Commuting

[pashe615]

Anyone care to share any thoughts about commuting for about an hour during third year rotations? Doable?

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[chromuffin]

Anyone care to share any thoughts about commuting for about an hour during third year rotations? Doable?

I commute anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour every day for rotations depending on traffic and weather. It’s definitely doable as I am proof. But keep in mind that you lose two hours of study every day. Look into audiobooks. It will definitely help.

 

[whatisthisstuff]

Depends. Is your actual drive a legit hour? Or is it an hour door to door with traffic? Between traffic, parking, walking, and usually getting somewhere 15 minutes early an hour drive ends up being a much longer time commitment. When you are in the hospital for 12+ hours this can really suck at your study and free time. I say this as someone who commutes a good 30 minutes most days, but with traffic, parking, whatever I usually have to leave an hour before. Its doable but I wouldn't want to add much more to it. Depending on the time of day this can be very variable to.

 

[Crayola227]

sounds like a total disaster, especially for inpt rotations, and surgery

I lived 5 min from my surgery site, on one of our "cushier" teams, and consistently got 4-6 hours of sleep

 

[CajunMedic]

I did, 49.9 miles, 1 hour door-to-door. Lost a couple of hours of study each day.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Had to commute for a couple of rotations. It sucked. Waking up at 430 to get there for 6 (6 days a week) was just not a whole lot of fun. Could certainly have used the two extra hours in my day for much more productive things -- though I'm someone who tries to avoid commutes at all cost. Really depends on the schedule of that specific rotation, though.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I did it through all 4 years of medical school and my commute was 45 minutes to 1 hour one-way. It was doable for me because a) I was living at my parent's house so I was happy I was saving money, b) I enjoy driving, c) I had a nice collection of podcasts/music to listen to, and d) I had enough time budgeted toward studying.

The key is being able to budget your time wisely.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

did a one-hour each way commute for my surgery, OBGYN, and inpatient FM rotations. doable but don't recommend it at all.

 

[ortnakas]

Agree with everyone else. Possible but far from ideal.

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Very do-able for 4th year rotations since most of them are office-based and you dont need to show up until 9am and can leave by 4pm or 5pm.

3rd year is pretty tough considering the brutal hours of some rotations (surgery, OB, IM, etc). The audio books idea is good for the morning commute, but the afternoon commute you're so burnt out you just wanna listen to something musical or funny on your way home --- some of those SiriusXM comedy channels are pretty cool

 

[deleted480308]

I do it and it sucks hard, what’s your situation that makes you consider it?

 

[Dares Dareson]

There's no way I could have done this on surgery or OB. What a nightmare. Are you just doing this to save money? Or are you financially unable to find an apartment that's closer?

If you're just doing it because you're thrifty or cheap, you definitely need to reconsider. You don't get the chance to do third year over. You want to do the best you can. The next 30-40 years of your career are riding on it. For me, that's not worth saving $500 a month on an apartment or whatever.

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

If you're just doing it because you're thrifty or cheap, you definitely need to reconsider. You don't get the chance to do third year over. You want to do the best you can. The next 30-40 years of your career are riding on it. For me, that's not worth saving $500 a month on an apartment or whatever.

I'd have to agree. Saving a few thousand dollars during 3rd year by living at the parents' house might seem like a good idea, but not if it causes two hours of sleep lost every day and feeling extra miserable by the time you arrive to your clerkship in the morning, which is hard enough as it is even if you live across the street from the hospital.

Besides, there are going to be some days when you are arriving late to a rotation site because of bad weather or traffic and residents/attendings wont be happy about that. Excuses are for high school crybabies and not med students who are supposed to be high-achieving people who don't use excuses in life.

 

[BGDino]

Urrrrgh I had to do a commute of that length by car for 6th year 8 week obgyn term (Aussie, undergrad med) and it was NOT fun. I basically didn’t study because I was so tired which I understand is definitely NOT an option for you guys Stateside. Obviously YMMV but bear in mind if this reduces your choice of training later on you’ll regret it.

 

[Reveler]

Obviously, whether or not its doable is dependent on several factors that many of the posters have already covered. It may not be easy for time/labor-intensive clerkships, but may be ok for outpatient or those settings where your hours are easy and well-established (M-F 8-5, etc.).

That being said, I did an inpatient IM rotation at one of our 'rural' sites that was 1 hour door-to-door and the commute didn't bother me. Monday-Saturday 7-7. I just drank coffee and listened to podcasts on the drive so it was manageable. I also did an EM rotation w/ 8 hr shifts & 1 hr commute that wasn't bad either. But I also don't mind driving. So there's that.

 

[mihamom]

be careful driving home after those overnights!

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

be careful driving home after those overnights!

100% truth --- I can remember getting done with some brutal shifts on gen surg and OB rotations where I literally fell asleep 2 minutes after my head hit the pillow. I couldnt imagine driving an hour or more after those types of days!

 

[BGDino]

I commute an hour and a half by car each way to work now. It’s not great. And I’m post exams so not having to factor in study time. Have started keeping hard candy in the car to help with not falling asleep while driving