The Life of a Medical Student

Becoming a health care professional is a form of self-sacrifice indeed. This choice creates a strain in the balance of livelihood of this individual. The challenge lies therein in finding a balance between one’s school, work and personal lives.

Medical school being very demanding requires consistency, persistence, discipline and endurance. Working while in school also creates a different area of urgency. Personal life including health and relationships are also important aspects of being human. A medical student depending on his/her personality will either find a balance or get overwhelmed by these life factors.

How you go about balancing these life factors goes a long way in whether you’ll fondly remember medical school or see it only as the herculean task you perceive it to be.

As a medical student myself, I am no stranger to facing these balance challenges on a daily basis. Writing this piece has made me realize some of the things I could do better, here are some of those tips.

1. REST

As a medical student, compromising on rest and quality sleep seems to be part of the package. In Nigerian universities, this phenomenon is even given the term “overnight”. Keeping to school everyday becomes tasking after rest has been forfeited. As health care professionals, we recommend rest to patients, aren’t we human as well?

Resting is a very important task and every medical student should learn to inculcate the habit of relaxing once in a while. It goes a long way in sustaining physical and mental health.

2. BE INVOLVED IN SOCIAL STUDY OR SUPPORT GROUPS

Engaging in good associations or fellowships increases your chances of having a support system when situations get hard. There are many associations to give and take from in medical school with various incentives. Having a supportive circle of friends also helps to keep you sane and ensure you are cared for in some ways, I know I couldn’t be completely fine without the friends turned family I have in school.

3. BE ORGANISED AND SPECIFIC

Going about your day in medical school without an agenda is unwise.

You have to have a guideline that you use to accomplish certain goals for the day, working without one increases the chances of you getting nothing done. As a medical student, redirecting tasks meant for today to the next day often creates piles of undone tasks because you never know what will add up tomorrow as well. Work smart and specifically. Avoid procrastination.

4. GIVE ROOM FOR UNFORESEEN EVENTS IN YOUR PLANS

In medical school, a lot of events can occur in a single day, sometimes leaving you with no room to execute your initial plans for the day. As a person who loves to pre-plan, this throws me off balance in various ways.

I’ve learnt to create a space in my plans to accommodate events that I may not have foreseen. You should too, it lessens frustrations in daily affairs.

Make sure you accomplish what you set out to do, that’s discipline, but learn to give room for extra affairs.

5. DO WHAT EXCITES YOU.

A mistake often made by medical students, which I have also committed, is leaving all your hobbies and interests aside totally. Living involves doing what you love. Yes, you love medicine but is that the only thing you love to do? Do you love to draw, sing, dance, create, anything that tickles your fancy!

Don’t abandon these things, learn to inculcate them in your life once in a while, persist in your hobbies! Embrace all aspects in life that invigorates you.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT! Stay tuned for part two