MD & DO What's your life like outside of medicine?

[ciestar]

Feel like peoples' experiences with rotations are really different not only between schools, but individuals within schools as well.

Very much. It can depend on your site and your team at that site.

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[mistafab]

Life outside of medicine was pretty great in med school, I could exercise every day, hang out with my then SO, play video games, go to restaurants, hit up concerts and festivals...

There is a lot of free time if you prioritize correctly, The folks I saw who struggled in medicine the most were the ones who didn’t study during their study time. I.e. They were always ready for a convo, on facebook, or texting while their study materials were staring them in the face. They just were too naive to realize that their minimally fun activities they would do instead of studying (who has fun on facebook, really?) were stealing time from actually fun activities like going out or sleeping.

I think it is a product of mostly extroverts getting drawn to medicine. They get socially starved while they study and can’t resist the instant gratification of clicking on their notifications or catching up with the same people about banal activities. I highly doubt it is a lack of intelligence. More like a lack of self control.

Edit:
Successful archetypes I saw in medicine
Work hard, play hard extrovert
UWorld Monk introvert


unsuccessful archetypes
Work all day play all day extroverts (see above)
Loner procrastinator introvert

 

[Fatalis]

@OP; honestly during ms1 and ms2 I was studying constantly, would take breaks and make time for a game of league of legends or two daily. MS3, it really depended on the rotation, on chill ones I worked out/ hung out with friends and played video games, ms4 was mostly free time...residency was the same, some rotations were brutal, others were chill.

 

[CaffineDoc24]

@OP; honestly during ms1 and ms2 I was studying constantly, would take breaks and make time for a game of league of legends or two daily. MS3, it really depended on the rotation, on chill ones I worked out/ hung out with friends and played video games, ms4 was mostly free time...residency was the same, some rotations were brutal, others were chill.

Yeah my worries are mostly with residency at this point... I know rads residency is at least one of the more manageable ones, but I don’t like banking on one specialty like that, Incase I end up not liking it.

What was residency like for you guys in terms of my concerns in the original post? I have heard many horror stories haha

 

[Fatalis]

Yeah my worries are mostly with residency at this point... I know rads residency is at least one of the more manageable ones, but I don’t like banking on one specialty like that, Incase I end up not liking it.

What was residency like for you guys in terms of my concerns in the original post? I have heard many horror stories haha

For Med school it depends on how much you want to put into it. If you just want to pass and are ok with that, they you will have more free time. I’ve always wanted to make A’s and wanted to do really well on step (Iam not the brightest person and it takes me longer to learn and retain) so I know how much more time I needed to put into things. Regardless you will find your happy middle. Now regarding free time once you get used to the schedule you will carve out time. I used to play ultimate frisbee 3 times a week before studying. During residency, intern year sucks but you learn and do a lot but again I made time to work out/ date, etc. it will all take time and adjustment

 

[libertyyne]

Glad to be of service haha. I believe that him and I agree about the lack of G-loaded content in medicine. I spend my free time with a diverse set of people as I think it's important to gain insight, perspective and hone intrinsic motivation and ambition. I never meet people in other fields saying the dumb things I heard in the work rooms.

The intimidation of premeds and underclassmen is silly to me and this type of thread is a direct result. I don't think we should be afraid to admit that very average people can become doctors through hard work. It's how we fix some of the social determinants of health. It should reassure driven AND smart people so they chill out a bit and enjoy their lives without suffering from mega neuroticism.

I think i argued with someone sometime back for pages with data on how physicians arent some super geniuses and people with average intelligence are physicans and continue to become physicians.

Medicine is not some high level abstract thinking for the most part, pure regurgitation and pattern recognition.

OP it really boils down to what you want to do in life, want to go into some primary care field probably wont have to sacrifice much in life i you just want to pass, want to go into derm be prepared to hunker down.

 

[longhaul3]

Are you very smart? Are you ok with not being at the peak of medical academia? If your answer to either of those is yes, med school is easy and you will have more time than you'll know what to do with. If not, it could be anywhere from reasonable to miserable.

Residency is utterly miserable unless you do derm or FM or whatever, but it's pretty cool if you find a specialty you like.

 

[deleted688779]

Medicine is my life


But seriously, it'll depend on multiple things:

1. The competitiveness of your desired field/program/location

DR's not very competitive, but you want good step scores to give yourself options. For reference, the average step is ~240, but plenty get in with significantly lower. I think 90% of US MDs matched with a 220 or something according to Charting the Outcomesᶜᶦᵗᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ ⁿᵉᵉᵈᵉᵈ

2. The amount of mandatory BS your school requires

Self-explanatory.

3. Your time management skills

If your time management skills suck, you're gonna have a heckuva time. A little planning goes a long way for sure.

Any expert tips for time management?

 

[slowthai]

Any expert tips for time management?

Not an expert lol, but this is what I do.

1. Incorporate frequent breaks. I heavily utilize a 25/5 set up. 25 mins on, 5 mins off.

2. Maximize intensity when you study. 100% focus means you get the most work done in the least amount of time.

3. Minimize distractions. Hide your phone when you study. Out of sight, out of mind.

Needless to say, this requires discipline and focus for it to work.

 

[raiderette]

Never procrastinate. Treat this all like a job, dedicate x number of hours to it, then work backwards to fill the rest of your time with the needs and wants. I went to the gym almost every day, made friends, met my husband ( not in the medical profession). It wasn't necessarily easy, but it beat going to undergrad and working 40 hours a week plus research and volunteering.
Make lists, set alarms and don't be afraid to make changes when life gets in the way.