Tuesday 6 January 2015

BALANCING LIFE AND MEDICINE

Eyes widen and heads shake in pity as I tell people I do medicine when they ask me about what course I'm studying at university. Medicine is NOT hard. The content is actually easy to grasp and you are walking into the exam with a cheat sheet, your own body.

Having said that, it can be difficult to manage both a life and medicine at the same time due to the sheer work load and the lack of time to do it all in. I'm not going to that I'm an expert in conquering this task as I'm still working on it. But here are a few tips for all those aspiring medical students out there that find it difficult to get the work-life balance right:

  • Set aside some time for family and friends - When you get to medical school, it can be easy to get completely bogged down into your work. Which is understandable as we have worked very hard to get in so it would be a waste to not strive to be the best whilst you're at university. However, spending too much time doing work and not enough with a strong support network can affect you in both the short and long term. There are plenty of stressful times that can arise over the course of each year you spend learning medicine, so it's essential that you build up relationships that can help you ease you way out of these situations.
  • Start a blog or journal - Every individual will have personal thoughts that they do not wish to share with another party. Instead of bottling these up, start a private/public blog where you can articulate your inner thoughts and express them to the outer world. If you're not into blogging, then create a journal and write in it regularly. Not only does it lift a burden off your shoulders, but you can also see how you grow as a person as you progress through the course.
  • Get organised - One of the greatest mistakes a lot of people make is not getting organised early on in the year. There are plenty of utilities to help with this. I have a diary which I cannot live without, it contains a detailed account of what I need to do every day and it helps me to get all my work done in time. 
Also, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! God bless.


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