time management

A Medical Student’s Suggestions on Improving Your Productivity

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While I was a medical scribe in Texas, I had many conversations with doctors about what medical school is like. I vividly remember one instance where a physician responded to the question with, “Medical school is like a course in time management. You’ll really learn how to manage your time and fit everything in as a med student.” Below, I give seven of the most useful tips I wish I had known before entering med school. They are not in any particular order, nor are they reserved for only medical students: these suggestions are for anyone looking to improve their overall productivity.

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So Little Time: Prioritizing For Healthy Time Management

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Chronicles of a Med Student

As I enter the thick of studying for board exams, I’m reminded even more every day to stay calm, grounded, and keep my head clear. This is the last semester of my pre-clinical education (I can’t believe how time has flown!), and I’m caught in a balance of staying positive about that as well as juggling my hours of studying for board exams. I’ve experienced just about every emotion in the past few weeks, but one of them has always been there lurking underneath the surface: the feeling of being overwhelmed. I’ve touched on this multiple times before, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to stay mentally stable and sane through the medical training process! I have found myself slipping these last few weeks as I try to “do it all”, so I had to reach out.

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It’s Real: The Sophomore Slump

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Chronicles of a Med Student

I strolled into second year, fresh off the plane from my South American adventures and ready to hit the ground running, expecting another experience like first year. It would be smooth sailing as long as I stuck to my schedule and my friends. I was good to go. Little did I know, the “second year slump” was about to hit me like a ton of bricks. I had never before experienced such a feeling in my life—I was accustomed to challenges, pushing through whatever stood in my way, always making it through to the other side. But to be honest, few things in my prior academic experiences have challenged me as much as medical school. Before medical school, most of the challenges I faced seemed far less daunting to me than what came in the second year of medical school, even the first year of medical school. So imagine my surprise when I found myself having my first meltdown of medical school just a few weeks into my second year: Wasn’t I supposed to be good at this by now?

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