How much free time do you have in Medical School?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
FutureSurgical

FutureSurgical

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
702
Reaction score
1,018
Hey SDN, I just have a quick question:

How much free time do you medical students have on average? I know some days you're in class all day and some days you only have one class in the morning then one in the afternoon (at least my state's medical school does.) I have been bodybuilding (unprofessionally) for 5 years now and it has become a lifestyle for me. It's something that I don't want to give up when going to medical school. I know that some days/weeks can be hectic and require 100% of your time and energy, which I can compromise. However, I CANNOT stand to miss more than 2 days away from the gym. When I go to the gym, I am there for 1-2 hours (depending on the split), 7 days a week.

Will I have to compromise at the beginning or after 2nd year of medical school? I have heard many horror stories of 3rd and 4th year consuming 95% of all your free time and energy, especially surgical rotations.
Members don't see this ad.
 
There are some people in the Powerlifting thread in The Lounge that have made it work even during residency. So, I imagine even when you're hard-pressed for time, you can find a way to fit it into your schedule. For sure, during 1st year you can fit in gym time. Once you get used to the curriculum and coursework, you find that there's plenty of free time to do non-academic stuff if you want.
 
Depends. If you are truly passionate about it you can make it work. It might come at the cost of time where you could be hanging out ect. Med school makes you choose your priorities, as free time is quite limited. I used to lift a lot, but now I go to the gym 3-4 times a week for only an hour because I have to balance gym, friends, and girlfriend with school.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I can only speak for 1st semester, if you don't need to make huge adjustments in your study methods then 1-2 hrs a day shouldn't be a problem if that's your main extra curricular activity. If you're in a relationship, watch lots of movies, a gamer, whatever, then you're gonna have to cut some things.
 
If you're a traditional student, then the preclinical years are just college on HGH. You might think you have no free time, but in reality you have plenty. I make the distinction WRT non-trads, because they're more likely to know what busy looks like.

There's more variance during third year, ranging from none (surgery, OB/GYN) to a lot (outpatient rotations).

Reasonable people can disagree, but personally, I'd say that if your fourth year doesn't include copious amounts of free time, then you're doing it wrong. I probably did more work as a junior in high school than as an MS4; it was glorious.
 
MS1 here - I am at the gym 6 days a week either lifting or cardio. Plenty of time to make it work.
 
Plenty of time to exercise 5-6 days per week in med school. The nutrition piece may be more difficult third year if you are trying to competitively bodybuild. Could become very difficult in residency, depending on your field. I run or make it to the gym probably 3-5 times per week, but it can take a pretty significant effort.
 
I know plenty of swole ortho bros in my school. You should be fine.
 
FutureSurgical said:
Hey SDN, I just have a quick question:

How much free time do you medical students have on average? I know some days you're in class all day and some days you only have one class in the morning then one in the afternoon (at least my state's medical school does.) I have been bodybuilding (unprofessionally) for 5 years now and it has become a lifestyle for me. It's something that I don't want to give up when going to medical school. I know that some days/weeks can be hectic and require 100% of your time and energy, which I can compromise. However, I CANNOT stand to miss more than 2 days away from the gym. When I go to the gym, I am there for 1-2 hours (depending on the split), 7 days a week.

Will I have to compromise at the beginning or after 2nd year of medical school? I have heard many horror stories of 3rd and 4th year consuming 95% of all your free time and energy, especially surgical rotations.
Click to expand...
First two years shouldn't be any problem at all, you can lift as much as you want. Third year (and parts of fourth year) will be harder to fit in, but if you have the dedication to make it to the gym after getting up at 4am and working 12-14 hours you won't have to drop it completely.
 
Current MS2. I wake up at 9a and probably work on average until 1p or 2p five to six days a week. Im currently in the third quartile but I have time to do whatever I want. I am not looking forward to MS3.
 
Easily doable, however if you also plan on being in the top 10% of the class, being involved in multiple research projects etc etc. then it may be more difficult. People give up hobbies because they're stressed and tired, not because there aren't enough hours in the day. I'm only speaking of the first two years though; as far as 3rd year, well, I'll let you know when I get there...
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I'm nowhere near your fitness level but I've been doing strength training religiously for the last 2 years, 3 gym days a week. I'm an MS1 and I gotta say it's been a lot harder to stick with it. I mean, I still do but I find that I'm missing a lot more gym days and sometimes entire weeks when things get tough (finals, big weeks, etc). Some days it's not that I don't have time, I'm just tired and either I have a ****ty workout or I just stay home. I try to limit it but when you're in class at 8AM and taking your afternoons to dissect until 6-7PM, then having more to study at home, it's just a bitch to go do heavy lifting. I'm still making progress, just nowhere near the level I did back when I was just working 9-5. I had a goal to get to the point where I can compete as a powerlifter but I'm thinking that it's a lost cause at this point.

A lot of the people at school say that the first semester sucks the most and it's gonna get better but I don't believe them. The funny thing is that I'm on the left side of the curve in my class in terms of time spent studying.

In terms of how much absolute time I have, I have enough time to dick around. The studying takes up about 30-40 hours of my week and the useless "formative" bullcrap that they make us do takes up about 20 more. That leaves enough room to play video games, watch football, lift, drink, jerk around, etc.
 
Last edited:
First two years at my school are pretty flexible. Most required activities are between 8 am and noon. I'll typically study between noon and 5 pm. I usually hit the gym in the morning, and then have all evening to chill. It's actually a pretty awesome life balance so far. However, this all changes once third year starts...
 
TheShaker said:
I'm nowhere near your fitness level but I've been doing strength training religiously for the last 2 years, 3 gym days a week. I'm an MS1 and I gotta say it's been a lot harder to stick with it. I mean, I still do but I find that I'm missing a lot more gym days and sometimes entire weeks when things get tough (finals, big weeks, etc). Some days it's not that I don't have time, I'm just tired and either I have a ****ty workout or I just stay home. I try to limit it but when you're in class at 8AM and taking your afternoons to dissect until 6-7PM, then having more to study at home, it's just a bitch to go do heavy lifting. I'm still making progress, just nowhere near the level I did back when I was just working 9-5. I had a goal to get to the point where I can compete as a powerlifter but I'm thinking that it's a lost cause at this point.

A lot of the people at school say that the first semester sucks the most and it's gonna get better but I don't believe them. The funny thing is that I'm on the left side of the curve in my class in terms of time spent studying.

In terms of how much absolute time I have, I have enough time to dick around. The studying takes up about 30-40 hours of my week and the useless "formative" bullcrap that they make us do takes up about 20 more. That leaves enough room to play video games, watch football, lift, drink, jerk around, etc.
Click to expand...
The reason I work out this much is because it has become the biggest stress relief that I can do in such a short amount of time. I also train people unofficially to get them started (mentoring.) I honestly think it's THE best thing to relieve stress because of how healthy it makes you (if you do it right.)
 
FutureSurgical said:
The reason I work out this much is because it has become the biggest stress relief that I can do in such a short amount of time. I also train people unofficially to get them started (mentoring.) I honestly think it's THE best thing to relieve stress because of how healthy it makes you (if you do it right.)
Click to expand...


Sure, but what most of us bump into in Med school is that "stress relieving" activities can start to cut into the time we need/should be using for preparing for exams, which then becomes a source of stress. It's a balancing act.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Say
FutureSurgical said:
The reason I work out this much is because it has become the biggest stress relief that I can do in such a short amount of time. I also train people unofficially to get them started (mentoring.) I honestly think it's THE best thing to relieve stress because of how healthy it makes you (if you do it right.)
Click to expand...

I'd say that it relieves stress in the sense that I'm doing something I actually enjoy. I never get the psychological effect that people talk about with the endorphin rush and all that.
 
With mandatory attendance you will find yourself very limited in time. Our first year was mandatory and I was a miserable SOB. This year they only require a few mandatory lectures per week and we are done with anatomy so I have been able to workout 4-5 days a week at about 1-1 1/2 hours, and still have down time. If I could go back in time I'm not sure if I would have picked a school with mandatory attendance again, because although I love my school, mandatory attendance was really a huge time waster for me.
 
I'm at a true P/F with only mandatory PBL from 8-10 AM (first-year). I much more free time than undergrad. Except for clinical day I have an immense amount of free time. From 10 AM to 5 PM. 7 hours. I usually don't use those hours in that order but I have 7 hours of freedom. That's enough time for girlfriend, music, reading, blogging, nintendo, working out, friends, meetings, NAPS!!!!!!!, and Hulu. I study from 5 PM to 2 AM (about 9 hours daily). I wake up daily at 7 AM. I sleep within that 7 hours of free time to catch up on sleep deprivation lol.

The big thing is lecture. While people are in lecture I am sleeping, eating, shopping, playing Pokemon etc. I can blast through lecture slides quicker myself.

I also do Firecracker in my free time.
 
Espadaleader said:
II also do Firecracker in my free time.
Click to expand...

Do you recommend? I am thinking of trying it out during Christmas break to see if it helps remember things

Also goddam at studying until 2:00AM every day
 
pathologyDO said:
With mandatory attendance you will find yourself very limited in time. Our first year was mandatory and I was a miserable SOB. This year they only require a few mandatory lectures per week and we are done with anatomy so I have been able to workout 4-5 days a week at about 1-1 1/2 hours, and still have down time. If I could go back in time I'm not sure if I would have picked a school with mandatory attendance again, because although I love my school, mandatory attendance was really a huge time waster for me.
Click to expand...

Mandatory lectures make me want to go postal on some of my professors. They are stuck in a time warp.
 
There is a guy in my class that still does his physique competitions as an M1. He has made time to work out every day (it's really important to him), but we don't have mandatory lecture. Our lectures are also only scheduled from 8-12 every morning.

I'm not sure if he will be able to continue in 3rd year. Right now, I believe he puts in about 3-4 hours of studying a day. I don't discuss grades with classmates, so I have no idea how well he is doing academically. He seems happy though.
 
TheShaker said:
I'd say that it relieves stress in the sense that I'm doing something I actually enjoy. I never get the psychological effect that people talk about with the endorphin rush and all that.
Click to expand...
80% of the time I work out I get motivated to study/do other things that I need to do. I guess that's a bit of a DA rush? Other than that, elevated mood only comes from my progress.
 
doyouhaveaflag said:
There is a guy in my class that still does his physique competitions as an M1. He has made time to work out every day (it's really important to him), but we don't have mandatory lecture. Our lectures are also only scheduled from 8-12 every morning.

I'm not sure if he will be able to continue in 3rd year. Right now, I believe he puts in about 3-4 hours of studying a day. I don't discuss grades with classmates, so I have no idea how well he is doing academically. He seems happy though.
Click to expand...

How much does he lift? Or does he just chill in the gym and study there?
 
If lifting is your number priority outside of school you should have no problem going to the gym 10+ hours week.
You will most likely go to the gym less when exams are coming up.
 
Lysinee said:
How much does he lift? Or does he just chill in the gym and study there?
Click to expand...
I don't actually know how much he lifts, but he's really built. I see him walking to the gym after class most days, but I've never been in there. I do not share his motivation for staying fit!
 
GoPelicans said:
Maybe I just suck, but I have no idea how anybody can only study 4 hours a day and still do well.
Click to expand...
Me neither!! I'm sure you don't suck. Some of my friends that only study 2-4 hours a day have expressed that their goal is to just do as well as the class average. Other people just absorb the material faster. I envy these people.
 
doyouhaveaflag said:
Me neither!! I'm sure you don't suck. Some of my friends that only study 2-4 hours a day have expressed that their goal is to just do as well as the class average. Other people just absorb the material faster. I envy these people.
Click to expand...

I think most people that only study 4 hours a day are not going their best. Some are, but most aren't.
 
Good input here in this thread. I'm with you OP, I need the daily sesh in the gym to unwind and kick off the next part of the day.
 
You'll have plenty of time. I know one pro bodybuilder (ifbb I think) who made it work. third year will be the hardest but still doable.

Overall you will have time to do anything you want, but not everything you want.
 
Like others said if it's your priority you can easily make it work. I worked out ~4 times a week (about 45 min a day) first and second year with a curriculum that was typically 9-4 because I went to the gym right after classes ended every day, although when I took up extra stuff on the side like research I slacked a bit. But staying in the best shape possible is hard because you also need proper nutrition and lots of sleep which is really tough to do. 3rd year sucks because of the hours and the fact that you have no control over your schedule.
But if you also want to go out a lot during the week it will be hard. I would be cautious of med students who say they went out a lot in med school as most didn't do as well as they could have. That's fine if that's one's priority but for me, it didn't make sense that I would be forced to choose a less competitive career for the rest of my life just so I can hang out a bit more in second year .
 
dwills said:
Current MS2. I wake up at 9a and probably work on average until 1p or 2p five to six days a week. Im currently in the third quartile but I have time to do whatever I want. I am not looking forward to MS3.
Click to expand...

Do you not attend lectures?
 
Hey to all of those that work out:

I have about 6 months before starting school and I generally work out in the evenings. Do any of you work out in the mornings before class? Is that difficult to do on a regular basis?
 
JimmyB123 said:
Hey to all of those that work out:

I have about 6 months before starting school and I generally work out in the evenings. Do any of you work out in the mornings before class? Is that difficult to do on a regular basis?
Click to expand...
One of the ambassadors I met works out early in the morning. I always go at night. I'd say if you are able to get up at 5-6am and get in there, then it should be fine. On the other hand, an evening workout might be a nice way to break the day up a bit.
 
free time is a very peculiar thing in medical school. one minute you have it, and the next you don't... literally.
 
You will have as much free time as you choose to have. If you want to do a lot of research, ECs, etc. you're not going to have a lot of time. If you want to score at the top of the class you won't have a lot of free time. A lot is your own choice in the first year or so.
 
MS1-MS2 - enough free time to run and lift 6 days/wk (?1.5 h/day) plus at least an hour of Internet fun daily + cooking weekly
MS3 - Attempted for 1 h daily of Internet fun time, worked out on days off (1-2 d/wk) on medicine/surgery/peds. Rest of rotations worked out 3-4 days/wk and started a new relationship.
MS4 - Excepting the AI and very compressed interview trail, back to run/lift 6 days/wk and watching Netflix and socializing for several hours daily. Best year ever. 🙄
 
MS1 and MS2 so far I haven't missed a gym day (I powerlift, usually spend 1-1.5 hours each gym session). I also trained for a half-marathon on top of that over this past summer + some of MS2. I still have time to hang out with classmates on weekdays or weekends, as well as cook meals weekly and get enough sleep while also keeping up with our material.

You'll have a lot of free time, but most of it will basically become obligatory study time to keep up with material. I usually end up lifting after I've done my studying for the day (so I end up at the gym around 7, 8PM). Just make use of any free time you DO have efficiently.
 
I work out about 4x/week. First and second year were a joke. Most lecture are useless and if you can learn on your own you can just study at your pace and leisure and show up to the exams. The only period of time where I had ZERO time for working out was my third year OB/Gyn and Surgery rotations where I was averaging 80-90 hrs per week plus studying. Those were a miserable 4 months...
 
FutureSurgical said:
80% of the time I work out I get motivated to study/do other things that I need to do. I guess that's a bit of a DA rush? Other than that, elevated mood only comes from my progress.
Click to expand...

i would say that aerobic exercise rather than lifting is probably the best thing if you want to feel that your mood as been elevated directly from exercise.
 
Thanks everyone for his/her input! Curious as to how you all spend your free time if you don't lift? Also, do relationships from college that extend to medical school work, in your all's opinions? I know it's situational, but I'm starting to get serious with a girl now and that she doesn't mind finding a job wherever I go to medical school (if I get in, that is.)
 
FutureSurgical said:
Curious as to how you all spend your free time if you don't lift?
Click to expand...
Doing things I enjoy.
FutureSurgical said:
Also, do relationships from college that extend to medical school work, in your all's opinions?
Click to expand...
Some do, some don't.

I don't really understand coming to these forums looking for life advice. If you have free time, you should fill it with things that make you happy. If you are asking for hobby suggestions or something, just ask that. And don't even get me started on asking these forums for relationship advice... We know nothing about you, your SO, or your relationship dynamics. If the relationship is healthy and you both want it bad enough, it can work, if not, it won't.
 
FIREitUP said:
i would say that aerobic exercise rather than lifting is probably the best thing if you want to feel that your mood as been elevated directly from exercise.
Click to expand...

The psychological boost of hitting a new max deadlift, slamming the bar down, and roaring like a lion as everyone else in the gym stares at you > any physiological benefit of jogging for 45 minutes.
 
cs24 said:
I don't really understand coming to these forums looking for life advice. If you have free time, you should fill it with things that make you happy. If you are asking for hobby suggestions or something, just ask that. And don't even get me started on asking these forums for relationship advice... We know nothing about you, your SO, or your relationship dynamics. If the relationship is healthy and you both want it bad enough, it can work, if not, it won't.
Click to expand...
Yo, if I was looking for a condescending remark, I would have asked for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Two Medical Leaves - Do I Have a Future?
Replies
5
Views
815
pazzer2
P
L
How to identify productive lab in medical school / Getting into research M1?
Replies
5
Views
652
AJS59
AJS59
P
How much does class rank matter for academic IM in northeast?
Replies
4
Views
1K
Bestaidreviews
Bestaidreviews
H
Undergrad Research in Medical School
Replies
2
Views
744
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
Yaa Yeet
Do research for 6+ months before medical school starts?
Replies
23
Views
2K
pablo213
pablo213
Top