How to make friends in medical school (online)

Making new friends in school can be daunting. It can seem even more complicated if you’re studying online full time. Afterall, how can you connect with people in large online classes? Here are some ways that I’ve made friends in medical school when studying online.

Making friends through tutorials

As much as I dislike the tutorials, they have been somewhat of a team building/bonding experience. I got really lucky with the group I was assigned to. We’re a group of 11. I think all the groups are about this size, +/- 1 person. Everyone is pretty easy going, willing to help each other out, we have really funny and engaging conversations. Especially during the tutorials. And above all, we’ve fostered a really supportive environment.

It took a few weeks for us to get comfortable. No one knew each other prior to the group. And initially, everyone was self-conscious when presenting. Worried about sounding “dumb” or seeming unprepared relative to our peers. But something about the collective struggle of having to present histology slides really kicked in by the 3rd week.

The shared stressful experience started to help us connect. Everyone started opening up about how stressed they felt during tutorials. And I think we realized we all have the same fears and struggles. No one knows everything and we’re all figuring things out as we go. I think that helped ease some of our performance anxiety.

Making friends through study groups

Surprisingly, there has been an additional perk to the tutorial group. From our group of 11, I’ve connected with a smaller study group of 3. No doubt, group studying played a huge role in preparing for our recent musculoskeletal exam. During the 2nd week of that module, I asked in our group chat if anyone was interested in starting exam review. There had already been so much content and I knew a lot of people were feeling overwhelmed.

I shared a zoom link in the group and 2 people showed up. And we’ve been studying together since then. Interestingly, we’re all in the Student Association together and of course the same tutorial group. But we had never really talked to each other. I had connected with some other group members directly but never these ones until we started studying together. And I’m so glad we did.

Despite having very different backgrounds, we mesh really well. Strangely, I think what helped accelerate our friendship is that we’re all morning people. We’re ok with starting studying at 8am…on Saturdays lol. But it works for us. Also, we all try to help each other truly understand the material so that we all do well. That wholesome energy makes all the difference.

Making friends through extracurricular involvement

Although the student association role is still growing on me, getting involved has been great for meeting new people. I’m starting to connect with some of my fellow term 1 reps who are on the island, as well as upper term students. This role has also been great for building on relationships with those I’m already familiar. Surprisingly, there are 3 other people from my tutorial group who are also involved with the student association. Having this common interest has helped me connect with friends who I may not have gotten to know otherwise.

So, these are some ways that I’ve made friends in medical school when studying online.

How did you meet your current friends?

-M

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