Although it varies across the world, studying to become a doctor will take a considerable chunk of your time. The average is to spend five years in medical school, followed by another five working in a hospital in various training roles as a junior doctor. This will take a lot of commitment, not to mention burning the midnight oil poring over textbooks and completing course assignments. But the familiar idiom about “all work and no play making Jack a dull boy” has a kernel of truth.
To make the most of your medical study time, balancing this with leisure pursuits is important. Downtime will help you to feel refreshed and reinvigorated when you return to your studies. For many aspiring doctors, the perfect solution is to date someone, preferably a fellow student, someone to share romance with, as well as a sounding board for any issues with your syllabus. Let’s examine how to achieve this equilibrium between your professional and personal lives.
Time management for study-life balance
Here’s your number one recommendation. Formalize your available time as much as possible. Maintain a calendar of lectures and seminars, preferably in one of the countless time management apps you can download. This will allow you to keep track of everything you need to be studying when your essays are due to be handed in or emailed and the time you’ll need to set aside to study. You can also use this to allocate leisure time.
Internet – for all purposes
You have a wonderful font of knowledge at your disposal 24/7, no matter where you happen to be. The worldwide web. Whatever is your preferred method of accessing this information superhighway, desktop or smart device, tapping into this resource can be an excellent way of combining studies with relationships. If you’re a single student and are keen to begin dating doctors, there are many resources you can refer to, websites or apps that will provide instant access to prospective partners. Your coursework will undoubtedly offer a range of useful online resources dedicated to medical questions, but you should also take advantage of links to online dating. This will open a whole arena of possibilities and do so conveniently.
Matching services rely on algorithms to provide newcomers with access to those existing members who would appear most compatible. If you specify you are studying medicine and are keen to meet someone on your wavelength, this in-built software will search for suitable candidates and produce a shortlist of potential matches. Most of these platforms also offer free registration, allowing you to get a handle on the functionality they provide for interacting with people sharing your aspirations. There are also likely to be shortcuts you can take, saving you a lot of effort when it comes to tracking down an appropriate connection. If you spot another junior doctor who causes your heartbeat to race, you can send them a “wink,” alerting them of your interest. If this attraction is reciprocated, you can begin exchanging direct messages. Virtual flirting is ideal when you have limited spare time.
Practical tips to keep up with your medical studies and personal life
Here’s a list of pragmatic options for combining work with pleasure.
- Don’t multitask. Spinning a lot of plates might seem the intuitive solution for completing as many tasks as possible, but it will have the opposite effect. Concentrate on each separately.
- Crucially, timetable your priorities and factor insufficient time for each.
- Only use your devices to consult websites relevant to your studies. It would be a good idea to switch off or mute all your social media notifications.
- Establish clear lines of demarcation between time devoted to studies and free time for socializing.
Make the most of the time you allocate to your studies by maximizing your efforts. Think quality, not quantity. So rather than focusing on the time you think it’s going to take to churn out X thousand words, search the Internet for recommended techniques to produce an essay you can be proud of. If your first manuscript is as good as it can be, you won’t waste time by having to continually go back to edit your material.
Facing so many years of studying towards becoming a medical professional can seem daunting. But the key is not to fixate solely on the thought of attending lectures, doing homework according to deadlines, and cramming for exams. It’s more about seeing those important activities in the context of your love life. Looking upon hooking up with your partner to enjoy candlelit meals, trips to the cinema, picnics, or even weekend getaways as an incentive. This will benefit both sides of your present way of life, study and leisure.
