Let’s get one thing straight: grad school is hard. It’s a completely different ball game compared to undergrad, and if you’ve already been in the workforce for a few years, getting back into “school mode” can be difficult. Students who are neurodivergent or managing a mental illness often find this transition to be especially challenging, whether it be due to having to move to a new city away from their support system, the rigor of the material itself, or the number of responsibilities one has to manage at once.
Do not fret, however! The same big, beautiful brain that got you into grad school is also perfectly capable of getting you through this challenging time in one piece. All you need is the proper help and support. In this post, I’ve laid out my Top Three Tips to help you hang on to the tattered remains of your sanity from orientation to graduation.
Tip #1: Ensure Continuity of Care
As future healthcare workers, we know that adherence to a treatment plan is key for a patient’s short and long-term success. In this case, it’s time for us to take our own advice. If you’ve been prescribed medication, keep taking it throughout your tenure at grad school, and try to meet with your doctor or psychiatrist on a semi-regular basis to tweak your dosages as needed. If you’re not prescribed medication, but think it may help you, try to get in touch with either a local physician or a telehealth service. I personally found that the gap between Match Day in April and moving during the summer gave me plenty of time to find a new primary care physician and other members of my care team, and allowed me to schedule intake appointments for around the same time the new semester was starting.
If you’ve been seeing a therapist, or think talking to a therapist would help you, post-Match is also the perfect time to set this up. There are a variety of public and private practices throughout the Pittsburgh area you can use, however, the School of Public Health itself also has an embedded therapist who is able to see students free of charge. If interested, you can email them at SPHTherapist@pitt.edu to set up an intake consultation. If you choose to seek support outside the School of Public Health, please also be sure that the therapist you’re seeing is either a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC/CAADC).
Finally, in terms of paying for medical care, Pitt has a UPMC student health insurance plan that you can purchase starting in August of each year, making you in-network with one of the largest healthcare systems in the Pittsburgh area. Alternatively, you can see if you qualify for Pennsylvania Medicaid and use that service instead; individuals with disabilities or with incomes at or below 133% of the Federal Income Poverty Guidelines may be eligible for coverage. In addition, if you’re under 26 and your parent(s) receive health insurance via their job, you can ask to see if they’d be willing to keep you on their plan throughout grad school.
Tip #2: Schedule Recreation
Human beings are not machines, and the specter of burnout looms heavy over us all. In order to stave it off, it’s essential that you fit some fun into your schedule: go to a Pirates game, take a walk in the park, read a new book, listen to a favorite album or podcast on the bus. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to be fancy, but giving your brain a break every once in a while is going to be key to your long-term success in grad school. Be sure to socialize with your classmates as often as you can outside class as well: go to a birthday party at a classmate’s apartment, get discounted movie tickets at The Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill, hit up a local spot during Happy Hour, or head to Tequila Cowboy for some karaoke.
As someone who is terminally distracted, I’ve found that reminders and timers are especially helpful in this regard. It’s way easier to not get caught up writing or playing a videogame if I have an alarm—or let’s be real here, multiple alarms—letting me know it’s time to come back to Earth. At the same time, if I’m preparing for an exam or a session with a simulated patient, having a little reminder pop up telling me it’s time to take a break, drink some water, and decompress is just the thing I need to keep myself from burning out completely.
Tip #3: Foster Cohort Solidarity
At the end of the day, we’re all we’ve got. Forging good, sincere relationships with your cohort is essential to success, in my opinion, and having solid, reliable people to talk to or help you in a pinch is worth its weight in gold. Every time I talk to my friends in my cohort, I learn something new, and I honestly could not have gotten through this first year at Pitt without them. So, when you have the time and the energy, do your part: offer to study together or pick up extra groceries at the store for them, be a listening ear when they’re feeling frustrated or down, and offer sincere compliments and encouragement to raise their spirits. Basically, treat your new friends how you’d want them to treat you, and the rest will fall into place naturally. At the same time, however, don’t be afraid to ask them for help, even if the thought is frightening at first. Odds are you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many people will happily be there to lend you a hand and lift you up as well.
I hope these tips have been helpful and have helped put at least some of the challenges you may face in perspective. Now, go forth and conquer graduate school! The world needs you, your future patients need you, and I personally look forward to having you as a future colleague as well.
