Being a student and having a job to maintain yourself while trying to strive academic achievements, maintaining a social life, and preserving your lifestyle is quite difficult. I’ve been a student for almost 2 years in a Master of Respiratory Care program in a pandemic world where I must complete 3 days of 12 hour shifts with no compensation plus academic work. Luckily, I do have a job that has allowed me to be flexible and still have an income.

Sadly, due to constant clinical hours and little to no time for my job + social activities + family time+ relationships… As a student, the hard reality is that we go through burnout and not everyone talks about it. We sacrifice days and we miss out on important holidays at times due to our hectic schedules. We soak in every ounce of free time due to the constant need to be working or studying. Burnout is real, and it’s even more real as a student trying to maintain everything organized and done perfectly.

I’ve been trying to combat burnout especially at the near end of my program and it has been a struggle. I officially graduate in August and battling the schoolwork, being a good employee and a good daughter, girlfriend, and everything else has stressed me so much out. I cannot imagine those with families or those who live far away from home…  

Here are a few tips that have gotten me out of burnout:

1.Ask your boss for a week off! We all need a mental break and I’ve been grateful to have the opportunity to have one thing less off my plate.

2.Go out for lunch or dinner! We suffer from doing 12 long clinical shifts, a dinner with a friend or SO can take the stress off even for a couple hours!

3.Give yourself ONE day. One day to reset, relax and reconvene.

4.Have a million things to do but don’t know where to start? Just complete ONE task. Give yourself that time to tackle ONE task and tomorrow we could always get back to our routine.

5.Organize your routine! I was all over the place. I needed structure and implementing a planner in my life became a life saver. Time management became my biggest enemy during the course of my 2-year program.

6.Pause for a second and remember WHY we are in healthcare, why we chose this route, why we’re doing this. We started this journey in saving lives. So, let’s enjoy the skills we have learned and have satisfaction that you have valuable knowledge.

I would love to hear your stories on how you got through your program. Tell us! If you have any more tips/tricks for student burnout? Comment down below!

See ya next week! :)