What do you wish you had done before starting med school?

[SortOfMcDreamy]

Hi all. I get the feeling that if I don't do a few things before starting medical school, they'll never happen. For instance:

A. Hiking the Apalachian Trail
B. Backpacking through a foreign country
C. Jumping out of an airplane
D. Going bowling in Canada one night so that my friends and I have a story that starts with the line "hey, remember that time we went bowling in Canada?"

And so on.

This is certainly not an exhaustive (or entirely serious) list, but it does bother me that if I barrel straight through to med school without any time off, I could miss my chance to do any number of these things. That in mind, I really would like to know what people wish they'd done before starting school. Thanks!

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[BeatrixKiddo]

Killed myself. HAHAHAHAHHAHAH.

 

[NYCPRDOC]

1. Get pilot's license - got the ball rolling on that one this summer but flight school = too much money (right now at least)/time and 2nd yr kinda snuck up on me. By early August I was like, "Oh snap, son, WTF?"
2. Make/save more money

Yep, I would've been solid with those two.

 

[kapil_MD]

well you could do all those things after you're done with med school....

I'd rather just get on with it, and be done. You have the rest of your life to do all that. "Clearing your mind" and all that is a load of BS.

Anyway - I've always wanted to go to egypt, skydiving, obtain pilots licence

 

[Timmythemic22]

C. Jumping out of an airplane

Really thinking of trying that one before I start in August. The irony of it being my bitter end before starting the one thing that I want more than life itself is a bit unsettling, though.

 

[-Goose-]

C. Jumping out of an airplane

Do this! My friend has his solo jumping license and he has amazing stories to tell. Wish I had joined him this summer.

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

i did the whole backpacking around lots of foreign countries for $10 a day for a year. it was the best thing i ever did. all my friends who went straight thru regret it b/c they know they'll never get to have those kinds of adventures.

 

[Timmythemic22]

I want to try rock climbing, too. Probably won't have the opportunity for travel, though I'd love to hit up mother Ireland again. Probably get another tattoo to commemorate entrance to med school...that's about it I think.

 

[Mistress S]

There's no reason you can't do those things after, or maybe even during, med school. It's not the end of your life, things just get pretty busy during school and residency. After that it's more what you make of it and what your goals are. Anyway, I did take a year off between ugrad and med school, I mostly worked but this allowed me to save $$ to do the whole Europe backpacking thing the summer before starting school. Don't forget you also get the summer between 1st/2nd year off, I used that to go to Cambodia. A lot of my classmates manage to do amazing things in their "spare" time--learn an instrument, a foreign language, play sports, raise kids, etc. If you really want to do things, you'll find time.

 

[dr.weiner]

1. Go to either the Philippines or Brazil.

2. Engage in coitus with numerous young natives for nominal fees.

 

[MarzMD]

Win the lottery.

 

[t33sg1rl]

Hi all. I get the feeling that if I don't do a few things before starting medical school, they'll never happen. For instance:

A. Hiking the Apalachian Trail
B. Backpacking through a foreign country
C. Jumping out of an airplane
D. Going bowling in Canada one night so that my friends and I have a story that starts with the line "hey, remember that time we went bowling in Canada?"

And so on.

This is certainly not an exhaustive (or entirely serious) list, but it does bother me that if I barrel straight through to med school without any time off, I could miss my chance to do any number of these things. That in mind, I really would like to know what people wish they'd done before starting school. Thanks!

Yeah, I did a lot of things before I started med school, and looking back, I really wish I'd stayed home and memorized Robbins instead.

p.s. Jump out of ONE lousy airplane and you'll pay higher insurance preniums for the rest of your life... try white water rafting instead, you call it "canoeing" on insurance forms.

 

[deuist]

p.s. Jump out of ONE lousy airplane and you'll pay higher insurance preniums for the rest of your life... try white water rafting instead, you call it "canoeing" on insurance forms.

That's why LSD is much better: you can take a trip without ever leaving your couch.

 

[G.O.A.T.]

That in mind, I really would like to know what people wish they'd done before starting school. Thanks!

lost my virginity

 

[tulane06]

lost my virginity

Awww, well if worse comes to worse you can fly to Nevada and go to the bunny ranch on your student loans.