The first time I was asked about life-work balance was during my interviews for medical school during my senior year of college. I admittedly did not have good honest answer. Like every other applicant, I responded with an answer that included “spending time with friends and family”. Throughout my first year of medical school, there was no life-work balance since my life consisted of going to lectures in the morning and studying said lectures in the afternoon. I did what had worked in undergraduate and it worked for the next two years. However, during Step 1 studying block, I came into a time where I had 10 weeks off and I was supposed to study all day long. Like anyone would imagine, I did not want to study all day long so I made sure to add an hour in there to work out. One of my weaknesses throughout my life was finding time to take care of myself physically and I always put off working out because I thought that I needed to study all the time. All third-year medical students told me that this was the only time in medical school that my schedule would be mine to control and that I should start working out and building healthy habits before third year. It seemed that everyone was working out and still excelling academically during one of the most difficult times during medical school. I put “gym time” in my Step 1 schedule and started working out pretty consistently for the next two months. I even joined local running clubs on random weekly runs and met local people who enjoyed running and had very helpful tips on how to enjoy running.
Besides losing weight, I soon learned that I really liked to run and found myself running 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week. I told a friend who loves to run and has completed half-marathons as well as marathons about it and she encouraged me to sign up for a half-marathon in the upcoming months. This half-marathon was special for our medical community here at OSU COM. Running the 2017 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon meant that I dedicated my run to the children cared by my own community while I was completing my pediatric rotation that same time. I actually found that during my training for this half-marathon, I really enjoyed running in the Olentangy trails after spending my time being part of the pediatric heme-onc team at Nationwide. I found myself training for a sub-2 hour half-marathon because I found this goal to be difficult but attainable. I remember running the fastest on mile 7 and 8 which surrounded the actual Nationwide Children’s Hospital and thinking about my patients still receiving care inside the buildings. Throughout this training period, I realize that running and taking time to work out was not a weakness of mine anymore but actually a strength now. I had multiple friends and family members telling me how much they admired my running and dedication to taking care of my health.
After finishing 2 half-marathons, the same friend who encouraged me to sign up for my first half-marathon told me to sign up for my first marathon. It was a big decision to sign up for marathon because only about 0.5% of the American population have finished a marathon in their lifetimes and I wasn’t sure if I could actually do it. I was scared of getting injured like I had after my first half-marathon. I was scared of failing or not achieving a respectable finish time. However, I pushed through these insecurities and talked to my friends who not only encouraged me to sign up but assured me that they believed I could finish it. Now, I find myself training for my first marathon and actually enjoying all the small things that make training so much fun including choosing which cliff chews I want to take on my long runs and writing how many miles I finish every week in my log book. Training while interviewing in midwest internal medicine residency programs allowed me to run in local trails in Chicago and Cincinnati but it also helped me think about my future wellness and life-balance goals. I know that I want to include running in my life and train for more races. I hope to complete more half-marathons and marathons while in residency and one day qualify for the Boston Marathon. I know that finding time to run or hit the treadmill will be tough during intern year but if it is a priority of mine, I know that it is an achievable goal.
