How far would you drive?

[TLPRRT]

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How far would you drive to med school? I am faced with a situation that when the time comes the closest med school is 2-3 hours away one way. Do you think it's crazy to spend that much time on the road?

 

[DrYoda]

You can't move?

2-3hrs sounds a bit crazy to me. It may be doable if you don't need to be on campus much M1&2. But M3 work hours plus 4-6 hours/day of driving doesn't sound feasable.

 

[Physicsisphun]

Can you get an apartment/room closer to school?

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

2-3 hrs each way? ridiculous.

even 2-3 total: that's valuable study time.

you gotta move.

 

[Stewie32]

I agree with everyone else; that's a lot of time to be spending on the road. If the lectures are online and you weren't required to come to campus often, you could possibly spend the first two years that far away. As Dr. Yoda said, years 3 and 4 would more or less be impossible.

 

[Wermz]

i dont even get it... you're not talking about 2-3 hours as a daily thing, right? But what else matters besides daily drive?

if you're talking about just driving home to visit all the time or something, 2-3 hours is nothin. could easily do that once a week if you miss mama that much

 

[Wermz]

2-3 hours a day is absurd. it would cut into your study time, like ppl said, then studying would cut into your sleep time, and driving tired sucks balls. if you srsly are asking about driving 2-3 hours as a daily thing, man, ur hella crazy son get it together

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Might as well add an extra hour by taking public transportation. At least with this way, you'll be able to study. 😉

 

[LizzyM]

Assuming good gas miliage and highway driving, the cost of that much driving could run about $25/day or more. Plus, 4-6 hours of sitting in a car every day is very hard on the body and cuts into the time you have for other activities that are necessary for your well-being. It may be essential that you relocate for med school and very likely that you will relocate again for residency training.

I had a 30 minute commute in grad school (country roads & city driving) and I enjoyed it but anything more that that would have been a slog.

 

[McBatCommander]

Imagine asking this question to the people who's lives you may potentially save.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Imagine asking this question to the people who's lives you may potentially save.

Wat?

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

Wat?

i like the Aquabats, so i'll clarify.

i think what the Bat Commander is saying (rather poorly) is that you should "give it your all" to be successful in med school because of the impact you can have as a physician. basically, the cost of the commute and hours spent driving are nothing compared with the benefit of saving lives.

there may be considerable value to this way of thinking, but it doesn't matter here though, because moving and having a negligible commute is the better option.

 

[McBatCommander]

i like the Aquabats, so i'll clarify.

i think what the Bat Commander is saying (rather poorly) is that you should "give it your all" to be successful in med school because of the impact you can have as a physician. basically, the cost of the commute and hours spent driving are nothing compared with the benefit of saving lives.

there may be considerable value to this way of thinking, but it doesn't matter here though, because moving and having a negligible commute is the better option.

Pretty much. Though I was being very blunt and general, if you were to really think about it, the specialty you choose down the road may be impacted as far as a few patients lives saved by your choosing.

i.e. do it. Do anything you can to get into this field, man. I'd do it if I were in your position.

 

[Barcu]

How far would you drive to med school? I am faced with a situation that when the time comes the closest med school is 2-3 hours away one way. Do you think it's crazy to spend that much time on the road?

If you spent that much time driving each day, on top of everything else you have to do as a med student, you would probably just drive off a cliff one day.

 

[45408]

I wouldn't drive more than 15-20 minutes. When you stay until 10pm and have to be back at 6am for some rotations, you want to be sleeping as much of that time as possible.

 

[Juneilow]

That is insanity. My undergraduate university was 2 1/2 hours away from my house, and there was one week in my senior year when I made the commute every day to see a family member who was ill. A week was enough, even when (1) I had very good reason, and (2) my classes that week weren't particularly taxing. You may be able to count on (1) for med school, but not (2).

 

[mvenus929]

I would maybe do an hour commute. Maybe. Even that would be pushing it, though, and I'd really only do it if I didn't have to go to school everyday.

 

[orthomyxo]

That's ridiculous. What if you ever had to be on campus for something at an early time? You gonna leave your house at 5 AM to be there by 8? Dude, just move.

 

[235009]

WAY too far. you're setting yourself up for failure. That's 4-6 hours of active commuting. If you were taking public transport maybe it would be worth considering since you can study on the way but since you're driving that time is completely lost and you will be too exhausted to do anything when you get home.

Imagine asking this question to the people who's lives you may potentially save.

i.e. do it. Do anything you can to get into this field, man. I'd do it if I were in your position.

such dumb naive "advice". i'm not even going to dignify it with a response because no one should be taking this seriously

 

[gravitywave]

OP, why can't you move? there must be some reason that you are even considering it, because you knew already that it was going to be a less than perfect situation.

and, what if you don't get into that closest school? what if your only options are hundreds of miles away?

 

[Ischemic]

The only thing I have to say regarding this 2-3 hour daily drive is that it's idiotic. What are you to gain by staying that far and not moving? Your mom's home cooking? Not doing laundry? Saving a modicum amount of money? You can always re-earn money but you can't make back time you've lost.

 

[Electronegative]

Are there specific reasons you want to live so far from the campus?

 

[ChocolateCandy]

That much driving is insane.
It took me about 1,5 hours to get to my high school (by public transport) and it was annoying enough. I cannot imagine spending twice as much (especially that when I used a bus/subway, I was able to study/sleep there)!

I mean, your options depend on the reason why you need to stay where you are, but a 3hr commute is just ridiculous...

 

[hoot504]

It's ridiculous that this topic has generated so many responses. Driving 4-6 hours a day is totally absurd.

/End thread

 

[FruitfulDynamit]

Most people choose to commute to save money; however, in your case between gas/tolls/wear and tear on your car you could EASILY pay for a small apartment. Finding a roommate makes it even cheaper to live closer to school. I'm in med school now and my commute is 5 minutes and it's great. I would say don't drive more than 30 minutes each way.

 

[gravitywave]

some of us are so fascinated by the thought that OP was even considering such a thing, that we are hoping s/he returns with some juicy backstory details

but you're right, it could very well have been wholely motivated by laundry concerns....

 

[jace's mom]

I drove an hour each way to med school for the first two years, and it was fine. Now that I'm in third year, the amount of driving time I do depends on the rotation assignment. I'm currently driving ~2 hrs each way (a little less if the traffic's good) for a surgery rotation, and it's not too bad, but it's only for a month. I wouldn't want to do it for longer than that, and I LIKE to drive. Maybe if you have a reason to stay where you are, you could work out an arrangement to stay with someone a few times a week (pay part of the bills, etc)? That way you could still go home every few days, but give yourself a break from having to manage the drive every day.

 

[modsar]

I was just accepted to a school that is 4 hours away from where I live. I plan on renting a room or studio appartment during the week and returning home on the weekend for the first two years. I will likely take the greyhound or other bus company so that I can study on my way home/to school.

There are a few other schools that I am looking at between 2 and 3 hours away from home. I would probably rent an appartment/room if it was more than one hour away.

Hope that helps! Good luck

 

[MiCasaMD]

OP, Your question left me speechless. How did you get into med school? That is the bigger question. 4 to 6 hrs on the road daily? LOL

 

[JJMrK]

It might be possible the first two years, but you'd be miserable. You probably wouldn't have time for anything but driving, sitting in class, and studying, which is a really good way to go nuts.

 

[accidentprone]

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet but is important is that after a long shift during an exhausting week you may not be in much shape to drive for several hours.