When do you have the most free time after high school?

[shindotp]

Because I'm a pre-med student at Princeton right now, and without even starting any ECs this year yet (except for my job 6 hrs/week in a chem lab) I'm swamped with work. Is this what my life's going to be like?

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[Vvandenn]

It's because you chose to go to Princeton.

 

[shindotp]

I know -_-

 

[Depakote]

It should get better after residency, but man, there's nothing like the time I had to waste during undergrad...

 

[Textuality]

Haha, yeah, undergrad was basically a party with the occasional class thrown in there. Great times and great friends

Having worked a 9-5 job as well, I definitely think school is way less time (and energy) consuming.

 

[AlanAlanine]

"retirement"

 

[Depakote]

"retirement"

clearly you've never run into the gunners at the bingo tables.

 

[NTF]

For me it was my twenties after undergrad and before applying to med school (I'm 35 now).

Got to travel (not go on a vacation, but travel) to europe, southeast asia, asia, and all over the US - several times a year for multi-week stretches, sometimes month-long stretches.

Got to live and work overseas.

Got to try my hand all kinds of pursuits like teaching, dancing, scriptwriter for a tv show, and music.

Roadtrips and camping several times a month.

Rooftop cookouts in NYC, Rowing in Philly.

Played cash & tournament poker religously for awhile (made quite a tidy sum).

So yeah, way more free time then. But now I'm settled ready, to have just two focuses in my life. My family and medicine. Anything else I have time for is gravy.

 

[shindotp]

Oh no, this is terrible news for me. :|

 

[shraf]

if being premed and working 6 hours a week has you swamped your doing something horribly wrong ....even if you are at princeton.... a 3.7+ gpa is going to be meaningless if its obvious you just sat home and studied 24/7

 

[Law2Doc]

Because I'm a pre-med student at Princeton right now, and without even starting any ECs this year yet (except for my job 6 hrs/week in a chem lab) I'm swamped with work. Is this what my life's going to be like?

You will never have it better than you do in college, sorry. What seems like a lot during college is not going to seem that bad during med school, which in turn is not going to seem as bad during residency and so on. As you get through residency, lots of people actually see hours increase (as there is no 80 hour work week limitation and you are trying to develop a business or career), while others start getting loaded up with family and community obligations. So about half the attendings you'll see are working 80+ hour weeks, and the other half are running home after 60+ to help take care of the spouse and kids. So no, this isn't what your life is going to be like -- this is the easiest part. Sorry.

 

[footballrules]

Haha, yeah, undergrad was basically a party with the occasional class thrown in there. Great times and great friends

Having worked a 9-5 job as well, I definitely think school is way less time (and energy) consuming.

Ditto. As sad as it sounds, I miss college. I miss taking exams, learning new science information (human related) in a class setting. I'm conteplating taking some graduate courses this spring and defering my student loans just so I can get back into college after having being graduated for a whole semester, lol. I have a couple of courses I still need to take anyways before I get apply to the program I want to get into.

 

[footballrules]

You will never have it better than you do in college, sorry. What seems like a lot during college is not going to seem that bad during med school, which in turn is not going to seem as bad during residency and so on. As you get through residency, lots of people actually see hours increase (as there is no 80 hour work week limitation and you are trying to develop a business or career), while others start getting loaded up with family and community obligations. So about half the attendings you'll see are working 80+ hour weeks, and the other half are running home after 60+ to help take care of the spouse and kids. So no, this isn't what your life is going to be like -- this is the easiest part. Sorry.

80 hour work weeks as an attending isn't that bad at all. Just think about. Depending on the specality you do, you get to work at 7:00 am and work until around 6:00 pm. I would say a 11 or 12 hour work day is expected with a couple of longer days each week. Some have to work weekends and some weekends you get off.

Undergraduate school is nothing compared to medical school, residency, and being an actuall doctor.

 

[footballrules]

"retirement"

Screw retirement. Retirement is for people who want to die (sorry for being blunt). My grandma and granpa both still work and they are both int heir 80's. They could have easily retired 20 years ago. My parents have said many times that they both would most likley be close to passing away or have already passed away if they didn't continue to work. Between the both of them, they work 90 hours a week.

 

[NTF]

Screw retirement. Retirement is for people who want to die (sorry for being blunt). My grandma and granpa both still work and they are both int heir 80's. They could have easily retired 20 years ago. My parents have said many times that they both would most likley be close to passing away or have already passed away if they didn't continue to work. Between the both of them, they work 90 hours a week.

Retirement doesn't mean "well, I'll just lay in a bed all day and wait to die."

You should spend some time looking at the AARP website.

Retirees are living active and fulfilling lives. For instance, my uncle is a "retired" doctor. He goes on medical missions 2-3 times a year, travels, and spends alot of time with his grandkids. He goes hiking and camping and volunteers at an organization providing hospice care for aids patients.

Sorry, just being blunt.

 

[footballrules]

Retirement doesn't mean "well, I'll just lay in a bed all day and wait to die."

You should spend some time looking at the AARP website.

Retirees are living active and fulfilling lives. For instance, my uncle is a "retired" doctor. He goes on medical missions 2-3 times a year, travels, and spends alot of time with his grandkids. He goes hiking and camping and volunteers at an organization providing hospice care for aids patients.

Sorry, just being blunt.

Yeah. I've just seen to many people that I know in the community where my parents live that retire and then pass away 5 to 10 years later. That really isn't the case in the SW or SE though.

 

[littlealex]

You realize you only spend like 4 hours in class a day right?

Nothing beats undergrad.

 

[FlowLimited]

One semester as an undergrad I only had class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I had afternoons free on those days and four day weekends every week. It was a beautiful thing. While this is somewhat atypical, undergrad is just about the best thing you've got left.

 

[shindotp]

if being premed and working 6 hours a week has you swamped your doing something horribly wrong ....even if you are at princeton.... a 3.7+ gpa is going to be meaningless if its obvious you just sat home and studied 24/7

Okay what? LOL I didn't understand your logic there.

I think I just have really bad time management I guess.

 

[135892]

Because I'm a pre-med student at Princeton right now, and without even starting any ECs this year yet (except for my job 6 hrs/week in a chem lab) I'm swamped with work. Is this what my life's going to be like?

I assume you're a freshman? Don't worry, you'll eventually figure out how to balance everything out. Just look for ways to efficiently study, and try to figure out the minimum amount of time you need to study to get the grade you want for each class.

 

[TeamZissou]

Okay what? LOL I didn't understand your logic there.

I think I just have really bad time management I guess.

Things just change, as you go through undergrad you will start adding things to your schedule and at first it will seem really difficult but after a while it gets easier. I could be wrong but I think this is just the progression of life and specifically in the medical field. Nothing gets easier, you just learn to handle it better.

 

[shindotp]

Thanks a lot to the above two posters.

Yes, I'm a freshman. I didn't study at all in high school except for the SATs and a couple of my AP tests, but I vowed to study hard during my college years. I'm not sure how hard I have to study though, and I want to get the best possible grades I can get. I always leave an hour of my day to talk to my girlfriend, but other than that, I just eat, go to class/work, and study.

I feel like I'm overdoing it a bit, and there are some classes I definitely don't need to go to. I'll figure things out better next semester I think.

And I'm taking a class called "turbochem" which is 2 semesters of chem in one (and I think it might even count as two courses). Maybe things will lighten up next semester.

 

[HumidBeing]

OP, your undergrad years are likely to get better. You are a first semester freshman, still transitioning into college. You will probably eventually get into the flow of understanding what is expected in order to get the grades you're going after, and what works best for you when it comes to studying and knocking out papers. Also, the first year or so of classes often tend to be unrelated to each other. So, you have that many different subjects to prepare for independently.

After I got through that first level, I found that many courses built heavily on previous courses, and also overlapped with one another. That meant that learning the material well the first time around paid off by making later classes much easier.

I had some crazy schedules at first, and found that whenever I had a break between classes, by using that time to review the material from the classes I'd just left, my retention improved quite a bit and gave me more free time. This semester, in which I'm considered a junior, is the easiest I've ever had, with all of my classes scheduled for Tues/Thurs. Even though the material isn't easier, it feels easier because upper level classes frequently work synergistically(sp?) and build on concepts learned earlier.

Freshman year may be your most difficult year in undergrad.

 

[FlowLimited]

OP, your undergrad years are likely to get better. You are a first semester freshman, still transitioning into college. You will probably eventually get into the flow of understanding what is expected in order to get the grades you're going after, and what works best for you when it comes to studying and knocking out papers. Also, the first year or so of classes often tend to be unrelated to each other. So, you have that many different subjects to prepare for independently.

After I got through that first level, I found that many courses built heavily on previous courses, and also overlapped with one another. That meant that learning the material well the first time around paid off by making later classes much easier.

I had some crazy schedules at first, and found that whenever I had a break between classes, by using that time to review the material from the classes I'd just left, my retention improved quite a bit and gave me more free time. This semester, in which I'm considered a junior, is the easiest I've ever had, with all of my classes scheduled for Tues/Thurs. Even though the material isn't easier, it feels easier because upper level classes frequently work synergistically(sp?) and build on concepts learned earlier.

Freshman year may be your most difficult year in undergrad.

Four day weekends, yes! Those were the days.

 

[shindotp]

4 day weekends wow!

I have classes/work from usually 9 to about 4:30 every weekday except Thursdays when I have class from 12:30 to 4:30.

 

[FlowLimited]

4 day weekends wow!

I have classes/work from usually 9 to about 4:30 every weekday except Thursdays when I have class from 12:30 to 4:30.

Given time, you will develop the skills to become a master scheduler. Believe in the power of the four day weekend, and one day you will achieve it.

 

[Retsage]

80 hour work weeks as an attending isn't that bad at all. Just think about. Depending on the specality you do, you get to work at 7:00 am and work until around 6:00 pm. I would say a 11 or 12 hour work day is expected with a couple of longer days each week. Some have to work weekends and some weekends you get off.

Undergraduate school is nothing compared to medical school, residency, and being an actuall doctor.

Do you seriously have no hobbies, interests, friends, or loved ones?

Eighty hours a week is an insane amount. There is something fundamentally wrong with you if you think spending half of your life (not waking life, total life) in a hospital is not bad at all.

Future surgeon, eh? Good luck with that. I'd rather cut my balls off than work that hard after residency.

 

[shindotp]

80 hours a week = 16 hour days (working on weekdays), 13+ hours a day working on Saturdays too.

Uhh, I don't know where you got that info, but I'm not going to work from 7 to 8:30 everyday.

The average # of hours per week for a neurologist (which is what I want to be) is 55.

http://mdsalaries.blogspot.com/2008/01/us-physician-work-hours-per-week-by.html

The highest is 61 for OBGYN and anesthesiology.

 

[45408]

80 hours a week = 16 hour days (working on weekdays), 13+ hours a day working on Saturdays too.

Uhh, I don't know where you got that info, but I'm not going to work from 7 to 8:30 everyday.

Don't forget overnight call, which means you can work 30 hours straight. I started at 6am, and I'm going until 11am tomorrow or so. I might be able to sleep for an hour or two, maybe.


And you'll definitely work on weekends.

 

[Law2Doc]

80 hours a week = 16 hour days (working on weekdays), 13+ hours a day working on Saturdays too.

Uhh, I don't know where you got that info, but I'm not going to work from 7 to 8:30 everyday.

The average # of hours per week for a neurologist (which is what I want to be) is 55.

http://mdsalaries.blogspot.com/2008/01/us-physician-work-hours-per-week-by.html

The highest is 61 for OBGYN and anesthesiology.

ROFL -- bear in mind that that data is for post residency, and averages in folks much further along in their career. As a resident, and then as a new doctor post-residency, you are going to be working a whole lot longer hours than anything on that list. I mean, for example, you don't see too many young general surgeons being able to work 60 hours/week, but you don't have to look that far to find one working 90. So you have to be suspicious of those hours. I assure you that 61 hours isn't the highest number of hours any specialty works. The whole point of the 80 hour work week limitation was that programs were making their residents work more hours than that. And now that there is such a limitation, someone has to pick up the slack, and so now there is a big jump from the 80 hour cap in residency to the 90-100 hour week the younger attendings end up working at some places in some fields.
Sure neurology is a bit more lifestyle, but during the early years you absolutely will exceed the figures you see on that list, even in that field.

 

[45408]

Future surgeon, eh? Good luck with that. I'd rather cut my balls off than work that hard after residency.

The general/vascular practice I worked with last month has it pretty good. They have every sixth week completely off, they take call every 6th weekend, and they take home call every 6th night. The younger surgeons don't work more than the older surgeons (youngest one is ~3 years out of residency).

 

[shindotp]

Yes of course residents work 80 hours a week, but there's no way attendings will be forced into working as 90-100 hours a week. Show me some articles that discuss attendings being forced to work over 90 hours a week. I would be willing to work on weekends as a resident - that's fine. But every weekend for the rest of my life? No. I'll change my career path right now if you tell me that I will definitely have to work on weekends if I want to be a doctor (well not really because I wouldn't believe you).

I'm sure that there will be some control over the number of hours worked, especially for emergency medicine and neurology (which are the two I'm interested in).

 

[footballrules]

Do you seriously have no hobbies, interests, friends, or loved ones?

Eighty hours a week is an insane amount. There is something fundamentally wrong with you if you think spending half of your life (not waking life, total life) in a hospital is not bad at all.

Future surgeon, eh? Good luck with that. I'd rather cut my balls off than work that hard after residency.

Look lady, I grew up on a farm. I've worked 80+ hours a week my whole life.

40-60 hours a week is baby work hours.

No interests? Do you know what my handle means?

Family? What is marriage about?

 

[shindotp]

I have never before heard of "handle" referring to a name before. Whoa..

 

[Blade28]

You will never have it better than you do in college, sorry. What seems like a lot during college is not going to seem that bad during med school, which in turn is not going to seem as bad during residency and so on. As you get through residency, lots of people actually see hours increase (as there is no 80 hour work week limitation and you are trying to develop a business or career), while others start getting loaded up with family and community obligations. So about half the attendings you'll see are working 80+ hour weeks, and the other half are running home after 60+ to help take care of the spouse and kids. So no, this isn't what your life is going to be like -- this is the easiest part. Sorry.

Agreed. College was a breeze compared to med school. Ditto for residency thus far.

 

[Blesbok]

Freshman year of college is by far the easiest point in life. The only time your life will be easier than that is the weeks that you have vacation if you ever make it through med school and residency and finally become an attending.

 

[Retsage]

The general/vascular practice I worked with last month has it pretty good. They have every sixth week completely off, they take call every 6th weekend, and they take home call every 6th night. The younger surgeons don't work more than the older surgeons (youngest one is ~3 years out of residency).

Really? That's not bad. Surgery would interest me if I hadn't heard horror tale after horror tale of 80+ hour weeks until you're 50+. I'm not willing to spend my entire life in the hospital, fair hours are required for whatever specialization I end up going into.


Footballrules:

1) Watching Sunday night football is not much of a hobby. Playing it would be - not something you could ever do if you worked 80 hour weeks.
2) Marriage is family. Divorce, because you see your wife and kids an hour per day for the rest of your life, is not.

 

[Blesbok]

Really? That's not bad. Surgery would interest me if I hadn't heard horror tale after horror tale of 80+ hour weeks until you're 50+. I'm not willing to spend my entire life in the hospital, fair hours are required for whatever specialization I end up going into.


Footballrules:

1) Watching Sunday night football is not much of a hobby. Playing it would be - not something you could ever do if you worked 80 hour weeks.
2) Marriage is family. Divorce, because you see your wife and kids an hour per day for the rest of your life, is not.

Most of hte surgeons that I know work 50 hour weeks or so. Maybe a little more if they are on call that weekend.

 

[45408]

Yes of course residents work 80 hours a week, but there's no way attendings will be forced into working as 90-100 hours a week. Show me some articles that discuss attendings being forced to work over 90 hours a week.

they don't publish journal articles about this stuff. It's the sort of thing that some people have to do to get established in a practice they've joined. They're allowed to join a prestigious practice with a great reputation, if they're willing to take tons of call at first. For a number of specialties, taking call is a way to build up your patient base. I know that this definitely applies to new lawyers in a firm, if they want to make partner.

 

[Slack3r]

Live it up. College is the best time of your entire life. Besides, the next decade of your life is going to blow after college, so enjoy it while you can.

 

[HumidBeing]

I really don't think the next decade is going to blow. I expect to have less free time, and fewer choices available to choose what to do with that time, but I don't expect it to blow.

 

[shindotp]

they don't publish journal articles about this stuff. It's the sort of thing that some people have to do to get established in a practice they've joined. They're allowed to join a prestigious practice with a great reputation, if they're willing to take tons of call at first. For a number of specialties, taking call is a way to build up your patient base. I know that this definitely applies to new lawyers in a firm, if they want to make partner.

I'd be happy with not being in a practice as prestigious and having a smaller patient base if that means I get to enjoy more time with my girlfriend/wife and sleep.

 

[Hurricane95]

You have the most free time during undergrad. Especially during senior year after you are already accepted and have your foot in the medical school door. A close second believe it or not is during the slack rotations of years 3-4 of medical school. While some like surgery and ob/gyn are notorious for horrible hours, there's always family medicine and radiology (which at our school is 2-3 hours in the morning and then you have the rest of the day off). Once step 1 is done in med school, life gets much better.

 

[Law2Doc]

they don't publish journal articles about this stuff. It's the sort of thing that some people have to do to get established in a practice they've joined. They're allowed to join a prestigious practice with a great reputation, if they're willing to take tons of call at first. For a number of specialties, taking call is a way to build up your patient base. I know that this definitely applies to new lawyers in a firm, if they want to make partner.

Definitely also applies to many new lawyers as well, although if you aren't at a big firm the situation is quite different, and at government jobs your hours can actually be quite cushy. And if you are working during times of economic hardship, where a lot of the business dried up (as we may be approaching now), you will see lots of big firm lawyers going home at 5pm. Lots of ancillary professional's hours are tied to how many deals are getting done, and in this week's economy, the answer is few. Doctors never see this cyclical effect -- people get sick and need care regardless.

In terms of physicians, I know a number of young surgical attendings who are at the hospital 100+ hours. It's very typical. At a lot of places the 80 hour cap screwed over the attendings big-time. The residents got to go home, but the workload didn't go down. So when you have a group of folks working 110 hours/week and suddenly you tell them they have to average 80, someone has to pick up the slack. And guess what -- there is no cap on attendings, so their workload went up at a lot of places.
There are folks in this thread who say they know surgeons working 50 hours, but that is likely either in some subspecialty (ENT, Optho), or the person is working part-time/semi-retired, or it's simply just an exception. The hours are higher than that. And for sure will be for the decade after residency until you get established and have a core of younger, harder working surgeons working under you. That's just the way that specialty works -- it isn't a 9 to 5 job.

 

[footballrules]

Really? That's not bad. Surgery would interest me if I hadn't heard horror tale after horror tale of 80+ hour weeks until you're 50+. I'm not willing to spend my entire life in the hospital, fair hours are required for whatever specialization I end up going into.


Footballrules:

1) Watching Sunday night football is not much of a hobby. Playing it would be - not something you could ever do if you worked 80 hour weeks.
2) Marriage is family. Divorce, because you see your wife and kids an hour per day for the rest of your life, is not.

Were you born ignorant or just plain stupid? (sorry to the MOD's...but this person needs to be put in their place)

I don't really watch Sunday night football. Friday nights are reserved for date night with my wife. I like to watch college football on saturday and the NFL on sunday. Chances are you are trolling Web forums to use up your free time.

I'm married and have a great marriage. I don't have any children right now and my wife doesn't want any children for several years yet. We both came from poor families and have had to do everything ourselves (most likley unlike you that has momy and dady paying for your school books, left over tution after FAFSA and your aunually weekend beer shots).

I did play football in high school and wanted to in college as well. But that didn't work out. So I moved on.

I'm not going to become a surgeon because I enjoying football season more. The career that I'm going into with the medical field will allow me to watch football on the weekends. Is that ok with you?

My wife already works full-time in the medical field. I get up at 6:00 am, get to work at 7:00 am (with my wife, thank you). We both usually get done at the same time. I usually eat supper with her every night. She enjoys her tv shows, spends time with her mom, and does her thing while I work my other jobs. Come the weekend, we spend a lot of time together while I work (a lot of good cuddle time while I work on the labtop) and I give her all of the attention she wants. I married an independent lady and not some softy like some chicks I dated in the past. For lunch each work day, we try to eat lunch together if we both can (usually we are able to 1 or 2 days a week....a lot of doctors where I work have their family come in for lunch if they have time to eat).

 

[SirGecko]

When you retire way off in the future.

 

[Calf]

I think the most free time I have had/am having/will have is during my year off working as a technician .

 

[HumidBeing]

Guys, let's treat each other with respect. What one person does in his free time doesn't have to interest anyone else. If it relaxes and revitalizes them, great. Those with careers in medicine lead a variety of lifestyles, and work under a variety of conditions. Those who are headed in that direction also have a variety of lifestyles and carry a variety of responsibilities along the way.

I don't know how many times I've heard people say that junior year was the worst in undergrad. I really expected this year to be a challenge. The way things have turned out, at least the first semester is proving to be the most laid back and enjoyable I've had in years.

All we can do is listen to those who have been there, and figure that is likely to be the way it will be for us. It doesn't always wind up that way. Our experiences in our education and work aren't isolated from the rest of the things going on in our lives, and none of us will be able to control all the variables.

 

[Retsage]

Were you born ignorant or just plain stupid? (sorry to the MOD's...but this person needs to be put in their place)

I don't really watch Sunday night football. Friday nights are reserved for date night with my wife. I like to watch college football on saturday and the NFL on sunday. Chances are you are trolling Web forums to use up your free time.

I'm married and have a great marriage. I don't have any children right now and my wife doesn't want any children for several years yet. We both came from poor families and have had to do everything ourselves (most likley unlike you that has momy and dady paying for your school books, left over tution after FAFSA and your aunually weekend beer shots).

I did play football in high school and wanted to in college as well. But that didn't work out. So I moved on.

I'm not going to become a surgeon because I enjoying football season more. The career that I'm going into with the medical field will allow me to watch football on the weekends. Is that ok with you?

My wife already works full-time in the medical field. I get up at 6:00 am, get to work at 7:00 am (with my wife, thank you). We both usually get done at the same time. I usually eat supper with her every night. She enjoys her tv shows, spends time with her mom, and does her thing while I work my other jobs. Come the weekend, we spend a lot of time together while I work (a lot of good cuddle time while I work on the labtop) and I give her all of the attention she wants. I married an independent lady and not some softy like some chicks I dated in the past. For lunch each work day, we try to eat lunch together if we both can (usually we are able to 1 or 2 days a week....a lot of doctors where I work have their family come in for lunch if they have time to eat).

I must tell you, I really truly do not care about your life. No offense intended, but why would I? The bottom line is rather simple, though. Eighty hours per week, plus 6-7 hours of sleep per night (42-49 -> average to 45) leaves you about 43 hours of free time per week. Add in getting ready, travel time, eating, and a myriad of errands, and you're undoubtedly down to 20-25 hours of leisure time.

Now, if that's enough for you, by all means, go ahead. I don't care. But it's not enough for me, nor for the grand majority of people in this world. I don't particularly want to do Q3 for most of my life. Nor do I want to consider eating dinner with my girlfriend/wife (let the record state that I'm a guy, the icon is just of a singer I love) a luxury. Nor being able to spend a day or two cuddling with her at home to be some sort of golden week. I'm willing to work hard - I'm not willing to sacrifice my entire life to my job, though. You, on the other hand, do a disservice to your colleagues. By allowing administrators and policy makers to believe that 80 hours a week is no big deal, you screw over the doctors around you who want to enjoy living their lives outside of the hospital.

 

[footballrules]

Guys, let's treat each other with respect. What one person does in his free time doesn't have to interest anyone else. If it relaxes and revitalizes them, great. Those with careers in medicine lead a variety of lifestyles, and work under a variety of conditions. Those who are headed in that direction also have a variety of lifestyles and carry a variety of responsibilities along the way.

I don't know how many times I've heard people say that junior year was the worst in undergrad. I really expected this year to be a challenge. The way things have turned out, at least the first semester is proving to be the most laid back and enjoyable I've had in years.

All we can do is listen to those who have been there, and figure that is likely to be the way it will be for us. It doesn't always wind up that way. Our experiences in our education and work aren't isolated from the rest of the things going on in our lives, and none of us will be able to control all the variables.

Agreed. I'm trying my best. There have only been about two times where I have had to put a person their place. Anyways.

Freshman year is a process of adjustment. The amount of stress a person goes under is different for every person.

Summer after freshman year is when you "grow" the most. Your freshman your Facebook is a big thing (updating your status hourly and daily). But come your sophomore year, you will start to only update your "status" once a week. Junior year your find Facebook to be a waste of time. Senior year you start to contemplate about doing away with your Facebook profile.

Now to get back to your summer after freshman year. Some people take a summer course, some people go back home, some people work full-time, and some people will do nothing. It all depends on your situation.

Your sophomore year is when you start to learn how college really works and the light bulb starts to come on. Now that you are past the freshman 15 and have "grown up," you start to think about what you want to do with your life. For people interested in medicine, they start to do some EC work and whatever else they chose to do.

Summer after sophomore year is when people start to do summer internships.

Junior year is when most people "start" their major focused courses. This is the time when you find out who is still a pre-med now that you are past most of the weed out classes. Your junior year is usually more focused. The amount of stress you are under and how busy you are is up to you.

Senior year is where the seperation starts (well, more of "ends"). Those that have the numbers to apply to medical school apply. People who still want a career in healthcare start to focus their time on another path. There isn't anything wrong with becoming a PA after wanting to become a doctor (I know of three people I went to school with that wanted to be doctors that are now applying for PA school because they just don't have the numbers for medical school).

After you graduate, some students will struggle to get a job with their science degree and end up going back to college or tech school (to become a radiologist and the like===nothing wrong with this...its just how the job market sucks).

Some students after they graduate you will never hear from again.

Some students will start medical school. This is the time where the "growing up" really starts.