how do you guys do it!!

[dia009]

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i never cease to be impressed every time i log on to the forum!
how do you guys manage the time commitments????
i currently have 9 unit this summer, working 25 hours a weeks as an educational coordinator, plus errand running person at internal medicine in the med school/hospital. the title is much more impressive than my pay scale: i am officially an admin assis 1. however, i'm in charge of myself most of the time, so it's cool.
i also volunteer at a ecclectic radio stat 2 hr/week, i can't really give it up because i love the music too much and the non medical, artistic type, musicians i meet there. a 3rd thing i'm doing is that i am helping a production company with some preproduction stuff for an AWESOME feature film coming out in 2 years or so. i'm doing this because i love this project. i don't work anywhere for this. i sit on my bed and do this movie thing.
i feel so busy already! i'm always passing out on the bus home. i'm lagging behind on the movie project. i think the creative executive lady hates me right now, i'm scared to face her.....
perhaps my undergrad life is fill with a bit too much wondrous time just bumming around, so i am having a difficult time adjusting to be a normal person.

HOW DO YOU PEOPLE MANAGE!!!!

 

[TypeA]

i never cease to be impressed every time i log on to the forum!
how do you guys manage the time commitments????
i currently have 9 unit this summer, working 25 hours a weeks as an educational coordinator, plus errand running person at internal medicine in the med school/hospital. the title is much more impressive than my pay scale: i am officially an admin assis 1. however, i'm in charge of myself most of the time, so it's cool.
i also volunteer at a ecclectic radio stat 2 hr/week, i can't really give it up because i love the music too much and the non medical, artistic type, musicians i meet there. a 3rd thing i'm doing is that i am helping a production company with some preproduction stuff for an AWESOME feature film coming out in 2 years or so. i'm doing this because i love this project. i don't work anywhere for this. i sit on my bed and do this movie thing.
i feel so busy already! i'm always passing out on the bus home. i'm lagging behind on the movie project. i think the creative executive lady hates me right now, i'm scared to face her.....
perhaps my undergrad life is fill with a bit too much wondrous time just bumming around, so i am having a difficult time adjusting to be a normal person.

HOW DO YOU PEOPLE MANAGE!!!!

I am not intending to cause an argument or offend, but are you SURE that medicine is what you want? You seem to have a lot of interests and commitments that you are not willing to give up in pursuit of your goal. The worst thing (I speak from experience here) is do the work (school) half-a$$. I was you in college and my former career was in media and advertising. I worked 4 jobs in college..even though my parents paid for everything. It was because I was interested in everything. I know that I was lucky, many of my friends had to work. But, the point is...I wouldn't give any of it up to work on my real goal. Maybe it wasn't my "real goal" at the time...maybe it is not yours? I wanted it, but maybe I didn't want it any more than I wanted the rest of my interests.

Eventually, I got the rest of it out of my system. I spent 10+ successful years in TV, radio, advertising/marketing and even produced a full length documentary (among countless TV programs.) It took doing the other endeavors and not being able to get med school out of my head to recognize where the true devotion was. There is nothing wrong with a lot of interests and there is nothing wrong with medicine not being the one you ultimately choose. But, you asked how people manage it? For many it comes down to sacrifice and giving up those things that aren't a priority. If everything is a priority, then nothing is important.

Good luck.

 

[dia009]

being old simply doesn't demonstrate your commitment.
shall we all wait until 35 to decide whether we REALLY want to be a doctor?
you are you when you were in college. i am me.
my non-medical related work totals to about 5 hours a week. my medically related classes + work will total 60 hours/wk in august, not counting time needed to study.
everyone is allowed a little interest beside basic sciences classes, yes?

 

[TypeA]

being old simply doesn't demonstrate your commitment.
shall we all wait until 35 to decide whether we REALLY want to be a doctor?
you are you when you were in college. i am me.
my non-medical related work totals to about 5 hours a week. my medically related classes + work will total 60 hours/wk in august, not counting time needed to study.
everyone is allowed a little interest beside basic sciences classes, yes?

Geez. If you don't want input from non-trads...don't post in the non-trad forum. And I think you totally misread my post.

 

[Think Big]

Hey Type A, go easy on him. You probably just didn't give him the answer he wanted. Let me see if I can do better. To the OP, sounds like all you need is a good old-fashioned amphetamine habit.

Kidding, kidding...

Actually, I think Type A is right in that you probably mis-read his post. He sounds a lot like me as an undergrad. There are only so many hours in a day and when you have many interests it can be easy to take on too much. I don't think that Type A was trying to imply that you shouldn't have any interests outside of basic science, but pointing out the reality that being pre-med is a hell of a commitment. You'll find a bunch of folks here (myself included) who didn't make school a top priority as an undergrad and as a result backed themselves into a corner when it came to getting into med school. You'll also find that most people here have no regrets about pursuing other interests before medicine, and I think it's a general sentiment on these forums that doing so makes you a better doctor in the long run.

Looking back on it, even if I had been in the position to go straight from undergrad to med school, I wouldn't have been ready. I don't think Type A was saying you shouldn't ever be a doctor, but suggesting that you re-examine your interests and decide if medicine is a top priority for now. If you want to keep up with all of your outside interests (and I'd recommend it, hanging out with the pre-med crowd all the time is never a good thing😉 you may want to consider slowing down your academic life a bit, especially if you think your coursework may suffer. My biggest problem was that I worked a couple of jobs, played sports, was active in clubs and tried to carry a full load of pre-vet (I was pre-vet at the time) classes. As a result, I killed my GPA and had one hell of a hurdle to jump later on. Far better to give up a little now (or slow down your academic pace) and have a high GPA/MCAT when the time comes to apply.

If this type of advice doesn't gel with you, then git' off my porch ya damn kid! Kidding again, but us old folks tend to have a different outlook, so you may want to head over to the pre-allo boards if you're not getting the answers you're looking for.

 

[riceman04]

being old simply doesn't demonstrate your commitment.
shall we all wait until 35 to decide whether we REALLY want to be a doctor?
you are you when you were in college. i am me.
my non-medical related work totals to about 5 hours a week. my medically related classes + work will total 60 hours/wk in august, not counting time needed to study.
everyone is allowed a little interest beside basic sciences classes, yes?

True!!! But you were the one who decided to whine on this board..."woe is me!" You are over exerting yourself and at some point you have to sit down and remind yourself that you are only human and that in life you have to make difficult decisions. How about you identify what your primary goal is...once you TRULY do that then you should move forward and make the necessary changes so that you do not feel sooooooooo stressed out. I do not know where you are in terms of fulfilling the pre-reqs...buuuuuuuut they only get harder. If you feel like you can handle your load and just came on here to hear someone say "you can do it," then you wasted your time!

good luck

 

[jace's mom]

For many it comes down to sacrifice and giving up those things that aren't a priority.

I think this is very important. When my husband and I sat down to look at all of our options and decided that med school was going to be my path, I had to make some hard decisions about which activities to keep and which ones to give up. For me, the priorities became family, work, and studies. Even now, I have some activities that I know I will have to give up when I start med school so that I can have the best balance possible between school and family. Should you have to make those types of choices yet? I can't say, because I don't really know where you are in the process. But you did ask how we nontrads manage, and for me it involves single-minded determination and a realistic approach to scheduling my time.

By the way (and I realize you probably didn't mean to offend anyone with this, but still)...35 isn't old. 🙂

Good luck to you!

 

[1Path]

everyone is allowed a little interest beside basic sciences classes, yes?

Yeah, but most of us have what I call "focused" interest outside of taking classes. You have divergent interests which is OK if you're intent is to slowly get preped for applying to med school but won' t work well if you plan to apply in the next year or so.

BTW, great post, Think Big!

 

[PT2MD]

By the way (and I realize you probably didn't mean to offend anyone with this, but still)...35 isn't old. 🙂

...damn straight!

 

[saintsfan]

While studying for the MCAT I worked 60 hours a week in the ER and continued some of my volunteering. I just could not always go outwith my friends when I wanted and spent my weekends off studying in the library at the hospital. It sucks, but from what I have been told, you will have to do it in medical school. Its a means to an end.

 

[cfdavid]

i never cease to be impressed every time i log on to the forum!
how do you guys manage the time commitments????
i currently have 9 unit this summer, working 25 hours a weeks as an educational coordinator, plus errand running person at internal medicine in the med school/hospital. the title is much more impressive than my pay scale: i am officially an admin assis 1. however, i'm in charge of myself most of the time, so it's cool.
i also volunteer at a ecclectic radio stat 2 hr/week, i can't really give it up because i love the music too much and the non medical, artistic type, musicians i meet there. a 3rd thing i'm doing is that i am helping a production company with some preproduction stuff for an AWESOME feature film coming out in 2 years or so. i'm doing this because i love this project. i don't work anywhere for this. i sit on my bed and do this movie thing.
i feel so busy already! i'm always passing out on the bus home. i'm lagging behind on the movie project. i think the creative executive lady hates me right now, i'm scared to face her.....
perhaps my undergrad life is fill with a bit too much wondrous time just bumming around, so i am having a difficult time adjusting to be a normal person.

HOW DO YOU PEOPLE MANAGE!!!!

There are many regular non-trad posters that have managed some crazy schedules to get where they are. I often, perhaps like you, feel almost guilty that I really didn't have as much to juggle, which made it that much easier etc.

There are varying levels of responsibilities that people are contending with. Those with children have it the most difficult, I'd say.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, something must be cut OUT of your schedule. When you start to prioritize properly, it'll become clear what you need to do. If you're committed to med school, then everything else has to be built around that, in terms of your behavior. I say this as someone that is not married and does not have kids. Again, it becomes more dicy under those circumstances I'd imagine.

 

[GatorPhD]

OP, have you heard the saying:
``If you find your life in a ditch, you are usually holding a shovel"?

I think this applies to you. You seem very motivated and involved in many activities. THAT'S A GOOD THING. However, you may have to make some difficult choices about which to pursue and which to put on hold for a while so you don't burn out. You sound like you know what lies ahead. Keep you chin up, set your priorities, and keep chugging!

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Nasem]

I am a software engineer,
I am 25 years of age,
I work anywhere 40-45 hrs per week,
I am also a pre-med student (working on my post-bacc pre-med requirements, ya know, the once I never took in my undergrad: General chems, both Organics, both biologies)

So far, I have been going parttime to school and working fulltime to complete my pre-reqs, however, this coming fall semester, I am taking Orgo I along with Biology I (along with its lab.... ew I hate labs) AND keeping my fulltime job....

Alot of my friends think I have a death wish, I think Im well prepared lol
What my friends don't know is, I spend this entire summer (from begining of May) self learning the first 15 chapters of my organic text book (old copy from 1999, one of my professors gave it to me for free) and Campbells 7th ed Biology text book (first 15 chapters and still going, hoping to get to 25 chapters before august 27th)

So, you asked how do we do it, some of us (like my self) self learn the material before taking the class, that way, when I take the class, I don't suffer too much while working my fulltime job 🙂

 

[budhak0n]

While studying for the MCAT I worked 60 hours a week in the ER and continued some of my volunteering. I just could not always go outwith my friends when I wanted and spent my weekends off studying in the library at the hospital. It sucks, but from what I have been told, you will have to do it in medical school. Its a means to an end.

Who the heck was letting you work 60 hours a week in the ER? Weren't you afraid that you would be like, "Hello Mr Snegglededdy.... Zzzzzz.... Zzzz.. I see by your bracelet that you are Type AB rh -....... Meee meeee Meeemmee... Do you mind If I lay down in this bed next to you Mr Snegglededdy? YOu see I just got done building an arch for my friends wedding and I was in the middle of composing a complete rewrite of Beethoven's 8th symphony... his tuba and clarinet with the bassoon back up was all wrong..so I'm a little behind on my beauty sleep... Ah a Pillow... aren't those cherubs wonderful?

Sorry I guess it can be expected when dealing with Type A over achievers... But you can't blame me for having fun with it..

No offense intended..> GET SOME SLEEP!.

 

[budhak0n]

I am a software engineer,
I am 25 years of age,
I work anywhere 40-45 hrs per week,
I am also a pre-med student (working on my post-bacc pre-med requirements, ya know, the once I never took in my undergrad: General chems, both Organics, both biologies)

So far, I have been going parttime to school and working fulltime to complete my pre-reqs, however, this coming fall semester, I am taking Orgo I along with Biology I (along with its lab.... ew I hate labs) AND keeping my fulltime job....

Alot of my friends think I have a death wish, I think Im well prepared lol
What my friends don't know is, I spend this entire summer (from begining of May) self learning the first 15 chapters of my organic text book (old copy from 1999, one of my professors gave it to me for free) and Campbells 7th ed Biology text book (first 15 chapters and still going, hoping to get to 25 chapters before august 27th)

So, you asked how do we do it, some of us (like my self) self learn the material before taking the class, that way, when I take the class, I don't suffer too much while working my fulltime job 🙂

Don't sweat it Nasem.. then like me you'll run into the Undergrad Prof who doesn't even use the beautifully crafted Chapter tests in Campbells great text but instead opts to put questions about Neil Young and the Biological consequences of Hourglass Milk sharing on the tests....

ROFL -- It's so competitive nowadays, you even have undergrad profs getting into the torture chamber act. I guess it can be expected.. really what motivation does he have of helping you out ... most of them probably just think pre meds are snot nosed punks who don't know a nucleotide from the Crimson Tide....

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

One of my physics finals had an extra credit question about Neil Young on it back when I was a pre-med 🙂

 

[saintsfan]

I work 60 hours a week to support myself. It is not that I am an over-achiever. It is expensive living in this city! Not to mention just the cost of medications after insurance still adds up!