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[Summer3867]

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[Logic Inc]

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting med school mid-August. I'll be in a different state than my boyfriend, so the way we were hoping to make it work is to visit each other over the weekends. I saw that last year at my school, M1's were randomly assigned to either the Tues or Thurs lab group. The Thursday lab would work out so much better for me, so that way I'd have more flexibility with traveling and wouldn't need to worry about being tired/underprepared for lab.

Do you think it would be reasonable to ask the professor ahead of time if he'd consider assigning me to the Thursday lab? Should I give visiting my SO as the reason, or would that seem unprofessional?

Sorry if this is a silly question- I'm not sure what to expect of the atmosphere in medical school and don't want to give a bad impression right off the bat!

Thanks so much.

1. It doesn't hurt to ask
2. Bold text = don't give that as reason

 

[Doctor-S]

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting med school mid-August. I'll be in a different state than my boyfriend, so the way we were hoping to make it work is to visit each other over the weekends. I saw that last year at my school, M1's were randomly assigned to either the Tues or Thurs lab group. The Thursday lab would work out so much better for me, so that way I'd have more flexibility with traveling and wouldn't need to worry about being tired/underprepared for lab.

Do you think it would be reasonable to ask the professor ahead of time if he'd consider assigning me to the Thursday lab? Should I give visiting my SO as the reason, or would that seem unprofessional?

Sorry if this is a silly question- I'm not sure what to expect of the atmosphere in medical school and don't want to give a bad impression right off the bat!

Thanks so much.

I, for one, would be okay with this request. No harm in asking well ahead of time. The worst thing that will happen is your prof will say "no."

In my case, you would not need to give me a reason unless you felt the "reason" was imperative to your request. Just so you know, I wouldn't be so lenient if this type of request was related to your M3 or M4 responsibilities/schedule though. So, start thinking ahead.

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting med school mid-August. I'll be in a different state than my boyfriend, so the way we were hoping to make it work is to visit each other over the weekends. I saw that last year at my school, M1's were randomly assigned to either the Tues or Thurs lab group. The Thursday lab would work out so much better for me, so that way I'd have more flexibility with traveling and wouldn't need to worry about being tired/underprepared for lab.

Do you think it would be reasonable to ask the professor ahead of time if he'd consider assigning me to the Thursday lab? Should I give visiting my SO as the reason, or would that seem unprofessional?

Sorry if this is a silly question- I'm not sure what to expect of the atmosphere in medical school and don't want to give a bad impression right off the bat!

Thanks so much.

Having run a lot of labs, I would have no problem with your request. But pay very careful attention to the caveat raised by the wise SS.

 

[vernhart]

While I would think there would be no problem with requesting this, I do worry about one of your statements here (bolded).

I sincerely hope you aren't under the belief that you'll be able to take weekends off on a regular basis and then show up for school "tired/underprepared" the following week (regardless of when your lab group meets).

Weekends in medical school are generally used for a sh*(load of studying...

Agree with this, and why would it take more than Sunday night/Monday to prepare for lab? Reviewing anatomy and reading through the dissection should only take a few hours if you are regularly studying. So to OP...no don't give that as the reason if you ask.

EDIT: I'm assuming anatomy lab...as that takes the most time to prepare for.

 

[AcademicNeurosurgery]

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting med school mid-August. I'll be in a different state than my boyfriend, so the way we were hoping to make it work is to visit each other over the weekends. I saw that last year at my school, M1's were randomly assigned to either the Tues or Thurs lab group. The Thursday lab would work out so much better for me, so that way I'd have more flexibility with traveling and wouldn't need to worry about being tired/underprepared for lab.

Do you think it would be reasonable to ask the professor ahead of time if he'd consider assigning me to the Thursday lab? Should I give visiting my SO as the reason, or would that seem unprofessional?

Sorry if this is a silly question- I'm not sure what to expect of the atmosphere in medical school and don't want to give a bad impression right off the bat!

Thanks so much.

It wouldn't hurt, just ask in a mature way - something along the lines "Dear X, I am looking forward to starting your ____ class and was wondering if students are allowed to request a specific lab day. If so, I would greatly appreciate being assigned to Thursday labs due to personal reasons. If this is not possible, I certainly understand."

I don't think it is necessary to state your exact reason. As mentioned above, however, keep in mind that your weekend trips will likely only be sustainable during M1/M2. Further, I don't know anyone who saw their long-distance SO every weekend. Most did either alternating monthly trips (classmate goes this month, SO visits the next month) or one trip for each partner per month (classmate visits the 2nd weekend of every month and SO visits the 4th weekend).

It is definitely possible to keep up a LDR but expectations should be reasonable and conservative to avoid disappointment. Best of luck!

 

[Summer3867]

Thank you all for your input! That really helps a lot.

I know it'll be hard, and I'm prepared to take on the work, including weekends. I took quite a bit of time off before deciding to go to medical school and during that time found a relationship I greatly value. We are still trying to figure out a good schedule for us that's also sustainable for the rest of the year. I want to be realistic about what I can personally handle in regards to traveling and still studying effectively. Set my self up for success so to speak.

Again, I appreciate the help 🙂

 

[ACSurgeon]

I wouldn't presume any schedule or commitments until you've actually started school and seen firsthand what you need to do to succeed. In particular I would not recommend committing to any travel plans prior to your first major exams.

Also wouldn't plan to have an out of town visitor who might have unrealistic expectations...

Until you've passed your first set of exams you should commit to nothing and assume you have to study as much as your brain can tolerate. Always better to find out you "over studied" than miss the pass cutoff. Med school is hard enough without having to dig yourself out of a hole.

 

[kb1900]

Lol my gf lives 20 blocks from me in the same city and I told her to not expect any “scheduled” availability from me until at least 4-5 weeks into ms1.

You gotta prioritize finding your groove imo THEN adding on your other commitments rather than just doing a mediocre job at everything.

Also it’s a lot easier to go from a 120% to 80% effort level in studying than the other way around (playing catch up)

 

[ortnakas]

I wouldn't presume any schedule or commitments until you've actually started school and seen firsthand what you need to do to succeed. In particular I would not recommend committing to any travel plans prior to your first major exams.

Agree with this and all of SouthernSurgeon's thoughts on the subject. The first ten weeks of medical school were the hardest for me, by far. Go ahead and ask for the schedule you want-- worst they can say is no-- but don't count having weekends free for travel. Being "tired/underprepared" will catch up to you very hard, very fast.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

Lol my gf lives 20 blocks from me in the same city and I told her to not expect any “scheduled” availability from me until at least 4-5 weeks into ms1.

You gotta prioritize finding your groove imo THEN adding on your other commitments rather than just doing a mediocre job at everything.

Also it’s a lot easier to go from a 120% to 80% effort level in studying than the other way around (playing catch up)

lol I live with my wife and I told her not to expect my availability

 

[cripplepundit]

lol I live with my wife and I told her not to expect my availability

I told my wife the same thing and she laughed in my face

 

[AMEHigh]

Thank you all for your input! That really helps a lot.

I know it'll be hard, and I'm prepared to take on the work, including weekends. I took quite a bit of time off before deciding to go to medical school and during that time found a relationship I greatly value. We are still trying to figure out a good schedule for us that's also sustainable for the rest of the year. I want to be realistic about what I can personally handle in regards to traveling and still studying effectively. Set my self up for success so to speak.

Again, I appreciate the help 🙂

I wouldn't go in to it with plans to determine a "good schedule" in mind. The name of the game is to be flexible, open minded and realistic...this is especially true for your partner.

This is coming from someone who got divorced during medical school and who is now in a very supportive relationship. We were long distance during 1 year of residency and likely will be again during fellowship and the field of medicine calls for accepting unpredictability. My SO understands if I'm too tired or don't feel like cooking, cleaning, traveling, hanging out, etc. I would set those expectations now.