Hey guys, I'll go ahead and chime in on this one. I moved down to southern Florida or school from Colorado (about 7 hours by plane). Its actually the first time I've lived more than 20 min away from my family, and I didn't know anyone down here when I moved. I've got two points here:
1) Having space from your family does help with studying. My parents came down for a visit earlier this semester, and between that and some other personal life problems, I wound up failing my exam that week! Its definitely important to set boundaries on when you need to study and such, and family don't always understand this. That being said...my father also wound up being admitted overnight for serial cardiac enzymes after some angina-like CP a few months ago and I was REALLY worried about him when I found out, but couldn't do anything about it. So it goes both ways.
2) The other side of the coin is that you're also leaving behind your entire support system! For me, this was actually the more important factor. I've made some good friends down here, but on the whole, I don't really have anyone nearby that I have the same type of strong friendship that I have with my friends back home. Medical school is hard, and there's a LOT of stress! Its important to find someone you can talk to about it so that you don't let it build up! Personally, I had to make the extra effort to call people on the phone, but even that is hard with everyone's busy schedules.
Clearly, I'm not saying its impossible as I'm three days away from being done with my first year! Just saying that you should think about these things and get yourself in good habits early! Things ramp up pretty quickly and the more time you take to develop good habits early, the easier it'll be when things hit the fan! Make some friends, call your friends back home. Call your family regularly (I talk to them probably three or four times a week, but only for 10-15 min), but also let them know that there will be times where you're too busy to even talk and that they need to understand that. Also...FIND SOMETHING TO DO OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL!! Preferably something physically active! Getting away, even for a few hours a couple times a week, helps to keep you focused and clear your head! Personally, I like contact sports...then you can imagine that the guy you're hitting is that physio professor who refuses to curve the grades! Helps you deal with the things you can't control! 😀
Good luck everyone!
Nate.
--> Sacrifice for ideal
