Missing Out on Your 20s

[altitude]

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A question primarily to upper-year med students, residents, and physicians (also open to pre-med opinions as well):

Does medical school and residency cause you to miss out on your 20s (e.g. dating scene, hanging out/going away with friends, ...)?

Do you have any regrets in regard to anything to do with this? What would you have done differently?

As a resident and upper-year med student, how much free time do you have to go out and not worry about school, exams, ...?


Any other pre-meds worried about this?

 

[shoehornlettuce]

A question primarily to upper-year med students, residents, and physicians (also open to pre-med opinions as well):

Does medical school and residency cause you to miss out on your 20s (e.g. dating scene, hanging out/going away with friends, ...)?

Do you have any regrets in regard to anything to do with this? What would you have done differently?

As a resident and upper-year med student, how much free time do you have to go out and not worry about school, exams, ...?

I would think it depends on what is important to you. It is obviously a gigantic time commitment and a lifestyle more so than a profession. You won't have the time your non-med friends do to hang out, go on dates etc. Some people are very driven and want to push themselves as far as they can go. They enjoy the challenge of medicine and the satisfaction they get from a lifetime of helping others. It really comes down to opportunity cost. In my opinion, what you gain is greater than what you lose. This will obviously be different from person to person.

 

[Kuuaku]

Yes, at times I think all med students/residents wish we had more time in our 20s to hang out at the beach and when we do get free time, we make the most of it. At the same time, some of my friends that aren't in med school are out bar hopping every weekend which makes me realize I'm not really missing out on much.

Free time during med school is definitely motivation dependent but also school dependent. We got a ton of free time during years 1 and 2 (before Step 1) especially compared to other med schools, and although you're swamped year 3, I hear 4th year is awesome. Also, I got to the hospital at 530a today and was done at 830a and I'm writing on effing SDN so it can't be all bad.

 

[altitude]

Yes, at times I think all med students/residents wish we had more time in our 20s to hang out at the beach and when we do get free time, we make the most of it. At the same time, some of my friends that aren't in med school are out bar hopping every weekend which makes me realize I'm not really missing out on much.

Free time during med school is definitely motivation dependent but also school dependent. We got a ton of free time during years 1 and 2 (before Step 1) especially compared to other med schools, and although you're swamped year 3, I hear 4th year is awesome. Also, I got to the hospital at 530a today and was done at 830a and I'm writing on effing SDN so it can't be all bad.

Thanks for the info! What are your nights typically like? Do you get to go out (if yes, how many times/week) or are you typically working on school work or at the hospital? Also, what are you weekends like?

 

[boggvir]

LOL I worked in a cubicle in my 20s. Good riddance. Med school is infinitely better.

 

[searun]

I am a resident in a surgical specialty. During med school, I definitely had time to socialize, work out, and enjoy some leisure activities. As a resident, my work is my life and I don't have time for much else. I have an occasional three day weekend to recharge my batteries but my work hours can be pretty brutal. Ever the optimist, I have just begun a long distance relationship.....it is not easy.

 

[altitude]

I am a resident in a surgical specialty. During med school, I definitely had time to socialize, work out, and enjoy some leisure activities. As a resident, my work is my life and I don't have time for much else. I have an occasional three day weekend to recharge my batteries but my work hours can be pretty brutal. Ever the optimist, I have just begun a long distance relationship.....it is not easy.

Thanks for the reply and best of luck!

How hard is it to maintain a non-long distance relationship? How often would you actually get to see/spend time with the person you're dating?

 

[willen101383]

Thanks for the reply and best of luck!

How hard is it to maintain a non-long distance relationship? How often would you actually get to see/spend time with the person you're dating?

I see my wife every night and spend the whole night with her. If you do things right, med school wont have any impact on your dating life/relationships/lifting/ability to go out and have fun.

That being said, there are plenty of people who absolutely need to kill themselves to get the grades they want. But if you are a reasonably smart person, and know how to study, med school is going to be as much of a time sink as any 9-5 job (in my case way less).

Good luck! And to agree with the poster above, I spent the majority of my 20s in a 9-5 as a peon. Med school IS infinitely better than that.

 

[gmcguitar4]

I am applying now and this has definitely crossed my mind. I am almost in my mid-20's and have been having some of the best times of my life. Unlike the previous poster, I thoroughly enjoy bar hopping and those 5am nights. Cutting it short for medical school is kinda scary to me. But I realize I have to get going with my career and focus on the future.

Before applying I didn't think about it as much as I do now. Because of the unpredictability of this whole process, I just don't know what is going to happen in the next year of my life. Am I going to be in a medical school? job? getting masters? The worst is that I have to plan for all of these! It just makes me think more about what I could do if I wasn't planning on going into medicine. But I can't picture myself doing anything else so I made my decision.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

This is why I think it's a great idea to take a year or two off after college to work, travel, train for/run a marathon, learn how to ride a motorcycle, etc. - life experiences that will be hard to pull off come time for med school. I'm almost hitting my mid-20's and part of me is not looking forward to how much I'll have to sacrifice during the coming years, but I'm grateful for all that I've experienced and gained during these past two years. Like a previous poster said, knowing that medicine is what I want, I realize that it's time to getting moving toward my ultimate goal. I don't look at med school as a death sentence in which the best years of my life will fade away. It won't be easy by any means, but I don't believe anyone who says you have to study every waking hour to be successful. I'm confident I'll be able to find a balance between academics and personal life. It'll take work, but it can be done, and if it's something important to you - whether a relationship or a hobby - it's worth the extra effort, IMO.

 

[Myuu]

This is why I think it's a great idea to take a year or two off after college to work, travel, train for/run a marathon, learn how to ride a motorcycle, etc. - life experiences that will be hard to pull off come time for med school. I'm almost hitting my mid-20's and part of me is not looking forward to how much I'll have to sacrifice during the coming years, but I'm grateful for all that I've experienced and gained during these past two years. Like a previous poster said, knowing that medicine is what I want, I realize that it's time to getting moving toward my ultimate goal. I don't look at med school as a death sentence in which the best years of my life will fade away. It won't be easy by any means, but I don't believe anyone who says you have to study every waking hour to be successful. I'm confident I'll be able to find a balance between academics and personal life. It'll take work, but it can be done, and if it's something important to you - whether a relationship or a hobby - it's worth the effort, IMO.

I have had a zillion classmates do marathons, iron mans, and a triathlon or two, actually!

 

[EBTrailRunner]

I have had a zillion classmates do marathons, iron mans, and a triathlon or two, actually!

Okay, bad example, but you get the idea. 🙂

BTW, that's insane that you have classmates who've completed an Ironman during med school. That's a good 15-20 hours of training per week.

 

[Myuu]

Okay, bad example, but you get the idea. 🙂

BTW, that's insane that you have classmates who've completed an Ironman during med school. That's a good 15-20 hours of training per week.

Yeah, I was floored. And then I found out it was more than one.😱

 

[vin5cent0]

A buddy of mine just finished his first semester of school. He honored every class (he's determined to get AOA), and went out with us nearly every weekend without fault. There were maybe 2-3 weekends he stayed in to study, but that's no different from college. He spent most of his days studying, and plays stupid amounts of starcraft and other games at night / goes on the weekends. It's all in how you prioritize your time.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Ever the optimist, I have just begun a long distance relationship.....it is not easy.

Damn, that sounds horrendous... good luck.