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Can anyone go through a normal day for a med student? I've been hearing that med students have no social lives, is this true? I hope its not!!! 🙂
Med School student life
- Thread starter tesfawMD
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This topic comes up frequently. Here's a duplicate thread - http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=456262
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There are many many many threads on this already. There is also no normal day because (1) students are different, (2) school curricula are different, (3) some people self study and don't attend class, and (4) each year in med school is different.
So with those caveats, a typical weekday during one of the first two years in a non-exam week might be: get up at 7am. Glance over some stuff. Go to class at 8. Have lunch with classmates. Following class, hit the library for a few hours, reviewing the material you just covered. Go home, have dinner, hit the gym for an hour. Spend a few hours previewing the material for tomorrow's lecture. Watch a little TV and go to sleep. Wash, rinse, repeat until third year. On the weekends, spend the bulk of the day reviewing the week's material (because this is the only two days where you won't be getting new stuff heaped upon you), Then go out in the evening for a few hours and have some fun, maybe have a nice dinner out, have a few drinks with friends, or see a movie. During exam weeks, you lose the going out on weekends, the TV, and basically just be a study machine.
Then come third year, your schedule is not your own. You will sometimes have to get to the hospital before 5. You will sometimes not get to leave the hospital until sometime the next afternoon. You often won't have weekends off. You may be working overnight every 3rd or 4th night. Hours-wise, it will probably be the worst and most intense of your life. But perhaps the most interesting. But certainly not conducive to a lot of social stuff. It's a taste of what's to come during residency.
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My day is pretty similar to what Law2Doc described. I get up a bit before 8, eat, get to class at 9, get done at 2 or 3, hit the gym for an hour or so, then come home and study until I'm hungry, eat, then study until I've made it through the lectures. I take little breaks of ~15 minutes every now and then. If I don't feel like we had a particularly effective lecturer or I don't understand what we were taught after looking at the day's powerpoint slides, I go through the material in a review book. I usually finish up around 10 and hit the sack around 11.
Weekends are spent reviewing the week's material. I didn't go nuts studying last weekend - Monday was our first test - but I did put in a good 6 hours per day. That was probably a little less than I should've done even though the test went fine.
Weekends are spent reviewing the week's material. I didn't go nuts studying last weekend - Monday was our first test - but I did put in a good 6 hours per day. That was probably a little less than I should've done even though the test went fine.
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Suffice it to say, in M1-M2, I usually ran out of energy/willpower to study before I actually ran out of time. So it might seem like we have more time than you expected, but your brain will out of gas before you feel like you've really mastered all the material.
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as the famous song goes, Edison invented the electric light, so med students could study all night.
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Except that Joseph Wilson Swan actually invented the electric light (bulb) and Edison stole it, improved upon it and took full credit. Doesn't help med students out either way, though.
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Depends on who you talk to. Med students practically own the climbing gym at my school
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I've only been in school for 3 weeks, but this pretty much describes what I do every day perfectly.
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Nice....Just like Tesla.
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a lot of things in life aint fair bro. evolution, double helix, etc the list goes on. I invented facebook when I was in middle school man, I just didn't know how to program websites 🙂
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Typical day:
Get up at 5 AM. Study until class (which usually starts at 11AM on MWF, I don't go to Biochem on Tues/Thurs because it's pointless, and if they didn't threaten us in Gross Anatomy with attendance quizzes I wouldn't go MWF). What I do at this time is study (memorize) all the lecture material for that day, which I'm usually able to do as long as I don't get distracted. 2 days out of the MWF, I have gross anatomy lab from 2-6 (sometimes 5, it depends). On the days I don't dissect, I go home and review that days material and the material we've covered in that class so far. On Tues/Thurs, I get up at the same time and study that day's material all day, and the video of the lecture is usually posted by about 2, and I sit and watch it at 2x speed and jot down any notes. Afterwards, I review that day's material and all the material we've covered in biochem up to that point.
On Saturday I get up ~7 and study until 5. I take the night off to spend with my wife. I take all of Sunday morning off and do maybe 4-5 hours of studying on Sunday afternoon. I then take Sunday evening off to be with my wife. I also take Monday nights off.
Oh and I usually go to bed around 9:30 or 10.
After doing this consistently for a month, I am comfortable with my routine. I talk with my parents on about a bi-weekly basis, take my wife on a date weekly, and I am not really that stressed out. I still have time for church, friends, watching football, specialty interest groups, etc as long as I plan things carefully. Sometimes looking at the day's material when I start studying can be a little frustrating, but so far I don't feel too terrible, and I've been doing fine in my classes.
Get up at 5 AM. Study until class (which usually starts at 11AM on MWF, I don't go to Biochem on Tues/Thurs because it's pointless, and if they didn't threaten us in Gross Anatomy with attendance quizzes I wouldn't go MWF). What I do at this time is study (memorize) all the lecture material for that day, which I'm usually able to do as long as I don't get distracted. 2 days out of the MWF, I have gross anatomy lab from 2-6 (sometimes 5, it depends). On the days I don't dissect, I go home and review that days material and the material we've covered in that class so far. On Tues/Thurs, I get up at the same time and study that day's material all day, and the video of the lecture is usually posted by about 2, and I sit and watch it at 2x speed and jot down any notes. Afterwards, I review that day's material and all the material we've covered in biochem up to that point.
On Saturday I get up ~7 and study until 5. I take the night off to spend with my wife. I take all of Sunday morning off and do maybe 4-5 hours of studying on Sunday afternoon. I then take Sunday evening off to be with my wife. I also take Monday nights off.
Oh and I usually go to bed around 9:30 or 10.
After doing this consistently for a month, I am comfortable with my routine. I talk with my parents on about a bi-weekly basis, take my wife on a date weekly, and I am not really that stressed out. I still have time for church, friends, watching football, specialty interest groups, etc as long as I plan things carefully. Sometimes looking at the day's material when I start studying can be a little frustrating, but so far I don't feel too terrible, and I've been doing fine in my classes.
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Talked to a few of the medical students from my university while i was shadowing. Two of them told me they often don't go to class at all. They just wake up at noon and watch their lectures online. Of course there are times/courses you must be at school for, but they said it was pretty common to stay home and do it on their own whenever they woke up.
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Holy **** dude, you get up at 5am for no reason? You dont have class until 11. You are incredibly lucky to be a morning person, i despise being up that early.
And waking up at 7 on Saturday, studying til 5, then throwing in 4-5 hours on Sunday, WTF?
Is all that necessary, is it pretty typical of students in your class?
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Whoa, I wouldn't even consider going to a school that required that much work. Doubly so if I was married.
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I could do it either way. I could stay up late and study and then wake up before class, or I can do it like I do now. I'm not productive at all at night (as you can see by my frequent posting right now), and I am lucky to be a morning person. It's honestly not that bad as long as I get 7 hours of sleep.
Also, I'm usually done studying during the week by about 6 or so, so I have a few hours off each night.
Regarding the amount of time I spend studying: we have tests every week and the information comes pretty quickly. I could spend several hours every Saturday in the gross lab, and I sometimes do. Many people tell me that I'm not studying efficiently, but I really feel like it's what I need to do to reach a point where I'm satisfied with my knowledge of the material. And also, I'm not studying STRAIGHT through those hours either. I take 15 minute breaks every 3 hours, not counting getting up to get a drink, use the restroom, etc. I would say it's probably not typical of students in my class, but it takes a lot of work for me to memorize things. I have no college background in the biological sciences (save for my pre-reqs) and going from not even having to know equations for a test (I was a math/physics major) to having to know a massive amount of info has been kind of a transition for me.
As far as the rest of my classmates, I'm not sure. There are all different kinds. Some people study 2 hours a day during the week and a few hours on the weekend and are doing just fine. Some people will stay up all night studying, sleep during the day and only come to required things.
Another thing, I'm not content with the C=MD philosophy, if that helps. I study this hard so I can excel. Call me a gunner if you want, but I only get one chance to learn this material really well, and I want to take it. Seriously guys, I know I might be overdoing it, so don't let it frighten you. I shared how I do it mostly because it is possible to study hard in medical school and have a life.
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While I cannot speak for AggieSean, so far I have discovered that if you want to have some sort of a social life, there are certain sacrifices you have to make, such as organizing yourself pretty well. For example, if I have weekend plans that will not allow me to do any major studying/reviewing, I will get up early and go to bed late the days before. It's more about prioritizing and compartmentalizing.
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Yeah that sounds about right. I podcast about 3 days out of the week, get up around 10am and study until the podcasts are put up. I've got a sweet setup, 24'' hi-def widescreen monitor, frosted glass L shaped desk, and an ultra comfortable ergonomic computer chair. Plus I can study in my boxers while eating cereal...it's aaaweesoome. If I didn't have required labs in the afternoons during the week, I'd never even leave my house.
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You have to realize that adequate study time is necessary, and has to come from somewhere. So either you get up early and study, or you stay up late and study. You pick your poison, there are negatives with each. Or you do what neurotics like myself do and try to do both (getting up early and staying up late). The material doesn't get any less because you want to sleep in. And FWIW, once you get to third year, you will realize that waking at 5 isn't really setting any record. Medicine is an early morning profession. You will be waking up to pre-round on patients at about that time during much of third year.
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Careful with how you interpret this kind of info as a premed. The material you need to know isn't less because you choose not to attend class. The folks I know who "self taught" and did well spent at least the same number of hours studying as many did combining class and studying. It's not about having an easy time, it's about learning the material. If you can do it better on your own, then absolutely do so. But don't kid yourself that you are going to be sleeping in until noon each day unless that means you are studying all night.
Also note that how you study is a very individualized process. You cannot mimic what someone else is doing and expect it to work for you. There are always a handful of folks who stop going to class, sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, go work out, goof off through much of the day, don't get a lot done and then, surprise, surprise, they get killed on the next exam. Those folks return to regular class attendance soon thereafter that failed experiment.
No matter how you slice it, med school is hard work. A lot harder than college. You will generally have a lot less free time then college. And half the class still won't do as well as in college and will be in the bottom half of the class on each test. And at a lot of schools there is a real danger of repeating things (exams, courses, first year) if you don't perform adequately, so med schools may keep a fire under you to keep you from slacking off. Expect to show up and work hard. Even if you find you can learn better on your own, I wouldn't plan on sleeping in until noon unless that means you are burning the midnight oil until 3-4 am each night.
That's why statements like the one above, that I have no doubt someone probably said to you, are dangerous in the hands of premeds. It is likely out of context and you probably somewhat heard what you wanted to hear. Or alternatively the person was simply exaggerating. (Perhaps he slept in until noon once...) That happens in med school too and it's a form of gunnerism. You will meet folks who say they don't study. I assume they do it to psych people out, or make themselves seem effortlessly smart. More than a few times you will catch these folks opening or closing the library. Don't buy into it. Whether you plan to attend class or not, expect to have to put in the time to do well.
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Its great to hear about what your studying is like, but what about social lives and other things?
In particular, are there people that continue doing some of their EC's from undergrad? I would like to continue doing one of my volunteering jobs through med school because it is something that I really enjoy, but it requires about 6-12 hours a week.
In particular, are there people that continue doing some of their EC's from undergrad? I would like to continue doing one of my volunteering jobs through med school because it is something that I really enjoy, but it requires about 6-12 hours a week.
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I guarantee you won't want to be doing anything but med school once that time comes around. 12 hours a week is a gargantuan sacrifice to make when that's probably more than the sum total of free time you'll have during the week.
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The very fact that pretty much all of the posts here have been about studying and not "social lives" should speak volumes more than anything we can individually state.
Med school is not the end of your life, but it IS the beginning of a very different part of your life.
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I climb at the gym every single day. I take part in two weekly pickup games with my classmates and play on an intramural team with them as well. I'm active in a local EMS and rescue organization, and I'm even thinking of running first responder calls for the local fire department.
The downside - I only really get to go out hard every other weekend.
Basically, I never studied as an undergraduate, and now I study for a few hours most days, and I study obsessively the few days prior to an exam. I study a LOT more than as an undergrad, but I also have fewer obligations and outside activities to occupy my time. You just have to be more focused.
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Did you have a 3.5 GPA too? You sound surprisingly similar to my undergrad experience thus far. I've so far crammed for tests the night before or the morning of.
I do expect to finally be able to start with a 4.0 in med school (or high honor, wutever the grading scale is), and keep it that way by actually studying/reading/doing homework this time around.
I have 2296 hours logged over 39 months in an online rpg game, it has been at 2296 since March 23rd, the day that I quit to finally actually study for the MCAT, rather than just going to kaplan classes mindlessly, without reading the book or doing the online quizzes, and falling asleep at the class.
I've actually probably spent even more time than 2300 in another online rts game that I've played since middle school, but we can't keep track of play time in that game.
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I had a 3.3, but a very high MCAT.
One thing I love about our curriculum is that the entire first year is P/F, so we have every incentive to cooperate and none to compete. At this point we're so well trained that we don't even need the extra motivation of a GPA to make us work hard.
One thing I love about our curriculum is that the entire first year is P/F, so we have every incentive to cooperate and none to compete. At this point we're so well trained that we don't even need the extra motivation of a GPA to make us work hard.
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may I ask how high it was? Greater than 36, greater than 40, or greater than 42? I ask because I'm an OOS applying to UNC with a 3.5 and a greater than 36 MCAT.
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nice, I got a 38. so at least on paper I have the chance to get in, assuming my EC's are up to par to yours.
Kinda sucks that I'm OOS though, still waiting for secondary invite
Kinda sucks that I'm OOS though, still waiting for secondary invite
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The "typical" schedule I described built in some lunches with the gang, an hour a day at the gym, some TV time and going out on the non-exam weekend nights. But time is fungible, and if you are willing to give up most of these other things to do undergrad ECs or volunteering instead, that is your prerogative. You will only have a fixed amount of free time after devoting the time you need for studying. You can use it however you'd like, but knowing that whenever you allocate time to one activity it necessarily comes from another. You likely had ample time and didn't need to pick and choose your social activities so rigidly in college, so med school is going to be a big change. But if you are a gym person, you will still have time to go to the gym. If you are into working at soup kitchens, you can still do some of that. If you are into playing video games, you will have a little time for that. But you won't have time for all of it -- you have to pick your activities wisely. And I don't think you will find time to pull anything close to 12 hours a week of free time out of a med school schedule unless you do well with very little sleep.
And bear in mind all this changes in third year, when you no longer have control of your schedule.
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Heres mine: Wake up at 630, 530 if I want to review. Class 8-12 MTRF, 8-4 W. On 8-12 days, come home, eat lunch, play with the puppy. Now when class first started, it was study from 1-5, take a dinner and puppy break and then kinda deviate between studying and web surfing for the rest of the night, get in bed around 12.
Our school is Anatomy and Histo only right now (well a physical exam class too), we're on a 11 month year with shorter days. Histo is a joke compared to Gross, so basically its study gross all day, then 30 minutes before bed, go over tomorrows dissection. On histo days, (TR), I dont do anything the night before and look over stuff for an hour or two after class.
Its really not that bad. I have enough free time, but realize that something does need to be done EVERY day. Weekends really are nice because they're time to catch up with no new material.
Our school is Anatomy and Histo only right now (well a physical exam class too), we're on a 11 month year with shorter days. Histo is a joke compared to Gross, so basically its study gross all day, then 30 minutes before bed, go over tomorrows dissection. On histo days, (TR), I dont do anything the night before and look over stuff for an hour or two after class.
Its really not that bad. I have enough free time, but realize that something does need to be done EVERY day. Weekends really are nice because they're time to catch up with no new material.
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So true. I know people as undergrads who set up this whole persona of "anti-studying" and just showing up to class for exams...perhaps going for the Chris Knight approach. But I've caught a couple people studying o-chem in the common rooms at 3am. Great post. 👍
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Man, if that is not the story of my entire life...Im going into my senior year, and I think I have yet to thoroughly study ANY text in any depth, and rarely have pulled all nighters studying. While I still pull mostly A's and occasional B's, I realise that this is a very dangerous habit that I need to change. I'm hoping to really try to grind it out this year, so that Im thorougly prepared to actually treat it like a job.
This is a habit I picked up in high school. I would consistently miss between 50-70 days of school. I had the doctors that worked for my mom write my f'ing dissertations to keep me from getting kicked out. Point was, that I never did a lick of homework and showed up usually on fridays for tests and got A's...Its a miracle I graduated...
This thread has been really insightful, definately a wake up call to any pre-meds like myself who are doing the minimum and still getting good grades, thats not gonna last forever appearently...
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Definitely varies, especially if your school gives you access to recorded lectures.
My typical day:
1) Up at 7am. Check e-mail for listserv annoucements (I'm the class listserv moderator). Shower. Try to grab a quick breakfast. Out by 7:45am.
2) Class from 8-12am, with anatomy lab from 10-12pm on Thursday and histology lab from 10-12pm on Friday. I wear my scrubs to school on Thursdays.
3) Tuesdays I have a class called IPS (Integrated Problem Solving). Think House, MD trying to work our way through cases. This is from 1pm-3pm.
4) Thursday I have a class called PPS (Patient, Physician, and Society). That's where we learn not to BE like House. Learn physicans and examinations. The actual lecture portion is every other Thursday, with a preceptorship at local hospitals/clinics to practice skills we learned the previous week. Lecture: 1:30pm-2:15pm, Small groups: 2:15pm-4pm, Preceptorship 1pm-5pm.
5) Electives: Various electives that last typically 2 hours each week. Some electives are every week, others are once every 4-5 weeks. I'm in Compassion and the Art of Medicine as well as Radiographic Anatomy.
6) Food. Med school has a LOT of free food. This is the only way clubs can get you to come to their meetings (and they know it too). I think I've paid for lunch once this week. Pretty cool stuff.
So a typical day will have 4-5 hours of lecture, and I might study for 1-2 hours (note, I was a biology major, so I don't have to study as much as other non-science majors).
Oh, and I do have a life. I've gone out plenty of times. And I still work out too (very important). Balance is key. Just gotta take everything in strides. PM me if you have any questions or concerns.
My typical day:
1) Up at 7am. Check e-mail for listserv annoucements (I'm the class listserv moderator). Shower. Try to grab a quick breakfast. Out by 7:45am.
2) Class from 8-12am, with anatomy lab from 10-12pm on Thursday and histology lab from 10-12pm on Friday. I wear my scrubs to school on Thursdays.
3) Tuesdays I have a class called IPS (Integrated Problem Solving). Think House, MD trying to work our way through cases. This is from 1pm-3pm.
4) Thursday I have a class called PPS (Patient, Physician, and Society). That's where we learn not to BE like House. Learn physicans and examinations. The actual lecture portion is every other Thursday, with a preceptorship at local hospitals/clinics to practice skills we learned the previous week. Lecture: 1:30pm-2:15pm, Small groups: 2:15pm-4pm, Preceptorship 1pm-5pm.
5) Electives: Various electives that last typically 2 hours each week. Some electives are every week, others are once every 4-5 weeks. I'm in Compassion and the Art of Medicine as well as Radiographic Anatomy.
6) Food. Med school has a LOT of free food. This is the only way clubs can get you to come to their meetings (and they know it too). I think I've paid for lunch once this week. Pretty cool stuff.
So a typical day will have 4-5 hours of lecture, and I might study for 1-2 hours (note, I was a biology major, so I don't have to study as much as other non-science majors).
Oh, and I do have a life. I've gone out plenty of times. And I still work out too (very important). Balance is key. Just gotta take everything in strides. PM me if you have any questions or concerns.
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You just started school -- Give it time, you will be upping the study hours significantly and many of the nonsci majors will be up to speed very shortly as your undergrad knowledge gets tapped out. The volume of med school has a nice way of evening the playing field. I have to warn you that there were plenty of nonsci majors at the top of the class and a lot of bio majors at the bottom by the end of the basic science years, so I would probably aim for overkill even if you were "biology major".
While I respect your opinion, I'm not sure that a first year can give great advice as early as August -- you need to get through a couple of exams first before you know what you have to tweak. What seems to be working now, might not shortly. It's kind of topsy turvy for the first few months. Be ready to change up things, sometimes drastically.
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rogerwilco said:
Come on, guys. Seriously? Med school is certainly hard, but it's not like you have NO time for a social life. For starters, I know that I go to the same school as one of the above posters. For the first two years, we only have class/lab/small group from 8-12. We have an afternoon committment once or twice a week, maybe more if you are involved in a volunteer activity, job, or student group. But, my point is, at least with this schedule, you have TONS of time to have a social life. I know that I certainly did (and still try to, even during 3rd year, although it has definitely decreased by a substantial amount). That's one of the reasons that I chose this school. At first, I must admit that I wondered if my colleages at 9-5 schools were better prepared, or if my classmates who studied until the wee hours and went to class every single day were somehow getting something that I wasn't. After taking Step 1 and now 2 rotations into 3rd year, I've got to say that the amount of TIME, per se, put in doesn't necessarily correlate to doing better on exams/on rotations. Just a personal observation.
I had plenty of time, especially during 1st year, to go out and have fun. I'm pretty sure I went out and did fun things every weekend that wasn't the weekend before a Monday exam. It's important to do well and keep your eyes on the prize, but definitely don't lose who you are in the process. Unless, of course, "who you are" is a med student who is only interested in studying medicine, and nothing else. Those types of people have a tendency to make me want to punch them in the face, however.
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Keep in mind that I only just finished my second week of medical school, so things are a bit skewed in my eyes at the moment. After being out of school for two years, it's a bit of a scramble trying to get back into the studying groove, especially when the volume is much higher than you remembered it being in undergrad.
That said, the 8-12 deal is great, and definitely one of the reasons I chose the school I did. Didn't mean to make it sound all doom and gloom.
Anyway, I've got a happy hour to get to.
That said, the 8-12 deal is great, and definitely one of the reasons I chose the school I did. Didn't mean to make it sound all doom and gloom.
Anyway, I've got a happy hour to get to.
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I will hold off comments on my own study habits since I am in my first couple of weels of class, but being engaged to a veterinary student, I've had a good idea of what the load will be like.
I truly believe it is all about priorities. The first semester, my fiancee studied 4-5 hours a day post school (school went until 4 or 5), and she rarely had time to hang out with me. Her class rank was decent for all the hard work, though (top 40%). The second semester, she changed her study habits and while she still studied quite a bit (I'd say 2-3 hours a day, more on test weeks), she found time to do those things she enjoyed like exercising, going out to dinner, hanging out with friends, etc. Sure, she didn't want to go out every Saturday night, but she was a much happier person all around. I believe her rank was in the top 20-30% the second semester, so being a more rounded individual actually helped her with regards to schoolwork as well.
As for me, I will say that I am still finding my own personal study habits, and that will take time. With my fiancee being in a different state, there isn't a whole lot for me to do during the week except for study, so that's what I do. Many people at my school treat it like a job though and study until 4-5 on the days we get out early, and 7-8 on the days we don't. Many of us don't want to do the more competitive specialties, so I think that may factor in when compared to people like those that frequent this site. That doesn't mean we don't want to become the best doctors we can, but for some of us, it's important to be rounded individuals as well.
I truly believe it is all about priorities. The first semester, my fiancee studied 4-5 hours a day post school (school went until 4 or 5), and she rarely had time to hang out with me. Her class rank was decent for all the hard work, though (top 40%). The second semester, she changed her study habits and while she still studied quite a bit (I'd say 2-3 hours a day, more on test weeks), she found time to do those things she enjoyed like exercising, going out to dinner, hanging out with friends, etc. Sure, she didn't want to go out every Saturday night, but she was a much happier person all around. I believe her rank was in the top 20-30% the second semester, so being a more rounded individual actually helped her with regards to schoolwork as well.
As for me, I will say that I am still finding my own personal study habits, and that will take time. With my fiancee being in a different state, there isn't a whole lot for me to do during the week except for study, so that's what I do. Many people at my school treat it like a job though and study until 4-5 on the days we get out early, and 7-8 on the days we don't. Many of us don't want to do the more competitive specialties, so I think that may factor in when compared to people like those that frequent this site. That doesn't mean we don't want to become the best doctors we can, but for some of us, it's important to be rounded individuals as well.
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I thought I should add that when I said "during the week," I meant Mon-Fri. You really have 12 hours to give during those days? I agree that there's plenty of time to have a life on the weekends, but do you want to spend the only significant blocks of free time you'll get on a volunteer position? I certainly wouldn't, but I guess it's a personal choice.
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It's Friday, and I plan to be at the library all night, as well as tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening is all about college football. Sunday is a mix of studying and brief barbecue before getting back to the studying grind for most of Monday. Test Tuesday, followed by a week of partying.
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the week of partying sounds awesome
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For me the biggest difference between undergrad and med school is the constant, subliminal pressure to study that pervades pretty much every waking moment in med school. Even after I've been in lecture four hours, gone home, eaten, and studied four more hours, when I take a break I feel like "there is more I should be learning...". While standing in line at the store, instead of actually talking to the cutie in front of me buying chapstick, I'm looking at her back trying to remember points of auscultation and how to find the triangle space, quadrangle space, triangle interval etc. I just started MS1 so it's still interesting and I genuinely like the pressure so far because of how much I'm learning, but I can see how it could get tiring.
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Yeah, I kind of agree with this. My schedule is remarkably similar to many of the above: wake at 7 AM, class from 8 to noon, lunch at noon. Then about two afternoons out of the week I have small group or anatomy meetings, the rest I am free to do what I want. I spend a lot of the afternoon studying, but I can tell I need to pick up the pace (it is early on and I have spent a good chunk of evenings/afternoons goofing off). The amount I need to know is a little intimidating, and I am going to pour on some heavy effort this weekend to make sure I am up to speed. There is so much material that I realize if I don't do it now, I may have to do it in a summer repeat class!
In college my style was more like roughly reading along with the class and going to most classes, then really intensely studying one or two days before the test. From what I have seen trying that here might genuinely fail me, which is a scary thought. As a medical student you will just have to get used to studying a good chunk of the day every day. If you can't enjoy that, I doubt you will enjoy medical school.
Still, though, I think it is safe to say you can keep a few extracurricular activities and go out with friends (especially on the weekends), you will just have to make these things fit around your coursework instead of the other way around.
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Everyone here has described their schedule during years 1-2, and I'll go ahead and chime in that I was one of those who stayed home for the most part and watched lectures online, starting halfway through first year (after anatomy). It's true, it doesn't necessarily mean you have LESS work, just that you choose to do most of it at home. I live kind of far from school, so this worked better for me. I would usually wake up at 10 or so, study a little and then around 12 the morning lectures would be posted. I would use enounce to watch them at 1.5-2.0x speed and would pretty much finish all the day's lectures by around 5. After that, gym time, dinner, study a bit, etc. Weekends I took it pretty easy, except before tests (we had most of ours on mondays) which really sucked because the entire weekend was spent studying. Overall if you manage your time well you can have lots of free time (have a very satisfying social life) and still do well.
Since no one has chimed in about third year except to say that it varies a lot, I'll pitch in a few typical days on the rotations i've done to give some premeds an idea. Overall the time commitment on site is much more, but generally far fewer hours spent book-studying.
Typical day on general surgery (month-long rotation):
4:00 - wake up
5:00 - pre-round on patients
6:00 - round on patients with team
7:00-7:15 - breakfast (as much as you can ingest in 15 minutes)
7:30-12 or 1:00 - OR cases
half hour lunch (maybe)
1:00 - 4 or 5 - OR cases (on wednesdays we had clinic during this time)
5:00-7:00 - afternoon rounds with attending or
more OR time until 6,7,8...or whenever you happen to be done.
Then go home and try to read/study for an hour or two, eat something and sleep a few hours/
Repeat every day, 6 or 7 days a week.
Needless to say some days I actually felt like crying when the alarm clock went off after having slept 2 hours nightly for a week.
Trauma surgery was better. Every sixth day was call day and that meant being there for 16-30 hours at a time, depending on how many cases came in. But there was never really a dull moment...from mid afternoon onwards once the traumas start rolling, you don't stop. resuscitation bay, OR, suturing, consults, etc. You're kept busy. The other days were typically 6:00-2:00 or so, some days even getting out at noon or even 11:00. Muuuuch nicer schedule.
On internal medicine now, we have call every fourth day which means starting at around 7:30 and ending anywhere from 8:00 pm to 11pm, depending on how many admissions roll in. Other days, 7:30-5:00 is typical. 1 day off a week.
The interns are always there already when I arrive, and always leave at the same time or later. They are also on call a lot more often.
So my point is...it only gets worse as you go on.
Since no one has chimed in about third year except to say that it varies a lot, I'll pitch in a few typical days on the rotations i've done to give some premeds an idea. Overall the time commitment on site is much more, but generally far fewer hours spent book-studying.
Typical day on general surgery (month-long rotation):
4:00 - wake up
5:00 - pre-round on patients
6:00 - round on patients with team
7:00-7:15 - breakfast (as much as you can ingest in 15 minutes)
7:30-12 or 1:00 - OR cases
half hour lunch (maybe)
1:00 - 4 or 5 - OR cases (on wednesdays we had clinic during this time)
5:00-7:00 - afternoon rounds with attending or
more OR time until 6,7,8...or whenever you happen to be done.
Then go home and try to read/study for an hour or two, eat something and sleep a few hours/
Repeat every day, 6 or 7 days a week.
Needless to say some days I actually felt like crying when the alarm clock went off after having slept 2 hours nightly for a week.
Trauma surgery was better. Every sixth day was call day and that meant being there for 16-30 hours at a time, depending on how many cases came in. But there was never really a dull moment...from mid afternoon onwards once the traumas start rolling, you don't stop. resuscitation bay, OR, suturing, consults, etc. You're kept busy. The other days were typically 6:00-2:00 or so, some days even getting out at noon or even 11:00. Muuuuch nicer schedule.
On internal medicine now, we have call every fourth day which means starting at around 7:30 and ending anywhere from 8:00 pm to 11pm, depending on how many admissions roll in. Other days, 7:30-5:00 is typical. 1 day off a week.
The interns are always there already when I arrive, and always leave at the same time or later. They are also on call a lot more often.
So my point is...it only gets worse as you go on.
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