Studying and schedule conflicts

[Ari1584]

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So I just found out my schedule for my M1 year and I am going to be having tests every other Monday for the year. The problem is...my bf travels for his job and is in town every other weekend...and of COURSE it happens to be the exact same weekends that I have to study for my exams on mondays. There is no way he can change his schedule bc of work regulations, and I obviously cannot change mine. My plan is to just study the material everyday so that I dont get too far behind and try to take at least a night off from studying the weekend before my exam to see him. Do any of you have similar scheduling conflicts and can offer some advice? We have been dating for 6 yrs, so we are a very strong couple...but still, it's kind of scary knowing how much less time we will have to spend with each other now. Thanks for the advice!

 

[FadingPromise]

So I just found out my schedule for my M1 year and I am going to be having tests every other Monday for the year. The problem is...my bf travels for his job and is in town every other weekend...and of COURSE it happens to be the exact same weekends that I have to study for my exams on mondays. There is no way he can change his schedule bc of work regulations, and I obviously cannot change mine. My plan is to just study the material everyday so that I dont get too far behind and try to take at least a night off from studying the weekend before my exam to see him. Do any of you have similar scheduling conflicts and can offer some advice? We have been dating for 6 yrs, so we are a very strong couple...but still, it's kind of scary knowing how much less time we will have to spend with each other now. Thanks for the advice!

Sorry to hear your trouble. I am not sure how broad the scope of each test will be, but from my experience, if they test you every two weeks, the exam material likely will not contain ridiculous amount like a test after 4-6 week block. I think you can manage to study enough so that the Friday/saturday before the exam, you feel ready. In fact, I know some classmates who were prepared well enough that they would take the day off before the exam.

It just depends on the material and your weekly schedule as well. On some week, you may run into the situation where you may not have studied enough, or you may feel that way even after trying. On those weekends, you might have to just tell him the situation and workout a compromise like going to the bookstore together, sit down and study and then take a break in between to talk, relax, etc. Just talk to him about your situation before med school start so he will not what is coming.

 

[dude1344]

For tests every 2 weeks, I would think if you kept up daily with the material you could take a day off the weekend before the exam and do fine. I had exams monthly during my M1 year, and I kept up pretty well. I really wanted to take the exam days ahead of time just to get it over with since I felt I was prepared. Use the time when he's not around to really study and learn the material - you'll be able to find time when he's around.

My advice to M1s would be to study balls to the wall the first couple weeks and see what works/doesn't work for you. You can always scale back the studying if you feel you don't need to study that much, but you'll probably regret not studying enough.

 

[Ari1584]

Thanks for the quick responses from the both of you 🙂. I am thinking I can manage with keeping up daily studying. And the advice from Dude is def what I will be doing when i start school...I will put in extra hours for exams and cut back if I need to. I have heard multiple med students say the exact same thing!