Cov, too, and the disease that causes Cove in 19 or upon us and will be experiencing the ramifications not just for several days or several weeks, but for several months.

Over the past couple weeks, it's been amazing to see how social media can be used for good, to educate those of the importance of social distancing and flattening the curve.

Higher risk populations, which I am a part of because I'm immuno suppressed for crows disease are incredibly grateful for the efforts of those who are acting responsibly and in the interest of the greater good, these actions are saving lives.

This video won't be speaking to the details of the virus or the importance of flattening the curve, but rather how to best manage these challenging new times as a student.

Dr.

Job all med school insiders dot com If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's the importance of your mindset whenever confronted by a novel obstacle as a student, whether you're pre med or a medical student, I understand that these uncertain times can cause a great deal of anxiety and stress that's normal.

What I want you to focus on is the self talk you have about your life and the surrounding events, and through what lens you choose to view these new circumstances.

If you're able to view these new challenges and restrictions imposed by social distancing as an opportunity for growth and learning more so than a highly restrictive and convenience, I promise you will be rewarded generously.

If you're highly anxious and concerned about how this will affect your studies, medical school application or something else, remember that everyone is in the same boat.

We're all in this together.

It's a level playing field, and you're not going to beam or disadvantaged compared to another student due to Corona virus.

If you want to learn more about how I'm changing my own personal habits and strategies to cope with these unprecedented times as a high risk individual, check out my second channel.

Kevin Jubal, M D.

Link in the description.

First, understand that social distancing does not mean social isolation.

If you coop yourself up and don't interact with other people, you'll experience a rapid decline and mood.

Energy and productivity were social animals, even the introverts among us.

You'll be relying more on modern technologies like zoom, Skype FaceTime or phone calls to stay in touch.

Now is not a bad time to reach out to your family and close friends and schedule a weekly call to keep in contact at regular intervals.

I call my mom every Sunday evening minimum, and I've scheduled recurring calls with a couple close friends during certain weekday evenings.

Think of this as virtual social time.

If you would normally spend evenings relaxing with friends, you can still do so virtually schedule a group, chat or group dinner or play cards against humanity with your friends, where you all attend via video chat.

Studying solo is generally more effective, but during this time it's completely fine and even encouraged to have more virtual study sessions with classmates or friends.

In these times, the social support of virtual study groups will generally outweigh the ding.

To your focus, I still recommend you keep these virtual study groups small with ideally only one or two other students.

Second, maintain a routine.

There are two ways of going about this.

You can either drastically shift your routine and maintain those new changes.

This is what I did early on during the Corona virus outbreak.

As I wanted to limit my exposure to individuals at the gym, either woke up very early and went to the gym painfully early or went to the gym very late and slept very late, alternatively, and arguably much more easily maintained the same schedule you had prior to social distancing orders as my gym has now been closed.

This is what I am reverting to.

Even though you're confined to your apartment or home, you should still shower change, have breakfast and follow your regular routine as if you were still attending class.

This regularity provide structure to build momentum from or the rest of your day.

If you would normally walk to class, feel free to go outside for a brief walk to get fresh air and sunshine.

But just be sure to avoid other people while doing so.

Lastly, sticking to good foundational habits will become even more important than usual during this time of stress and uncertainty, and may be more difficult to get.

Rest will sleep for that reason, following proper sleep hygiene regarding limiting your screen use, temperature in your room and other often overlooked factors will become mawr important in maintaining your long term sanity and happiness.

Similarly, you want to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise to keep your immune system functioning optimally.

With social distancing, you should view the increased time you have alone as an opportunity to tackle and experiment with your study strategies.

We've recently covered the seven evidence based study strategies that will improve your effectiveness and efficiency while studying.

Don't forget the power of music.

This is one that I used on a daily basis back in college medical school, residency and even to this day, finding the right instrumental song to groove to while you get work done could help you build momentum in your work and even facilitate getting into a flow state where doing the work is actually enjoyable.

I've put my favorite study tracks on my study with me playlist on Spotify Link.

In the description.

Be careful with your additional time at home.

Some students may fall into the trap of thinking they need to spend every waking hour studying, which accelerates burnout and decreases effectiveness.

Remember that the quality of studying is more important than the quantity of studying.

Use the Plumadore technique to your advantage and plan your days beforehand.

When will you study?

When will you take a break?

When will you exercise, Eat and socialize?

I'm finding for myself that during this time of a morphosis uncertainty, increasing structure in my daily schedule has proven beneficial.

Self directed learning is a skill you must develop the further along ago in training in grade school, your spoon fed as a pre med, you're a bit more on your own but still have a great deal of structure with classes.

As a medical student, your pre clinical years will require slightly more self directed learning as you begin learning from the proverbial fire hydrant, which is further exaggerated.

Once you begin your clinical years and have minimal time and class, you'll become far more self reliant for learning.

As a resident, you'll have minimal did tactics and will almost entirely be studying on your own.

And by the time you're an attending physician, you'll be completely self directed.

Understand that most of what you're learning in school is not terribly complicated, and you can figure it out.

Be resourceful.

Obviously look at the textbook, but if you're stumped on a concept, search YouTube for additional help find other online resource is or reach out to friends, the TA or even the professor.

This is a tremendous opportunity to hone your self directed learning skills that will continue to serve you well as you progress through your education.

If you're enrolled in classes, then use this time to study and prepare for your exams, even if they have been canceled or delayed.

After all your knowledge of the material will be tested at some point.

If you were planning on taking the M cat but must push it back, use this additional time as an opportunity to further bolster your content review and go through additional practice questions to boost your score on test day.

For those of you studying for standardized tests like the M cat or US Emily, be wary of burnout.

If you study too long at a high intensity, you increase the chances of experiencing burnout if your time horizon is expanded, then proportionally decreasing the intensity of your studying over this time, for example, let's say you were going to take the M cat in two weeks, but due to test eight closures, you're now anticipating taking the test in six weeks.

Instead, if you were studying 10 hours per day before, you could now study for seven or eight instead and use the extra time socializing or exercising.

And don't forget to save adequate high quality practice questions and practice tests for close to the real test day.

For the M Cat, that means a couple of double AMC full links.

And for us, Emily, that means a couple and V Emmys.

If you were planning on applying to medical school this June, don't fret.

Understand that everyone else is in the same position that you are in.

If you had to cancel your clinical volunteering, don't worry.

Medical schools are going to B'more than understanding.

This is not a time to frantically reach out to programs.

And the double AMC requesting details on how to proceed were all facing this pandemic together.

And these organizations face a great deal of uncertainty as well.

Do the best with what you have for now and wait.

Maintaining your physical fitness is important not just for your physical health and immunity, but also for your mental health and mood.

I've noticed drastic effects in my own mood when I'm regular about exercising at home and concede detrimental effects on my sleep mood and energy.

If I skip a day unless you have a home gym, you probably don't have all the equipment you'd like.

But that's fine.

You can still make do with regular household items in a pinch.

Body weight exercises like push ups, pull ups and crunches not to be confused with sit ups are great starting points.

I also have a set of elastic bands that have proven very effective, and you can catch me riding on Swift with my smart indoor trainer at least three or four times per week.

Writing or running outdoors solo is also a valid option for additional home workout tips.

I recommend you check out the recent videos by Athlete Necks and Jeff Nippert links in the description.

I know that these are very uncertain times, but trust me when I say that your mindset and how you react to the situation is more important than the details of the actual situation.

I wish you guys all the best, and I know that you can grow stronger Mawr independent and Mawr bad ass.

Through this process, I've been tested as well and I'm learning a great deal about my own systems and habits and ways I can further improve them.

Moving forward, much love, Stay safe and see you soon.