karirunner said:
So does the average med student have free time to workout, do stuff with friends, etc. etc. or is basically sleep-eat-class-study? I work 40-50 hrs a week right now, and my husband thinks that I am going to have way more free time next year when I start med school than I have now. (I think I'll have less.)
As the above poster referenced, a lot has to do with your schools attendance policy and what kind of learner you are.
I mainly homeschool, spending between 2-3 hrs a day studying that day's material with the rest of the day off. We also have 5 week test blocks. During that week and part of the week before, studying becomes a major part of each day (8-10 hrs on average).
However, first year is a little worse because of some mandatory attendace at things like anatomy lab. My first semester in med school, I pretty much went to all the classes each day, and then studied until bedtime. Once I figured out that that neurotic lifestyle wasn't conducive to a healthy family or personal life, I relaxed and have been much happier since, with no decline in grades. One big problem I've seen others have is the compulsive need to overstudy the material. There is so much to learn that you get used to spending a large majority of your time studying. Then when you do have some free time, you almost feel guilty, like you could be learning it better, thus you might read that syllabus or look at that powerpoint one more time, further eliminating your free time.
To answer your question, I now have much more free time than undergrad, but it's a function of not having to work full-time, learning how to make most efficient use of your time, and deciding not to "over-study".
Remember to keep your family and self-sanity, first. Consciously make school come second, and I guarantee you'll do fine and be much happier than a large percentage of your classmates who are trying to live and breathe medicine.
