Sleep schedule, daily routine?

[Kfire326]

First year student here... just out of curiosity, are there any other night owls out there? I love studying at night. It's much easier for me to concentrate when it's dark out.. daylight distracts me because I feel like I'd rather be doing anything but read. I usually sleep between 4 and 6am, skip lectures in the morning, wake up between 11:30am and 12:30pm, then go to any mandatory things or labs in the afternoon. After that I'll do a clinical elective if I'm scheduled, or go work out, then start studying between 8 and 10pm.

Of course, I think the feasibility of this schedule depends on the school and the resources available. My school gives us course packs with corresponding reading and figures for each lecture (written by the professors themselves). Everything we are expected to learn is said in lecture and is in this coursepack. On top of that, lecture slides are posted immediately after classes (probably so at every school), we've got podcasts, and our transcript service is NOT a note-taking service. Our transcript service is just that - we get a (nearly) verbatim transcript of the lecture written by students who get paid to do it (not written in class - the transcriber will listen to a podcast and type it out).

I know there are others like me at my school... how about yours? What are your schedules like?

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[terzioglu]

I am a third year student. And I like studying at nights,too. But with some differences. every lecture is mandatory in my faculty, so I have no chance to sleep until midday. But in many days of the week I try to go to bed early (eg. 11pm) and get up early (eg. 5am) and study until the lessons start. So we can say I am studying at night. Reading material ( lecture slides etc.) is nearly the same as yours.

 

[kingcer0x]

Being a night owl gets harder in 3rd and 4th year since you have to be there for rounds, sometimes lectures. It kind of forces a more regular sleep schedule. However, if you are good at night, then you will be a monster on call. Plus, even if call is mandatory, most med students aren't called by their residents past a certain hour so you can stay up and study. I bet that will work out well for you since it sounds like you are more efficient at night.

 

[Occams Razor]

I'm a non-trad student, and have gotten used to working graveyard shifts in my previous life.

I enjoy studying all night, but im not functional for class at 8am. When class starts at 10am, I try to take a nap from 4pm to 8pm or later, stay up until 2-3am studying, then go back to sleep and get up at 8am. Sometimes this schedule doesn't work out, but i think i do my best thinking and retaining when burning the midnight oil.

 

[kypdurron5]

I'm starting medical school this fall and I've been worried about this issue >). I've always been a big-time night owl; working 3rd shift on my last job was absolutely perfect for me. Now that I'm unemployed I've been trying to get on day shift, but I just keep drifting back towards nights. If feasible, I think it would be prefect to have classes as the last thing of the day, then go straight to bed and get up "early" and start my real "day." I'm sure it just depends on the school and the semester/year.

When I try to live a normal day I end being groggy in the morning, then I do really well for a few hours, but around 2-4PM I get REALLY tired and find it difficult to concentrate. Eventually I snap out of that and have a pretty decent evening (or take a nap lol). On night shift, however, I don't experience any of that. Once fully awake I'm good to go all night. The idea of going to school all day then studying for several hours right afterwards sounds impossible to me. I did that the first time I took the MCAT actually- I didn't do so well....

 

[brianoflee]

I usually sleep between 4 and 6am, skip lectures in the morning, wake up between 11:30am and 12:30pm, then go to any mandatory things or labs in the afternoon. After that I'll do a clinical elective if I'm scheduled, or go work out, then start studying between 8 and 10pm.

This sounds like my undergrad routine. I'll imagine it'll be much the same when I start med school next year -- all of our class materials (as far as I understand) are posted online.

 

[Blade28]

I've always been a night owl. But med school and residency forced me to become a morning person.

 

[DPT2MD]

Do what you gotta do but obviously patients come in from 8 to 5 in an outpatient clinic (hospital is a little different). At some point you guys who like to stay up from 8pm to 8am will have to 'reboot' your system to that which the majority of us live in.