Running in Med School

Went to Hopkins and had a year left of eligibility after missing sophomore year with an injury. I somehow got into Hopkins Med and tried to run that XC season. Lasted 2 weeks and had to call it quits. First year is tough; I only averaged about 25 miles a week.

Didn't Bob Kempainen attend medical school while training for the marathon? That guy was a beast!

I tried and failed as well. Just never felt rested and was always stressed about balancing running and school.

medd wrote:

Anyone run for their school team during med school? If so advice on how it worked/ if it worked?

I didn't run for a team since I was out of eligibility but I ran a fair amount (70ish my first year). I rarely could summon the effort to actually "workout" but managed to run a 2:31 marathon on a beast of a course. It got depressing though realizing I was nowhere close to the level I was in college. Also for me 2nd year is more work so I'm down to trying to jog 5 miles a day.

I have a hard time believing there is anyone in medical school with eligibility remaining, or the ability to use it. Med school isn't like undergrad. You don't get to have your schedule modified for travel, and you would miss practice nearly every day, as classes run from 8-4+ daily. I can't see anyone with the ambition to get to medical school be willing to try to compete in collegiate athletics at the same time, anyway.

Now, whether you can train and race at a high level during med school is another question entirely. Bob Kempainen famously trained for and won the Olympic Trials while in medical school. My wife has averaged over 70 miles a week over the past 3.5 years of medical school, setting PRs year over year from the 5K to the marathon. Some time periods are more stressful and time crunched than others (most of third year), but on balance, if a person wants to do it, they can find a way.

Most classes are recorded and can be played on podcast these days. So your schedule is a little more flexible than you might think. But there is no way around the massive amount of studying that is required. If your coach will allow you to basically run on your own you could make it work but you will be tired pretty much all the time.

I just want to be clear, I am talking about graduate medical school, not undergrads majoring in something that will get them into medical school.

I can't think of a better way to not get accepted into medical school than trying to compete as a collegiate athlete at the same time.

Common, I suspect med school has changed a lot since you were last involved. Course schedules are much more flexible these days and selection committees are looking for well-rounded students. I'm one of 5 I can think of from my track team who ended up in med school. Sports actually look pretty good on your application.

Ya everyone's input seems pretty much what I would imagine, a lot of work and tough to really be focused on both. The schools where I am looking to go to med school are pretty bad at cross country (that will be the only season I have left) so maybe the coach would be willing to let me train on my own since it probably would be pretty much alone with the team anyways. Not that I am amazing, but the low 25's compared to upper 26's is a significant difference.

Heh...I'm involved right now. Midway through fourth year. I agree, collegiate athletics look great on your application. But I will tell you right now, if you mention during the graduate medical school interview that you are interested in using the last of your eligibility to continue to compete for a college team while in medical school, the interviewers will 1) question your intelligence, 2) question your commitment to their program, 3) laugh in your face, and 4) give your spot to another student.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, or that it is not possible. It's very possible (at least years one and two) with good time management, and a willing administration and staff. It just isn't done, for a number of reasons, many of which are outside of the student's control.

Basically, any stories of people doing med school combined with a final year of eligibility (Joe Detmer of Wisco, to name one) are exceptions to the rule. No one should ever enter this kind of thing assuming they will be exceptions to the rule as well.

Med school requires a ton of work. A lot of schools these days are indeed moving towards less in-class time during years 1 and 2, but that simply means you spend the difference studying on your own (which is often more efficient anyway). Most schools have lectures recorded and uploaded so that attendance may not even be mandatory (I never attended lecture after October of my first year). The school may still have mandatory attendance for small group sessions, but either way, the 8-4 classroom lifestyle seems to be going the way of the dodo bird. So there may be a little more wiggle room as far as running/training on your own, but it's a world of difference from what you're used to in undergrad.

A lot of first year med students have enough trouble adapting to the workload without any other major commitments. It's difficult to know before entering whether you'll be one of the students who is doing ok but struggling to get A's/Honors, or whether you'll simply be struggling to pass.

Unless you're vying for an NCAA title, I don't even see the point in trying to milk an extra season of relative athletic mediocrity/obscurity at the expense of performing well in the first year of what will be the journey to prepare you for your future career.

common wrote:

But I will tell you right now, if you mention during the graduate medical school interview that you are interested in using the last of your eligibility to continue to compete for a college team while in medical school, the interviewers will 1) question your intelligence, 2) question your commitment to their program, 3) laugh in your face, and 4) give your spot to another student.

Never mind, misunderstood you before.

Why wouldn't you just delay your acceptance a year if you really wanted to use you last year of eligibility?

The Raw Dog wrote:

Why wouldn't you just delay your acceptance a year if you really wanted to use you last year of eligibility?

You'll likely need to come up with a better reason to defer than that.

"Bob Kempainen famously trained for and won the Olympic Trials while in medical school"

-he either was in his 4th year (off campus rotations, cushy assignments, etc) or was in his internal medicine residency (nonintern year set up specifically for him). if you utilize time management, running can actually be a helpful adjunct to your studying.

BisonHurdler wrote:

The Raw Dog wrote:

Why wouldn't you just delay your acceptance a year if you really wanted to use you last year of eligibility?

You'll likely need to come up with a better reason to defer than that.

Without question, you would not want to piss away a deferment on something like a fifth year of athletic eligibility.

Interesting comments about the lecture and traditional "class" aspects of years one and two, BisonHurdler. In my situation (my wife is the student, not me, just to be clear) the program follows a case-based, patient centered learning curriculum from day one. Lecture is not mandatory, but because of the program structure, you'd be a fool to skip lectures on a regular basis. Lecture content across all classes is based directly on the specific case being studied in each segment, and each segment wraps with a QA with the actual patient during lecture.

The scenario you described is quite a lot different, so your situation would be more amenable to an athlete trying to make athletics and med school work, but as you said, it would still be extremely unlikely for it to work very well for other reasons.

i'm purdy sure wrote:

"Bob Kempainen famously trained for and won the Olympic Trials while in medical school"

-he either was in his 4th year (off campus rotations, cushy assignments, etc) or was in his internal medicine residency (nonintern year set up specifically for him). if you utilize time management, running can actually be a helpful adjunct to your studying.

I believe he was in his fourth year at the time of the Olympic Trials. He made some comments at the time that this was his last shot because he was starting his residency following the Olympics.

However, he obviously did some significant training during the previous few years, while in med school, of which the third year is particularly tough to balance with real life, let alone marathon training.

Hi. I am a first year right now- pathetically procrastinating studying for a test tomorrow. I entered school with hopes of staying competitive. And maybe my school is different but, I'm basically in class 7-8 hours per day and some (but not all) are mandatory. The ones that aren't mandatory, if I don't go, I still need to spend that time studying. There is always more you could study, you could always know the material better. I get in about 25-40 miles per week depending on the week. For the past three weeks I've planned to do a 5k on the weekend only to either need to wake up early to study, or sleep in because I get 4-5 hours of sleep every weeknight. I know a few people who have managed to stay fast/train well during med school, but they are the rarity not the norm. And even their training has to suffer sometimes. I certainly would not base your choice of medical schools (if you are lucky enough to have multiple acceptances) based on the potential of running intercollegiately for one year. You have no idea how you'll be doing one month into school. Use running as your sanity and stress relief and for general health, but school will have to be your #1 priority. It should be and you should want to be. Medical school is such a rare and exceptional opportunity. Don't shortchange it and don't go if you aren't ready for it. If your heart is still truly into competitive running, then don't apply now. Take some time off and apply when you are sure.

Agree. I believe it would be extremely difficult to train at a level that would allow you to compete well at the collegiate level, especially during the first year. With good time management you can run, but never on a set scchedule with a team. There will be time to run, but not to train. The workload will lighten up later. Sometimes you can get a 4-8 week block of less work on certain rotations, but it's still very busy.