Commuting to 3rd year rotations

[srs33]

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Hey guys

I'm going to an all year rotation site in a pretty bad part of Philly...I live about 45 minutes away ( could get up to an 1hr- 1.5 hr with traffic)

I can't really afford to buy a car + payments + rent for a place that's still about a 15-20 minute commute away from the hospital but I feel like I am going to hate myself for commuting all year.

Is commuting about 45 mins- 1.5 hours all year to rotations doable??

 

[Humabs]

Possible? Yes. Miserable? Absolutely.

From your description, sounds like I'm at the same school as you are. I did a similar core-campus program for M3, and was in the same situation as you to start (no car, couldn't afford one, no ability to get a car loan or additional financial aid for a car). I spent the first 4 months of the year relying on public transit and carpooling, but quickly learned how completely unreliable Septa is. Not even kidding, some days spent 6+ hours a day waiting for Septa, and on the bus or subway. .That's not yo mention that Septa doesn't run 24/7, if you have early mornings/late nights/weekends on your services. Got sick from the constant added stress, got so bad on Medicine and Surg I considered dropping out (and needless to say, no sympathy whatsoever from the administration).
Finally found a used car for <$2K that still ran well enough to get me around for the rest of the year. All truth though, I still spent on average 2.5-3 hours a day in my car, with rush hour traffic. At best, 40-minutes one way if I left early enough. It was absolutely miserable. I never had enough time or energy to study as much as I needed to when I got home, and was constantly stresed out by the commute alone.

Not trying to be a pessimist, but I really really wished I had gotten an honest idea of what to expect, before third year started. You really don't want that kind of added stress on top of trying to do your best on the wards, if you can help it at all. I highly, highly encourage trying to either get a car, or find housing as close as possible to your core campus. If you're at the hospital I am thinking of, there are areas nearby where students live (check out the places where lots of Temple students live) that aren't so bad.

Best of luck.

Hey guys

I'm going to an all year rotation site in a pretty bad part of Philly...I live about 45 minutes away ( could get up to an 1hr- 1.5 hr with traffic)

I can't really afford to buy a car + payments + rent for a place that's still about a 15-20 minute commute away from the hospital but I feel like I am going to hate myself for commuting all year.

Is commuting about 45 mins- 1.5 hours all year to rotations doable??

 

[GUH]

Our school has us move around a lot for rotations.
Several of my classmates had 1.5 hour one-way commutes for several rotations.
They could mostly handle it for some rotations but told me that it would not be sustainable to do for a whole year.

 

[srs33]

Possible? Yes. Miserable? Absolutely.

From your description, sounds like I'm at the same school as you are. I did a similar core-campus program for M3, and was in the same situation as you to start (no car, couldn't afford one, no ability to get a car loan or additional financial aid for a car). I spent the first 4 months of the year relying on public transit and carpooling, but quickly learned how completely unreliable Septa is. Not even kidding, some days spent 6+ hours a day waiting for Septa, and on the bus or subway. .That's not yo mention that Septa doesn't run 24/7, if you have early mornings/late nights/weekends on your services. Got sick from the constant added stress, got so bad on Medicine and Surg I considered dropping out (and needless to say, no sympathy whatsoever from the administration).
Finally found a used car for <$2K that still ran well enough to get me around for the rest of the year. All truth though, I still spent on average 2.5-3 hours a day in my car, with rush hour traffic. At best, 40-minutes one way if I left early enough. It was absolutely miserable. I never had enough time or energy to study as much as I needed to when I got home, and was constantly stresed out by the commute alone.

Not trying to be a pessimist, but I really really wished I had gotten an honest idea of what to expect, before third year started. You really don't want that kind of added stress on top of trying to do your best on the wards, if you can help it at all. I highly, highly encourage trying to either get a car, or find housing as close as possible to your core campus. If you're at the hospital I am thinking of, there are areas nearby where students live (check out the places where lots of Temple students live) that aren't so bad.

Best of luck.

Yep, same school haha. I would have a car so I wouldn't need to rely on septa. On the other hand if I was to live in the city I would have to rely on septa and not be able to get a car

Basically I either have to live in the city and ride septa or drive about an hour one way everyday

How were the hours at the hospital? Long for every rotation?

 

[Saxappeal1]

Lol and I thought my psych rotation an hour away every other week was bad haha OP that sucks

 

[ortnakas]

45 minutes seems doable. 1.5 hours doesn't.

 

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

I agree, 45 minutes isn't terrible but 1.5 hours seems ridiculous. Only one of my rotations required a 45-60 minute commute, so it was tolerable for a month. I guess I'm lucky that most of my M3 rotations were 5-25 minutes away from my apartment.

Is moving closer to the hospital totally out of the question? May have to get creative, like offering to pay gas money to a classmate who is also rotating at that hospital for the year.


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[Keona]

3rd year is exhausting without that type of commute. However you are usually getting there so early that there isn't traffic. Usually leaving around rush hour time though or later. Get audio lectures to study in the car. I liked a podcast called medicine bursts I think. Just realize you'll lose that study time and figure it how to use it. I also bought apollo audio for step 1 and listened in the car as a 3rd year once I remembered that I'd bought it, I bought step 2 at some point but can't remember when. I have a longer commute and needed to be able to relax at home at times. I also listened to study aides while I was walking to and from my car. My commute is 45 min to 1 hour in traffic 20-30 minutes door to door without traffic. So I think it's doable but I would try to get a month to month lease for this year so you can move if you have to.

 

[Humabs]

Honestly, hours weren't terrible, depending on what rotation I was on. On inpatient Med and Surg hours were like how they are everywhere (5 or 6 til they let you leave at night). On some services (Psych, one of my Med months) I was literally told to just stay home some days bc the attendings on that day didn't want to teach or bc there just wasn't enough to see. So, I mean, yeah I had my own time during those months, but really the more time you spend in the hospital the more you are going to learn, so take it for what it is.

I also recommend what another member here noted about listening to lectures/podcasts in the car, if you're spending 2-3 hours in it a day anyway. I liked Goljan and Kaplan for Step 2, and Behind the Knife for surg, off the top of my head.

QUOTE="srs33, post: 18844228, member: 556202"]Yep, same school haha. I would have a car so I wouldn't need to rely on septa. On the other hand if I was to live in the city I would have to rely on septa and not be able to get a car

Basically I either have to live in the city and ride septa or drive about an hour one way everyday

How were the hours at the hospital? Long for every rotation?[/QUOTE]