Hello Aspiring Physicians!
I continue to receive great questions from students at all levels. If there is a topic that you would like me to discuss please let me know. This blog is for you; To guide you through your medical journey whether you are in high school, undergraduate, medical school, residency, non-traditional student changing careers, or you took time off from studying and ready to apply to medical school. I wish somebody addressed some of these issues when I was going through my medical journey.
I did want to take a moment and discuss self care. One of my awesome medical students rotating with me relayed to me that this is one area that he wished he knew more about before going into medical school. That is, ways to cope through medical school, residency or even the pre-med process. There is a lot of unknowns, anxiety, stresses, failures that all can lead to burnout by the time you even get into practice. The key is being able to balance all that studying with taking care of yourself physically and mentally. It’s so important to start getting in the habit of taking time away from studying to take care of yourself whether it is exercising, playing music, art, hanging with friends and family, reading a non-medical book, taking a walk, etc.
I grew up playing sports and played sports in college so I think because of my time management in college with sports and academics, I had established that habit of working out daily that carried over into medical school. But I did do other activities in medical school to just take a mental break. I joined a co-ed indoor and outdoor soccer league which was fantastic. I met new friends outside of medical school and that helped to just break up the mundane study-eat-sleep cycle. Many of my friends do not know this but I took tap dance lessons while in medical school. I always wanted to learn how to tap dance and I did that once a week. That was a lot of fun. I also took some pottery classes which was a good mental release.
The point is to do something non-medical and something you enjoy. Or do something completely new. Some of my friends took classes in cooking, art and even chess. There is so much emphasis on grades, exams, MCAT, Step exams that it just gets to be overwhelming. And it’s really important to remember that in order for you to be successful, you have to take some time for yourself. Even in practice, I need to remind myself weekly to take care of myself or I will not be able to take care of others.
Remember the medical journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Study hard but take those breaks so that you can come back better and stronger. I am working on some new interactive content for you that will hopefully be tailored to your specific needs so stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Your Med Mentor
