How often do you go home?

[InLocoAbsentia]

Med students,

I'm looking at med school, and I'm formulating some plans. These plans may or may not be awesome (basically: going for a second degree in biology). However, in looking at it, I feel like I have two decisions: start taking the classes I need here, which I can do right away, or move back home and work full time so I can establish state residency while taking the first classes I need part time. The impetus for moving back home is primarily so I can see my family more than once every six months. However, medical school is also extremely time consuming. The question on my mind now is how often I would get to take time off on the weekends to go see them or otherwise spend time with them. If I never get to see them, then it doesn't seem worth it much to move down there just to cut 7 hours off a trip I take at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and once during the summer.

So how often do you guys go home and spend time with your families (if you live in a different city from them)? Every weekend? Once a month? Twice a year? Never?!

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[VoiceofReason]

nevar

 

[silverhorse84]

I moved away from Ca almost a year ago. I've gone home 1 time (Christmas break), and they've come to me 2 times. Though, to be fair, I moved to the other side of the country and plane tickets are expensive!

 

[nogolfinsnow]

I moved away from Ca almost a year ago. I've gone home 1 time (Christmas break), and they've come to me 2 times. Though, to be fair, I moved to the other side of the country and plane tickets are expensive!

That they are indeed. I moved from CA to NY; I'm at the end of my 3rd year now and probably averaged 2x home/year, Christmas and one other. People who live near their home town can go home a lot, especially during years 1 and 2 when you're basically in control of your own schedule. If you lived 2-3 hours away it'd be easy to see your family pretty much as often as you wanted. 3rd year is a little trickier, because depending on what rotation you're on you'll have weekend duties.

 

[Gifted Hands]

That they are indeed. I moved from CA to NY; I'm at the end of my 3rd year now and probably averaged 2x home/year, Christmas and one other. People who live near their home town can go home a lot, especially during years 1 and 2 when you're basically in control of your own schedule. If you lived 2-3 hours away it'd be easy to see your family pretty much as often as you wanted. 3rd year is a little trickier, because depending on what rotation you're on you'll have weekend duties.

I live about 45 minutes from home so technically I can go home a lot...


but do I have time to? No, not really. I've been home 3 or 4 times this year (not including thanksgiving and winter breaks)

 

[imagined space]

It probably depends on your situation (how you adapt to school, your social life, ect) and how tight you are with your family.

I had some family issues that I had to deal with first year, so I made the trek from Philly to DC probably every other weekend. That schedule pretty much killed me, so the second half of the year I went down every 3 weeks or so. It's pretty tough, because when you are back home your attention becomes divided and it's hard to say no to old friends you haven't seen in ages, ect. Also it's really hard to get all your weekly studying done without having any spill over for the weekend.

Second year was a lot better. I still went back to DC maybe once a month or every two months to see family/friends, which I think is all I could really handle while still staying on top of my work.

Hope that helps.

 

[SirGecko]

Since I live far away though I only went home for Christmas this year. If you live closer though (like less than an hour or two) it should be totally feasible to visit maybe once a month I would think. This of course depends on what other social things you want to do on the weekend and how you study. School alone though is not going to take up every moment of your life unless you want it to. If it does you are doing it wrong.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I'm from Kansas City and go to school in Little Rock, and it's about a 5.5-6 hour drive. Last year, my first year, I went home for every break. This year, I spent my fall break with the lady at the time (would've gone home, otherwise), went back for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and studied through spring break. Of course, this year was nice because I figured out that going to class was crap, so all of my breaks got extended a little. In the case of Christmas, they increased by about 2 weeks. 😛

 

[InLocoAbsentia]

The hope is that if I lived in Memphis or Johnson City (the site of Tn's two public medical schools), that i would be able to get home about one weekend a month. However, the chances are that they would need to be weekends with little to no studying in order to be really worth it. Are those of you who go home every month or two able to do it with only a couple of hours studying, or do you spend most of the weekend stuck in your biochem books?

 

[whoknows2012]

I live about 45 minutes from home and I've been home roughly 20 times this year, and sometimes I even studied at home to get away for a little. Most weekends I would spend 1 night here and 1 night there depending on whether or not a test was coming up, in which most times I would just stay at school. I had no problem finding time to go home, and most people who I go to school with who live close to home also had no trouble making it home a handful of times, even just to get laundry done.

 

[silverhorse84]

The hope is that if I lived in Memphis or Johnson City (the site of Tn's two public medical schools), that i would be able to get home about one weekend a month. However, the chances are that they would need to be weekends with little to no studying in order to be really worth it. Are those of you who go home every month or two able to do it with only a couple of hours studying, or do you spend most of the weekend stuck in your biochem books?

I already said I didn't go home much. However, I did generally have 1 weekend a month where I didn't study much (if at all). We had one run of exams (1 per week) for about a month, but other than that, the exams were pretty spread out for us. However, I'm sure this is school-dependent.

 

[organdonor]

The hope is that if I lived in Memphis or Johnson City (the site of Tn's two public medical schools), that i would be able to get home about one weekend a month. However, the chances are that they would need to be weekends with little to no studying in order to be really worth it. Are those of you who go home every month or two able to do it with only a couple of hours studying, or do you spend most of the weekend stuck in your biochem books?

I think this could be answered with a look at the prospective schools schedule. For instance, some campuses do block scheduling, so when one block is finished and they have yet to start another students literally have a free weekend with absolutely nothing to do at all ( I think once a month or so)

It sounds like a program with block scheduling may be a good fit for you, even if it were further away. Just something to consider.

 

[MilkmanAl]

UAMS has mostly switched to Friday tests every 2 or usually 3 weeks. Little Rock is within very reasonable driving distance of most of TN. As long as you're not in the easternmost part, you should be fine, so you might consider applying here. Tell 'em Al sent ya. 😛

 

[searun]

I am from Oregon and I go to med school on the East Coast. I get home twice each year, Christmas break and a week or so during the summer. Not much, but that is the way it is. I hope to do my residency on the West Coast but we shall see.

 

[linkorn12]

Hmm, what is your guys opinions on going to a med school so far away from home and since you're a med student you can go back only 2 weeks a year? I'm from CA but go to college on the east coast. I go home around 4-6 weeks a year on average but I do wish I could be back more often.

 

[organdonor]

Hmm, what is your guys opinions on going to a med school so far away from home and since you're a med student you can go back only 2 weeks a year? I'm from CA but go to college on the east coast. I go home around 4-6 weeks a year on average but I do wish I could be back more often.

I don't think you should be asking anonymous people on an internet forum how often you should see your family. It is really something you need to decide for yourself. Me, I could go all year and just call my Dad a few times and be peachy. That is regardless of how far away I live. Now my spouse, on the other hand, can't go more than a couple weeks without seeing her parents.

 

[SirGecko]

Yeah, it depends completely on you. Personally I love my family but I never expected to keep living in the same state as my parents once I graduated high school. Maybe the fact that we moved a lot when I was young contributes to my ease with relocating myself. I do have a state that I would call home and I might move back there eventually but it won't be for a long time. (like 25 years) Other people go to school in their hometown and never leave. Its a personal thing.