Island Med Student

For most medical students, going to medical school is a full-time job. To all of you med students who actually manage to go to med school AND have a job, or have children, or have a significant life outside of studying: I have no idea how you do it, but I am totally in awe at your abilities. Med school is my full-time job. I am also on the board of an organization, and I participate in many extracurricular activities, but I don’t have a “real” job, and I don’t have any children to take care of.

I try to lead a somewhat balanced life. I take time off from studying to exercise, and my favorite study break is a walk on the beach. But what about taking time off to hang out with my friends, or have fun at the tiki bar? Well, I’ve found that this is one of the most difficult things to justify. I can rationalize the exercise as being necessary to keep my physical being going so that I can study. But can I really rationalize not studying and instead going out for drinks with my friends, or going to parties? I’ve found that it’s a difficult thing for me to feel good about.

The real question that I find painfully difficult to answer is,”how much should I be studying?” It seems like an easy enough question to answer, right? Well, if you said “yes,” chances are you’ve either never been a med student, or you are one of those people who study every waking second, or you are lucky enough to never have to study. Unfortunately, I don’t fall into any of the above categories. For me, it’s a constant battle between wanting to study every waking second, or taking time off for fun and then dealing with the burden of guilt.

I think the problem is that I’ve found that I do have to study very hard to get good grades, but there is always that point (and finding it is the impossibility) where, no matter how much more I study, I am really not learning all that much more. And even if it meant that I would learn even more, I couldn’t do any better than an “A” on my exams, so what’s the point? Well, the point should be that getting A’s in med school does not mean that I’ll be a competent physician. It doesn’t even technically mean that I’ll do really well on the USMLE Step 1 (although I’m sure it helps). Really, all it means is that I got A’s in med school. So, therein lies my guilt.

What if my decision to ditch studying and go out with my friends means that I will have missed studying that ever-so-important fact that one day would have saved a patient’s life? I know, that’s pretty much a completely irrational thought, but I have it sometimes nonetheless. Maybe I just think about things too much for my own good!

I’d love to hear from all you other med students out there. How do you know when you’ve studied enough? Do you ever feel guilty for neglecting your studies and going out with your friends instead? How do you find the perfect balance between med school and having fun?

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