It is quite ironic that I write this while I’m not being consistent at all with my posting goal on this blog, but it just goes to show the realities of real med school life and how busy it can get. I don’t think you can have one routine that fits every single day, so I haven’t tried to create a post about that yet. Instead, I wanted to share a real day in the life of a first-year med student, so that you can have an idea of what to expect and share my advice on how to balance your studying with your general self-care and well-being, since they are usually the ones being sacrificed. I’m also thinking about creating a post later on with the best tips to organise a busy schedule, so stay tuned for that if you’re interested.

This is a day in the life of a medical student: how to balance classes and self-care.

This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click on my link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission – at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure here.

A day in the life of a medical student: how to stay productive and take care of yourself

8 am – 9 am: morning routine

I usually wake up around 8 am if I don’t have extremely early classes. Most days, my lectures start at 10 or later, so I get to have a slower morning routine, but today I only had an Anatomy laboratory at 2 pm and a Psychology lab at 6 pm, so I had a morning all to myself. I decided on this specific day of the week to try to get to the gym in the morning, so I started by doing my skincare, getting some breakfast and a coffee. I don’t have a coffee machine, and that’s quite unfortunate because it takes me a while to get my coffee ready, but I use an Italian moka to make my espresso, and then I manually froth my oat milk before adding it to my mug. My morning isn’t complete without my supplements. I take a multivitamin, vitamin D3 and omega-3, but I think it’s best to explore and find what’s best for you to take.

9 am – 10 am: Anki review

I wanted to take advantage of the fact that I had a free morning to go through my Anki cards and review a couple of my subjects. If you don’t already know Anki, it’s a free online resource which focuses on flashcards as a way to memorise information. It uses spaced-out repetition to help you remember flashcards based on the information you are taught in lectures. I usually make mine when I first go through the subject discussed last time in class, and then progressively review them throughout the week, as the Anki algorithm suggests. There are countless videos on YouTube to help you get started, but I really recommend investing some time into learning it, as it changed the way I study in med school, making everything more effective. You can even get cool accessories for it, like remotes in a variety of colours.

10 am – 12 pm: gym session

I was actually dragging my feet to the gym today, but I’m so happy I went because it really sets the mood for the whole day. I will do a full post about exercise in med school, because it does have countless benefits for a student, in terms of focus, mental health, and of course, physical health. I aim to go at least 3 days per week, and do focused strength training for upper and lower body, as well as a day of more cardio-oriented workouts. If I am sweating a lot, I’ll also add some electrolytes to my water, because I cannot afford to get too exhausted or dehydrated before a uni day. Plus, the ones that I use also have caffeine, which gives me a boost of energy if I feel too drained after.

12 pm – 2 pm: lunch

I have my lunch after I get home, get showered and ready to leave. This does give me little time to eat, but it’s worth it for a longer and more productive morning.  I always appreciate having the chance to eat at home, as a lot of the time I have to buy food from uni, or grab a protein bar to eat. I also meal prep when I feel like I have the time. If you want to read more about this, you can go check out this post. At around 1 pm, I left to go to my first lab, as it takes me around 40 minutes to get there.

2 pm – 5 pm: anatomy lab

I feel like usually we have more classes, but today we had just this laboratory, which was more tiring. It’s definitely one of the more difficult classes and the one that requires more effort. Generally, we have two labs per week, 3 hours each, and one 2-hour lecture. Today, we discussed the upper limb, its bone structure, and some muscles. For this subject, you really have to start studying early, as it can start to pile up fast. We mostly took notes on every structure on the bones, muscle origins and insertions, and we had the chance to look at real-life bones, to get a better idea of how they look for our upcoming assignment. If you want to better understand how to take effective notes for anatomy, I have a post covering all about this.

6 pm – 8 pm: psychology lab

After a break and a snack, we got to our final lab of the day, which was pretty relaxing and laid-back. We have a very nice teacher who explains everything nicely, so it helps if you pay attention, so you have less studying to do at home on the subject. Everyone was tired, so the vibe wasn’t too intense, and I actually enjoyed these last 2 hours.

9 pm – 11 pm: night routine

I am so glad when I finally get home and get to eat dinner because I’m always hungry. I take a shower, maybe chat on the phone with my partner and get ready to get into bed. I take some magnesium at around 10 pm to help me sleep and recover, and I also ensure that my iPad is charging.

This is a normal day in the life of a med student. I can definetly say there are a lot more busy ones, where you cannot spot the balance as easily, but I decided to share this one as a way to show you can focus on health as well as on studying with the right planning. Never stress about feeling like you’ve neglected either on any particular day. It’s normal to focus on different areas of your life on some days, depending on the schedule and upcoming tasks. I hope this has brought you some information. I will try to post once a week moving forward, so that I can focus on my studies as well:)