So here’s the tea: being a med student isn’t just about memorizing textbooks and surviving rounds — it’s also lowkey wrecking a lot of people’s mental health. This study asked med students (ages 3rd–5th year) what “work-life balance” even means to them, and guess what? Most said it’s about finding joy, staying on top of work, and managing time — but also, that it’s super hard to actually do.
Some students said their friends, fam, and peers helped them stay sane, but most never got any advice or support from their uni or hospital about how to balance life and study without crashing. And here’s the kicker: once they become real doctors, they’re expecting it to get much busier.
Moral of the story? Med schools need to stop glamorizing burnout and start teaching real self-care — like, how to manage your time, how to not lose yourself in the grind, and how to ask for help without feeling weak. Because being a good doc starts with not running on empty.
