Time to travel?

[MedMe]

How much time do you have to travel for fun during medical school (especially in the spring of 4th year)? I just wanted to know if I should be mentally prepared for my last summer ever (I'm starting in Aug), or if there is still opportunity during 4th year to do a 2 month tour of Europe trip or something.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Law2Doc]

How much time do you have to travel for fun during medical school (especially in the spring of 4th year)? I just wanted to know if I should be mentally prepared for my last summer ever (I'm starting in Aug), or if there is still opportunity during 4th year to do a 2 month tour of Europe trip or something.

Totally depends on the school, and what courses you are required to complete before graduation, and how many away rotations you want/need. Most places don't have a summer between third and fourth year -- more like a week, so you are already ahead of the game in terms of time off. If you aren't starting until August, you pretty much will want to use the first few months to do electives in the field(s) you are most likely to go into, perhaps do away rotations. Some places require multiple sub-I's during 4th year, and some have required 4th year "electives" or mandatory papers or mandatory community medicine, and the like. Plus some people feel like it's not a bad idea to rack up a "useful" elective or two during 4th year so that you don't start internship totally cold. And if you haven't taken the two parts of Step 2 by the match, you are going to need to budget some time for that. So in theory, at many programs you should be able to get some time off to do a nice vacation. Maybe not two months though, depending on your program.