Running in College and Medical School

PcRunner wrote:

I am a high school runner and looking at doing medical school after college. I want to run in college, but my parents think it would be better to focus on school, labs, and internships instead of being on the cross country/ track team. Has anyone gone through this process and what do you think is the best thing to do in this situation.

You can absolutely do both, and excel at both. One, medical schools will value athletics, especially if you do well in your classes at the same time. It shows you can work hard at do well in multiple things. A residency director (in charge of hiring residents) who mentored me told me he favored college athletes and military veterans when selecting residents. In his experience they make the best residents and doctors. They can follow a demanding schedule and are hard workers. So athletics are a plus. Two, having a full schedule in college will better prepare you for the full schedules of medical school and residency. You have to be good at time management, working on little sleep, and high stress. Athletics and schoolwork are demanding, so it'll help you in the long run. Do it. I'm in medical school and regret giving up sports.

Lol; "top tier," "low tier," is all bullsh!t. Med school is med school. Yes, it may help when applying to residency, but nobody gives a sh!t where you went to school when you're a doctor. Hospitals sure don't give a sh!t. Just look at the huge increase in foreign med school grads. Having the big name school doesn't matter anymore in medicine.

So my advice... keep running. Do what you love and work hard. Excel in both and you'll do fine.

Everyone is different. YMMV wrote:

FWIW, given two similar medical school applicants, the team athlete would often get the nod from the admissions committee. Tell your parents

This +1 million.

This is close to the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. 5 years of undergrad? What? Dude, stop spreading bad info. 4 years at a public university with a 3.2 GPA and I'm in med school. It ain't that hard. Just look at all the doctors now, they're not all geniuses.

Work hard, study hard, compete hard. Athletics is a plus for applications.

DoctorGrubHub wrote:

Being a physician is an extraordinary privilege.

@DoctorGrubHub

Lol. Chill out Dr. high horse.

OP,

My advice would be to improve your time management skills and you will be successful. Medical school admissions is a simple process. Maintain a 3.5+ GPA, score in the 80th percentile in your MCAT, obtain 150 hours + of physician shadowing, engage in volunteering for more than 150 hours, and write a compelling personal statement.

Running will set you aside from the 4.0 gpa automatons with cookie cutter extracirricular activities. Use your running experiences to tie into work ethic in your dreams to become a doctor and how this motivates you to advocate for patient care.

The familiar problem, I understand. When I was at college I also have mixed me as a runner, student, and worker person. My parents said I should spend more time at college and homework. I worked as a writer of reviews on the best dissertation writing services, so my work also got a lot of my time. But I wanted it all to be a part of my life, so I tried and you should!

It can be done. It's probably not easy but it can be done. Tony Sandoval did just that.

In his first attempt to make the Olympic team, Sandoval took a crack at the '76 Olympic Marathon Trial. He'd run a 2:19 debut in Phoenix the previous December. In the trial, held in Eugene, Oregon, Sandoval ran well but it was his first near-miss: fourth-place, with the top three making the team] in 2:14:58.

In the late 1970s Sandoval worked towards becoming a medical doctor and competed in marathons on unusually light training. Following the 1976 trials he trained by running 35 miles per week and ran a 2:14:37 for second place at the Nike-Oregon Track Club Marathon in Eugene in 1978. After that, he ran 2:15:23 for 15th place in the Boston Marathon in 1979.

In September 1979, Sandoval finished the Nike OTC Marathon tied for first with Jeff Wells with a time of 2:10:20, with the two runners crossing the finish line hand-in-hand. "'We were running together,' says Sandoval, 'At the finish, I just put my arm out and Jeff put his arm out. No words were spoken.

Following the 1980 Trials, Sandoval made attempts in subsequent marathon trials. He ran 2:12:42 for sixth place in 1984 and 2:22:37 for 27th place in 1988. In the 1992 trials in Columbus, Ohio, Sandoval popped an Achilles tendon at 8 miles and was a dnf. "That was the last time I ran hard" he says.

Sandoval's lifetime best for 10,000 meters came at the Mt. Sac relays in 1984, where he ran 27:47.0 for fifth place. Sandoval was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame in 1999.

Sandoval is currently a cardiologist in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.

PcRunner wrote:R

I am a high school runner and looking at doing medical school after college. I want to run in college, but my parents think it would be better to focus on school, lBabs, and internships instead of being on the cross country/ track team. Has anyone gone through this process and what do you think is the best thing to do in this situation.

I ran track and cross country at a D3 school and went on to medical school. If this is what you want to do, I would recommend it. I found college to be about one third academics, one third extracurriculars , and one third campus life. My alma mater consistently has a 100% admission rate for medical school applicants (16/16 the year I graduated) and about half of them have played a varsity sport during college.

I agree with you

Who was that

I had a sort of similar quandary. What I did was figure out a system for running to and from work and to college classes. some travel probs with gear and hygiene, but, you can always find ways. Eg.At one point I was riding Bay Area R. Train to work, and running home through the Berkeley hills to My apt. In Oakland. Nice light firm backpack helps. Even city runs can be made interesting.

erin finn - multi time all american at michigan now in med school

see above link

I'm a current D1 runner going down the med school path. I run at a very good school (and run about 65mpw) and have a 4.0 with most of the premed stuff done. I'm also double majoring and working in a lab, and get 8 hours of sleep every day. It's doable as long as you're disciplined. I'm doing a 5 year undergrad which helps too, more time to get experience and a lot of credits in. Summers should be used for clinical/volunteering/shadowing/internship/research stuff. Focus on school a lot, I definitely prioritize that over partying/going out, but I think it's worth it. If you can, squeeze in 4-8 hrs a week during the school year working in a lab/doing research/ volunteering at a hospital.. something like that. By the end you should have a very good resume without your time in undergrad feeling horrible. You're life will be basically just med school prep/ studying and running, but it's worthwhile if you know it's what you want to do.

Easy. Run to the college, then run to the medical school. Should be nearby on campus.

Then you can say you've done both.

Look up the result for Martin Hehr, or however his last name is spelled, and there’s your answer.

Roger Bannister was in med school when he broke the 4 minute mile .. at a time when med school was much more grueling than today