Staying Healthy as a Medical Student
Doctors, nurses and other health care providers are entrusted with the care and wellbeing of their patients, but due to long working hours and stressful situations, they also need to actively focus on their own health. As a medical student, you’re trying to balance study marathons and strenuous exams as well as rough schedules working at the hospital and shadowing other doctors. Besides wanting to set a good example for your patients, you should be concerned about your health in the long- and short-term. You need to keep up with your studies and work hours, and prevent any long-term bad habits or health problems that could develop from neglecting your well-being right now.
Commit yourself to going for annual check-ups as a way to evaluate your health habits and overall health. It might be annoying for you to spend some of your downtime in a doctor’s office, but your knowledge of basic medicine — no matter what your specialty is — will make the check-up go much more smoothly than the appointments you may remember before you went to medical school and allow you to ask more specific questions about your health.
At work, always remember to wash your hands frequently, and of course before and after seeing patients. You’re probably told to wash your hands from the first day of medical school, but
To promote personal health and wellness each day, find outlets for stress and try to eat right. Fit in a run or game of racquetball to relieve physical, mental and emotional tension and keep your body in good shape. Getting enough exercise should also help you sleep better, whenever you have a chance to really rest. Only buy healthy snacks and foods at the grocery store, and try to bring things like fresh fruit, granola bars, yogurt, nuts and baby carrots with you if you can. If you visit the hospital or school cafeteria, avoid heavy desserts and white starches which will just make you feel sluggish and drained. As a medical student, you already know what it takes to be healthy, but remember to apply those strategies and philosophies to yourself, instead of always just focusing on helping others.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 11:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
