How much free time in med school?

[ct303]

Short story: I am matriculating this fall. There is a personal extracurricular project I have wanted to work on for the last 6 months or so (writing a book), but I can't estimate how much free time I will have in medical school. I am curious if any of you have had any experience in med school, or heard anything. I know the schedule varies from school to school, but I am curious to hear what you have to say.

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[CherryRedDracul]

If you don't have mandatory lectures, you'll have more than plenty of free time. Just budget your time wisely. The first two years felt like undergrad all over again with just a little more studying. But this may differ from person to person. I spent maybe 25-30 hours a week at most watching lectures and studying. The other 130 or so hours were spent sleeping, going to the gym, going out, and working on research.

 

[Amazingmuzmo]

If you don't have mandatory lectures, you'll have more than plenty of free time. Just budget your time wisely. The first two years felt like undergrad all over again with just a little more studying. But this may differ from person to person. I spent maybe 25-30 hours a week at most watching lectures and studying. The other 130 or so hours were spent sleeping, going to the gym, going out, and working on research.

Lets be real brah, u don't lift

 

[cookiemonsters]

Everyone is different. I studied 40+ hours each week because I suck at studying. My roommate studied maybe half of that and spent the rest of his time playing Call of Duty.

 

[LivingEdge]

Only finished one term, but my grades were fine and I had an obscene amount of free time. I studied 2-4 hours a day except for the 2 weeks leading up to midterms/finals, which were pretty much 24 hour days.

There were some things that contribute to this:

1. Study strategy. I personally am either 100% on or 100% off, as far as focus and retention go for new material. I have learned over the years that if I'm "off," it takes so much time and effort to cram new material down my own throat that it would literally be a better use of my time to just go goof off for an hour or two until my mind starts cooperating again. If I really logged it, a lot of my "free" time is actually just intentionally relaxing my brain to retain info better during the study hours.

2. Social support. Thanks to my wife, there are a lot of functions of my daily life that I no longer have to give much of my attention so long as I'm in the process of studying hard. Thanks to my religious community there are a lot of things just automatically organized for me that would've taken a lot of time and effort if I were just one lone individual.

Many fellow students I've talked to have been successful by just studying lecture materials in their apartments all day and only showing up for exams so long as they are very diligent and disciplined.

 

[FutureSurgical]

Easiest way to study: Study for an hour (however way you do it, be it visual or quizzing yourself) then take a 15 minute break on facebook, restroom, getting a snack, etc.

 

[DermViser]

If you don't have mandatory lectures, you'll have more than plenty of free time. Just budget your time wisely. The first two years felt like undergrad all over again with just a little more studying. But this may differ from person to person. I spent maybe 25-30 hours a week at most watching lectures and studying. The other 130 or so hours were spent sleeping, going to the gym, going out, and working on research.

 

[operaman]

Too many variables to say for sure. Depends on school demands, your innate ability, your goals, etc. My advice to incoming students is always this: Really kill it for the first exam or 2. Devote an obscene amount of time to studying and see how well you do, then titrate accordingly.

Realistically, you will probably have time to continue writing your book, though not as much as you would like. You will have to schedule specific times to write and stick to it. You will never feel like you've truly studied enough and medicine will take whatever you're willing to give it and then some. Just decide that X hours are reserved for writing and when the clock strikes X, then you write.

 

[mubaby]

I realized something in the last 3 weeks as a newbie 3rd year - there is SO MUCH TIME 1st and 2nd year (assuming there isn't a lot of mandatory activities). You can practically do anything - it's just a matter of prioritization and time management.

 

[Ace-Co-A]

Related question: Has anyone here tried doing research during the year (i.e., not in the summer)? I'm eager to get back in the lab, but I haven't heard many people talk about working in the laboratory while taking classes during first or second year?

Thanks!

 

[hnk3]

.

 

[rodmichael82]

Short story: I am matriculating this fall. There is a personal extracurricular project I have wanted to work on for the last 6 months or so (writing a book), but I can't estimate how much free time I will have in medical school. I am curious if any of you have had any experience in med school, or heard anything. I know the schedule varies from school to school, but I am curious to hear what you have to say.

M1 year I studied a good 40 hours a week because I was excited and paranoid. I just wanted to make sure I did well especially after all the hype about medical school that you hear. After figuring out my study strategy M2 year I studied the same but took 1-2 weeks off per month which was nice while other classmates studied even more. It just all depends on your personal study techniques and what you're comfortable with.
M3 year is where "your time" is not yours anymore. You work a 10-12 hour shift, get back home, want to relax (get laid) but no! You have to study for the next day, study for shelf, study for step 2 and stress over what field is best for you.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I'm a wizard, I tell ya!

 

[starstarie]

I started my summer clinical research project around November of MS1. I would usually do it when I wanted a break from med school stuff, instead of watching tv or something. I don't know if bench work is all that great tho bc you can't really get all that much done in the few hrs you can dedicate to it. All those I know who have done bench research over the summer (2 mo) are kinda regretting it cuz they have worked a hell of a lot more and most haven't gotten any results at all, whereas I will hopefully be getting a publication. Just a thought!

You will have time that is not dedicated to studying. You will have to decide what you want to do in that time. Do you really want to work/do research/volunteer with the limited time you have off? If yes, than go for it. Personally, I used most of that time to watch trashy TV with a bit of research mixed in.

 

[deleted564496]

I think that it would be pretty damn hard to not have at least 2-3 hours every night to do whatever you want... unless you have mandatory 8-5 lectures... I can't even imagine what that'd be like 🙁

Seriously, you can only study so much without wanting to shoot yourself.. I feel like I worked my butt off and I still killed plenty of brain cells drinking and playing xbox.

 

[FutureOncologist]

I learn better by talking to professors and showing up, despite the fact that I didn't have any mandatory lectures and that they were all online. Here's how I did it.

• I started attending every lecture. Call me old fashioned but I really wanted to get a feel of what I was expected as the student, how rigorous the course is, when I would need to attend a lecture, etc.
• I would read everything given on the syllabus before the lecture over the weekend and be caught up. Once I got into the habit of this (by the end of the first semester) I only went to mandatory meetings.
• I still attended every class that had a professor that I really liked. Somehow, my histology prof made it enjoyable and wanted us (especially if you said you were interested in pathology) to pass the class.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

You will have plenty of free time. Med school gets a really tough reputation, because most medical students spend 2/3 of their day bitching about the other 1/3.

Reality is, its not that bad. You can and should pursue hobbies outside of school.

 

[DermViser]

You will have plenty of free time. Med school gets a really tough reputation, because most medical students spend 2/3 of their day bitching about the other 1/3.

Reality is, its not that bad. You can and should pursue hobbies outside of school.

At least in the first 2 years.

 

[cs24]

Related question: Has anyone here tried doing research during the year (i.e., not in the summer)? I'm eager to get back in the lab, but I haven't heard many people talk about working in the laboratory while taking classes during first or second year?

Thanks!

Yep, I did (and will still be during M2) and have seen posts in the past from many other SDNers (including a few in this thread) who did the same. I wasn't in a lab though and would recommend clinical research for its ability to be worked on in short chunks here and there at your convenience as opposed to wet lab/basic science research. I definitely understand the eager to be back in a lab part, that was me before school started, just make sure you find reasonable mentors that understand school comes first and you will be fine.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

Yes. I was talking about only the first two years. Third year you will still have weekends most of the time, but m-f no longer belong to you.