How many hours do med students study per day?

[GrumpyMS]

But what effect does this have on you and I, exactly?

This affect the future patients, doctors, nurses, PAs and so on. Unless he does academia, he needs to interact with other people. If he "gets mentally exhausted" with even saying hello to other people, how is he ever going to pass his step 2 CS let alone be a competent physician?

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[sliceofbread136]

But what effect does this have on you and I, exactly?

Nothing really. If said person was on my clinical team though that would definitely create some strain 100%.

 

[Lannister]

This affect the future patients, doctors, nurses, PAs and so on. Unless he does academia, he needs to interact with other people. If he "gets mentally exhausted" with even saying hello to other people, how is he ever going to pass his step 2 CS let alone be a competent physician?

I often get mentally/physically exhausted after interacting with people. Many people do. But I've found that interacting with people socially vs interacting with people professionally are two different ballgames. Interacting with patients/co-workers doesn't exhaust me the way that making small talk at a party does.

 

[Lannister]

Nothing really. If said person was on my clinical team though that would definitely create some strain 100%.

I live by the philosophy that if what someone else is doing doesn't directly affect you, it's best to not worry about it. If you don't worry about it, then there's no strain.

 

[GrumpyMS]

I live by the philosophy that if what someone else is doing doesn't directly affect you, it's best to not worry about it. If you don't worry about it, then there's no strain.

So did Neville Chamberlain

 

[ciestar]

I often get mentally/physically exhausted after interacting with people. Many people do. But I've found that interacting with people socially vs interacting with people professionally are two different ballgames. Interacting with patients/co-workers doesn't exhaust me the way that making small talk at a party does.

I suck socially...I don't do well at parties because small talk IS exhausting to me. But you're right, my professional skills are much better and I don't struggle in that realm really at all. I also tend to avoid people at school, but that's a personal choice and as I said, I find small talk difficult.

 

[sliceofbread136]

I live by the philosophy that if what someone else is doing doesn't directly affect you, it's best to not worry about it. If you don't worry about it, then there's no strain.

Except if someone on your team isn't willing to display basic everyday pleasantness and respect it by default strains the team. An ms3 who refuses to make any small talk let alone refuses to say hi will not be getting a good grade for example

 

[libertyyne]

Just done with first week. Have been hitting 6-10 hours including class /lab. I still feel behind, very very behind.

 

[GrumpyMS]

Just done with first week. Have been hitting 6-10 hours including class /lab. I still feel behind, very very behind.

Get used to that feeling

 

[mariposas905]

Just done with first week. Have been hitting 6-10 hours including class /lab. I still feel behind, very very behind.

In the first week itself?! Wow...that's a short time to get used to everything

 

[libertyyne]

In the first week itself?! Wow...that's a short time to get used to everything

Anatomy is like learning a new language and you have to become conversational in three weeks.

 

[mariposas905]

Anatomy is like learning a new language and you have to become conversational in three weeks.

Is your first exam in three weeks?

 

[bananafish94]

Just done with first week. Have been hitting 6-10 hours including class /lab. I still feel behind, very very behind.

That doesn't go away. For anatomy, I can't recommend Anki's image occlusion enough. It singlehandedly powered me through anatomy.

 

[GrumpyMS]

Is your first exam in three weeks?

That seems about right. They keep moving things up and soon it'll be ever two weeks.

 

[libertyyne]

That doesn't go away. For anatomy, I can't recommend Anki's image occlusion enough. It singlehandedly powered me through anatomy.

Ive been using that with the coursepack , however I have difficulty memorizing stuff i dont understand. its hard memorizing the insertion of the muscles /actions if You dont know the anatomy of the bones. I will keep banging my head against it to see if it works.

 

[GrumpyMS]

In the first week itself?! Wow...that's a short time to get used to everything

 

[Lannister]

Just done with first week. Have been hitting 6-10 hours including class /lab. I still feel behind, very very behind.

That feeling never goes away, but you'll eventually figure out which study methods work and are time effective.

 

[bananafish94]

Ive been using that with the coursepack , however I have difficulty memorizing stuff i dont understand. its hard memorizing the insertion of the muscles /actions if You dont know the anatomy of the bones. I will keep banging my head against it to see if it works.

It starts to come together. I felt the same way at the beginning. The good news is that memorizing things like origin and insertion helps you with the actions.

Also, remember that "winged scapula" is caused by damage to the long thoracic nerve because it will be on every anatomy test ever.

 

[ciestar]

View attachment 222227

Preparing for that feeling in one week. Yayy

 

[GrumpyMS]

Preparing for that feeling in one week. Yayy

At least you had a year of practice

 

[ciestar]

Last year, our first exam was less than two weeks after classes started. Drinking water from a fire house? Yes.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

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

Not sure how you're still missing the point. There's a difference between being decent and not wanting to converse with everyone--a difference that seems lost on you. You should try to think about how other people view things. It's good for you.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Not sure how you're still missing the point. There's a difference between being decent and not wanting to converse with everyone--a difference that seems lost on you. You should try to think about how other people view things. It's good for you.

Being able to make eye contact and say hello is unfortunately one of societies prerequisites for being a decent normal human being. Most people actually bump that up to being able to carry out small talk. You can kick and scream all you want but that is simply reality, no matter how "draining" that may be for you

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Being able to make eye contact and say hello is unfortunately one of societies prerequisites for being a decent normal human being. Most people actually bump that up to being able to carry out small talk. You can kick and scream all you want but that is simply reality, no matter how "draining" that may be for you

Still not getting it.

 

[Mad Jack]

Oh my god, this question has been asked a million times and could easily have been dug up with a simple search. Generally a medical student will spend 15-30 hours in class depending on their school's curriculum, in addition to 20-40 hours a week studying. On a short week I'd do a total of 30 hours between the two, on a long week 60-80.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Still not getting it.

At this point I think it's the other way around.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

At this point I think it's the other way around.

No, I get where you're coming from. You're just not seeing his point of view. It's not about polite greetings or quick hellos and how you doings. For many introverts, even 10-15 minute conversations take energy. If you have 4 or 5 of those in succession, it adds up. Extroverts get energized by that. Introverts do not.

That doesn't excuse being rude, but he's not talking about being rude. He's talking about avoiding the situation completely so that he doesn't have to pretend to be extroverted.

 

[Mad Jack]

Being able to make eye contact and say hello is unfortunately one of societies prerequisites for being a decent normal human being. Most people actually bump that up to being able to carry out small talk. You can kick and scream all you want but that is simply reality, no matter how "draining" that may be for you

"Decent normal human being" is a really subjective thing. About half of society is composed of introverts that find such exchanges painful. Being an extrovert that can make small talk easily doesn't make one normal, it makes one sociable. You can be plenty normal and not enjoy socializing with strangers, it's just that we live in a society that places a high value on extroversion. To introverts, extroverts seem extremely weird- Americans, in particular, have a reputation for being far too forward and talkative in most of the world because in many countries such informal exchanges are considered impolite between strangers.

 

[mw18]

By the time I got pretty good at studying I basically had a 1:1.25 lecture length:Study time ratio because I watched the lectures at home. I would watch lectures on 2x and stop to make flashcards as I went and I would usually finish a 1 hour lecture in 1 hour, with all the cards made. So if there were four 1-hour lectures in a day, I would have watched them, made cards, and reviewed old cards for an hour and be finished in five hours. This was my total lecture/study time because I didn't attend lecture, which would have been a huge waste for me. This is probably more idealistic than what actually ended up happening and if one day was full of non-lecture nonsense I may not study all the lectures that day and put them off for the weekend. I used weekends to catch up and review all my cards.

This doesn't include small group, clinical things, or other class commitments that typically didn't enrich my learning but took time. It also doesn't include the preparation needed for those small groups, which was done minimally after the first month or so experiencing them.

I did anatomy completely different because I overstudied details because you can't really trust someone when they tell you that you don't need to do that. I lived a comfortable life in the preclinical years. I watched some tv, I could watch specific sports events that I wanted to watch as well. But there were many nights when I got home from being at school most of the day and still had five hours ahead of me.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

@sliceofbread136
It may seem weird, but we had a going away party before we moved for me to go to school. It was only like 3 hours, but interacting with that many people was exhausting. I felt mentally like I had worked a 10 hour day and just wanted to go to bed.

 

[FlavivirusProtease]

How much did you study as an undergrad?

I never studied as an undergrad, outside of about 4-5 hours before an exam. How much of an overhaul of my study habits will I need?

 

[libertyyne]

I never studied as an undergrad, outside of about 4-5 hours before an exam. How much of an overhaul of my study habits will I need?

same here. Depends , do you want to pass? or do you want to fail? if you want to fail keep the current study habits.

 

[futuremdforme]

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??

No, 8-10 hours not necessary. I did 2-5 hrs depending on how much class I had. (Full day -- closer to 1.5 or 2 hours. Half day, I'd try to study in the other half day and then a little bit at night.) I personally get a lot out of going to class but would recommend experimenting on your own.

 

[Mad Jack]

@sliceofbread136
It may seem weird, but we had a going away party before we moved for me to go to school. It was only like 3 hours, but interacting with that many people was exhausting. I felt mentally like I had worked a 10 hour day and just wanted to go to bed.

I love my friends, but if there's more than five of them in a place, my brain just kind of starts feeling fatigued. I like socializing, but beyond two other people and it starts to get draining, beyond five and it's rapidly draining. With strangers or loose acquaintances it happens much more rapidly.

 

[Mad Jack]

I never studied as an undergrad, outside of about 4-5 hours before an exam. How much of an overhaul of my study habits will I need?

You'll need to completely overhaul them. I was just like you in undergrad, but medical school was a totally different ballgame. I'd say had to put literally 50 times more hours into each semester of studying during med school.

 

[jqueb29]

First 2 years, other than anatomy: about 6 hours daily, including 2-ish hours streaming your lectures (don't go to class unless you absolutely have to; attending lecture in med school is the least efficient thing on earth). Bump that up to 8-10 hours for a few days to a week before exams.

Anatomy: lots of 8-10+ hour days

3rd year: most weekdays you'll only get a couple hours to study, and you'll be spending 11-14 hours at work. Depending on what rotation you're in, you may spend almost every waking moment working or studying (surgery, probably medicine).

4th year: ayyyyeee lmao this is the life right now

 

[Lannister]

I love my friends, but if there's more than five of them in a place, my brain just kind of starts feeling fatigued. I like socializing, but beyond two other people and it starts to get draining, beyond five and it's rapidly draining. With strangers or loose acquaintances it happens much more rapidly.

Agreed. Hanging out with just one friend at a time is my ideal, although two is also fine. Beyond that... I'll pass.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I love my friends, but if there's more than five of them in a place, my brain just kind of starts feeling fatigued. I like socializing, but beyond two other people and it starts to get draining, beyond five and it's rapidly draining. With strangers or loose acquaintances it happens much more rapidly.

I don't typically hang out with anyone other than my wife and kids. The only other person I would hang out with is now 3000 miles away. Such is military life.

 

[Mad Jack]

I don't typically hang out with anyone other than my wife and kids. The only other person I would hang out with is now 3000 miles away. Such is military life.

I've got zero babbies, but I've got a ragtag group of friends that are basically family. Worried about the match, because these people mean the world to me.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I've got zero babbies, but I've got a ragtag group of friends that are basically family. Worried about the match, because these people mean the world to me.

After half a dozen moves around the country and a bunch of good friends I don't see anymore, I'm used to it.

 

[Mad Jack]

After half a dozen moves around the country and a bunch of good friends I don't see anymore, I'm used to it.

See, I was a nontrad that found a home for the first time in my life, so I'm reluctant to give it up. Then again, we've lost people that came back and it was like they'd never left, so I doubt a few years out will matter.

 

[Lannister]

I don't typically hang out with anyone other than my wife and kids. The only other person I would hang out with is now 3000 miles away. Such is military life.

Damn I wish I could only hang out with my spouse and kids. Just gotta find a husband first.

 

[jih]

I didn't read the thread, but a word of warning: don't cram for exams. I blew off M1 and crammed everything. Managed to pass, but I retained barely anything as I go into M2.

Sent from my Galaxy S8 using Tapatalk

 

[ciestar]

I didn't read the thread, but a word of warning: don't cram for exams. I blew off M1 and crammed everything. Managed to pass, but I retained barely anything as I go into M2.

Sent from my Galaxy S8 using Tapatalk

^This
I did this throughout all of MS1 as well and start Ms2 next week. Scared to death now

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Damn I wish I could only hang out with my spouse and kids. Just gotta find a husband first.

Don't rush it. Marriage is work if you want it to be good. Anyone who says a great marriage isn't work has either never been married or is still in that honeymoon phase, in which case you shouldn't listen to them anyway. You want someone you're going to be able to tolerate when you're putting in the work to communicate better and change the things that bother or hurt your spouse.

 

[rafa 22]

Before I actually understood how to study i did 8 and over. once i actually started learning in an efficient manner ( did way better after i started this) it took me 3-4 hours per day.