If you can't function on little or no sleep, should you...

[psych844]

consider med school at all? Is it realistic that you would finish?

I'm fairly low energy in general, but totally low when I'm tired (despite coffee etc). I'm just not that functional, can't concentrate, etc and my stress is through the roof when i'm tired even when not doing anything, let alone dealing with patients and studying, etc.

I have been able to do two undergrads though, and my marks are competitive enough for med school. It sucks to have the marks, but think that there is a high chance you would end up quitting at some point.

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[seminoma]

How much sleep do you need? I was able to get 7+ hours throughout MS1, MS2, and so far in MS3 although that probably will change when I get to OB and surgery.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

consider med school at all? Is it realistic that you would finish?

I'm fairly low energy in general, but totally low when I'm tired (despite coffee etc). I'm just not that functional, can't concentrate, etc and my stress is through the roof when i'm tired even when not doing anything, let alone dealing with patients and studying, etc.

I have been able to do two undergrads though, and my marks are competitive enough for med school. It sucks to have the marks, but think that there is a high chance you would end up quitting at some point.

No one can make that decision for you. On most nights you should be able to get 8+ hours of sleep but there will be periods of time where you will have 5 hrs of sleep or less (rare but expect it to happen). low energy and medicine tend to be incompatible

 

[psych844]

I can certainly get by with 5-6 hours a night, and that isn't a problem..it would be the on call, for example, that be almost impossible imo. When I hear people say that they have to be at the hospital 24hrs..I'm pretty sure I can't do that, and that i couldn't get 1hr of sleep if i had to stay at the hospital to sleep.

 

[postbacpremed87]

How much sleep do you need? I was able to get 7+ hours throughout MS1, MS2, and so far in MS3 although that probably will change when I get to OB and surgery.

I am starting MS2 in a few weeks and I agree. I always got 7+ hours. If you get less than 6, then you are doing it wrong.

 

[psych844]

Of course I am referring to clerkship years and residency, as I do realize that the first couple of years of med school are very manageable. I'd be interested in FM for residency.

 

[psych844]

If someone has done FM residency on here btw, and would not mind telling me about their experience (especially the hours, etc)..that be great. You can PM me.

 

[seminoma]

I can certainly get by with 5-6 hours a night, and that isn't a problem..it would be the on call, for example, that be almost impossible imo. When I hear people say that they have to be at the hospital 24hrs..I'm pretty sure I can't do that, and that i couldn't get 1hr of sleep if i had to stay at the hospital to sleep.

Med students here don't do 24 hour call, although that probably isn't true for all med schools. Even with 24 hour call, it's unlikely that you would be expected to stay up the entire time... even if it's so busy that your intern/senior are awake for 24 hours my experience, albeit limited, tells me that they would let you sleep for at least a few hours. Additionally, many residencies have an 8 or 10 hour "rule" that states interns must have 8 hours between the time they leave the hospital and return the next day. Obviously you can't sleep those entire 8 hours, but you would likely get at least 6 unless your commute is horrible.

 

[Psai]

Med students here don't do 24 hour call, although that probably isn't true for all med schools. Even with 24 hour call, it's unlikely that you would be expected to stay up the entire time... even if it's so busy that your intern/senior are awake for 24 hours my experience, albeit limited, tells me that they would let you sleep for at least a few hours. Additionally, many residencies have an 8 or 10 hour "rule" that states interns must have 8 hours between the time they leave the hospital and return the next day. Obviously you can't sleep those entire 8 hours, but you would likely get at least 6 unless your commute is horrible.

Did 30 hour call, they didn't seem to care about what the students did as long as you showed up for the surgeries

 

[Anicetus]

I am starting MS2 in a few weeks and I agree. I always got 7+ hours. If you get less than 6, then you are doing it wrong.

This is the stupidest statement I constantly see in these forums. Look, everyone is different and some people need to get less than 6 hours of sleep to maximize their potential whether it's just passing or scoring the best they can. For whatever reason some people on SDN believe that everyone functions exactly the same and that if they are skipping meals, not getting x hours of sleep in MS1, or not jacking off at least 3 times a week, then then you're doing it wrong.

I knew some people who never got more than 6 hours a sleep a night in MS1. Some scored very well, some barely passed. But the reason could be that perhaps they needed to get 2 hours of exercise to function. Perhaps they needed to drive long distance to and from school. Perhaps they have a learning disability and need to put in that much more time to stay on top of their ****.

Do what works for you. If you're doing the best you can with however your body functions, you won't ever be doing it wrong.

 

[pd1112]

This is the stupidest statement I constantly see in these forums. Look, everyone is different and some people need to get less than 6 hours of sleep to maximize their potential whether it's just passing or scoring the best they can. For whatever reason some people on SDN believe that everyone functions exactly the same and that if they are skipping meals, not getting x hours of sleep in MS1, or not jacking off at least 3 times a week, then then you're doing it wrong.

I knew some people who never got more than 6 hours a sleep a night in MS1. Some scored very well, some barely passed. But the reason could be that perhaps they needed to get 2 hours of exercise to function. Perhaps they needed to drive long distance to and from school. Perhaps they have a learning disability and need to put in that much more time to stay on top of their ****.

Do what works for you. If you're doing the best you can with however your body functions, you won't ever be doing it wrong.

Bro, you're doing it wrong. Trust me.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Med students here don't do 24 hour call, although that probably isn't true for all med schools. Even with 24 hour call, it's unlikely that you would be expected to stay up the entire time... even if it's so busy that your intern/senior are awake for 24 hours my experience, albeit limited, tells me that they would let you sleep for at least a few hours. Additionally, many residencies have an 8 or 10 hour "rule" that states interns must have 8 hours between the time they leave the hospital and return the next day. Obviously you can't sleep those entire 8 hours, but you would likely get at least 6 unless your commute is horrible.

All ACGME residencies MUST give residents 8 hours off between shifts and SHOULD give 10 hrs off between shifts. Some programs enforce the 10 hrs off, some only enforce 8 hrs off.

However, home call is another beast. There is no rule that says you have to be out of the hospital for a certain amount of time between shifts. There is also no rule that says staying up all night at home answering pages counts towards your work hours. So, on home call, you can very well work more than 24 hours and not have any time off before your next day starts. e.g. work all day Monday, take home call Monday and end up coming back to the hospital once or twice and thus being up all night, and then you have to show up to work the next day for a normal work day. Your hours in the hospital do count towards your 80 hrs/week, but you are not guaranteed time off between your call day and the next day.

 

[Dral]

I think postbac meant that if one wants to get more than 6 hours of sleep and one somehow isn't, then they are doing it wrong.

I don't think they are implying everyone is supposed to have more than 6 hours of sleep.