Can you study medicine from home?

[useless]

I want to ask current students some questions those for you study from home.

Do you think its good idea to study from home if you have to travel an hour or more journey, whats it like, do you find its too much hassle?.
I think you can save £1000s if you can study from home but travelling can make you very tired plus lost time. I dont know if you have evening classes at med schools, if you do then its going to be hard.
Anyone here travel more than 2 hours?

[rjm]

No, but I dont think want to do it. In the first 2 years after lectures I just wanted to get home asap, plus we occasionally had big spaces in the day where I would go home to eat/sleep/study. If you can study in libraries I guess this is not a problem, I cant!

Also there is the social aspect of it, if you live an hour away you are rarely going to be able to socialise with anyone of your course, living in halls is a great way of meeting non-medics and as is joining a uni club, which often meet in the evenings for socials/training/practices whatever.

I think you mature a lot the moment you walk into your own room in halls or wherever you go, you have to fend for yourself - own cooking/cleaning/washing/finances.

As for the clinical years I certainly wouldnt recommend it, some days you have to be in at 8 and dont leave til 6, I wouldnt want to add an hours driving each way on to that, it is tiring enough. In our final year when we do placements all over the region, we are put up in hospital accommodation because they wouldnt expect us to drive it everyday, this is even true for the hospital 25 minutes away. We did some clinical placements in first 2 years as well which didnt finish til late.

A lot of it probably comes down to which uni you are going to. Where I am, very few people live more than 20 mins away from the main site. However, I guess, although anyone feel free to correct me, that if you are considering going to London, it is more usual for people to have to commute across London for some length of time?? Also consider how you are going to travel, if you are thinking of trains then you can study on the train but inconvenient. Travelling costs can soon mount up if you are considering travelling 2 hours a day - if you are thinking of driving it, I reckon that would easily be the same as my weekly rent (£54).

Just my thoughts (and quite a lot of them, sorry)

[useless]

In London if you travel from east to west by trainz take more than 1hour.

[*kAtHrYn*]

I suppose it depends on the school but I doubt there'd be evening classes. Though of course on placement you'd have to do late/nightshifts.

I live at home at the moment, and it's takes between an hour/hour and a half (a lot less if I'd learnt to drive!)

It really depends on what kind of person you are - if you make the effort to be sociable there's no reason why uni life can't be just as exciting. If you make a couple of good friends you'll find you can (hopefully!) stay at theirs and become pally with their flatmates, yet can still come home and enjoy not being independent when it suits you!

Yes you save an awful lot - although my parents wouldn't have been able to give me much financial help, by living at home rent free will save you lots.

Plus you can move out in the second year when everyone else does - it's not forever!

[camille]

Living at home has its challenges but is not without good points; I'm sure you can think of a few which apply to you. Also, in London some students in rented accomodation have to travel just as far/as long as those who live at their parental residence. Whatever you decide, don't convince yourself you are at a disadvantage and that it might have been better had you chosn the other option- both in terms of socialising and academic work, your efforts will pay off.

[rjm]

Kathryn - out of interest, how to you reckon your travelling costs compare to renting somewhere?

[useless]

I have to study from home if I ever do medicine. I did live in the student hall once, I hated it. I never lived my own before, at home my mum used to do everything for me. I didn't know how to cook, got bloody bored eating chips and pasters. My room was mess, full of papers n stuff. I just couldnt handle it, so much hassle. My flat collegeues they never used to do any cleaning and never got proper any sleep, people playing music and shouting. I reckon you can atleast save £6000, well this is how £3000 rent, £2000 or more food and other costs. Having said that, if you have to go to med school everyday at 9am, you have to sleep early and wake up early. rjm do you have class everyday if you don't how many days you get off, I am sure current students don't have 5days at med school. Best to ask current students, how you finding travelling to your school, easy or hard?

[Gareth L]

Just remember in later years you may need to be for ward rounds at 7:30 - 8:00. Have you considered moving into a private flat, there are often plenty of 2nd/3rd/4th years loking for flatmates, and many of the problems you descrobe with halls wouldn't be an issue. You are going to have to learn to cook sometime though

[*kAtHrYn*]

RJM, it costs me £7.50 a week in travelling costs (weekly bus pass).

The cheaper accomodation is around £50 a week at uni, excluding food/extra things like travelling into town/laundry etc.

So the saving's phenomonal really. I'm lucky in that, like i say, i have a couple of people I can stay round if I need to be up early/want to get very drunk and not pay for a taxi so that's not a problem.

I haven't had a problem with travelling for so long each day and fitting in my work - I save time on having to do washing/go food shopping etc. Plus you just get used to it and it doesn't become a problem.

If you change your mind I'm sure there'd still be accomodation available, or move into a flat (look out for "flatmate wanted" adverts).

[rjm]

Fair enough, was expecting travelling costs to be a bit more, certainly trains would be I would think. Spending an hour and a half on a bus each day would drive me mad, but then I hate buses.

Yes I am in 5 days a week. In the first 2 years I reckon I had maybe 10 whole days off in total. In my first year of clinicals I used to go in at weekends sometimes to if my team was on take.

As for not living in halls cos you cant cook and cant clean, you are going to have to learn at some point unless you intend to live with your mum for the rest of your life!