Well, as if medical school isn’t stressful enough, there’s the quarantine. 

But little do people know, there’s actually not much change in our lives during the quarantine, you know why? Because we always stay indoors anyway! 

Studying all the time, you know?

There’s the downside of not being able to study at Starbucks, which is a huge bummer by the way! But other than that, we just sit on our butts all day and stare at lectures…after lectures…after lectures…

So here’s a typical day of a med student during the quarantine. Granted, our schedule slightly changes every day because it’s dependent on what we’re studying at the time, but generally, it’s the same study trend.

So, here’s a look at a typical day: (Woohoo! Writing this out and looking back at my sad life is just…sad.)

My Morning Schedule

7:00AM: As usual, I’m fighting against the will to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep…

7:15AM: Won the battle! Due to (guilt – I was behind on studying yesterday). I quickly do my usual morning routine of washing up, brushing teeth, not doing makeup (cause I’m not planning to go out!), and tying hair up in a ponytail or hair bun.

7:30AM: Running to my fancy french press first thing for a strong morning brew. Or running to Starbucks. Really depends if I’m lazy or not…and usually it turns out to be 50/50. This is a MUST for me, or I can’t live, no joke.

7:40AM: I would take my freshly brewed coffee and bring it to the balcony, where I soak up the little bit of sun that I’ll get for the rest of the day.

7:55AM: Coffee, check. Caf’ed up, check. Stared at peaceful scenery, check. Live lecture session, check. Time to start studying! Ready for the 8AM lectures – time take notes!

8:00AM: Lecture starts!

10:00AM: So, I’m dying. I’ll usually grab a banana or some kind of snack right about now. Chug more coffee to push through another 2 hours. Focus…focus…focus.

12:00PM: RELIEVED THAT MORNING LECTURES ARE OVER! Yay! Time to eat something yummy. This is a typical lunch (stir-fry ground beef and zucchini and carrots – over rice) I would make the night before and just microwave during lunch! I tried to emulate “actually” going to school so I can stop being lazy, so I did with all the cute insulated lunchbox and all. Aren’t I cute?

My Afternoon Schedule

1:00PM: Back to lectures… Another cuppa joe please…

1:45PM: Gets distracted. No, RACHEL, NO! Get your ass back in the chair!

3:00PM: Made it through the new lectures for the day! Woo-hoo!Now I’m just praying that I retained everything for the past 6 hours of lecture. But whatever, break time! Time to mess with the cat – with love! She loves her new luxurious cat tree! Because why not? I just want my cat to live better than me. Isn’t she precious?!

4:30PM: Break time flies so fast…sob. Time to review what we learned all day today. This is where I really take the time to review the stuff that I was confused on during lecture (which I jotted down while I was watching). Aaaand I pretty much do this for the rest of the day. Unless its one of the catch up days…then today would be miserable. Cause that would mean I stay up late into the night tonight~

6:30PM: Another food break! This is the meal I usually treat myself more. So usually some sushi or burrito bowl or pasta or noodles. I love it! And yeah, I take 1.5 hours for dinner. Cause you know, gotta optimize digestion. Plus I needed to go through my YouTube feed.

Before you know it…there goes the sun…at least its a nice view.

My Night Schedule

8:00PM: Alrighty, time to finish reviewing today’s lecture!

8:30PM: Usually food coma hits so I’ll get myself a cuppa tea or fruit or (cookies) or something. I’ll usually consider working out but I’m so used to not going to the gym from being quarantined…working out usually ends up not being an option. So, tea.

9:30PM: Nighttime studying is very difficult for me. So, I shower. And blast my favorite soothing music in the shower. Such a stress reliever.

9:45PM: Back to studying! I usually tend to review things I’ve seen already at night, just so it’s easier at the end of the day. So here I’m just drawing a segment of a spine haha. We have to know all the different structures that comprise the spine as we were taking Anatomy. It was tedious but not too bad.

11:00PM: Yay! Usually, this is where I would stop reviewing, IDEALLY. Unless it’s a Neuro block, which takes forever to learn the pathways (at least for me). Or if I didn’t finish reviewing yesterday’s material…then we’re in for a long night… If all is well, another mini-break! Yay!

11:30PM: After half an hour of YouTube break or mindless Pinterest/Instagram scrolling, time to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. The best time of the day, I swear. The feeling of going to sleep when you’re all caught up…is euphoric.

12:00-1:00AM: This is when I actually fall asleep. Or aim to. Or else I can’t wake up for tomorrow’s 8 AM. If I can’t sleep because I OD’ed on caffeine today, then I’ll try to play some rain sounds…or go back to studying. Usually, the thought of studying is so deterring that I go to sleep pretty soon. 🙂

So, that’s it! Pretty sad life, huh? Hope you enjoyed going through my grind life. Let me know if there’s anything else you would like to know about my life as a medical student! I have a lot of projects coming up, especially for the next coming school year. So, stay tuned and be safe!

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