How many hours do med students study per day?

Started by mariposas905
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Med students: What is the typical # of hours you study per day?

  • Hardly 30min-2hrs (you can cram before test week)

  • 3-5 hours

  • 6-8 hours

  • Practically the whole day b/c I live in the library (aka 8+ hours)

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mariposas905

mariposas905

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Is it possible to study just 4 hours every day (aside from class) and still do well in med school?

I work best when I balance studying in short intervals of time every day. But I don't know if this is possible in med school. I have a friend who studies 8-10hrs. a day and this person is someone who scored 520 on his MCAT 😕 Is that much of time really necessary??
 
A lot. Before I went to medical school I heard a lot of people say, "Oh, you can just treat it like an 8-5 job, do all of your studying in the day, and then relax in the evening." Perhaps I'm just not as smart as the average medical student, but if I did this I would definitely fail out. I probably study around six hours per day (not including things like watching lectures, attending small group workshops, research, etc. which also take a lot of time). During exam week all bets are off. You can still absolutely have a life outside of medical school and there's a good amount of down-time but it's a lot of work.
 
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bananafish94 said:
A lot. Before I went to medical school I heard a lot of people say, "Oh, you can just treat it like an 8-5 job, do all of your studying in the day, and then relax in the evening." Perhaps I'm just not as smart as the average medical student, but if I did this I would definitely fail out. I probably study around six hours per day (not including things like watching lectures, attending small group workshops, research, etc. which also take a lot of time). During exam week all bets are off. You can still absolutely have a life outside of medical school and there's a good amount of down-time but it's a lot of work.
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wow, that's a lot of time though...You wake up at 6 or 7am, get ready for an hour, go to lecture, lunch, and then six hours of studying, dinner, sleep. Your day is practically over! When do you get this down-time you're talking about?
 
bananafish94 said:
A lot. Before I went to medical school I heard a lot of people say, "Oh, you can just treat it like an 8-5 job, do all of your studying in the day, and then relax in the evening." Perhaps I'm just not as smart as the average medical student, but if I did this I would definitely fail out. I probably study around six hours per day (not including things like watching lectures, attending small group workshops, research, etc. which also take a lot of time). During exam week all bets are off. You can still absolutely have a life outside of medical school and there's a good amount of down-time but it's a lot of work.
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How much did you study as an undergrad?
 
PreMedMissteps said:
Just a guess, but I would imagine that one difference might be class attendance. Watching a recorded lecture later could count as study time, but actually attending the lecture wouldn't.
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Yeah, I wasn't counting the class attendance. I'm wondering if 4 hrs/day aside from lectures, workshops, etc. of alone, quality study time a day is enough to survive medical school. The way I see it, a student could wake up early in the morning, study a solid two hours, go to class and then study a solid two hours in the evening and have the rest of the day to relax. If this is consistently done, I hope it would be enough...
 
It will vary from student to student and school to school. At Hofstra, we generally have class from 8-12 (it's a little longer for the first few weeks b/c of the EMT curriculum we go through) and afternoon lab sessions and the rest of the time is pretty open. Granted, it's only my first week, and the workload isn't tremendous, I currently spend about 3-4 hours/day doing readings and reviewing concepts. It will probably be closer to 5-6 hours as the years progress and maybe more during exam week. But everyone kind of figures out their studying habits/techniques. Do what works best for you. And remember to take a break, go to the gym, hang out with friends, and relax from time to time.
 
mariposas905 said:
wow, that's a lot of time though...You wake up at 6 or 7am, get ready for an hour, go to lecture, lunch, and then six hours of studying, dinner, sleep. Your day is practically over! When do you get this down-time you're talking about?
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I usually have at least a couple of hours of free time in the evening when I'm done studying, and the weekends aren't bad at all if you get your work done in the morning/early afternoon. Also, we're on an organ-system curriculum so the first week is generally pretty light and progressively ramps up until the final exam.
 
Inspired Chaos said:
How much did you study as an undergrad?
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I studied a lot in undergrad but in retrospect was pretty inefficient with my studying and frankly led a pretty unhealthy life, often coming back from the library at absurd hours of the morning. I was extremely involved on campus and struggled to find a good balance between extracurriculars/work and academics.
 
PreMedMissteps said:
Just a guess, but I would imagine that one difference might be class attendance. Watching a recorded lecture later could count as study time, but actually attending the lecture wouldn't.
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Don't go to a med school with mandatory attendance. Most would agree that it's a waste of time. You can get through lectures 2-3 times as fast at home than at school where you have to get ready, travel to class, not be able to fast forward or rewind the lecture, not be able to skip breaks, being social, etc.
 
The first choice is the WORST thing you can do for yourself. Cramming does not work and you'll only stab yourself in the foot.

SOURCE: I messed up. However, I passed all my first year courses.

You're in med school, you study a lot and you'll always feel behind. Free time is at your discretion and you'll know better than anyone when it is an appropriate time for you to do it. Sometimes, you just can't study anymore and you need a break.. you'll figure it out once you start. No two students are the same.
 
I would say that 8-10 hours a day are dedicated to medical school, so that includes watching lecture, reviewing lectures, mandatory events, etc. It's really not that bad, you just do what you have to do and make time for the things that are important to you.
 
I'm curious. How do people manage to do well in medical school by studying a lot for classes on top of doing other things like research and volunteering? The more competitive specialties require significant/productive research and classes/workload will only get harder after first year. Do people really study for 8-10 hours per day on classes alone?
 
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Lawpy said:
I'm curious. How do people manage to do well in medical school by studying a lot for classes on top of doing other things like research and volunteering? The more competitive specialties require significant/productive research and classes/workload will only get harder after first year. Do people really study for 8-10 hours per day on classes alone?
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8-10 hours per day is excessive except for maybe a few days before the exam. You would definitely see diminishing returns at that point. Research is not necessarily super time intensive, depending on your project. Things like chart reviews and case reports don't take that much time. Some of my classmates do bench research which I think is insane because of how long it takes, but more power to them! Also, you have the summer between M1 and M2 to completely devote to research if you so choose. Volunteering isn't that huge a time commitment either. Every couple weeks I do 2-3 hours at a clinic and random opportunities as they arise (teaching anatomy to high schoolers, health fairs, etc.) but some people do a lot more.
 
kbac13 said:
It will vary from student to student and school to school. At Hofstra, we generally have class from 8-12 (it's a little longer for the first few weeks b/c of the EMT curriculum we go through) and afternoon lab sessions and the rest of the time is pretty open. Granted, it's only my first week, and the workload isn't tremendous, I currently spend about 3-4 hours/day doing readings and reviewing concepts. It will probably be closer to 5-6 hours as the years progress and maybe more during exam week. But everyone kind of figures out their studying habits/techniques. Do what works best for you. And remember to take a break, go to the gym, hang out with friends, and relax from time to time.
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Is the EMT curriculum required for pple who are already EMT certified?
 
Lawpy said:
I'm curious. How do people manage to do well in medical school by studying a lot for classes on top of doing other things like research and volunteering? The more competitive specialties require significant/productive research and classes/workload will only get harder after first year. Do people really study for 8-10 hours per day on classes alone?
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Well, 8 hours of sleep+8 hours of studying leaves 8 hours every day to do other stuff. That's plenty of time to do research/volunteer! Although most people don't do research during the school year.
 
It all depends on how efficiently you study. There are parts of your curriculum that will just be pure memorization and some conceptual. My efficiency greatly improved once I converted to the gospel of Anki. I have a 45 minute train commute each day, so I use that time to typically do about 60 cards. For the heavier conceptual issues, those take longer. Even though it's more of a clerkship/residency concept, I apply the see one, do one, teach one method to my studying. I read the syllabus/go to lecture to learn the concept, create my own flashcards (not cut and paste, but actual cloze statements) to do one, and twice a week have a study/review group where we go over concepts others may not have down pat to teach one.

Unlike @bananafish94 I do treat it like a 9-5 because I have a family and came from a private sector career. I may cruise through some Anki cards while my wife is watch Fear the Walking Dead, but for the most part I compartmentalize school and the rest of my life.
 
CyrilFiggis said:
It all depends on how efficiently you study. There are parts of your curriculum that will just be pure memorization and some conceptual. My efficiency greatly improved once I converted to the gospel of Anki. I have a 45 minute train commute each day, so I use that time to typically do about 60 cards. For the heavier conceptual issues, those take longer. Even though it's more of a clerkship/residency concept, I apply the see one, do one, teach one method to my studying. I read the syllabus/go to lecture to learn the concept, create my own flashcards (not cut and paste, but actual cloze statements) to do one, and twice a week have a study/review group where we go over concepts others may not have down pat to teach one.

Unlike @bananafish94 I do treat it like a 9-5 because I have a family and came from a private sector career. I may cruise through some Anki cards while my wife is watch Fear the Walking Dead, but for the most part I compartmentalize school and the rest of my life.
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Agreed on the Anki! And that sounds like a very admirable balance between many responsibilities.
 
I would study at least 3 hours per day on weekdays and at least 6 hours on weekends. They say study smart not hard and I would agree. It is a waste of time if you spend the 3 hours of studying focusing on the minute details and meticulously going through the textbook. Study as much as you can and when you realize that you are not retaining the material, go take a break, do something not related to medical school. Those who spend 12 hrs in the library have stronger minds than me, but for me, I rather keep my sanity in check and spend sometime for my sake.
 
kbac13 said:
I believe so. They will just get re-certified as a NYS EMT. Classes are mandatory, so they can't really get of that.
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Why do you guys have to be EMTs? I'm an EMT and my class was like 90% "This is how you don't get sued". I would be pretty upset if that took away from actual med school stuff.
 
Lannister said:
I would say that 8-10 hours a day are dedicated to medical school, so that includes watching lecture, reviewing lectures, mandatory events, etc. It's really not that bad, you just do what you have to do and make time for the things that are important to you.
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Not my school, which most days run 8am-4pm. A 12 hour study day (on the weekday) including all the stuff mentioned in your post would be considered the norm at my school. It was ridiculously taxing I have to say, but my school isn't the norm...
 
IslandStyle808 said:
Not my school, which most days run 8am-4pm. A 12 hour study day (on the weekday) including all the stuff mentioned in your post would be considered the norm at my school. It was ridiculously taxing I have to say, but my school isn't the norm...
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Dude that sucks 🙁 We only have non-mandatory lectures from 8am-12pm. Although we do have an exam every two weeks so we can't really take weekends off, unfortunately.
 
fouracle said:
Why does attending class result in more studying time than just streaming lecture?
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You have to get ready for class, travel to school, sit and wait for the lecturer to start, you are forced to sit through any breaks twiddling your thumbs, you have to socialize if you see people you know (even small interactions like shaking hands or saying hello), you can't watch at a faster speed, or re-watch something for clarification. Also, just being at school is draining in itself. The list goes on and on. At home you can wake up and start watching the lecture immediately in your underwear.
 
Lannister said:
Dude that sucks 🙁 We only have non-mandatory lectures from 8am-12pm. Although we do have an exam every two weeks so we can't really take weekends off, unfortunately.
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Same, we also have exams every two weeks. However, we're lucky in the sense that all of our exams are on Fridays and we have that weekend off. So the one good caveat of our curriculum.
 
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P0ke said:
You have to get ready for class, travel to school, sit and wait for the lecturer to start, you are forced to sit through any breaks twiddling your thumbs, you have to socialize if you see people you know (even small interactions like shaking hands or saying hello), you can't watch at a faster speed, or re-watch something for clarification. Also, just being at school is draining in itself. The list goes on and on. At home you can wake up and start watching the lecture immediately in your underwear.
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true true haha
 
IslandStyle808 said:
Not my school, which most days run 8am-4pm. A 12 hour study day (on the weekday) including all the stuff mentioned in your post would be considered the norm at my school. It was ridiculously taxing I have to say, but my school isn't the norm...
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May I ask what school?
 
CyrilFiggis said:
What a terrible strain on your day....
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I myself am an introvert. I recharge with alone time and am drained by social situations. Not everyone is an extrovert. Not all doctors are extroverts. Not everyone is like ourselves, and I'd hope that's something that a good medical school curriculum encourages future doctors to embrace instead of mock people different from themselves.

On most days I'd rather just study nonstop by myself without talking to anybody.

Here's a picture summing up introverts vs extroverts.
388388c6c24dfbcf4377a0903cd01c17.jpg
 
P0ke said:
I myself am an introvert. I recharge with alone time and am drained by social situations. Not everyone is an extrovert. Not all doctors are extroverts. Not everyone is like ourselves, and I'd hope that's something that a good medical school curriculum encourages future doctors to embrace instead of mock people different from themselves.

On most days I'd rather just study nonstop by myself without talking to anybody.

Here's a picture summing up introverts vs extroverts.
Click to expand...

Oh please you can bring yourself to say hi to someone, it's really not that hard.
 
sliceofbread136 said:
Oh please you can bring yourself to say hi to someone, it's really not that hard.
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Saying hi leads to conversations which eat up time and energy. I can do it if I have to, but if I don't have to, I'm more comfortable sitting at home studying alone.
Please be open to the fact that not everyone is wired the same as you.
"You work in a completely functional matter that doesn't affect other people nor myself at all... oh please, just do what I do instead"
 
P0ke said:
Saying hi leads to conversations which eat up time and energy. I can do it if I have to, but if I don't have to, I'm more comfortable sitting at home studying alone.
Please be open to the fact that not everyone is wired the same as you.
"You work in a completely functional matter that doesn't affect other people nor myself at all... oh please, just do what I do instead"
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You say hi sorry I have to go study. You are not going to get any sympathy from me with this ridiculous victim card you are playing. It's time to grow up and grow a pair
 
sliceofbread136 said:
You say hi sorry I have to go study. You are not going to get any sympathy from me with this ridiculous victim card you are playing. It's time to grow up and grow a pair
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If someone doesn't like socializing, they don't have to socialize. That's their choice. Stop worrying about the things that others do that don't affect you, it's just not worth it.
 
sliceofbread136 said:
You say hi sorry I have to go study. You are not going to get any sympathy from me with this ridiculous victim card you are playing. It's time to grow up and grow a pair
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I hope you mature in med school. Empathy is important not even to medicine, but just being a decent person. The only person who needs to grow up is you. Learn that people are different and do not behave or respond to things as you do. That does not make them lesser or immature.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I hope you mature in med school. Empathy is important not even to medicine, but just being a decent person. The only person who needs to grow up is you. Learn that people are different and do not behave or respond to things as you do. That does not make them lesser or immature.
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Get off your high horse. Being in introvert doesn't excuse him from avoiding interactions. The way P0ke characterized these interactions made it sound like the mere imposition of someone taking 5-10 seconds out of their day to acknowledge his presence is such a forfeiture away from his study time as to not be worth it and an immense burden on his day. There's a difference in being stand-offish and being introverted and you can't use one as an excuse for the other.
 
CyrilFiggis said:
Get off your high horse. Being in introvert doesn't excuse him from avoiding interactions. The way P0ke characterized these interactions made it sound like the mere imposition of someone taking 5-10 seconds out of their day to acknowledge his presence is such a forfeiture away from his study time as to not be worth it and an immense burden on his day. There's a difference in being stand-offish and being introverted and you can't use one as an excuse for the other.
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I'm not the one telling him to grow up because he thinks having conversations with his classmates is a waste of time. Maybe you should reread the interaction. If you still think that telling someone to grow up because they think differently than you (in a way that is equally valid, just different) is a mature response, then feel free to read my post again and apply it to yourself.

Edit: oh, and he says that those interactions lead to longer conversations, which is what is draining and a time sink. Just saying hi to someone doesn't seem like a big deal, but when you feel like you have to be "on" during every conversation with someone who isn't your spouse/kids/best friend, you try to avoid them because they drain your energy. That is not being stand offish any more than trying to have a 10 minute conversation with everyone who smiles at you is overbearing. It's just different.
 
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Lannister said:
If someone doesn't like socializing, they don't have to socialize. That's their choice. Stop worrying about the things that others do that don't affect you, it's just not worth it.
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Saying hello and making eye contact isn't "socializing" it's functioning on the basic level of a normal human being. If you really can't do that then you have problems and need a wake up call
 
sliceofbread136 said:
Saying hello and making eye contact isn't "socializing" it's functioning on the basic level of a normal human being. If you really can't do that then you have problems and need a wake up call
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But what effect does this have on you and I, exactly?
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
I hope you mature in med school. Empathy is important not even to medicine, but just being a decent person. The only person who needs to grow up is you. Learn that people are different and do not behave or respond to things as you do. That does not make them lesser or immature.
Click to expand...

I'm not in medical school. I'm also not going to empathize with someone who views common human decency as a burden, sorry
 
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