Climbing while in medical school

I've been accepted to multiple medical schools, and trying to run through the litany of reasons for / against my top two, the University of Utah and Tufts University (Boston, MA). Given how closely they are ranked in terms of match rate, etc, I'm looking at a lot of intangibles as well, and climbing is a big one. My question to the physicians out there - how much climbing were you able to get in while in medical school? If I can get serious wall time in, especially the first two years, it would be more or a factor than a couple times a month. Thanks

From my observations - I dated my wife throughout her med school career and have climbed with a handful of med students - if you can manage your time well, you can climb during med school. The first two years are mostly books and classes (some programs even have full independent study where you never even have to go to class), so your time is mostly yours to manage. Once you start clinical rotations, it can be a bit harder, but still workable. Fourth year you can get creative with away rotations and interview time, and end up with some cool climbing trips.

The one big plus I see for U of Utah in this situation would be easy access to climbing, so you can get some cragging or bouldering in after class or a rotation. There is some great climbing within a couple hours of Boston, but not for a quick few laps in the afternoon. Boston is an amazing city, though.

Good luck with the decision and your med school career!

Agreed. I'm currently a 4th year at an east coast school and have had plenty of time to climb throughout. As Joe said the first two years involve mostly classroom work, and at least where I am there were several half days a week. Time management and having a spot close by to climb are key to take advantage of those days when you have a few hours free. The third year was probably the most challenging to find time, that is when you will be doing your core clinical rotations (medicine, surgery, peds, etc.), longer hours and slightly more stress. Fourth year has been amazing, plenty of flexibility and time, particularly after you submit your residency applications. You could most likely arrange your schedule to take multiple 1-2 week trips and celebrate after all the hard work you've been through.

If climbing is a priority, or any outdoor sport, then having close access is the best way to be sure you will be able to enjoy those precious hours off by doing what you love.

Best of luck!

This same question was asked w/in the last year and the thread was FULL of great advice from all types of peopler with different yet valid experiences.

Not telling you to search just to be an asshole, but if anyone can link you to that thread or if you can find it, it's worth a read.

muttonface wrote:Maybe it's this one. Or this one. Hope this helps.

How about some advice for dating a med student? I'm dating one who is just finishing up 2nd year and is about to start her rotations. It is brutal on her schedule and that trickles down to not seeing her, let alone climbing with her, much at all. I'm really just kidding, I know it is a "wait it out" sorta thing...

Michael Slater wrote:How about some advice for dating a med student? I'm dating one who is just finishing up 2nd year and is about to start her rotations. It is brutal on her schedule and that trickles down to not seeing her, let alone climbing with her, much at all. I'm really just kidding, I know it is a "wait it out" sorta thing...

I like Boston, but personally, I'd much rather be closer to mountains. I'm dating a first year, and she climbs with me once a week. It's only once in part because she's in Denver and the climbing and good gyms are in Boulder or elsewhere, but if she lived up here, she'd climb twice or more. I think it's really a matter of how well you can manage your time. I am headed to med school someday as well, and plan on keeping climbing in my lifestyle for sure.

Steve Hong is your role model.

Also consider where you want to be for residency and beyond. If you go to medical school on the east coast, it is a bit harder to land a residency out west, especially in certain specialties. The same is true when it comes to finding a job. You make connections with employers and people who know employers during residency, so if you are on the east coast, the bulk of the connections you make will be in the east.

I climbed a ton during med school and residency. It's all about how you prioritize things.

I have a friend in med school and I've been really impressed at how much he's gotten out his first two years of med school. hell, he's been out more than I have while I've been working full time. Pretty sure he's making the most out of his first two years because after that, I think it gets really heavy. Boston v. Utah? What's to discuss. Utah.

Michael Slater wrote:How about some advice for dating a med student? I'm dating one who is just finishing up 2nd year and is about to start her rotations. It is brutal on her schedule and that trickles down to not seeing her, let alone climbing with her, much at all. I'm really just kidding, I know it is a "wait it out" sorta thing...

Your first couple years you will have the same schedule as everyone else in your class, so you will be able to find partners within your class if you are lucky. After that schedules become asymetric. you may want to try to see how many climbers are in the class at each institution. I would love to be in Utah.

:( its OK maybe in a few years you can be er doc.

$0.02 worth from a medical school professor:

In your first two years you might be able to log a reasonable amount of wall time, but realistically, it'll be hard, and may cost you some grades. 3rd year, if you get to climb once a month you'll be doing well. 4th is somewhat better.

What specialty you're aiming for will make a difference. It'll determine what rotations you need to take, and that will affect your free time considerably.

In residency, you won't get out to climb much. It's not as bad as back in the dinosaur days when I was a resident (you know, when we had to walk 10 miles barefoot through the snow to work 100 hr a week in the hospital, and it was uphill both ways), but it's still pretty grueling. It'll be a bit thin for quite a while after, too. (BTW, the 100 hr a week part of the above is not a joke.)

If lifestyle is a significant factor in your choice, figure which place will require shorter drives. When you do get free, you'll want to be able to get there and back without being sleep-deprived Monday morning. Also remember that "short distance" in the East and out West mean very different things!

Best luck!

i would say that you shouldn't worry about it one way or another. You will naturally experience and manage your priorities as the needs arise. For me, climbing during med school became an obsession and served as a welcome distraction from the academic workload. Just get out there and live in the moment.

Well, I would imagine that your climbing experience outdoors will be better in Utah (or at least more often). The only outdoors places that I know of in easy driving distance of Boston are Farley (in Erving, MA), Runmey, NH, and Quincy Quarries (never been there though). The former two are over an hour from Boston and your outdoor climbing season will end around late October or early November unless you are a fan of cold things and snow.

As for gyms, Metrorock is very close to Tufts (maybe a 10 minute drive depending on where you live) and Boston Rock Gym is a 30-ish minute drive.

Speaking as somebody who knows people in med school, people tend to find an activity that they have time for. You'd go crazy otherwise. If you make it a priority and it's actually something you like to do when relaxing, then you'll do it.

Good luck with your decision and congrats on getting in.

Eamon

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but I think my question is similar enough to not warrant a new thread.

I am considering pursing medical school but concerned about the time commitment and number of years of school plus residency and the impact it would have on my climbing/free time. I have recently started to think about nursing as an alternative still within the healthcare industry where my interests lie but less years of training. I have recently started to look into travel nursing.

My question is is there anyone out there that works as a travel nurse or knows a travel nurse? And how much free time do they have to climb?

I imagine it would be possible to take a 8 - 12 week assignment off every now and then for an expedition or to fit in a couple week gap between work assignments? Can anyone comment on this with firsthand or secondhand experience? Thanks.

dude, i know a few travelers. If you can get the 3-12 hr. shifts the schedule will vary obviously, but if you can stack your days you work 6 in a row and have 8 days off to climb, i do this ALL the time, i'm not a traveler though. Also between assignments you can take as much time off as you want, you just aren't paid. The beauty of traveling is that you can work ANYWHERE, frigging hospitals all over the place.

Oh, and another thing about nursing is that once you have a few years experience in an ICU (usualyy around 2 yrs.), you can go back for your Nurse Anesthetist cert. I know a few who have done this and do REALLY well.

When I was in med school I had so little time and so little sleep that if I woke at 5am I could go on a 15 min run, return, shower and study before classes started, repeat this over and over. My goal for med school was to limit the amount of muscle atrophy and stay toned up so I could resume heavier work outs after med school. Perhaps if you are highly brilliant you can pull off climbing during school breaks. Good luck in your quests