<p>@MCAT2 - overall, yes much more time consuming, but more than anything, it’s just different. I work between 65 and 85 hours a week (just got done with a string of eight 12 hour ER shifts in a row = 96 hrs)…and I have to be where they tell me to be, when they tell me to be there. While I probably spent a similar amount of time in class/studying during the first two years for some short time periods, there were more breaks and I was in control of my time, and where I spent it. Do I want ot be in the library or the coffee shop? I get to choose. Waste a couple of hours on Facebook? Sure. Those things are no longer options. I have months during my residency where it’s just impossible to get to the gym, and certainly when it’s more difficult to eat well, when I’m pretty much limited to what’s available at the hospital.</p>
<p>Depending on the expectations during M3 clerkships, it can be extremely difficult to take care of oneself in terms of diet and exercise, but every school has some blocks that are far easier than others. But as my friends and I are fond of saying, nothings as good as it seems…except for the 4th year of med school.</p>