The secret is in the starting ingredients and in being open and understanding for what's to come. If you're both really dedicated to one another then you have a good beginning, but it's no guarantee.
It's likely that the major difficulty will come from the fact that you will be stressed and have less time for the relationship. Depending on your relationship and lifestyle up until this point this could be a major difficulty.
Both of you will need to recognize that your time will be limited. Your significant other likely won't be affected by that as much as you (as a generalization, men are generally OK with being aloof, while women are not). For your comfort and commitment to the relationship, it will be important for your significant other to be willing to work to your schedule, and to put that time in whenever he can. It can feel like playing second fiddle to someone else's life at times, but it's for the relationship.
Even when time is made for one another, you likely won't be as much "fun" as you were outside of medical school. Stress will do that to you. Your significant other should be open to that
african mango review and as understanding as possible. For your part, you should do what you can to minimize stress (there may be something that your significant other can do to help with that), and be aware that you may not be yourself. If you get irritable and fight over something ridiculous, don't be afraid to be the one to apologize and let small matters slide. Don't go to bed with an unresolved argument. Keep your eye on the bigger picture in your relationship.
Aside from time, you'll likely be having a lot less sex than you are now (assuming you are). It's possible that you won't be affected, but many women in medical school complain about a reduced sex drive. Since you would be the one with the reduced sex drive, this probably would not bother you, but your significant other may experience sexual frustration. That can lead to insecurities on both your parts. It's manageable, but you'll both need to figure out how best to deal with it.
What it ultimately comes down to is how committed you are to each other and the other's happiness. Each relationship is different. The best dynamic (in my opinion) occurs when both people in the relationship dedicate a lot of their time, energy, and thoughts to the other person, going out of their way to try and make them happy and comfortable. It makes the other person feel appreciated, it makes you feel good about what you're doing, and it's largely self-sustainable because you keep feeling that you want to reciprocate and delight the other person. If you have that sort of dynamic and both people are understanding of the challenges ahead, I don't think you'll have any problem for medical school, and perhaps for the rest of your life.
For what it's worth, my situation was similar to yours: my wife (then-girlfriend) and I were dating for two years before she entered medical school. I went to graduate school at the same institution, so we were able to live together. We married in the middle of her second year. She's now at the beginning of her fourth year. Looking back, she was probably the most stressed during her first two years, and I probably felt my lowest during that time as I had to get used to spending less time with her and having a stressed version of her during those times. I know that when she enters residency there will be a whole new set of stress factors, but I feel like we've passed the worst parts of the "relationship stress test" imposed by medical school.
It can be done. Best of luck to the both of you.
Point is - it takes a lot of work on both parts and you being willing to do work in school and in your relationship.
