Moving away from home for the first time for medical school. Any anecdotes/advice to help me with this transition?

[Doc2019]

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Title sums it up. I lived my whole life with my parents at home. I even commuted to college to save money. While we’ve had our fair share of arguments, I wake up every morning with this sting of sadness when I realize that I’ll be leaving my home in a few months to go to medical school.

The goal this year was to get into one of the Manhattan giants so I’d be only an hour away by train or car. While I got an interview here and there, things unfortunately didn’t work out.

I however did get into Pitt which I’m so ecstatic about. I love everything about the school from its research opportunities to the people there to just the environment overall. Pittsburgh seems like a nice area to spend 4 years after living my entire life in NYC. It’s also a top 20 which is helpful considering that STEP 1 is P/F.

But even though I love this school and know that this is the rational choice as I always knew I need to become independent of my parents; there’s still that sad feeling I get every morning when I wake up at home and realize I’m going to be somewhere else in a few months.

I have options like NYMC and Quinnipiac which would let me stay within an hour or two from my family via car. Pitt is gonna be a 6 hour drive from home but a one to two hour plane ride. There’s nothing wrong with NYMC and Quinnipiac as I also liked their schools a lot but I liked Pitt a good amount more and honestly think I’d be crazy to turn down Pitt for those other schools.

Anyways, I’m here to ask for your advice/anecdotes. Did any of y’all go through something similar? If so can you please give me your stories of how it turned out and any advice you can give me. Thanks.

tldr: Will be going OOS to a medical school that I love but I feel sad every morning knowing that I won’t be as close to home as I would’ve liked

 

[Avulse]

Those are fair feelings to have! For me, I was almost in the same situation as you; lived at home my whole life and commuted to undergrad to save money. Then I moved across the country for med school.

I definitely got homesick during first year, and it sucked not having them close enough to drive to on the weekends. However, I think the best remedy is to find a good group of friends who can support you while you're away from home. My current group of friends have made it much much easier to be away. Over time, you get used to being gone and can focus more on work.

I would say choose the school you want to attend the most. Yes family is important, but I would say don't let that stop you from going where you want.

It will be hard at first but after a while you'll be just fine don't worry!

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Go to lots of socials and make lots of friends.

 

[sharkbyte]

Go to Pitt. It's a great school; I would not give it up for NYMC or Quinnipiac just for a closer distance to home. And although it seems daunting now given that you've been at home your entire life, a 6-hour drive or 1-2 hour flight isn't bad at all and still falls within that "you can go home whenever you want" sort of category.

I moved 2200 miles away for medical school after going to college in-state and spending my gap year at home. I remember feeling super homesick before I even moved. I'm really close to my family and my college friends so I felt really apprehensive about the idea of moving far away and having to start over again. I was quite homesick those first few months as I tried to adjust to a new school, new classmates, new roommates, etc. The newness of everything will be uncomfortable at first. However, after a certain period of time, it'll become your new normal. You should be able to find a group of people that you can become friends with. Keep up with your family and talk to them every day, or as much as you need to, and whenever you feel like going home, just go home. I'm an M4 starting residency in July and now I'm super nostalgic about my med school years and all the close friends I've made which I guarantee you would have seemed absurd to me a few years ago when I first moved there. Wishing you all the best OP!