Hobbies as a med student/resident/doctor?

[663697]

How many hobbies can you realistically expect to have as a med student/resident/doctor?

I was talking to a med student the other day who told me most of his free time is just dedicated to catching up on sleep. Is this true for most people?

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[yogglo]

guess its time to sell your sky strikers op

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Resident- 1.
Doctor-depends on the type of hobby and how much time you devote to work. I work a lot, and have several hobbies, one serious daily and the others sporadic. No issues.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[RangerBob]

As a Med student I felt there was plenty of time for hobbies. Except for M3 and the first part of M4, you can have a lot of free time if you’re efficient.

As a resident it depends on the specialty, and then the specific program as well. I wento into PM&R. I had plenty of time to spend with my wife, garden, work on our home, do photography, etc. My Med school classmates were shocked one day when I posted on a Facebook late in PGY4 that I worked over 13 hours one day—I hadn’t done that since intern year (most was a few 12 hr days PGY2). They weren’t shocked at how long I worked that day-they were shocked at how little I was working all the other days.

As an attending it varies. Right now my partner’s gone so I’m carrying the service. I’m on 24-7 and working 6 days/week. It’s like I’m an intern again except add the 24/7 call on top. Fortunately I get paid based on the work I do, and relief is on the way. So once they’re back I’ll have plenty of time for my hobbies again.

 

[Bacchus]

Attending here. Free most weekends. Plenty of time to bike and run. Had little difficulty training for a 13.1. Travel 2-3 times a year, sometimes more. Practice FM.

 

[xDNA]

guess its time to sell your sky strikers op

I've always played Mermail <3

 

[yogglo]

I've always played Mermail <3

I only play goat, plant, and perfect circle now

 

[xDNA]

I only play goat, plant, and perfect circle now

GOAT format I played perfect circle too, cant go wrong with it. Havent played since release of CIBR, but I still have my Mermails, Infernoids, and World Chalice decks....oh and Shaddolls/Nekroz

 

[Tenk]

Med school hobbies: video games and weight lifting.

Residency hobbies: video games, archery, and weight lifting.

My current hobbies: snowboarding, mountain biking, video games, guns, surfing, more guns, archery, and weight lifting. I could easily afford more if I wanted but I’m pretty content. Only regret is that I didn’t start snowboarding when I was younger.

Don’t let med school and residency make you think you can’t do the things you want to do. You can have a hobby or two to keep you sane, easily.

 

[663697]

Med school hobbies: video games and weight lifting.

Residency hobbies: video games, archery, and weight lifting.

How often?

 

[Tenk]

How often?

I have consistently went to the gym on average probably 4 days a week for the past 16 years with only a couple week breaks for vacation or injury. I currently go three days on, one day off, so basically 75% of days.

Anyone who can and chooses not to exercise is lazy and stupid, especially if you’re educated. It improves your ability to focus, sleep, recover, and endure in addition to the health benefits and self confidence boost. There are no excuses. I’m actually writing this from the gym at 1:30 am after a shift. Get out there.

Video games... way too damn much.

 

[xDNA]

What video games lol

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

What video games lol

Sim Ant mostly.

 

[M1i]

I have consistently went to the gym on average probably 4 days a week for the past 16 years with only a couple week breaks for vacation or injury. I currently go three days on, one day off, so basically 75% of days.

Anyone who can and chooses not to exercise is lazy and stupid, especially if you’re educated. It improves your ability to focus, sleep, recover, and endure in addition to the health benefits and self confidence boost. There are no excuses. I’m actually writing this from the gym at 1:30 am after a shift. Get out there.

Video games... way too damn much.

Can I ask your specialty

 

[Tenk]

Can I ask your specialty

EM

 

[Sagebrush]

I'm taking a wild guess I already know the answer to this, but how workable are hobbies that require a more infrequent, but larger, amount of time? E.g. being gone 5-6 days in a row a few times a year?

 

[LizzyM]

I'm taking a wild guess I already know the answer to this, but how workable are hobbies that require a more infrequent, but larger, amount of time? E.g. being gone 5-6 days in a row a few times a year?

Med students get at least that much time off per year but whether you spend it on your hobby or catching up with family, etc, would depend on your values. I do believe that residents get at least 2 weeks vacation but again, you would need to decide how you'll spend those precious weeks. Pretty much the same if you go into a job after college.

 

[Sagebrush]

Med students get at least that much time off per year but whether you spend it on your hobby or catching up with family, etc, would depend on your values. I do believe that residents get at least 2 weeks vacation but again, you would need to decide how you'll spend those precious weeks. Pretty much the same if you go into a job after college.

I have seen that most schools include structured breaks - e.g. winter break, spring break, summer break, however is it at all possible to take those 5-6 days to pursue a hobby outside of those structured breaks?

I'm thinking of competitions that have preset dates months (or years) in advance that don't coincide with scheduled course breaks!

 

[LizzyM]

I have seen that most schools include structured breaks - e.g. winter break, spring break, summer break, however is it at all possible to take those 5-6 days to pursue a hobby outside of those structured breaks?

I'm thinking of competitions that have preset dates months (or years) in advance that don't coincide with scheduled course breaks!

Well, at my school that would be an absolute non-starter. There is no way that a student would get an excused absence for 5 days for a hobby/competition outside of the scheduled breaks.

 

[Sagebrush]

Well, at my school that would be an absolute non-starter. There is no way that a student would get an excused absence for 5 days for a hobby/competition outside of the scheduled breaks.

Pretty much what I figured

 

[Tenk]

I have seen that most schools include structured breaks - e.g. winter break, spring break, summer break, however is it at all possible to take those 5-6 days to pursue a hobby outside of those structured breaks?

I'm thinking of competitions that have preset dates months (or years) in advance that don't coincide with scheduled course breaks!

Not in med school.

In residency you could. Vacation there is more like a job where you select the dates in advance.

 

[stubblesmcgee]

Im in my first year and I've found that my hobbies have changed. Before school started my primary hobbies were reading and learning languages. I haven't had room in my head for any of that anymore, so my hobbies have transitioned to video games and TV. Maybe I'll get back to it after I get a better grip on things.

 

[longhaul3]

At my med school there was a precedent for professional and/or Olympic-level athletes to take a few weeks' leave. Short of that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone sympathetic to your scheduling needs.

Edit: But there is plenty of opportunity for 1-2 consistent hobbies as long as you can work them around your clinical schedule.

 

[mimelim]

How many hobbies can you realistically expect to have as a med student/resident/doctor?

I was talking to a med student the other day who told me most of his free time is just dedicated to catching up on sleep. Is this true for most people?

There are so many factors that go into this for medical students, residents and attendings. But, the biggest determinant is the individual. Yes, specialty matters, type of practice matters, but at the end of the day, it is the individual that makes the call on how much time they are willing to spend doing different things.

By hours, I am in the most demanding specialty there is. My residency was by all accounts among the busiest. I averaged about 100 hours/week for all 7 years. While that may have been the norm years ago, most places are clamping down pretty hard at least nominally. We got much better as I became more senior in my program at taking care of each other and looking out for each other, but the first several years, there was none of that. It was pretty brutal, every week.

I had one real hobby in early residency, rock climbing. I competed in endurance competitions and trained 10-15 hours/week. I would sleep in the back of someone's car on the way to the gym, climb 40-50 routes, sleep in the car on the way back to my place, finish my note and then pass out. Then on my weekends off, I'd leave Friday night, drive through the night (8-9 hour drive), climb all day Saturday, sleep, climb all day Sunday, start the drive back and then sleep the last 4-5 hours of the car ride and arrive back in time to start work at 430am on Monday. Now, at that time I didn't sleep much more than 4-5 hours at baseline (now 5-6). But, was it doable? Yes. I took my hobby seriously and performed at a relatively high level. But, it meant sacrificing everything that wasn't my relationship with my wife to do it. I gave up a lot of other hobbies, I gave up a lot of down time/alone time and focused on that.

If I can do that in the specialty that I am and the residency that I was at, I firmly believe that you can do whatever you want. You just can't do everything. 168 hours/week that is what you get. For me it was all about pairing everything down and living my life in 15 minute increments. I forced myself to justify spending time on everything in my life and was forced to cut out many things. At times, that included SDN. Contributing here is something that I enjoy doing, so I typically find my way back eventually, but it like everything else is fungible.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I'm currently a resident.

I love photography and going to the doggy park with my Doodle (see avatar). I rarely get a chance to do this during my on-service months, and can either workout and play games at best. On off-service months, I am able to partake in these activities quite frequently. I intend to become a hospitalist in the future, and spend my weeks off doing my hobbies as well as spending time with my family and friends. I'm guessing that if you're a busy general surgeon, you'll be doing your hobbies less often versus someone who might be a dermatologist. I think it all depends. You can always find time, even if limited, to do what you're genuinely passionate about.

 

[854555]

There are so many factors that go into this for medical students, residents and attendings. But, the biggest determinant is the individual. Yes, specialty matters, type of practice matters, but at the end of the day, it is the individual that makes the call on how much time they are willing to spend doing different things.

By hours, I am in the most demanding specialty there is. My residency was by all accounts among the busiest. I averaged about 100 hours/week for all 7 years. While that may have been the norm years ago, most places are clamping down pretty hard at least nominally. We got much better as I became more senior in my program at taking care of each other and looking out for each other, but the first several years, there was none of that. It was pretty brutal, every week.

I had one real hobby in early residency, rock climbing. I competed in endurance competitions and trained 10-15 hours/week. I would sleep in the back of someone's car on the way to the gym, climb 40-50 routes, sleep in the car on the way back to my place, finish my note and then pass out. Then on my weekends off, I'd leave Friday night, drive through the night (8-9 hour drive), climb all day Saturday, sleep, climb all day Sunday, start the drive back and then sleep the last 4-5 hours of the car ride and arrive back in time to start work at 430am on Monday. Now, at that time I didn't sleep much more than 4-5 hours at baseline (now 5-6). But, was it doable? Yes. I took my hobby seriously and performed at a relatively high level. But, it meant sacrificing everything that wasn't my relationship with my wife to do it. I gave up a lot of other hobbies, I gave up a lot of down time/alone time and focused on that.

If I can do that in the specialty that I am and the residency that I was at, I firmly believe that you can do whatever you want. You just can't do everything. 168 hours/week that is what you get. For me it was all about pairing everything down and living my life in 15 minute increments. I forced myself to justify spending time on everything in my life and was forced to cut out many things. At times, that included SDN. Contributing here is something that I enjoy doing, so I typically find my way back eventually, but it like everything else is fungible.

Damn! That’s impressive!

So have you been rock climbing since you were 5?