Hobbies for Med Students

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Anyone have a good hobby/pastime that fits well with med school's time and financial commitments?

I'm a big fan of DIY/outdoorsy type stuff but have had trouble keeping up with those hobbies now that I'm a med student. When I was in undergrad I had managed to finagle myself into a position where I had access to a full wood shop and a $5,000/semester budget to spend on any DIY projects I saw fit. Also lived a short drive from lots of good hiking and mountain biking.

Now I live in a high rise in the city, and am also pretty darn broke. Anyone have any suggestions?

Ps: so far I've tried cooking (nearly burned my building down), fishing (just ended up getting drunk on a boat), and training my cats (went as expected).

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[PrettyLadyDoc24]

I've become a big fan of Wine and Painting nights. Will probably run you about $30-40 a pop, but it's relaxing and you get a painting when you're done.

 

[VincentAdultman]

I hope mayonnaise is a hobby.

 

[Osteoth]

Studying...

 

[WhiteCoatWonder]

Anyone have a good hobby/pastime that fits well with med school's time and financial commitments?

I'm a big fan of DIY/outdoorsy type stuff but have had trouble keeping up with those hobbies now that I'm a med student. When I was in undergrad I had managed to finagle myself into a position where I had access to a full wood shop and a $5,000/semester budget to spend on any DIY projects I saw fit. Also lived a short drive from lots of good hiking and mountain biking.

Now I live in a high rise in the city, and am also pretty darn broke. Anyone have any suggestions?

Ps: so far I've tried cooking (nearly burned my building down), fishing (just ended up getting drunk on a boat), and training my cats (went as expected).

a couple of my classmates continued to travel, build websites, flip houses and participate in iron man (iron woman? she was a girl) competitions for the last few years. so maybe you can find a way to get away and still do those things you mentioned on a smaller scale?

i think the trend seems to be using downtime/hobbytime for something that doubles as an outlet as opposed to something that can completely take over, as medical school tends to be quite the jealous mistress.

 

[Rhabdoviridae]

I used to like to travel but don't really have time now.
My current hobbies include shooting guns, skiing (in winter), gambling, and hiking/camping. I guess it depends on where you live as outdoor type activities are much more accessible in the West.

 

[mistafab]

Running, weightlifting, music, video games, concerts (depends on budget here), and reading are all pretty low-budget options to have lots of fun. Running and weightlifting especially since it is so cheap and has good overall aesthetics bonus from the hobby.

 

[VincentAdultman]

The gym was big for me in med school. Also got into yoga which was....unexpected.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Gym! Healthy AND functional.

 

[SailorHg]

I've been doing an adult gymnastics class. Jumping on a trampoline is the best stress-reliever!

 

[Money4MyHoney]

Netflix

 

[CharlieBillings]

.

 

[intubesteak]

I still fish and hunt a lot, and it takes an hour drive to get anywhere decent. Perfect thing to do on a Friday afternoon when you're realistically not going to be very productive with studying.

 

[Groy]

I've found that the best hobbies in med school are the ones you don't need to dedicate tons of time to, and don't have a continuous nature to them. These include things that you can dedicate 15 minutes to, instead of needing to set aside 3-4 hours. For example, when it comes to watching TV/netflix, watching episodes of a show where each episode can stand alone and isn't part of a continuous story, so that you can get away with only watching one episode.

I personally like to play backgammon, play guitar, read the news, watch an episode of Seinfeld, etc. None require that much time or money to do.

 

[Jojos]

working out, reading a whole lot more (not medicine), painting and or drawing, guitar or any other instrument, coding, blogging, learning new languages. the possibilities are endless. check out skillshare.

 

[ortnakas]

Netflix (legit said this in an interview when asked what I do for fun and I drew a blank)
Exploring new neighborhoods in this urban area
Running/jogging
Reading (for fun)
DuoLingo-- try to teach yourself a language in 5 minutes per day
Yoga/Pilates/etc-- there's videos if you don't want to pay for classes
Cooking/baking -- you'll get better
Drawing if you're good at art, coloring if you're not
Knitting
Napping

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Playing an instrument. Guitar and drums here.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I spend my free time wishing I went to PA school...

 

[docbsb2015]

Golf... you're going to be a doctor for God's sake

 

[Aerus]

I still sing and work out, which are very time flexible hobbies.

 

[Crayola227]

masturbation

that is, if you can find the love for yourself after seeing your last exam score

 

[Coupd'Cat]

Wandering around the city. Art. Photography. Learning an instrument. Meditation (check out Headspace).

A few of my friends have taken weekly evening Spanish classes for adult learners for pretty cheap ($10-$20)/week.
My roommate took up roller derby and boxing during second year.

Horticulture.

I would love to learn skate dancing, but who knew that roller skates could cost so much.

 

[68PGunner]

I tried to sneak in a few FAP sessions here and there after a few hrs of UFAPS.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I build furniture. It's not too expensive to do once you have the tools, and you can spread it out over weeks if you want by just doing an hour a day. I just built a new dining room table and bench, and it was very rewarding. I'm building a desk next.

 

[WingedOx]

Golf... you're going to be a doctor for God's sake

I went to the driving range for the first time in about 4 years yesterday on my day off.

It was a nice reminder of why it's nice to live in a dense urban area where there's no social expectation of having to play golf.

 

[Stagg737]

Golf... you're going to be a doctor for God's sake

I was going to give this a like, but I thought the only like you had was too appropriate to ruin it.

 

[Dr. Janitor]

If Step 1 isn't your hobby, then....

 

[mcloaf]

Brewing beer only really takes about a half day every 3-4 weeks. Can be difficult tho depending on space and necessary equipment costs.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I spend my free time wishing I went to PA school...

I'd be so much closer to the finish line....

 

[takeurmeds02]

Anyone have a good hobby/pastime that fits well with med school's time and financial commitments?

I'm a big fan of DIY/outdoorsy type stuff but have had trouble keeping up with those hobbies now that I'm a med student. When I was in undergrad I had managed to finagle myself into a position where I had access to a full wood shop and a $5,000/semester budget to spend on any DIY projects I saw fit. Also lived a short drive from lots of good hiking and mountain biking.

Now I live in a high rise in the city, and am also pretty darn broke. Anyone have any suggestions?

Ps: so far I've tried cooking (nearly burned my building down), fishing (just ended up getting drunk on a boat), and training my cats (went as expected).

I think if I had car, it would be easier to find things to do outside of High Rise Town....

 

[ConspecificPlasma]

/

 

[Coupd'Cat]

I build furniture. It's not too expensive to do once you have the tools, and you can spread it out over weeks if you want by just doing an hour a day. I just built a new dining room table and bench, and it was very rewarding. I'm building a desk next.

How did you first start learning about furniture building? I'd love to get into it one day.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

How did you first start learning about furniture building? I'd love to get into it one day.

It's great. My wife saw a dining room table she really liked that costs $1000 in the store. She saw it on Pinterest that someone had built one and asked if I thought I could do it. I thought it would be fun to try, since I had never worked with wood or any of the tools. It's very rewarding. I'm drawing up plans for my next piece, and I've gotten requests to build tables for people lol.

 

[Coupd'Cat]

It's great. My wife saw a dining room table she really liked that costs $1000 in the store. She saw it on Pinterest that someone had built one and asked if I thought I could do it. I thought it would be fun to try, since I had never worked with wood or any of the tools. It's very rewarding. I'm drawing up plans for my next piece, and I've gotten requests to build tables for people lol.

That's great, man!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

That's great, man!

The wood, paint, stain, etc. cost me about $300, so I built it for less than a third of the price. Heck of a deal if you ask me!

 

[wholeheartedly]

The wood, paint, stain, etc. cost me about $300, so I built it for less than a third of the price. Heck of a deal if you ask me!

hours of labor?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

hours of labor?

I took probably around 10-12 hours of active work, but the paint, stain, and poly have dry/cure times that add to that. If I made another one, I could probably do it over 3 days start to finish including dry/cure times.