This is a question that pre-med students often ask me. It’s a great question because of course you want to know what kind of lifestyle you are signing up for!
Something else that I frequently hear is that many incoming first-years, especially those who have been out of school for awhile, find it challenging to adjust to the medical student life because of the amount of studying involved.
I used to think medical school would be 100% studying. Turns out, it’s only 80% studying and everything else fighting for that 20%… 🙂 In this post, I share what my typical day and week looked like during my pre-clinical years (year 1 and 2 of medical school).
Here is a general breakdown of my day:
- 8-12 hours of studying
- 7-9 hours of sleep
- 3-9 hours of everything else!
Note: Keep in mind this is only a glimpse into one medical student’s life! Schedules will vary by medical school curriculum, study style, etc.! I have mentioned before, I’m also an “average” student that needs to study more than most!
Scroll down for Overview of Curriculum.
Monday to Thursday
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM – Anki flashcards/study
- Classes were 8 am to 12 pm for a total of 4 lectures.
- But I was not a frequent class go-er, so I would do flashcards in the morning while waiting for lectures to be uploaded.
- Attending class is a matter of learning style. I personally cannot keep up with lectures and prefer to watch them so I can go at my own speed, take notes, and absorb the material better. It’s up to you!
- If I did attend class, I would go to the gym with a friend afterwards!
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM – Lunch break
- Half the time, I would eat while watching lectures – all about that efficiency!
- Sometimes I would go to campus for a lunch lecture – LOVED these!
- Who doesn’t love free food while listening to faculty physicians talk about medicine?
- Other times I would be hosting a lunch lecture for the Palliative Care Student Interest Group (SIG) or Hematology-Oncology Interest Group (because I served as president for both).
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM – Varies; either watch lectures, attend core classes, or attend I2CRP sessions.
Core Classes (Longitudinal)
2 to 3 times a week, we would have a core class, usually no more than 1 on a given day. See below:
- Practice of Clinical Medicine (PCM) – 4 hours
- Every school has its own name for these, but this is where we learn clinical skills such as taking histories, physical exams, etc.
- Consist of lectures, small group sessions to practice clinical skills, and standardized patient encounters.
- Population Health (Pop Health) – 1 hour
- Epidemiology and evidence-based medicine courses
- Physician, Patient, Society (PPS) – 1 hour
- Ethics, psychosocial aspects of medicine
- Geriatrics – 1 hour session, about once a month if even that
- My FAVORITE!
I2CRP (International Inner City and Rural Program)
- VCU offers a track for medical students who want to practice in underserved communities – if you are an incoming MS1 at VCU interested in this program, feel free to reach out!
- We learn about principles that help us better understand and take care of the underserved population – examples are Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Social Determinants of Health, the Community Health Impact Model
- The I2CRP track consists of elective courses, group discussions, community service and engagement, speaker presentations.
4:30 PM to 6:30 PM – Dinner, break time.
6:30 PM to 9:30 PM – Finish lectures, study
- If I did not have a core class in the afternoon, I would usually finish earlier than 9:30 PM. But if I did, I would need to watch lectures.
- Squeeze in Step 1 studying, time permitting (see post on How I integrated Step 1 Studying During School)
9:30 PM to 10:30 PM – Decompress
- Leisure activities
- Prep for next day
- FaceTime family or Kevin
- During my first year Kevin and I were long-distance. Because our relationship is a priority, we made sure to take time every day to catch up and talk about how our day went.
11:00 PM to 11:30 PM: Bed time!
11:00 PM to 8:00 AM: Sleep for 9 hours 🙂
Yep, I slept THAT much! How else do you think I stay productive all day? This will likely be challenging once rotations start though.
NOTE:
This was how MOST of my days were structured, with some variation depending on life factors (family/friends/boyfriend visiting, Med Ball, friend’s birthday, etc.)
MS2B (first semester of 2nd year) was more variable due to preceptorships.
Friday
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM – Anki flashcards/study
12:00 to 1:00 PM – Lunch
1:00 PM to 5:00 PM – Watch lectures/study
- Fridays were what I called my “half days”, where I would only do my Anki cards for that day and then watch 2 lectures (out of 4), saving the rest for the weekend.
- I would end my day by 5 PM and then go out for dinner with some friends, hang out at a brewery/ bar, basically your typical Friday night shenanigans!
Saturday
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM – Anki flashcards/study
1:00 PM to 12:00 PM – Lunch
12:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Watch lectures/study
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM – Dinner & Chill
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM – Varies
- Finish up any Anki or lectures I hadn’t done
- Step 1 studying
- Leisure activities
- FaceTime with boyfriend, family/friends
Sunday
Sundays were my most variable days because this was the day when I would run errands, go grocery shopping etc.
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM – Anki flashcards or run errands
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM – Lunch
2:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Varies
- Review all lectures from the past week or finish Anki
- Step 1 Studying
- Student Interest Group (SIG) duties or extracurriculars
- It’s not terribly time consuming, but as president of Palliative Care SIG and Heme-Onc SIG, I would have to spend a couple hours a week sending out e-mails, organizing, planning events, etc.
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM – Dinner & Chill
8:00 PM to 11:00 PM – Varies
- Do any unfinished lectures or Anki cards
- FaceTime with boyfriend, family/friends.
- Leisure activities – read, yoga, hang out with friends.
Overview of Curriculum
My pre-clinical curriculum was 1.5 years because we start clerkships a semester earlier than most (and also must take Step 1 earlier). Our semesters were structured as follows:
MS1 – Fall & Winter 2018
- Scientific Foundations of Medicine
- Physiology
- Pharmacology
- Immunology & Microbiology
- Pathology
- Geriatrics
- Practice of Clinical Medicine (PCM)
- Physician, Patient and Society (PPS)
- Population Health and Evidence Based Medicine (PopH)
MS2a – Spring 2019
- Applied Medical Sciences
- Marrow and Movement
- Hematology-Oncology
- Anatomy + Gross Lab
- Glands and Guts
- Gastroenterology
- Endocrinology
- Reproduction
- Marrow and Movement
- Inter-professional Educational Curriculum
- Geriatrics
- PCM
- PPS
- PopH
Summer 2019
- For most medical students, this is their “last summer” before life gets too hectic during 3rd year!
- Many people take this opportunity to travel, study lightly for Step 1, or research!
- I planned a trip to Bali and Malaysia, but had to cancel for family reasons.
- I also rewatched all of Sketchy Micro and caught up with all my overdue Anki reviews.
- As for research, I applied for the I2CRP Summer Research program, where I received a stipend.
MS2b – Fall & Winter 2019
- Applied Medical Sciences
- Cardiovascular
- Pulmonary
- Renal
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
- Geriatrics
- PCM
- PPS
- PopH
Take Step 1 by March 5th!
We finished MS2 by Winter 2019 (whereas other students finish at the usual time of Spring) and followed by a two-week winter break.
Our dedicated period for Step 1 studying was about 5-8 weeks depending on whether you started studying during winter break and when you scheduled your exam date.
Let me know if you have any questions! Congrats to all the incoming MS1s on your medical school acceptance! 🙂
With lobe,
Kelly
