How far away from school can a med student live?

[SteffJ]

My boyfriend of 3.5 years (well, pretty much my fiance, he just hasn't popped the question yet) and I are both at the same college right now and are both going to different schools next fall. He is going on to Medical School and I am transferring to another undergrad because my current school doesn't have the program that I changed my major to. Anyways, we want to try to go to the same school so that we can live together. So far he has been accepted to MSU's and Wayne State's medical schools and is waiting for responses from several others. I have been accepted to every school I've applied to and I really want to attend University of Michigan because I think that would be the best, however I am worried that my boyfriend will not get accepted there. If this is the case, either I will attend the school he chooses, or, we were thinking that he could go to Wayne while I go to UM. But that is a 50 minute distance so we would have to live in the middle. So I guess my question is, is 25 minutes or so too far away for a med student to live from his school? I do not want to inconvenience him in any way, but I know that we both really want to live with each other and I would rather go to UM than Wayne or MSU.

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[jaytaz]

If you have reliable transportation I don't think that is to far. As a medical student you have to get up pretty early sometimes to make those rotations but my DH and I were about a 15 minute drive from the hospital and it didn't bother him at all. Most mornings he was headed to the hospital before there was any traffic so it didn't bother him at all. The other end of that is at night after he's been on call and at the hospital for 36+ hours. If its late and he's tired he needs to stay at the hospital to at least take a nap. Good luck.

 

[tlew12778]

I pretty much agree with the last poster. We live about 15 min max from FH's hospital. I don't think he'd want to live much further bc sometimes he gets called in the middle of the night for emergency surgery. 25 mins doesn't seem too bad as long as you have a car.

 

[alison_in_oh]

First and second year that shouldn't be too bad. When he gets into clinicals, you want him close enough to home that you can minimize time spent on the road while he's sleep-deprived, and the other direction, the closer to the hospital the later he can sleep in before going in to pre-round at 5 or whatever ridiculous hour...

We're three miles from the school/main hospital, about five from the second and maybe 8-10 from the third hospital that DH rotates through. He makes up for lost exercise by running to work, so time-wise these commutes are close to what you're talking about.

 

[cytoborg]

As a medical student who has lived at various distances from school, I will say that in my experience, anything more than 10-15 minutes max is too much. 5 minutes is best. Every minute of your day counts. If you live 25 minutes away, you will waste almost an hour every day when you could have been sleeping, studying, or taking a shower. That is a large fraction of your day that you cannot afford to waste. When you have to be at the hospital at 4:30 to pre-round, you need every single minute of sleep you can get. Plus, if you forget your stethoscope or an assignment at home, you can't just run back to get it. If you live 5 minutes away, your quality of life is much better.

 

[lovemydrhubby]

I agree with everything alison wrote.

We lived about 20-30+ minutes away (traffic! ugg) from the medical school in years 1 and 2. It was not too bad and I liked the privacy of the suburbs. Now with DH in 3rd year I definitely appreciate living w/in 15 minutes (we are very close but that darn traffic again!) of the hospital where he does most of his rotations. It does save alot of time for us to be together and much easier for him after an on call night.

Hope you can work something out!

 

[neuropower]

I plan to live 35+ minutes away from med school for M1 and M2. my boyfriend and i have a really similar situation to yours in that i'll be in med school in baltimore and he'll be in law school in dc...and there's a one hour drive between the two cities...we're going to live closer to dc since the traffic won't be as bad in my direction...

honestly, i think it totally depends on the individual. like another poster said, it's going to be an hour of the day lost that could have been spent studying, sleeping, etc...but that's just not the way i think about life. my life outside of med school is just as important to me as med school and that's a philosophy i am dedicated to following throughout my career...i would be miserable without my boyfriend all week...once you start sacrificing your personal life for your career, than where does that leave you? i've taken a year off between undergrad and med school and i've been practicing waking up early every day so that i can be sure that i'll beat traffic and get to school on time...i've always hated getting up early in the past, but since i set my mind on living with my bf and commuting to school, i've realized how much more i'm capable of than i thought. i've realized i actually enjoy getting up early because i have time to go to the gym, have breakfast, read the newspaper...as long as you have a positive attitude, almost anything is possible...and so i just try to see the positive of a long commute...getting to listen to npr and music, calling friends and family on the way home, maybe even listen to lectures since they are posted online in audio files...

i think i actually thrive on obstacles like this, but not everyone does...your bf needs to know himself really well to make this decision, you know what i mean?

 

[SteffJ]

Thanks for all the advice and info. I don't think it will be that bad living 20 to 25 min. from school for either of us. Now that we've checked into apartments more, it will actually be cheaper for us to live in the middle. But I should be graduating from undergrad in two years, so then hopefully we can move closer to where my bf needs to be while I either work or apply to grad school.

 

[1Path]

I plan to live 35+ minutes away from med school for M1 and M2. my boyfriend and i have a really similar situation to yours in that i'll be in med school in baltimore and he'll be in law school in dc...and there's a one hour drive between the two cities...we're going to live closer to dc since the traffic won't be as bad in my direction...

I currently commute 2 hours to Hopkins (grad school) and so I agree with what you wrote. People talk about "wasting" time commuting but because I ride the commuter train, I usually find time to study AND get a nap . Of course, I'm not suggesting this for the 3rd year of med school where I'll keep an apartment near the school wherever I'm accepted, but like you said, when you have to deal with a situation you just do it for your own overall happiness. Besides, I absolutely HATE driving in the DC area!!!

 

[njbmd]

Hi there,
How far away your boyfriend can live is really dependent on your boyfriend. Some people don't mind a commute and some people use the time to their advantage. I can tell you from experience, I will not work or attend school where I have a commute more than 15 minutes. When the weather gets bad in the winter time, I don't want the hassle of trying to deal with it.

When I was a first and second year medical student, I had a 45-minute commute on public transportation. I used the time to study or nap and it worked well for school. When I began clinical rotations, I opted for a shorter communte and would drive no more than 20 minutes to any clinical facility. When I started residency, I opted for less than 10 minute ride to the hospital because residency is more extreme than medical school.

Again, your boyfriend has to decide what will work for him but I suspect the shorter and easier the commute, the less stress and more efficently he will weather the transition from undergraduate to medical student.

njbmd

 

[aparikh1]

My boyfriend of 3.5 years (well, pretty much my fiance, he just hasn't popped the question yet) and I are both at the same college right now and are both going to different schools next fall. He is going on to Medical School and I am transferring to another undergrad because my current school doesn't have the program that I changed my major to. Anyways, we want to try to go to the same school so that we can live together. So far he has been accepted to MSU's and Wayne State's medical schools and is waiting for responses from several others. I have been accepted to every school I've applied to and I really want to attend University of Michigan because I think that would be the best, however I am worried that my boyfriend will not get accepted there. If this is the case, either I will attend the school he chooses, or, we were thinking that he could go to Wayne while I go to UM. But that is a 50 minute distance so we would have to live in the middle. So I guess my question is, is 25 minutes or so too far away for a med student to live from his school? I do not want to inconvenience him in any way, but I know that we both really want to live with each other and I would rather go to UM than Wayne or MSU.

I've lived 5 min from school and 20 min from school 1st two years, i didn't mind either, but liked my 2nd place better b/c of location...I also don't mind driving, it's relaxing for me...during my 3rd/4th years and internship, the hospitals were all over Philadelphia, so it didn't matter where I lived, the commute ended up being anywhere from 20 min to 40 min depending on traffic...just depends on the person, their ability to handle traffic/stress...I once knew a guy who commuted by train to Philly from Baltimore everyday during 1st two years of med school, so anything's possible...

 

[Shmoe]

So I guess my question is, is 25 minutes or so too far away for a med student to live from his school? I do not want to inconvenience him in any way, but I know that we both really want to live with each other and I would rather go to UM than Wayne or MSU.

I'm about to pass out from ethanol toxicity, so the short answer is: live as close as you possibly can. Live at the school, if you can.

 

[heldicus]

25 minutes is not at all a big deal. I'm surprised to see so many people making it out to be one. Hell, I live less than 2 miles from my school, and with traffic MY commute can be 25 minutes. I think the point here is that most medical students have some anxiety problems...so they actually want their school to come to them. And to whoever said it's up to your boyfriend, that's a steaming pile of BS. It's certainly up to you just as much.

 

[bommer1389]

Sorry for the necrobump, but this thread was helpful for my situation. I just have a few other details for my situation.

I’ll be starting med school next year (deferred acceptance). My main question- Is it manageable to live 35-45 minutes from school (in a suburb)? I would greatly appreciate all the advice I can get considering all the details below:

-I am married; I have a newborn who will be ~1 yr old when I start.
-We’d be moving in w/ my parents (or my spouse’s parents); we’re from the same city.
- Lots of family support (no need for daycares, etc.) if we live at home.
-Currently active duty, so I’ll be taking the HPSP scholarship.

As you can imagine, our parents and siblings are thrilled we’ll be coming home for the next ~4 years. While it’s exciting to have all the family support, especially with a young child, I already have hesitations about moving in w/ them (mainly because of the distance). The other option is getting a 2-bedroom apartment in the very urban city near campus. Not sure I want to expose my wife and child to that environment for 4 years. Also don’t want to move in with my parents, then find out it’s not going to work for whatever reason mid-semester. I could use the advice and perspective of anyone who is aware of some potential issues of which I am probably ignorant. Thank you.

 

[J ROD]

I lived over an hr away M1 yr. Moved in with GF in M2 yr and was about 20 min away. M3 and M4 we moved and I was about 35-40 min away.

Having help is of utmost importance. I don't have kids but know ones that did. None could have done it without help or a stay at home parent.

Stay at home, save the money, and have support. It will be a less stressful drive in the am but a little longer.