General How can I form friends in medical school?

[Goro]

Thank you in advance for your help. I will be attending medical school this fall and what I'm most worried about is forming social groups. I was a loner in college and it allowed me to become very competitive - now I'm attending my dream medical school. However, I don't want to repeat this in medical school and I want to involve my SO.

Is it common to form friend groups in medical school? Is socializing mostly during collaboration or during free-time as well? I am interested (currently) in competitive/semi-comp specialties. Will I be spending most of my time engaged in work anyway?

I know this may be difficult to answer.

You'll find your niche

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[smq123]

You'll find friends. The experience of anatomy lab (e.g. being up to your elbows in cadaver) is a common bonding experience. Granted, your idea of "socializing" will be studying together and then partying together after an exam, but you'll find your tribe.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Every curriculum is different and depends on if you are traditional lecture, PBL, etc, so there will occasionally be group work such as in anatomy lab, PBL groups, and so on that you will develop friends and groups. You can also find people to study with and let it develop that way as well. I wouldn't worry about that too much, especially if you're already putting the thought in the forefront of your thinking. Many schools also have social events as mentioned above, not to mention club meetings and club events (be it for the specific club or that the club is hosting it for everyone).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Your student services office and your curriculum should make it more comfortable for you to be able to socialize with your peers in medical school. However, I will challenge you that you absolutely must break out of the competitive loner persona you claim to have had. Physician wellness, especially to avoid burnout and developing very damaging habits, is a major emphasis, as is the awareness that you must develop good collaboration/team skills to be able to be successful in medicine. Your own statement suggests that you don't really want to get rid of being "competitive" completely, but I will just warn you that staying competitive and trying to go through medical school without some interest in helping others is going to make your dream medical school experience into a real nightmare. And not just for you.