Social Life of a Pre-Med/Med. School Student/Doctor

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
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<p>Well, I don't know if anybody on here will know the answer to this, but I'm a rising senior in HS so i figured that I should post on this forum...</p>

<p>How hard is it for a pre-med student to have a social life? I"m not talking like, going out and getting destroyed every night or anything outrageous- more of a going-out-on-the-weekends kind of thing. Do you think, for example, it would be possible to juggle being in a sorority and while taking the pre-med route?</p>

<p>Of course, the whole dating thing is less of an issue, seeing as most undergrads are more focused on random hook-ups and the like. However, hypothetically speaking, I"ll be 21 when I start med school. I think that, at that age, most of us are going to start looking for more serious relationships. How hard/stressful is it to date during med school?</p>

<p>Okay, so say I manage to hold down a relationship during med school. By the time I graduate, I'll be 25. Again, hypothetically, if I land a residency for plastic surgery, how hard do you think it will be to maintain a relationship with a guy during those years? I know that the hours are extremely crazy...</p>

<p>*Don't worry, I'm not crazy or anything. I like to plan ahead just to roughly map things out, but I'm not one of those people who would freak if things didn't go exactly to plan. I'm all about achieving a balance or work and play. Ex. I'm a varsity cheerleader who goes out and parties at least once a week, I've had a boyfriend for the last year and a half, etc...and I have a 3.95, will have taken 8 APs by the time I graduate, and got a 2290 on my SATs. NOT trying to brag, honestly...just showing the extent to which "work hard, play hard" is my mantra :)
As a female, I'm especially curious about how difficult it will be to achieve a balance between my career and my personal life. My life's ambition is to be a plastic surgeon who sends her child to school every day with a lunch that all the other kids envy :). Thanks for any insight that you can give me as to whether or not this is possible or just an idealistic dream. *</p>

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<p>As a pre-med, I was in a fraternity and extremely involved in a bunch of other things. I promise you that I went out on a lot more thursday, friday and saturday nights than I stayed in. And most of those nights I got bombed (how I miss those days).</p>

<p>As for UG relationships - you'd be surprised how many are serious. How that all really impacts you is going to depend on your expectations of your bf, and his expectations for you. This is even more true when you get into med school. There are quite a few couples that formed within my med school class - which is a decent arrangement b/c you know what the other is going through (although, I personally don't like the idea of dating within my class, I'd have no problem dating in a class above or below mine). I'm currently starting to date a first year law student (who happens to go to school about 45 minutes away). In the end it's all about the expectations. We know that we're both going to busy and that we can't hang out everynight, and that some times we arent' going to see each other for extended periods of time. But since we understand that going in, I think we're in a good position to deal with it (assuming that we do become more serious).</p>

<p>The same thing goes for residency...</p>

<p>As for plastics, it's a difficult residency b/c it's long and surgery residencies are particularly grueling. A lot of the girls in my class seem much more drawn to more "lifestyle" oriented specialties like Emergency (good lifestyle b/c everything is shift work and no call), Derm, Ophthalmalogy (both have few "emergencies" necessitating call), and OB/GYN (much more call, but there is an increasing trend towards induction in a lot of places b/c it makes life easier for the doc and the patient).</p>

<p>The final thing I'd say is that keep your mind open as far as specialty. There are lot things that go into actually choosing what type of doc you'll be and if you are an entering senior in HS, you're about 8 years away from actually having to make that decision. I'm starting my 2nd year of med school, and I'd say that most of the people in my class (~80%) don't have any clue as to what field they'll go into. I know that I want to do some sort of pediatric subspecialty, and I'm farther along than most in having something that concrete to set my hat on. Further, (and no offense is meant towards you or any other HSer reading this) most HSer's really don't see just how many occupations are open to them and enter college as pre-med or pre-law simply b/c they don't know any better. There are tons of jobs out there that you simply don't even recognize as possibilities. If I wasn't in med school I'd be going to grad school for a job that I didn't realize existed until I was a college frosh, and that I didn't recogonize that I'd enjoy doing until well into 2nd semester Jr year - maybe even summer after. So just be open.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the great reply. I'm glad to hear that being a med student doesn't necessarily mean being single and lonely haha. Oh, and I've pretty much been set on doing something bio-related for a very long time, but seeing as my dream job (if chances for success on a large scale / salaries didn't factore into the decision) would either be a makeup artist or fashion designer, I figured that cosmetic surgery would blend my passion for science and medicine with my love of "aesthetic perfection" :)</p>

<p>Does anybody else have anything to add onto what Bigredmed has said?</p>

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<p>ug relationships---many ppl get married at this time...esp those that know they'll be goingto med school and have an SO they're comfortable taking the next step with</p>

<p>residency--work your butt off...harder to date...strained time period</p>

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<p>My aunt and uncle actually met in their residency :slight_smile:
My aunt had just ended a 2 year relationship with a guy she knew since the beginning of her pre-med course.
What is nice about this career is that even though you will have to have a bunch of tme for yourself and your studies, you are not alone because there are many more people going through what you will be going through at the same time and therefore if you fall in love with someone from this same career you will understand each other.
My aunt and uncle have different specialities and now work at different hospitals, they already have 3 teenage kids and they always mention how when my aunt gets home my uncle is sleeping and when my uncle wakes up my aunt is sleeping, they say it humorously and it is perfect because they are in the same field and they understand each other and don’t expect a 24/7 dating experience.</p>

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<p>I just wanted to let you know of some fields that allow the balance you seek: dermatology, radiation oncology (no direct contact with cancer patients), and ophthalmology (has element of surgery like cataract surgery, retinal reattachments, etc). The doctors in these fields are rarely, if ever, on call, and have very flexible hours, nearly analogous to an ordinary 9-5 job.</p>