If your significant other isn’t in medicine, he or she may appreciate some insight into your unique situation. The AMA Alliance magazine, Physician Family, offers 10 practical tips for living with medical students, including:
- Set aside daily couple/family time. Even if it’s just sharing an evening meal for 30 minutes, make reconnecting and sharing your day part of the routine.
- Set up a designated study area in your house. If you have the room, this helps set boundaries so that kids know they can’t interrupt during studying time. And when it’s time for a study break, your student is close by (instead of on campus) to spend a few minutes with you.
- Start thinking about clinical and residency locations early. Only your first two years are set in stone. Do your own research on places that you want to live. That way, when your significant other brings up clinical rotation and residency options, you can participate in the discussion.
- Remember that it gets better. The beginning is always difficult. The amount of material is overwhelming, and students will need to manage their expectations. Straight-A students won’t always get straight A’s in medical school. Once your significant other figures out a study system and has gone through a couple of tests, he or she will calm down. It never gets “easy,” but it becomes familiar.
See more tips for living with a medical student in the summer 2014 issue of Physician Family, published online four times a year.
