Social what? Yea that's definitely how I feel on a daily basis as a med student. I half-jokingly compare medical school to joining the military, and while there are big, obvious exceptions, medicine is a huge commitment and there's a constant staying-on-top-of-your-game-ness that's prevalent even during basic sciences.
I'm lucky to be going to school close to home where I've a couple of friends from my youth and being in familiar surroundings sure helps when you're spending 18-19 hours of the day studying hard, stressing out, etc. Being in familiar surroundings also just helps a lot, especially when you've got a favourite pub/restaurant in the area that you've been going to for years.
Anyway, so why an entry on social life? Why are touchy-feely things important? Shouldn't you just shave with a rusty switchblade and use whisky on your cuts?
Probably just so you don't burn out and also don't turn into the med student/resident/attending who is smart and competent but total torture to be around. Being smart is great, but if you're not likeable, you're not going to have as many patients or co-workers like you. Keep that in mind!
So how do you manage your time? How do you even have time for social events and maintaining ties with current friends, your family, and making new friends?
Make time! Wake up earlier to cover material/get things done, and put that "saved up" time for something fun. It sounds obvious, but having benign "nights off" can stack up and really get you behind in classes.
Med school is a lot like being on a submarine/aircraft carrier: you spend months at a time seeing the same people over and over, doing the same kinds of tasks, you get the idea. You'll meet amazing classmates, but also the ones who are one-sided and don't have any hobbies will grate on you quickly. The answer to that is sorta obvious, develop good friendships with the people you like the most, but the less obvious answer is taking up an expressive hobby.
Studying crazy hard for hours on end over months makes you long for meaningful contact, and that's totally normal. But if you don't feel like you have the time to go out to a party, etc, try to paint or write music, or sing, dance, not only to keep anxiety and stress at bay, but to constantly nurture the expressive side of yourself that you need in order to effectively communicate with your team and your patients.
Many times I feel I wish I had a deep connection or really solid friendship with the people I go to school with, but it's eluded me so far. I also don't obsess over medicine like a lot of my classmates, which sorta adds to it. My hobbies keep me entertained and happy though, and I feel that if I didn't have them, I'd lose an important dimension of myself and would probably end up struggling since I'd lose an important mechanism.
I'll most likely write more entries on the social aspect of medical school, because it hits a lot of people right at home, and not just you. I'm hoping that I'll write good entries that inspire workaholics and obsessive studiers to take a break and call their family members or spend dinner with the people they love instead of eating a protein bar and going back to work.
You can't underestimate the importance of maintaining a healthy social life, because like all other aspects of health, if you neglect it, it'll just lead to suffering and difficulty later.
No man is an island, unless you're the British isle of Barry.
No comments:
Post a Comment