Continuing bhangra in med school?

[Sinergy]

Hi guys, I'm a first year med student and just wanted to know if anyone had luck continuing bhangra while in med school. I was on my undergrad team for 3 years, and miss it a lot.

I know being on a team is a big commitment, but I feel like I have a lost a large part of me since graduating. I miss dancing, moving around, the friendships. I feel like if there's any chance at all, even if it means giving up any social time, a little sleep, and whatever else, I'd be willing to join up with a good team. However, I worry this may not be possible while I'm a med student.

I could do light club thing at my school, but I don't feel it will be the same. I'd like to be on a serious team.

So, I'm just curious to see if anyone here has had any experience with it.

Edit: The closest teams are on NYC, which is 2 or 3 hours away for me, but I was thinking of studying on the train and taking that down whenever there would be practice.

 

[mrchicity]

It's possible. I did it with JJ for Elite 8 2012 and for Bhangra at the Bell this past March (I'm in my third year now), and I also danced with UVa at Burgh last year too. I go to school in Philadelphia, and obviously I wasn't going to all of the practices for these comps, but I drove down to Virginia when I could (I think I went down for one uva practice befpre Burgh and 2 JJ practices before Bell). Prioritize school and get tons of studying done during the week and you should be fine practicing with whatever free time you have left.


Edit: That said, I was able to do this because I was on both teams for a while when I was in undergrad, and they could trust me to pick things up quickly. I don't know how it would be if you're trying to join a new team (especially the independent teams in NY)

 

[Kush]

Danced/captained/choreographed/mixed well into my third year. But truthfully I wouldn't do it again if I had the chance to go back.

 

[Ajay.H]

Yeah, you can do it. It's just balancing and prioritizing, as with everything else in life. The time is there - It's just how you choose to spend it. Example: Depending on your involvement, dancing on a team might not take up more time than volunteering at a community clinic , hanging out with your friends a few times a week, or getting extra research time, but the point is you have to choose.

Learning through video and just missing comp weekends/a few days to practice is one thing and is probably manageable for your first two years, but trying to actively commute a few hours sounds really hard. You'd have to be extremely efficient with your time.

But yeah, you can definitely do it and if you want to, try it out. Just be ready to ditch some other things for study time (social time, sleep, extracurriculars at med school, etc).

I would also caution you to so quickly give up social time with your new med school friends (not that bhangra friends aren't great).

 

[gssaggu1]

Can be done.


Did all through clinical years and participated in three shows (inc mixing and choreoing) during my final year and passed.


Can be done

 

[sartajjudge]

I wouldn't recommend it. Med school's a big opportunity that most people don't get. Try and get the best grades as possible, so you can get the best USMLE scores as you can, and then get a good residency.

 

[sumeetj]

i kept up with the circuit during med school (currently in my 3rd year) and yeah ive def taken hit in my grades/extracurriculars but if its something you enjoy and you can manage your time, i think its worth it. too many people kill themselves during med school waiting for it to be over, but personally i wasnt sure if the world really was gonna end on dec 21, 2012, like the mayans said, so i wanted to live it up.

i hit up bab 2011+2012, bayside 2012, and vpd 2013 with kpgd, vpd 2012 w/ fcb, notorious bhangra 2013 w/ cbs, and couple fusion comps w/ nc state and ecu.

raj shah danced with kpgd at bab 2012+vpd 2013 and did couple comps with unc in thee spring as well all during his first year of med school, as well as notorious bhangra with cbs this past summer

varun goswami danced at vpd during his first year of med school as well

so definitely possible, again, but try not to let the med school friends/extracurriculars/grades take too much of a beating because of it. good luck!

 

[shahrj]

completely possible, but it's much easier when you know someone else in med school is doing it too so you don't feel as bad (sumeet for me haha). i've done 3 comps so far while in med school (one over summer) and it's definitely stressful but i thought it was worth it.

if it's going to keep you from passing your classes obviously a bad idea, but its extremely unlikely you'll be able to do any type of competitive bhangra once you start residency so keep that in mind as well --- i'd say if you have the opportunity and you can handle it, do it. i definitely sacrificed being involved with other EC's that are more med school relevant but looking back I don't regret it at all, and interviewers love hearing about bhangra when it's relevant to medicine (i.e. team dynamic, leadership, etc).

summary: med school is rough and your free time is limited, use it to do things that make you happy.

 

[DocToor]

Doing it at the moment, and I'm new to the entire scene not having danced other than at parties. Personally, I find that I always need to have something fun and active to look forward to else I get fed up with just sitting around reading all day. No-one can study 24/7, might as well do something you enjoy in the spare time.

 

[rajkaran]

Sinergy,

I think your situation is a little different. However, I am not in med school (I'm applying now), so take my opinion with a grain of salt. On one hand, I think taking up a non-academic extracurricular activity is very possible and quite necessary in med school. But like 'sartajjudge' mentioned, med school is a great opportunity and thousands of people would love to be in your position so you should really make the most out of it. With the nearest "serious team" being 2-3 hours away from you, you should really ask yourself how much you're willing to sacrifice. Who knows? It may be worth it for you. If I were you, I'd sacrifice my desire to be on a serious team and make a compromise with myself and make my own low-key club. You'd be surprised how many people will be interested.

As a side note, most of us "oldies" know how hard it is to move past such a unique, defining moment of our undergrad career. In my case, it took about a year before I could totally accept that it was over and for my itch to dance to fade away.

 

[Sue Sylvester]

It's great that you want to be on a serious team, but the honest question that you need to ask is whether you are at the level of a serious team?


Nothing against you if you're not, but you're going to be working 2x as hard as anyone else on that team to just earn/keep your spot and honestly, serious teams do work hard. You want to be in a position where the team doesn't mind you working less than everyone else, occasionally leaving practice early or missing practice here and there. Please do note that when you get to the level of these higher tier teams, you could be the best dancer in the circuit, but still need a lot of work to learn that team's style.


You'll notice a similar trend in the above posts - these medical school dancers had either danced with these teams before and had proven themselves or danced on teams with people that knew them personally and were understanding.

If you're still in a rookie level who wants that serious team experience points, it's just not gonna work. I know a few first years who were good dancers, but were forced to drop out (of the teams, of course). And their commutes were 15 minutes. Also, commutes will get to you and are not as productive as you want them to be. Just trust me on that one - I put up 10k Waze points a month lol

 

[Sinergy]

Thank you, thank you so much everyone. Sorry for the delayed reply, I haven't been online as much as I used to as exams are ramping up again for us.

I am surprised to see that a number of you guys did manage to dance through med school, but I definitely see how this could be more of an exception than a rule (it gives me some hope nonetheless). I am honestly not sure if I'm at the level to be on one of the higher tier teams, or how much I would have to sacrifice to be on one. I am okay giving up on some sleep (as long as I have enough to function), med school ECs, social life, and even grades (so long as I kept passing), but there's always the risk that I might get in over my head.

And yes! The itch to dance, exactly! Bhangra was my life in college, having it come to a complete stop like this has been harder than I thought. I am really lucky to be in med school, and I don't want to compromise this experience, but losing bhangra has been tough.

I did just get a hold of the undergrad team after much effort, and I practiced with them, but my past team performed at a higher level than this one, so it didn't quite fix that bhangra itch. I also felt more like a bystander than a teammate, I gave them my email, but they never sent me their practice video from that week or got back in touch with me. So, it just wasn't the experience I hoped for. Nothing like my past team.

I like the idea you guys mentioned of doing something within my med school class, but I am unsure if my classmates will have the time to commit to it. Classmates have asked me to start something and seem interested, so it seems like the best option right now.
Since, I'm only my second month into school, for the time being, I can wait and see how this first term goes, and if I feel comfortable enough with my classes, I can go back to considering a competitive team again.

Do you think any of these bigger teams would be okay with letting me attend practices? I could attend practices to keep dancing, maybe get to know the members and see if it's something I can keep up with or balance.

Again, I really appreciate all of your posts and advice. I don't think anyone around me really knows how amazing this experience is, or how hard it might be to move on sometimes once it's over. It's good to hear from those who've been through it.

Best

 

[Basim]

Hi Sinergy!

This is an excellent topic and a very good question that I'm sure many of the older folks in the circuit might have as they move on to med school, pharmacy school, law school, business school, etc. I actually believe the same discussion can be applied to many graduate/doctorate level educational programs one might be pursuing, but since your question is directly related to medical school, I'll address it with that in mind.

I actually know a handful of individuals who have danced on bhangra teams (although not "big" named teams) while in med school. I think Sue did a great job covering the challenges one would face trying to hold a spot in one of the "big" name teams that competes often. I also know individuals who started their own teams while attending med school - again to sooth the "bhangra itch" as mentioned previously in this thread.

I'll try to get my buddy Govind (whose currently an Anesthesiology resident) to comment in this topic - he's one of the individuals that I know who not only danced with a team, but started his own while in med school with a group of students who hadn't had much exposure to the dance (so you can imagine he had to put in even more time due being a choreographer/coach).

Additionally, he also judged some large competitions in the circuit while in medical school. In order to get one of those ultra competitive anesthesia residency spots, he obviously had to keep up his grades & stay involved in more med school related extracurriculars. I'm sure his comments may be valuable to you (and others) in similar situations.

~ Basim

 

[Govind]

Hi!
Thanks for the intro Basim. Would be happy to give you some encouragement to continue Bhangra during med school it's definitely possible and doable. I personally found a lot of satisfaction in teaching people who knew nothing about Bhangra how to dance (most of them not Indian)...I gave up doing competitive Bhangra while in med school and instead found another way to still be involved and give back to the bhangra community, to judge. I was fortunate enough to be invited to do so at some really great comps at a time when judging reform (transparency, pre and post comp feedback and q&a sessions) was direly needed. That being said I have always craved the chance to dance competitively again...and the idea isn't too far fetched. I wasn't able to get an all-star Bhangra doctors team together this year...I have no doubt it will happen at some point in the future I was very happy to hear that dr saab Benny from vcu was asked to judge elite...there are great dancers and well known Bhangra alum who are now doctors and still very much involved (Benny and Surmeet from VCU, DJ RA Rahul kataria, Rajbir Singh Grewal (pau GADVASU captain who now lives in Chicago), and Gurkanwal Singh Sidhu captain n president of Virsa)...ahem a few guesses as to who the 'Sadda Ilaaj Bhangra' dream team will include haha one day...

 

[Govind]

And as an example here is a small clip from our performance with all new Bhangra naive med students we trained in two months just 60-90 mins oer week...Choreographed and coached with my good friend Anirban, an md/phd candidate at Michigan and former northwestern dancer (my pink blue Jodi) Gobind
! Enjoy and never stop dancing...that itch to dance should never fade govind

 

[coca-cole]

Very late post but I just came across this thread now. I'm a 3rd year med student and had a hard time giving up my college and independent team days when I started school. Like others who've posted earlier, I competed once during my 1st year with my old team that knew me and already knew I could teach myself an entire routine in a week and be ready. This is definitely an exception and I was very happy to have had the opportunity at all.


Like Govind, I started teaching other med students to dance rather than lamenting that I couldn't participate in bhangra the way I had in the past. I organized a Diwali show for my med school that included bhangra and bollywood dances. This gave me the opportunity to choreograph, pick my favorite songs to use, and teach new classmates who had never heard of any of these dances everything I could in just a handful of practices. It is definitely not the same rush as competing on a team, but it's refreshing to teach enthusiastic and naturally hard-working people something new and make new friends in the process. If your school doesn't have small cultural shows, performances, or talent shows like that already, that would be a great opportunity to get involved and share your passion in a new way. Good luck!

 

[angeblah]

Reviving this old thread.

First time I read this was 3 years ago. Afterwards, I decided to defer med school to work and dance for 2 years. Happy to report that I passed my 1st year of med school while captaining Duniya De Rang and dancing for KPGD. Thanks to these BTF posters for paving the way!

Long story short, it's okay if you have multiple passions. You're not going to study 24/7, so you might as well do things you enjoy during the down time. Not gonna lie, the past year required significant emotional and physical sacrifice, but I don't regret any of it. Positivity and perspective made all the difference.

 

[siddyp]

@Mitra

 

[BhangraSUCKS]

If you are lucky enough to get into any post secondary institution for higher learning, you shouldn't waste time dancing on a team. If you are dancing for fun to burn steam or exercise, sure why not. But the amount of loans you take out, if any, coupled with all the things you have to do for residency matching isn't justified by dancing.

Get all your fun out in college, cuz adult hood sucks and you won't have time for this.

 

[angeblah]

(Never sure when you’re actually joking, but appreciate the thoughts, Sucks.)

Those are all valid concerns for any med student, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. I do agree that if you spend more than “leisure-time” on something outside of med school, it’d better not be a waste of time. For me, dancing and creating are important for my own personal growth & career aspirations (dance physiatry hollaaaaa). Worth the extra trouble.

So yes, dancing while in med school is possible, but be honest with yourself re: how committed you should be.

And adulthood definitely doesn’t suck, young’uns.