Med school summers

[M.Furfur]

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What do med students do in their summers?

 

[smq123]

What do med students do in their summers?

Summer after MS1: Research, volunteer, travel, work (= make some badly needed money), relax. [Remediate failed courses if needed.]

Summer after MS2: Study for Step 1. Take a week or two off before 3rd year rotations.

Summer after MS3: You get 2 weeks off - and some away rotation sites start a week earlier than your school does, so that might get shortened to 1 week. 🙁

Summer after graduation: Take a week or two off, move to the area where you are going to do residency, start working as an intern. (Most internships start mid-late June.)

EDIT: I should probably add that this is specific for my school - some schools start rotations halfway through second year, so their schedule is obviously different. But, generally speaking, you get one big long summer break after 1st year - and then not much else in the years after that. After MS1, you're pretty much either working all the time or studying for a big upcoming exam.

 

[ZagDoc]

Summer after MS1: Research, volunteer, travel, work (= make some badly needed money), relax. [Remediate failed courses if needed.]

Summer after MS2: Study for Step 1. Take a week or two off before 3rd year rotations.

Summer after MS3: You get 2 weeks off - and some away rotation sites start a week earlier than your school does, so that might get shortened to 1 week. 🙁

Summer after graduation: Take a week or two off, move to the area where you are going to do residency, start working as an intern. (Most internships start mid-late June.)

And there's the rub.

 

[Iquitos]

It's also fun to have a baby in the summer if you can time it right. Fortunately my wife is finished with school and can work from home after she has the baby.

 

[la petite mort]

Sleep?

 

[HEADintheCLOUDS]

Sleep?

HAH, cmon this isn't undergrad. This is gunner med school!😎

 

[Ashers]

Summer after MS1: Research, volunteer, travel, work (= make some badly needed money), relax. [Remediate failed courses if needed.]

Summer after MS2: Study for Step 1. Take a week or two off before 3rd year rotations.

Summer after MS3: You get 2 weeks off - and some away rotation sites start a week earlier than your school does, so that might get shortened to 1 week. 🙁

Summer after graduation: Take a week or two off, move to the area where you are going to do residency, start working as an intern. (Most internships start mid-late June.)

EDIT: I should probably add that this is specific for my school - some schools start rotations halfway through second year, so their schedule is obviously different. But, generally speaking, you get one big long summer break after 1st year - and then not much else in the years after that. After MS1, you're pretty much either working all the time or studying for a big upcoming exam.

My school's similar. Except after M3 year, we don't get a break; we finish at the end of June, and M4 rotations start at the beginning of July. We can put one of our vacations in the summer though if we want, but I'm saving mine.

M1 year I spent 12 weeks of vacation researching.
M2 year I studied for step 1 then went home and slept -- great use of time that was, being home and sleeping, and I did the same at Christmas this year. =(
M3 year, only vacation = 1 week at Christmas.

 

[peace84]

What do med students do in their summers?

Summers? What do you mean summers? At my school, there is only one summer. 🙁

 

[TMP-SMX]

M1: Lay in the sun for 2 months? Raises hand. Ooo almost forgot. Catch up on all the computer games I've been missing throughout the constancy that is medical school.

 

[pseudoknot]

I thought M4 was like one really long summer

 

[lunaire]

Summers? What do you mean summers? At my school, there is only one summer. 🙁

Same here... And we are expected to do our research thesis then.

I'm definitely taking 1 year off after 2nd or 3rd year.

 

[M.Furfur]

Is research a must in the summer of first year if I wanted a competitive specialty? Neurosurg, gen surg......

 

[Doctor J]

Is research a must in the summer of first year if I wanted a competitive specialty? Neurosurg, gen surg......

No, no, no.

Good board scores, good letters of recommendation, good clinical/preclinical grades - yes. Those are a must if you want a competitive specialty but are willing to train at a 'mediocre' program.

If you want a competitive specialty at a well-respected program, then yes, research is a 'must'. Why, I don't really know. I suppose it shows to the program that you can handle yet another drain on your time and energy and still come out smelling like roses.

Research is good to buff your CV but you won't get your foot in the door with awesome research and horrible boards/grades/LORs.

This has been answered before, by the way, many times. Good luck. Mind who you are getting advice from, also. The ones who have done research tend to overestimate the importance of it.

 

[pseudoknot]

I wonder if having the resourcefulness to search for old threads is important for getting into a competitive specialty? 😉

 

[April16MCAT]

what about getting married between 2nd and 3rd year after the boards- is it possible?

 

[pseudoknot]

what about getting married between 2nd and 3rd year after the boards- is it possible?

Typically you will have 0-2 weeks off after Step I, so it would be tight and the person who is not in med school would really have to accept 100% of the planning responsibility. It has been done before though. The most convenient times are usually considered to be the summer after M1 or sometime during M4 not taken up by interviews.

 

[Horowitz]

well, more sex maybe?

 

[Allerian1004]

It seems people at my school do one of four things:
1) Chill
2) Research
3) Externship
4) Work

I'll be doing an 8 week paid pediatric externship. I'll still get 4 weeks of actual chill time which is enough that I'll get rested but not bored.