Schedule

For those of you wondering, here is this StuDoc's schedule so far. He sticks to it and is very self motivated. There are a few people in class he has talked with who are shocked about how much work is involved. But once you graduate, they view it more of a right of passage to be a doctor. With this schedule, he has been ahead of his game. His first test is in a week and he is taking it in stride as he listens to his classmates freak out, complain, or even cry. Others will be pulling all nighters, while he will be sticking to his schedule. We have heard the saying everyone in med school is smart (or else you wouldn't have got in) but it really comes down to hard work and self motivation.


4am-6am - wake up and study
6am - walk to the gym and work out
730am - home to shower and get ready
830am - leave for class
9am-4pm - classes, study during lunch
4pm-630pm - stay at school and study
630pm-830pm - eat dinner and relax
830pm-1130pm - study

So he's getting about 8 hours of studying in each day not including class time. Wow! I didn't realize it was that much because I only see him studying when he comes home after dinner. He got this schedule from that blog he talked about with the good organization tips who is also a morning person like him. It helps that he studies by reading and is a fast reader. An MS2 who has 2 kids and pregnant with their 3rd gave my StuDoc some advice for this schedule. He suggested staying at school for one more hour or two and that's the best time to review what you just learned. That way when you come home you can give your full attention to your wife/family. Maybe being married in medical school is good/better in that it disciplines you to study and be productive with your time. Another tip they received at their MCO group is to even be productive with your down town.

Hubby came home the other day talking about how a 40ish year old StuDoc was complaining about how much work was involved and how he felt the teachers weren't helping him as much as they should. The response was "not only are you supposed to learn the material, but learn time management, how to deal with stress, and lack of sleep."

Everyone studies differently and this is just what works for him. One of his classmates said that he studied more in these two weeks than he ever did in a whole semester at UT. Maybe the best way to prepare for med school is to alraedy know how you study. Like he said, everyone's smart but the one's that do well are going to be the harder workers.


Test
His first test is coming up! He said it was 6 hours long - 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. And this isn't even a board exam! After this first test, if he happens to not do well, it won't be because he didn't study enough but needs to study differently, learn what the professors are asking, or the level of depth. Which would be an easier fix for the next test. One difference he mentioned between undergrad and medical school is the level of depth. For example, in college they would ask "what is this" but in medical school they ask "what is this? where is it located? what does it do? if it shuts down, what happens to the body?"


Atleast he's doing well now and his spirits are up, and it's ok if it gets worse from here. But there are some people we've talked to who already hate it and it's only going to get even worse for them. On our date night this week, he actually said he's enjoying medical school! I think he found his calling...