Traveling while in med school

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What times are ppl are able to travel/vacation in med school? Is it mainly just the 1st year summer and near the end of fourth year?
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Most schools have a summer break after first year. During the pre-clinical period you'll have all the usual breaks that you find in any academic calendar, like Christmas (1-2 weeks), Thanksgiving, spring break, etc. Once you start rotations there aren't as many opportunities to travel, but when I was in med school we had 2 weeks of vacation during the clinical year plus a week around Christmas. Somewhere in here is your Step 1 dedicated block, which may or may not still exist in a couple years, and you can do whatever you want during that time. I think I took 4 trips during my 8-10 week dedicated block.

Once you get into your fourth year your schedule is mostly up to you and depends on the requirements for your specialty. If you do something competitive you'll probably need to do 2-3 away rotations on top of your home rotation and other school requirements, so it can be really busy. Or, if you go into medicine or peds, you can have a pretty easy year and schedule "research" or no-show electives if your school has them. Then interview season rolls around, which definitely involves a lot of travel but not really vacation, although a lot of people will extend an interview trip by a few days to go skiing, go to the beach, etc. depending on location. And then yes, I think most people end up having some time for vacation after the match.
 
Not to hijack the thread, but a serious question - how do people afford vacation during med school? The vast majority of med students aren't working or are working very little (maybe tutoring or something), combine that with the increased loan burden it seems very difficult to budget especially since CoA loans leave little wiggle room.
 
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AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Not to hijack the thread, but a serious question - how do people afford vacation during med school? The vast majority of med students aren't working or are working very little (maybe tutoring or something), combine that with the increased loan burden it seems very difficult to budget especially since CoA loans leave little wiggle room.
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My spouse was working when I was in med school, and we had some savings from before we started. Otherwise people move in with a few roommates and save enough on rent to do other stuff. Or parents pay for it.
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Not to hijack the thread, but a serious question - how do people afford vacation during med school? The vast majority of med students aren't working or are working very little (maybe tutoring or something), combine that with the increased loan burden it seems very difficult to budget especially since CoA loans leave little wiggle room.
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Drive? camping? cheap hotels?
 
I've stayed in $5 USD hostels and you definitely get what you pay for... But it does come with a bed.
 
My med school had 3 weeks off for Christmas. I got married during MS2 (oddly, I share my January anniversary with both my parents and my old brother). My 4th year also had a pretty open schedule that allowed ample vacation time. My psych rotation also allowed 3 day leave whenever. No questions. So, there was time for trips.

I pretty much didn't do anything but travel to see my then fiancé and her folks after we got married. . . . you know. . . cause we were broke.
 
esperanzarising9 said:
What times are ppl are able to travel/vacation in med school? Is it mainly just the 1st year summer and near the end of fourth year?
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This will vary widely between schools, and depends on how often your school has tests, how often they have breaks, if you decide to do research, etc.

For example, my school has both a Fall and Spring Break for a week each in the middle of each semester, plus a semester break in December, but our Thanksgiving break is just a long weekend. It will also depend on whether your friends and family are located just a short drive away or require a flight to go see them.
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
I'm aware, I mean more the big vacations I see a lot of med students go on, you know the ones that cost upward a $1000.
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It's probably coming from the parents.

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I managed to travel a lot all four years. You just have to time things up right. (I didnt go to class, so I sometimes would take an extra day to get a long weekend. Or days like MLK or labor day..)

The big trips were during breaks though. I got three weeks this year for winter break.
 
srk2021 said:
Parents like me 🙂 It's credit driven society so probably lot of them are charging to credit cards.
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We charged it all to credit cards. Doesnt mean we have credit card debt though.
 
Are there people who actually ask their parents for thousands of dollars to go on vacation? Or is it a "I'll tag along on their retirement trips" kind of thing?
 
It looks like plenty of schools even give around a 1-month break between M2 and M3 as well, and there is a small gap between med school and residency that I've heard about ( 1 family friend is a medical student).
 
ElloMellowYellow said:
Are there people who actually ask their parents for thousands of dollars to go on vacation? Or is it a "I'll tag along on their retirement trips" kind of thing?
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It doesn't even need to be a retirement trip, looottsss of families go on family vacations. I still do all my vacas with my parents and siblings.
 
ElloMellowYellow said:
Are there people who actually ask their parents for thousands of dollars to go on vacation? Or is it a "I'll tag along on their retirement trips" kind of thing?
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All depends on family dynamics and finances. As a parent I don't mind spending if that gives us time to spend extra time with kids (and grandkids).
 
ElloMellowYellow said:
Yes, differing family dynamics indeed xD
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I feel you there, I don't have a family that does vacations and such, and haven't really gotten a chance to leave even my state much. Was going to allow myself to take on more loan burden to do something nice for myself before matriculating in the fall, but COVID was like nah son

And just an FYI I'm not putting all the blame on my low SES background, me not being able to go on vacations by this point in my life has a LOT to do with my own mistakes. I didn't take undergrad seriously (wish I decided on medicine earlier woops haha) and so it took years and years to repair my GPA via post-bacc courses and a masters programs, meaning even more loans, some of which have gone beyond the forbearance limits so my monthly payments are some pretty chunky beasts. Ya live and ya learn, current premeds don't be me haha

Looking forward to that M1 summer 😛
 
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