Summer Before Med School

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Smyle4Jenn

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What is everyone doing the summer before medical school? I'm going to quit my job in late March or mid April, but want to make sure I use my 4.5 months of vacation wisely. I'll probably visit some friends along the East Coast and maybe take a dance and painting class. I'm curious as to what other people have planned.
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Man, that was a nice summer. My day revolved around working out. I'd get up around 11, eat some oatmeal and some fruit, read the newspaper for a while. At 1 or so, I'd run 5 miles, come back, eat more. Then I'd head to the gym. You might think this a boring summer, but it was sweet. I also managed to get inot the darkroom and print a few photos. Hmm 4.5 months is a long time. If I were you, I'd fly to South America and go snowboarding.
 
Brainsucker said:
Man, that was a nice summer. My day revolved around working out. I'd get up around 11, eat some oatmeal and some fruit, read the newspaper for a while. At 1 or so, I'd run 5 miles, come back, eat more. Then I'd head to the gym. You might think this a boring summer, but it was sweet. I also managed to get inot the darkroom and print a few photos. Hmm 4.5 months is a long time. If I were you, I'd fly to South America and go snowboarding.
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I'd really like to participate in a summer language program in Vietnam, but my boyfriend is in Boston. I will most likely be in CA for med school so this will be our last summer together for awhile, which is the reason I'm quitting my job so early.
 
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Ha, I thought I was going to work in the lab I researched in a 2 summers ago. It would be boring, but the pay is good, and I can live at home for free with my parents. Saving some money before med school sounded like a good idea.

Well...my grandmother just found out last week that she needs to have one of her hips replaced, so my mom (her daughter) decided that I need to go spend the summer in Little Rock, AR, nursing Grandma back to health...pretty random...

I do have one thing to look forward to: at the end of July, my boyfriend and I are taking a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Caymen, and Cozumel...so, at least that's exciting.
 
I'm leaving my job in May and traveling around the world with one of my best friends from college, who also happens to be in the throes of the med school application process. On the itinerary so far...Amsterdam, Athens, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul...luckily, we know people in each city, so that cuts out the cost of hotel. Anyone going to be in the area and wanna play? :)

Cheers to making the most of our last free summer!! (I know we have the summer after first year off, but I get the impression most people do something career-related...)
 
IHaveLab said:
Ha, I thought I was going to work in the lab I researched in a 2 summers ago. It would be boring, but the pay is good, and I can live at home for free with my parents. Saving some money before med school sounded like a good idea.

Well...my grandmother just found out last week that she needs to have one of her hips replaced, so my mom (her daughter) decided that I need to go spend the summer in Little Rock, AR, nursing Grandma back to health...pretty random...

I do have one thing to look forward to: at the end of July, my boyfriend and I are taking a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Caymen, and Cozumel...so, at least that's exciting.
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Jamaica is beautiful! I was there last summer....this summer, on the other hand, I will probably be quitting my job and moving to a new town. I plan on relaxing, taking a few short vacations, and moving into my new place. Not terribly exciting, but it sounds alright to me.
 
I wish I had 4.5 months. Mid-June to the end of July. Hmm. So far? Full West Coast road trip, then cross-country driving with my mother to shift all of my crap to the other coast. Any remaining time will be filled with running, reading, and gardening. Since you have 4.5 months and (I assume from the job-quitting) enough money to survive on, I agree with Brainsucker. Go travel.
 
I'm thinking of a 3 week road trip up the california coast to washington.
 
I'm going on a 32 day backpacking trip in the Himalayas!

I've decided to shell out a bunch of money and take a NOLS trip so I can thoroughly enjoy myself one last time before hard-core school starts.
 
singapore and climbing kilimanjaro. I climbed kinabalu (tallest peak in SE Asia) the summer before college, so kili before med school seems somehow appropriate :)
 
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planting a couple thousand trees a day in the british columbia mountains, living out of a tent, and trying not to think about how studying will soon be taking over my life.
 
me too! Maui for me. how about yourself?
 
IHaveLab said:
Ha, I thought I was going to work in the lab I researched in a 2 summers ago. It would be boring, but the pay is good, and I can live at home for free with my parents. Saving some money before med school sounded like a good idea.

Well...my grandmother just found out last week that she needs to have one of her hips replaced, so my mom (her daughter) decided that I need to go spend the summer in Little Rock, AR, nursing Grandma back to health...pretty random...

I do have one thing to look forward to: at the end of July, my boyfriend and I are taking a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Caymen, and Cozumel...so, at least that's exciting.
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My boyfriend and i will also be going on a cruise as well but we will go in May :) !!! Can't wait!! We went to those exact locations for spring break one summer. We loved loved loved Cozumel...they have nice beaches... :D
 
ivy91 said:
I'm leaving my job in May and traveling around the world/QUOTE]


Me too, baby! But my itinerary is different: New Zealand (2 weeks), Australia (1 week), Thailand (4 weeks), England/France (2 weeks). This is my last chance to visit some international friends before the med-school lock-down. My last month will be spent recuperating from travel, sleeping, reading novels and mentally-preparing for school again. :)
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I'm so jealous of all of you!!! My husband is switching careers, so I need to keep working as long as possible. Also, since its still up in the air where I am matriculating (1 acceptance, 1 interview next week at top choice, and 1 waitlist ranked higher on my list that the acceptance) we're still trying to figure out the logistics of when we'll need to cut and run (ie move).
 
Smyle4Jenn said:
What is everyone doing the summer before medical school? I'm going to quit my job in late March or mid April, but want to make sure I use my 4.5 months of vacation wisely. I'll probably visit some friends along the East Coast and maybe take a dance and painting class. I'm curious as to what other people have planned.
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Free 2 weeks in Brazil with my choir! (These are the perks of being in the top group at a huge school . . . 1/2 paid for by UT, 1/2 paid for by the University of Sao Paolo!)

Plus my best friends are in there with me, so it will be AWESOME :)
 
LucidSplash said:
I'm so jealous of all of you!!! My husband is switching careers, so I need to keep working as long as possible. Also, since its still up in the air where I am matriculating (1 acceptance, 1 interview next week at top choice, and 1 waitlist ranked higher on my list that the acceptance) we're still trying to figure out the logistics of when we'll need to cut and run (ie move).
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I completely sympathize. My husband and I probably won't get to do anything too exciting (except for a short June vacation that had been planned last year)....instead he will be trying to get a job wherever we end up. I envy people that can sit on waitlists until June or July and then pick up and move. It's a lot to ask a spouse to quit what they're doing and follow you to a city of your choice, let alone not knowing until a month before classes start.
 
I'm living in Austria now, so I will spend the summer NOT working, hiking, rock climbing, and traveling throughout Europe to Spain for Running of the Bulls, France, Amsterdam, Prague, maybe a brief cliff-diving adventure in Greece, and then I'm off to Corsica for a month of lying on the beach and doing absolutely nothing before heading back to the US for med school. During this time, I am determined not to turn on my cell or check my email to prove to myself that I can be independent from technology! I'm also going to spend 2 or 3 weeks with some Austrian friends this summer up in the high Alps milking their family cows and making cheese.

As for snowboarding...I already go like 4 times a week and it snowed all day today and we will have knee-deep powder for skitouring tomorrow!!

And during the cow-milking and cheese-making experience, yes I will be wearing a dirndl and yodeling like in Sound of Music, bc that's what I've been doing for 1.5 years and that's what they all do here.....

not....
 
annamoo said:
I'm living in Austria now, so I will spend the summer NOT working, hiking, rock climbing, and traveling throughout Europe to Spain for Running of the Bulls, France, Amsterdam, Prague, maybe a brief cliff-diving adventure in Greece, and then I'm off to Corsica for a month of lying on the beach and doing absolutely nothing before heading back to the US for med school. During this time, I am determined not to turn on my cell or check my email to prove to myself that I can be independent from technology! I'm also going to spend 2 or 3 weeks with some Austrian friends this summer up in the high Alps milking their family cows and making cheese.

As for snowboarding...I already go like 4 times a week and it snowed all day today and we will have knee-deep powder for skitouring tomorrow!!

And during the cow-milking and cheese-making experience, yes I will be wearing a dirndl and yodeling like in Sound of Music, bc that's what I've been doing for 1.5 years and that's what they all do here.....

not....
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I ran with the bulls a couple years ago. I recommmend making reservations in pamplona now if you havn't already. My friend and I slept in a park while we were there, which was actually kind of fun
 
Climbing Denali (Mt. McKinley) for a month or so... And then it's a toss up... Try and bike from Alaska back to the east coast, get a dog, or hit up the french riviera/Ibiza...
 
Bar tending!!
 
annamoo said:
I'm living in Austria now, so I will spend the summer NOT working, hiking, rock climbing, and traveling throughout Europe to Spain for Running of the Bulls, France, Amsterdam, Prague, maybe a brief cliff-diving adventure in Greece, and then I'm off to Corsica for a month of lying on the beach and doing absolutely nothing before heading back to the US for med school. During this time, I am determined not to turn on my cell or check my email to prove to myself that I can be independent from technology! I'm also going to spend 2 or 3 weeks with some Austrian friends this summer up in the high Alps milking their family cows and making cheese.

As for snowboarding...I already go like 4 times a week and it snowed all day today and we will have knee-deep powder for skitouring tomorrow!!

And during the cow-milking and cheese-making experience, yes I will be wearing a dirndl and yodeling like in Sound of Music, bc that's what I've been doing for 1.5 years and that's what they all do here.....

not....
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I'm so envious. Please, God, let there be fresh snow in Tahoe for the last week of March.
 
ivy91 said:
I'm leaving my job in May and traveling around the world with one of my best friends from college, who also happens to be in the throes of the med school application process. On the itinerary so far...Amsterdam, Athens, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul...luckily, we know people in each city, so that cuts out the cost of hotel. Anyone going to be in the area and wanna play? :)

Cheers to making the most of our last free summer!! (I know we have the summer after first year off, but I get the impression most people do something career-related...)
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I'll be in Beijing for the first half of June if you really do want to meet up some time. The rest of June/early July will be touring China/Taiwan with the family. After that, I think I'll try to get up to wherever I'm going to end up a little bit early to move in and maybe check out some labs.

And I'm jealous of rbrun...British Columbia is beeeaaautiful in the summer time.
 
IHaveLab said:
Ha, I thought I was going to work in the lab I researched in a 2 summers ago. It would be boring, but the pay is good, and I can live at home for free with my parents. Saving some money before med school sounded like a good idea.

Well...my grandmother just found out last week that she needs to have one of her hips replaced, so my mom (her daughter) decided that I need to go spend the summer in Little Rock, AR, nursing Grandma back to health...pretty random...

I do have one thing to look forward to: at the end of July, my boyfriend and I are taking a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Caymen, and Cozumel...so, at least that's exciting.
Click to expand...

I hope your grandmother is ok! I have been on that cruise with my family. It's quite nice, but be ready to say "No" a lot to the Jamaican salespeople.
 
Zoom-Zoom said:
I ran with the bulls a couple years ago. I recommmend making reservations in pamplona now if you havn't already. My friend and I slept in a park while we were there, which was actually kind of fun
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I ran a few years ago too. AND I also slept in a park. What year were you there Zoom? For those of you considering it this summer, make every attempt to get to Pamplona during the festival, it is the best summer festival in the world.
 
- Teach a few mcat classes for the princeton review <shudder> poor kids prepping for the august mcat...it pays pretty well, hopefully it'll pay for my supplies and books first semester of med school.

- Go to the beach. A lot.

- Reacquaint myself with the guitar. Used to play a lot in high school, completely got away from it in college for some reason. I'm starting to get the hang of it again.

- Workout. A lot.

- Take fighting lessons of some sort. Actually, I've wanted to do this for a long time, I figure this will be my last chance. I've never had to physically fend for myself, but there may be a first time...Hopefully I won't get mugged during med school at jackson hospital, but just in case...

- Visit a few friends i haven't seen in a while.

- Spend a lot of quality time with the girlfriend and family.

- Sleep. A lot. :sleep:
That's about it.
 
browniegirl86 said:
Free 2 weeks in Brazil with my choir! (These are the perks of being in the top group at a huge school . . . 1/2 paid for by UT, 1/2 paid for by the University of Sao Paolo!)

Plus my best friends are in there with me, so it will be AWESOME :)
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Browniegirl86,

I was born in Sao Paulo, and my entire family is still there (only immediate family moved to America). We often go there to visit. You will love it, it's a huge city. Brazil is beautiful, with wonderful people. Enjoy yourself!
 
This coming summer I am going to spend two weeks traveling throughout Europe with my mother...we're very close. So far on the itinerary is London, Barcelona, Paris, Venice, and Rome. I wish we were going for longer than two weeks...there's so much to see!
 
First of all I would like to thank everyone who has posted on this thread. Because of all the cool stuff you are all doing my wife got jealous and decided that we needed to do something threadworthy as well. So as of today we are going to Dublin, London and Amsterdam for two weeks. We will also most likely take small day trips to places near these main stops. Crazy stuff, as of yesterday I was planning on getting a reseach position this summer becuase I would otherwise be too bored sitting on my butt all summer and now I have something to look forward to.
 
One more tip: do a THOROUGH technology overview before you go traveling...get a HUGE CARD for <our digital camera, unless you want to pay someone 10 euros (which is like 15 bucks or so) so out your images on a cd in some city while you are traveling...and be sure you have more than one battery...and don't forget your charger...and pack light....and bring a towel and some duct tape bc you never know when they'll come in handy...

When things are bad inmed school, I plan to poad up iPhoto and look at hte photos from my 2 years in Europe and all the fun crap I did so I can feel like I lived a little before becoming a total nerd (I went on a snowshowing and skitouring adventure yday, there was powder up to our waists, and we went back down through the woods, very dangerous, I hit a rock, no avalanches, no one died, although I did have my preferred burial spot all picked out on the mountain...ahhh Austria, I'm gonna miss it!!)
 
Taiwan and Japan if I can help it. My last chance to spend vacation time with my family, so I want it to be good. Hopefully the heat in Taiwan will be more healthy for me and increase my hotness in time for med school ;) .
 
Quit job mid-May. WINDSURF!!! that's when the wind picks up. (all summer)

Trip with my girlfriend to Europe (London, Paris, maybe Rome - 2 weeks)

Surf trip down california coast, maybe some day trips into baja from San Diego. yeah, i know it's summer and it'll most likely be entirely flat, but I'm hoping for that huge summertime southern swell that'll dominate the coast. I'm looking forward to battling it out with the palos verdes locals. (1.5 weeks)

Visit relatives/friends in New York. From my med school adventures, ive determined that New york is a great place to visit, but can be a harsh place to live. (1 week)

Yosemite (1 week)

read some books, maybe look at anatomy flashcards if I'm feeling the yearn.

move. (1-2 weeks before school) Is this when most people move?

relax.
 
Traveling through Europe in May- Italy, France and Switzerland.

I am so psyched.....just booked some really nice hotels and getting it free made it even better(i have collected a good number of starwood points).

I wont be quitting my job till June.
 
Unfortunately, I will not be doing anything as fun as most of you. I will be getting used to life as a father - baby due at the end of April (yipee!) and working. I'm hoping to have 1-2 weeks off before school begins...
 
Quit job in June, sell house, move, go climb a mountain with Dad and brothers, take wife and kids to Hawaii for two weeks (so I can go see humuhumu in their natural habitat :D), read, run, relax...
 
TacoStand said:
Unfortunately, I will not be doing anything as fun as most of you. I will be getting used to life as a father - baby due at the end of April (yipee!) and working. I'm hoping to have 1-2 weeks off before school begins...
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That is wonderful!!! Congratulations! :p
 
So, any car lovers out there?

I'm trying to decide if I should spend money and work on restoring my old bimmer which I will use in med school or take a trip instead. I wish I could do both.
 
kirexhana said:
Taiwan and Japan if I can help it. My last chance to spend vacation time with my family, so I want it to be good. Hopefully the heat in Taiwan will be more healthy for me and increase my hotness in time for med school ;) .
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Kirexhana. You got into Wash U! That's so exciting. Congrats!!!
 
Man, UCLA doesn't let out until mid june (quarter system) and SLU starts at the beginning of August.

That doesn't leave much of a summer!

=P
 
Brainsucker said:
I'm so envious. Please, God, let there be fresh snow in Tahoe for the last week of March.
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you know what's the most depressing thing about looking forward to medical school? the idea that from now on, winter vacation will be a week or less, and that realistically i probably won't be able to go snowboarding more than just a few times per season.

so. sad. :(
 
I'll start off with a trip to Paris the day after I graduate in May! I'm going for a week with my bf of 7.5 years who will also be graduating....perhaps I will come back with a fiance! Then it will just be summer job working at the pool as a manager and water polo coach and then a vacation again at the end of summer with family to Catalina so I can enjoy Cali one last time before I head off to Chicago and seasons! I graduate in May and Pritzker doesn't start until mid-late September so this is going to be my longest summer ever! Woo hoo! :D
 
See my family, in person.
I've been keeping in contact via phone & e-mail for the past 10 months, will enjoy face to face interaction.
 
Duchess said:
This coming summer I am going to spend two weeks traveling throughout Europe with my mother...we're very close. So far on the itinerary is London, Barcelona, Paris, Venice, and Rome. I wish we were going for longer than two weeks...there's so much to see!
Click to expand...

Woah, I'm also traveling to Europe this summer.

My itinerary is:
London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Venice, then finish off with Amsterdam. I'll be there for probably 40 days total. I estimate it'll cost me $6000 for this insane yet meaningful trip.
 
i'm moving to barcelona in early june. will stay there for 4 weeks before meeting up with a friend in northern italy. then going to croatia to check out the beaches (b*tches) then go visit family in germany (in perfect timing for the world cup semis and finals). probably stop by prague for a few days sometime in there.
-mota
 
drmota said:
i'm moving to barcelona in early june. will stay there for 4 weeks before meeting up with a friend in northern italy. then going to croatia to check out the beaches (b*tches) then go visit family in germany (in perfect timing for the world cup semis and finals). probably stop by prague for a few days sometime in there.
-mota
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When do you pick me up?
 
I had big plans for traveling, but life seems to have gotten in the way. I'll leave my job in mid-June, have a week-long vacation (Disney World, cruise to the Bahamas) with my sister, and then move and start a lab rotation (I'm MD/PhD) at the beginning of July.

*Edit* But I'm thinking I should take a fun lesson of some sort over the summer as a treat for myself. Salsa dancing? Painting? Photography? That should be fun!
 
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