One hour a week hobby while pursuing Pre-Med

[lillian36]

I currently work full time and take care of my older parents.

(EDIT: Currently not in school, plan to take pre-med courses in next few months)

For hobby (and major de-stressor) I paint several hours a week.

To familiarize myself with anatomy I am attempting to paint figures from Grant's Atlas of Human Anatomy (found 1960s Edition lying around our home).

I believe this is a rather fantastic way to start learning and really appreciating what a marvelous machine the human body is.

However, I enjoy painting other subjects as well. Is an hour a week working on a non-medical painting a good idea?

This may seem like a silly question but some people say 100% full concentration should be given to medical studies, while others say a break once in a while is perfect.

Please give your experiences.

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[Lannister]

some people say 100% full concentration should be given to medical studies

First of all, you're not a medical student, so even if this was true it wouldn't apply to you.
Second, bull****. If you're dedicating 100% of your time to medicine, you're doing life wrong.

 

[mimelim]

I currently work full time and take care of my older parents.

For hobby (and major de-stressor) I paint several hours a week.

To familiarize myself with anatomy I am attempting to paint figures from Grant's Atlas of Human Anatomy (found 1960s Edition lying around our home).

I believe this is a rather fantastic way to start learning and really appreciating what a marvelous machine the human body is.

However, I enjoy painting other subjects as well. Is an hour a week working on a non-medical painting a good idea?

This may seem like a silly question but some people say 100% full concentration should be given to medical studies, while others say a break once in a while is perfect.

Please give your experiences.

168 hours a week

Working full time, 40 hours a week? School, 30 hours a week? Sleep 8 hours a night, 56 hours a week? That is 126 hours gone, but another way of thinking about it is 46 hours left. Nobody is perfectly efficient, but considering that I work over 100 hours per week and still spend ~10 hours a week rock climbing and running as hobbies, one would expect that you should be able to find an hour to paint a week.

 

[valine42]

What a tryhard post. Do you really expect anyone to believe you are sooooooo busy because you you question spending an hour a week doing something you find fun?

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

If you only have one hour of free time as an undergrad...you are doing it wrong

 

[lillian36]

First of all, you're not a medical student, so even if this was true it wouldn't apply to you.
Second, bull****. If you're dedicating 100% of your time to medicine, you're doing life wrong.

168 hours a week

Working full time, 40 hours a week? School, 30 hours a week? Sleep 8 hours a night, 56 hours a week? That is 126 hours gone, but another way of thinking about it is 46 hours left. Nobody is perfectly efficient, but considering that I work over 100 hours per week and still spend ~10 hours a week rock climbing and running as hobbies, one would expect that you should be able to find an hour to paint a week.

What a tryhard post. Do you really expect anyone to believe you are sooooooo busy because you you question spending an hour a week doing something you find fun?

If you only have one hour of free time as an undergrad...you are doing it wrong

Apologies ... let me clarify ... I'm currently not in school ... I did graduated University nearly 15 years ago.

Now I work full time and take care of parents.

In the next few months I'm planning to enroll in pre-med courses.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I am in school about 32 hours per week, and then I study and have to take care of my two kiddos. Plenty of time. But, even when I was working 80-100+ hours per week and taking 12 credits per semester and taking care of a newborn and a toddler, I still found a few hours per week for my artistic hobbies and to work out daily. If you can’t find the time working less than half of that and going to school, you need to re-evaluate your time management skills.

I don’t take care of my parents, but my two and three year olds are a handful and take up a lot of time, so I get it. You can find the time.

 

[Catalystik]

For hobby (and major de-stressor) I paint several hours a week. I am attempting to paint figures from Grant's Atlas of Human Anatomy

I enjoy painting other subjects as well. Is an hour a week working on a non-medical painting a good idea?

Artistic painting, regardless of subject matter, is good, relaxing hobby that takes all your attention and can result in something beautiful. Paint what you enjoy the most.

 

[Mad Jack]

I currently work full time and take care of my older parents.

(EDIT: Currently not in school, plan to take pre-med courses in next few months)

For hobby (and major de-stressor) I paint several hours a week.

To familiarize myself with anatomy I am attempting to paint figures from Grant's Atlas of Human Anatomy (found 1960s Edition lying around our home).

I believe this is a rather fantastic way to start learning and really appreciating what a marvelous machine the human body is.

However, I enjoy painting other subjects as well. Is an hour a week working on a non-medical painting a good idea?

This may seem like a silly question but some people say 100% full concentration should be given to medical studies, while others say a break once in a while is perfect.

Please give your experiences.

If you're a premed and you aren't doing things unrelated to medicine you're going to come off as creepy and obsessed. A physician must be a human being first and foremost and a doctor second in order to both relate to their patients and take care of themselves. If anything, I'd encourage you to paint things unrelated to medicine as much as possible.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

No offense but this is the reason people dislike premeds. Why would you come to the forums to ask permission to spend an hour a week painting? Do you hav any idea how silly that even sounds? It would be a different story if you came and asked if it was reasonable to spend 10 hrs a week painting if you do it professionally but you are seriously asking the premed forums permission to spend 1/168th of a week on yourself. Might as well not shower either since that takes too much time right?

 

[lillian36]

I am in school about 32 hours per week, and then I study and have to take care of my two kiddos. Plenty of time. But, even when I was working 80-100+ hours per week and taking 12 credits per semester and taking care of a newborn and a toddler, I still found a few hours per week for my artistic hobbies and to work out daily. If you can’t find the time working less than half of that and going to school, you need to re-evaluate your time management skills.

I don’t take care of my parents, but my two and three year olds are a handful and take up a lot of time, so I get it. You can find the time.

You got a full plate!!!

True, will re-evaluate Time Management (now's the time anyways!)

Artistic painting, regardless of subject matter, is good, relaxing hobby that takes all your attention and can result in something beautiful. Paint what you enjoy the most.

You bet!

If you're a premed and you aren't doing things unrelated to medicine you're going to come off as creepy and obsessed. A physician must be a human being first and foremost and a doctor second in order to both relate to their patients and take care of themselves. If anything, I'd encourage you to paint things unrelated to medicine as much as possible.

Oh wow, that's a good point!