Free Time per week

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Going to be a M1 next year, just curious on average how much free time a day you have. I feel like I do hardly anything in undergrad and trying to gauge what the change will be...

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Free time? as in time not spent studying, in class, sleeping or eating?

I would probably say 5-7 hours a day...M1 here.

bed at 11..up at 630..class till 12...workout and home by 2..study till like 4 or 5...and then whatever i want to do.

 

[NTF]

Only can speak for my own experience.

In the beginning I didn't have much free time, because you're kind of adjusting to the work load, feeling out what you're expected to get out the material, and going through a trial & error process of figuring out what study habits/aids work for you. After a couple of sets of exams things got easier and I find I actually have a decent amount of free time. I tend to do better cluster studying during the week. I study like crazy for 3 days and just spot read the rest of the days. the days I'm not crazy studying I'm pretty much free aside from mandatory stuff (small group, dissection, clinical skills) which usually is only 1/2 the day.

Of course all bets are off the week before and during exams.

 

[cgscribe]

agreed with above: first couple months you study a lot because there's a lot of material and usually study habits aren't great. but after you get a routine, you can easily have 6 hours a day (until yeah, test time, then you buckle down). Enjoy it!

 

[DrYoda]

On non-test weekdays (MS1) I have about 8 hours of free time.

I agree with nontradfogie that you should go in and figure out what works with regards to you academics, and let your free time work out to whatever it works out to.

 

[deuce924]

I think if you talk to 100 people you are going to get 100 different answers. I agree with above that you have to go and figure out your study schedule will look. Some people go to class, some don't. Some study during the day, some study at night. In my personal experience, I have most afternoons to do what I want if I get my things done during the day instead of dicking off. As for 2 weeks from test week, all that goes out the window.

 

[njbmd]

Going to be a M1 next year, just curious on average how much free time a day you have. I feel like I do hardly anything in undergrad and trying to gauge what the change will be...

You are going to have between 0 and unlimited hours of free time. You can't figure out how much "free time" you are going to have until you start school and see how much time your studies will entail and how efficiently you can master your coursework. From there, you turn up or turn down the amount of time you spend on schoolwork. Pick a random number and you will either have more or less free time than that number.

 

[Nikki2002]

Going to be a M1 next year, just curious on average how much free time a day you have. I feel like I do hardly anything in undergrad and trying to gauge what the change will be...

i have time for the 3 important things: gym, tan, laundry....GTL baby

 

[NTF]

Pick a random number and you will either have more or less free time than that number.

lol.

 

[da8s0859q]

You are going to have between 0 and unlimited hours of free time. You can't figure out how much "free time" you are going to have until you start school and see how much time your studies will entail and how efficiently you can master your coursework. From there, you turn up or turn down the amount of time you spend on schoolwork. Pick a random number and you will either have more or less free time than that number.

Here's why we like our njbmd.

OP, she's right. Figure out what works for you, what you need to do for the kind of grades you want to get. It'll take a little bit of time and maybe tinkering, but from there, you'll have your answer.

FWIW: I've usually got several hours a day. I'm also not top 5% or anything, but hey.

 

[Perrotfish]

To add to what everyone above me has said, not only does it depend on how you study and what you want, but the amount of free time you have is also going to vary based on what course you were in. For me the workload has varried between genetics, where I worked around 20 hours/week of work at its worst to get 90s on the exams, and microbiology, where I worked 18 hours a day to pass the class by a single question. Just work your hardest to start with and then ease off when you realise what you need to do to meet your goals.

 

[RSAgator]

varies by school, varies by class, and varies by person. I'd say enough to do the things that are important to me and still do well in class, but not enough to do some of my other random hobbies.

 

[Forthegood]

Depends on what you want your preclinical GPA to look like. If you decide to gun, free time will be listening to lectures on your ipod while briskly walking to class. If you decide your grades are your 3rd priority (1st being sex, 2nd being anything else), then you will have as much free time as you want, minus the week before every test. Also, every class seems to have 1 or 2 kids who study MUCH less and do better than others. Maybe you will be lucky. No. Probably not.

 

[sindadel]

I don't do any med school work on the weekends - I spend those with my family. That's Friday 4 pm to Monday 10 AM. Other than that, I take off one 4 hour block a week. So what does that work out to? 45 hours of free time a week. I spend about 60 hours a week on school (including lecture and volunteering) and sleep 8 hours a night. That leaves an hour a day for transition costs. 🙂

 

[radiculopath]

Really depends on the schedule of your program. My particular school during med I/II primarily had class from 8:30-11:30. Two days a week there seemed to be an hour or two class in the afternoon.

If your program does the initial "Anatomy at the beginning thing" you will probably find yourself having to study more due to class time and lab time, plus book studying vs lab studying.


Most people in my class led pretty "normal" med I/II lives. Class, study for 2-4 hours, workout or something at some point in the day. Maybe have an afternoon class. Able to do stuff several nights a week, pursue hobbies, whatever. I personally liked biking and sleeping.

Med 3 is different story. The hours can be anywhere from normal (7/8am-5pm) to extreme (5am-10pm) depending on the service and someone's bad luck when it comes to their health. Meaning if you can go home and study for a solid hour each day, that's pretty good. You will typically have "moments" throughout the day when you need to look things up and end up covering what you would have been studying. I have been able to make time to workout at least 3 days a week regardless of the service I am on, and always go out with friends one weekend night no matter how busy I am.

 

[vinniekan]

i have time for the 3 important things: gym, tan, laundry....GTL baby

 

[OpalOnyx]

I guess it also depends on if your school has Pass/Fail, Honors/HP/P/F, or ABCF. Some schools have Pass/Fail first year where some people study hard to get the top 10% for AOA, etc. later on... but most people take it easy and just Pass (lots of free time). The people I know at letter grade (ABCF) schools have been studying like crazy since day 1.

 

[QuaerensIntelle]

My school has mandatory attendance (somewhat regulated) from 8 am till around 3 or later every day.... I'd say after studying we maybe get 3 hours of free time a night when there are no exams, which we usually spend at least an hour doing sports/working out together. I'm so jealous of the idea of having 7 hours of *free time* a night...I wish i even had that much time to study.

 

[NTF]

7 hours of *free time* a night...I wish i even had that much time to study.

Precisely why I don't understand schools with routine mandatory attendance (unless you're PBL).

 

[URHere]

I think there are three big factors in determining how much free time you will have during your pre-clinical years:

1) The structure of your school curriculum. By design, an 8-12 school will give you more free time (and flexibility) than a school with classes running from 8-6 daily.

2) Your personal background. If you are coming into medical school with a strong biomedical background, a masters degree, or a lot of direct medical experience, some things in medical school are likely to be easier for you, and you will probably log less study time as a result. There are also some people who learn and memorize new facts very quickly. If you are one of those people, you have just won the "free time" lottery. Alternately, if your good grades have always been more the result of hard work than natural ability, then you should only expect that time demand to go up in medical school.

3) Your personality and expectations. If you are the type of person to have a panic attack at the thought of not consistently staying in the top 5% of your class, then you will sacrifice your free time accordingly. You see this more often with the non pass/fail schools, but I would expect that it is a factor everywhere.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

i have time for the 3 important things: gym, tan, laundry....GTL baby

guidette

 

[MedStudBlog]

I think, it's not important how much our free time when we are in Med School. When you have enjoyed the learning process, you will know that every time is worth to learning something new.

When you talk to another people, it will help you to understand how to learn communicate with your patient. Make a nice conversation each time you meet with people, especially for people yo don't know before. It really improve your skills.

Don't just spend your time with study on text book in library or at your room.

I know, some med student will spend most of his life in books, tutorial, practical session, paper work, or exam. You can get stress immediately if you do these things every day. So take some relax with your friends.

I actually have 6-8 hours for my personal activity (it includes sleep, eat, praying-I'm muslim- and another personal activity). The key for success, is you can make good time management in your daily schedule. When you at school, focus on it. Don't do another thing that will distract you to focus.

So, when you home, you just do the rest or enjoy your free.
Thanks..

Any opinion ?

 

[NTF]

Moving to Pre-allo.

 

[Morsetlis]

Also, every class seems to have 1 or 2 kids who study MUCH less and do better than others. Maybe you will be lucky. No. Probably not.

They're called smart people.

 

[da8s0859q]

They're called smart people.

You don't get into medical school without being smart. People who make one pass through material and can consistently pull off ~90% need a different descriptor.