

I fail to see how this is a desirable experience.

 

[Being]

It just kind of sucks that I spend 5 days a week studying in my room and I only take 2 evenings a week to see my girlfriend. All of my friends are having all these crazy experiences while the most exciting part of my day is memorizing hormones, learning the process of muscle contraction or figuring out how many moles of O2 are in a 16 bottle of water.

Devoting your life to a cause is great, but make sure you don't find yourself at age 40 wishing you had done X Y and Z when you had the chance. Go out and have fun and make mistakes. You'll be happier in the long run, and probably a better physician because of it.

 

[Patros]

Many of my friends have traveled across multiple US states, and across the world. I hear their stories on how fun Las Vegas is, or how life-changing their stay in Hong Kong was, and I have no idea what that's like. Meanwhile I've spent my summers stuck in a lab or a volunteer position or something.

On second thought, I don't know if these are premed-problems or being-broke-problems.

 

[NontradCA]

I feel like I've "lived" enough for two people, and a lot of the experience that comes with that isn't peachy. You're not really missing out on much, especially if you're finding happyness in what you're doing.

I mean think about it. What are other college students doing? Drinking, doing stupid ****, and having sex. There's plenty of opportunity to do that at any moment in life. At least you will have achieved something you can pass onto your kids by way of nepotism when it's all said and done. Nomsayin.

 

[NontradCA]

Many of my friends have traveled across multiple US states, and across the world. I hear their stories on how fun Las Vegas is, or how life-changing their stay in Hong Kong was, and I have no idea what that's like. Meanwhile I've spent my summers stuck in a lab or a volunteer position or something.

On second thought, I don't know if these are premed-problems or being-broke-problems.

That's broke problems haha.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Nope.

I got all the experience I need by reading "things I learned from my patients".

Now I just need to find some way of counting that as clinical experience.....

 

[mehc012]

'Nope. I may have had TOO much of a life, come to think of it...

 

[Mad Jack]

If I had lived much more prior to being accepted to med school, I would probably have ended up a victim of death by misadventure. Then again, I'm a nontrad, so I got to have the best of both worlds.

 

[TheBossDoctor]

Guys it's really not that hard. Just stay on top of your stuff. Compared to my non pre-med friends, I managed to have as many (if not more) life experiences (such as Greek life, Vegas trips, travelling, bucket list items, etc.)

 

[TexasSurgeon]

It just kind of sucks that I spend 5 days a week studying in my room and I only take 2 evenings a week to see my girlfriend. All of my friends are having all these crazy experiences while the most exciting part of my day is memorizing hormones, learning the process of muscle contraction or figuring out how many moles of O2 are in a 16 bottle of water.

Why don't you and your GF study together

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Don't you wonder what your brother's friend thinks of you? You can be the guy who fixes the crushed arm. And about that $1.5 million damaged plane: maybe you could work in some outpost and hope someone fixed the damage because you're flying in it to aid others.

 

[Pacna]

If I wasn't premed, I'd be a pro gamer. Talk about a life unfulfilled.

No, I enjoy the premed life. I'm currently sitting in an ER seeing the coolest shi*.

 

[ECkayak]

It depends what kind of person you are. Personally, I love adventure, and knowing that there is a whole world of sights to see, places to go, and things to do that I will never experience is kind of depressing. Especially with residency coming up in a couple of months I'm definitely feeling the need to enjoy the time I have left.

If you're the kind of person who is happy with the premed life, I suggest you stick with your routine and don't expand your horizons, because then you might turn into me.

 

[FlatFour]

It depends what kind of person you are. Personally, I love adventure, and knowing that there is a whole world of sights to see, places to go, and things to do that I will never experience is kind of depressing. Especially with residency coming up in a couple of months I'm definitely feeling the need to enjoy the time I have left.

If you're the kind of person who is happy with the premed life, I suggest you stick with your routine and don't expand your horizons, because then you might turn into me.

I think you need to lighten up. You're going into residency for a couple years, not being locked up in a Turkish prison for the rest of your life. Your future is bright, and I'm sure you'll have more opportunities than most to travel and enjoy the world once you become an attending.

 

[Pacna]

I think you need to lighten up. You're going into residency for a couple years, not being locked up in a Turkish prison for the rest of your life. Your future is bright, and I'm sure you'll have more opportunities than most to travel and enjoy the world once you become an attending.

Yeah, but his/her butt will no longer be taut.

 

[ECkayak]

I think you need to lighten up. You're going into residency for a couple years, not being locked up in a Turkish prison for the rest of your life. Your future is bright, and I'm sure you'll have more opportunities than most to travel and enjoy the world once you become an attending.

Yeah, but his/her butt will no longer be taut.

You guys have no idea what residency is like, being pre-meds, or what medicine in general is like. It takes more from you than you think, and if you think it gets cushy when you make attending you are sadly misinformed.

 

[Pacna]

You guys have no idea what residency is like, being pre-meds, or what medicine in general is like. It takes more from you than you think, and if you think it gets cushy when you make attending you are sadly misinformed.

I work with attendings now who work 13 days a month and whose main complaint is that they have 3 overnight shifts a month.

 

[FlatFour]

I work with attendings now who work 13 days a month and whose main complaint is that they have 3 overnight shifts a month.

Same here, I have yet to meet an attending who is as miserable as med students describe. I'm sure they're out there, but those are probably the same type of people that would be miserable in any other professional field.

 

[ECkayak]

I work with attendings now who work 13 days a month and whose main complaint is that they have 3 overnight shifts a month.

Again, you're a pre med which guarantees that you know jack **** about real medicine.

 

[ECkayak]

Same here, I have yet to meet an attending who is as miserable as med students describe. I'm sure they're out there, but those are probably the same type of people that would be miserable in any other professional field.

It's not that they're miserable, it's that they don't have time for other things in life that they want to do, which was the original point of this thread was it not? Anyone here who believes that you roll straight out of residency into working 40 hrs a week and taking vacations every month is ignorant of the reality out there.

 

[Pacna]

Again, you're a pre med which guarantees that you know jack **** about real medicine.

I know there are some docs who work ridiculous hours and are always on call. There is a joke at our hospital that the hospitalists all drive $100,000+ cars because the only time they get to enjoy their cash is on the way to work and on the way home.

However, the sky is not falling. They chose that. Many docs choose less time-intensive specialties.

100% of the docs I work with work less hours than I do.

 

[FlatFour]

100% of the docs I work with work less hours than I do.

That's another good point. I recently calculated I spend anywhere from 70-85+ hours a week between studying and all of my EC's, I average about 4.5 hours of sleep on weekdays, and use most of my weekends to study. On top of that I'm not what you would call wealthy so even if I had time to enjoy life I wouldn't be able to afford it.

 

[Lucca]

I know there are some docs who work ridiculous hours and are always on call. There is a joke at our hospital that the hospitalists all drive $100,000+ cars because the only time they get to enjoy their cash is on the way to work and on the way home.

However, the sky is not falling. They chose that. Many docs choose less time-intensive specialties.

100% of the docs I work with work less hours than I do.

Dat ER doe.

Back on topic.

I do want to have some life experiences to kind of round out the life I want to live in undergrad but i don't feel I'm missing out on life either.

There's a couple of things I'm very thankful I missed out on:

My family was able to move out of a sketchy neighborhood to a safer neighborhood by the time I hit Junior High when gangs and drugs might actually interfere with my life.

I've never had an abusive family or partner, although I can't say the same for some of my (no longer) friends.

Scholarships have made it so that I don't have to work any job that will pay me to finance my undergraduate education.

All together, I'm pretty pampered and that's definitely helped me succeed as a premed and as a student in general.

Things I do want to take part in but might not have the time/space to participate in:

Work as a mechanic. I love cars and like working with my hands. I just don't know where to fit this in my 4 yr plan, but, who knows, I might figure something out.

Be a big brother. I'm an only child. I'm partnered with a high school freshman for the next four years of his education as a mentor but it's still not quite the same as being a role model for their entire life.

Race cars. This is just sort of a dream, haha. I might try to join our school's solar car race team but idk if I can handle that time commitment/I'm not an engineer.

Start a business. I'm a believer that the fastest way to spread an idea in this country is to start a company around it. Currently, I don't have the time or skill set to making this a reality.

Write novels, poetry. Writing is brilliant and I do it every once in a while but I've never stuck with an idea for long enough.

Gone camping. I can't believe I haven't done this and opportunities have arisen too but always at inconvenient times.


I go out to parties and have all of that other fun "college life" stuff too though so I'm not disappointed at all. I guess I just kind of listed out a list of things I feel like doing.