Got to love post exam

YAY! Head and neck is finally over!!! I have been dreaming of this moment since the unit started 1 month ago!! And we're finally moving onto big things: thorax and abdomen. But, this weekend has been a great break!

Let's see, after leaving school on Friday almost in tears as the lab practical basically meant giving up an arm in order to stay alive, I went home and started to "clean." By this I mean throwing a bunch of papers on the floor and making a bigger mess, only to re-organize. Something I've been meaning to do since school started. This was made all the better by the discovery of free "on demand" movies (at least comcast is good for something), thus cleaning included me watching Hitch.... or, maybe it should be be watching Hitch included a nominal amount of organizing.

This was followed by Thai and friends.... although, when they all headed to the bar I headed home to actually clean and to sleep. Another thing I've been meaning to do since school started. Hmm. Let's just say that I forgot how wonderful sleeping with no alarm can be.

Saturday was spent at the Science Center looking at dissected bodies and playing with all the kiddie science stuff. It was awesome. The rest of Saturday was spent finishing cleaning and watching lectures I skipped last week in order to study for the exam.

Today has been TV day..... I have watched, for the first time (after much begging from my mother) 4 episodes of Ugly Betty and the first one of Private Practice. I love Sundays. Speaking off.... time for church....

All in all, post exam weekends are the best. No stress and almost all play! I'm looking forward to life again, rather than dreading each passing day (as it means test time). Good times were had.

My head is about to explode

Here is my 2 inch binder/ How much information I need to somehow download into my head by 8 am tomorrow.

Here is how I'm feeling about it / Me using my frontalis, platysma, depressor angularis labi and depressor labi inferioris (I think)....

Is it bad that...

... I can't wait for Christmas. The snow, the festivities, the family get togethers, the not in class studying for a test (minor, to be honest). I blame my overwhelming desire on missing Christmas at home this past year while living in Thailand (although we did have a great holiday).

I'm ready for cold weather and hot drinks! I'm ready for warm clothes and snuggling under blankets in front of a fire. I miss the winter. How strange is that?!

Anyways, only Halloween and Thanksgiving to get through before I can start blaring AWESOME Christmas music! Yay!

Exam: T-minus 5 days

I've been wondering to myself over the last week when the last time I updated was... Sept. 10th. Oh my. Now there are a feel things contributing to my lack of updating (w/ translations):

1. "I hate comcast."

Basically, if they didn't have a monopoly I would dump them in an instant. We have been without internet in our apartment for 2 weeks!!! At first it was because they forgot to register our box, thus making it "stolen", and now because they're stupid technician will not set up an appointment with us to fix all the problems with adding a new box to an existing account. Seriously, it should not be this hard.

2. "Head and Neck"

We are currently in the gross unit with the most terms (i.e. 50% of all terms from 4 units are in head and neck anatomy... that's just wrong). Now at nice med schools they tend to do head and neck last, as it is the "hardest" (what quantifies it as the hardest?? i thought they were all the hardest?). However, here at "Clinical Excellence School of Medicine" they like to hit us hard and fast. This means that most of us are walking around shell-shocked from lack of sleep and too much studying.... and we haven't even had the exam yet. Needless to say, even though studying has gone up to a minimum of 6 hours a day I still don't feel like a really know anything (at least well enough for a test).

3. "I'm stressed and need sleep"

Pretty self explanatory.

4. "When free time comes, spend it with friends."

As much as I'd like to think my readers are my friends, I do have tangible friends with which I can converse, share pain and lots of laughter. Thus, when study breaks ensue, I generally take them with my friends, rather than with my computer.

Fortunately, or unfortunately (however you want to take it)... the exam is this coming Friday (along with histology/embryology and a lab practical that is going to kill me). Thus, I will have a life for about 2 weeks in about 1 week! How exciting is that?!?!?

Best of luck to you all in all your own endeavors.

Questioning the medical path?

One of my students recently emailed me with questions about medical school. It was a pretty lengthy reply, but my roommate thought it was something I should post (in case there is anyone out there with questions of there own). So, here is my reply.

May it help someone, please know, however, that I believe it takes a special person to get to/into med school. If you think you can do it, you are that special person. There is a lot of intrinsic motivation needed, as well as a good work ethic. Anyone who gets in shows a huge achievement of getting in should be very proud of their efforts. ...

• What exactly is an MD?

MD stand for Medical Doctor. It is just one type of degree that you can get to become a physician. The other one is called a DO, which stands for doctor of osteopathy. Both degrees will allow you to practice medicine in the states if you are licensed here. I'm not sure if DO schools are found outside the states, but MD schools are.

• Should one take pre-med as an undergraduate course or take another major?

There is actually no such thing as being a pre-med major. It is just the class work that you are going through with the hope of going to medical school. I did my undergraduate work in biology, but a lot of people do other things. My best advice is to do whatever you want to do (as far as major). The only stipulation is that you get the required classes for med school in (2 years of chemistry, physics, english, and some bio classes). The reason that I went biology is, firstly, because I love biology and secondly because I thought I would be better prepared for the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) that you need to take before applying to medical school (think SAT for medical school, only way more specific).

• How much does it cost to get into medical school?

Well, that's a good question. If you want to start from the beginning, there's the cost of undergrad to get you to med school (which depending on where you go can get pricey). I went to a private school for college, so that cost me about $100,000 (plus application fees, etc). Then there is the price of the MCAT, which I think is about $500, but I could be wrong (a lot of people also take test prep classes though, and those get expensive, Kaplan runs about $1400). Then there is the cost of applying through AMCAS. With AMCAS you pay an initial fee of $50 for sending your application to 1 school. Any additional school is another $30. On average, most people apply to about 9-12 schools, so you're looking at around $300-500 depending on how many schools. This is your primary application.

After your primary application there is the secondary applications that you get from schools wanting more information. Each school's secondary costs you about $50-100 (multiple that by how many schools send you secondaries, which most will).

Now, you're almost done with the application process and its time for interviews. Interviews must be done on campus and you must look professional, meaning most kids go out and buy a new suit and then pay for travel expenses to the school (gas, lodging, and many a meal).

That's a lot of money as you can tell, but a lot of times it can be paid with your financial aid (if you budget wisely) or through parental help (if your parent's are nice enough to help you out). I think that last year I spent about $1000 on my applications/interviews, not including the plane ticket back to the states.

• Are you always busy with schoolwork/college work? How many hours of work does medical school give out?

College is a lot of fun, and you will have time to have fun and be social. However, when you're looking at medical school there are sacrifices that need to be made. Unlike a lot of other kids going to school, you have more school to go through. That means that your grades really count, as does learning the material to do well on the MCAT. This means that pre-meds usually work harder than some of the other people in college.

Medical school is a lot of work. I have class from about 9-5 on most days. But I am also studying for about 6-8 hours a day. The thing is, by the time you get here you should be used to working (not as much, but at least you should have a good work ethic) and even though you feel like a nerd, if you look around everyone is doing the same thing. So it at least makes it more bearable. Also, there is time to have fun. My friends and I try to go out at least once on the weekends, and we joke around during study breaks. But, I can't lie and say that it isn't a lot of work.

• Do you plan on getting married and starting a family? When? (sorry this is kinda random, but if i was gonna be a doctor would i have time to do that?)

Yes, I do plan on getting married, as do many of my classmates (I'm still waiting for that person to walk into my life though). Some of my friends here are already married and some are engaged. One of my friends from college got married after her 1st year of medical school, and generally, if it works out, this is a good time to get married as it is the longest summer you have during medical school. I had one friend who got married after undergrad before going to med school as well. It can be done, but it is also a hard thing to balance at times. However, if your significant other understands the demands of medical school, and medicine in general, it should be better.

However, it is true that a lot of relationship (usually the non-engaged, non-married ones) don't make it through. A lot of times the other person can't handle the decrease if communication or time spent together.

As for starting a family. Some people are able to do that during school. In fact, one of the guys in my class just had a baby last week. Also, my school has a program that allows you to become a modulated student, this means that you take half the first year courses at a time (1st year is 2 years long) if you have some other priorities, such a family, in your life. A lot of people learn how to balance it though and some people have kids during residency. I personally don't see that happening any time soon with me, so I'm thinking that I'm not going to be looking at that until after residency.

• What kind of training must one go through before they become a doctor?

Well, of course there is medical school. Med school is 4 years, 2 of which are class room work (at my school we also have some clinical work... learning how to take a history and physical). After your second year you take the 1st step of the boards based on the bookwork.

The second 2 years are spent in rotations in the hospitals, actually learning about the different fields of medicine and preparing you for knowing what to do when you get out. After your 3rd year you take the 2nd step of the boards that is both a written and giving physical exam.

Once you finish those 4 years you are technically a doctor, however, you're training is not done. You must go through residency. Residencies last for different times depending on what they are. Primary care residencies (family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine) usually are 3 years. However, some of other ones, such as specific surgery specialities, can take up to 7. You can then do something called a fellowship, this is if you want to subspecialized into a field. For example, I'm planning on doing peds hematology/oncology. I need to do a pediatric residency and a fellowship in peds heme/onc.

• How intense is Medical school? is it as scary as some people say?

Med school is pretty intense (I'll attach a doc of my calendar so you can get a feel for scheduling), but your undergraduate work should prepare you for taking the next step up to med schoo. It is not scary, although, there can be scary moments (your first day in cadaver lab, taking exams, etc). To be honest, I'm having a lot of fun admist all the work. You also don't necessarily need to go to class (at least at some schools). My school streams all the lectures online, which means that if you don't want to go to one you can watch it later, and even watch it at twice the speed if you so desire. I learn a lot from going to lecture though (or at least it reinforces concepts), so I tend to go to classes.

• What kinds of classes are you taking in medical school and what classes would be good to take in college?

First year is typically "Normal", by that I mean normal anatomy and physiology: anatomy, histology (microscopic anatomy), embryology (form fertilization to birth), biochemistry, physiology (how things work), genetics, nutrition, and neuroanatomy

Second year is typically "Abnormal", which means pathologies and what happens when things go wrong (bugs and drugs): immunology/microbiology (bugs, diseases), pharmacology (drugs), pathophysiology (when your normal functions go wrong), pathobiology, psychiatry, and then abnormal biology of all the different systems.

Through out both of these years we have a class called Clinical Medicine which basically teaches us how to be doctors

• How many years of education have you gone through after high school?? how much more do you have before you become a doctor?

So far I've done 4 years of undergraduate work. Counting this year I have 4 more before I'm a doctor. I then will have about 7 years of residency and fellowship, during which I'm a doctor, but still in training.

• what will you plan to do after medical school?

I'm planning on going into a pediatrics residency. But I'm not really sure yet. I just know that residency is the next step and I'm waiting for God to direct exactly where that step will be. Hopefully I be getting married sometime along the way and starting a family. But one thing I learned is that God directs your steps. You might have a general idea of what the next step is, but you can't make it unless God tells you to place your foot down (ie. I know God wants me to be a doctor, but He also brought me to Thailand last year).

Motivation and the Wall

Our class has made it through 6 weeks of class already! And in that 6 weeks, I like to think that we've accomplished a lot. We made it through our first set of dissections, learning and appreciating all the complexity of the human body (1). We've made it through our first set of test, and all the studying that entailed (2). We partied it up, and now we're back to studying.

After all of this the novelty is starting to wear off. And the studying is getting overwhelming. We all were studying for that first exam like we did for finals in college.... only we studied that hard for 3 weeks. After the exam we took a few days off and now we're in head and neck (which is supposed to be the worse of the gross anatomy units). Let's just say that we are all hitting a wall, or at least I am (some of my friends commented about hitting it during the first unit). There is only so many days in a row that you can go to class for 8 hours, study for 8 hours, and sleep for 6 (3). I'm exhausted and am having a hard time focusing.

Take this “weekend” for example. On Thursday we had a study day. We were done with classes by noon. I went to student senate elections and then to the tour guide meeting (4)

S told me during class on Friday that I couldn't study on Friday because I was too stressed. I made the promise and followed through. Right after school I drove out to the suburbs to meet my mom for dinner and bought a new iPOD (5). By the time I got back people were at the apartment and we ended up heading over a few blocks to a club to dance the night away and to dance in the birthday of one of the guys in our group. So, no studying happened on Friday, even though I was up until 3 am (oops).

Yesterday I slept in. I was going to get 8 hours if my life depended on it. That means I woke up at 11 am. I didn't start studying until 2, but studied until 6:30. During this time I kept wanting to go outside and play. It has been VERY hard to study during the day when it's so welcoming outside. I want to play before it becomes nasty out. But I can't, I'm a med student.

Instead, however, we did go over to a friends house for awhile and hung out/went to the sketchiest street festival ever (6). However, now it's Sunday. I'm leaving for church in about 15 minutes (which is a problem as I still have a towel on my head, why am I still blogging?!?) But I just don't want to study. I know I need to, but the motivation is lacking. What do you do to get the motivation back, besides scaring it into you because a test is coming?!


SIDE NOTES:
(1) Religious side note: The human body is amazingly complex and every time I look at it and see all the little pieces I can help to marvel. It is times like these that I go, "wow, God is so cool!" It's hard for me to look at the body and not see the hand of God. I'll toss it out there that I'm not a 7 day creationist, but believe that God could have directed evolution, but I'm not putting down stakes in any camp right now. However, it's so hard for me to understand classmates looking at the body as proof that God doesn't exist. I just can't follow their logic on that one.

(2) After our first exam (lab practical), I turned to my friends and said, "It's official. We are now med students." Yes, we may have been going to med school for 4 weeks by then, but I just had this sense that the M2s just wouldn't take us seriously until we actually made it through exams.

(3). Yes, I realize that this does not add up to 24. But let's be honest, between commuting, eating, and doing all the other random stuff, I'm sure that I can allot 2 hours to the miscellaneous stuff of life.

(4) I’m really excited about being a tour guide. It’s something I really wanted to do in undergrad but something that was competitive to get. Therefore, I just didn’t apply.... yes, I’m that type A... I don’t like to fail. It’s also the reason that I’ve never really run for positions in clubs or student senate. I like leading, I just don’t like getting rejected from leadership. Anyways, I am so excited about

(5) My last one died while living in Thailand and I have to listen to music while studying. It cuts out the distractions. So, the iPOD is essential for med school studying... or at least this is how I rationalize my buying a new nano.

(6) Mom, don't worry... I was in a group that had guys and I left as soon as I realized that it wasn't the kind of place I should be at. And a friend called once I was home, I reassured them that I was safe in at the apartment.

But I just can't get focused....

TEST UPDATE: I PASSED! Everyone say YAY! I was really excited to see this the other day. But as my friend M says, "It sucks to study so much just to be about average." I have to echo that, seeing as I study 6-8 hours every weekday (after 8 hours of class), not even including what I do on weekends.

In other news: We are now in the head and neck unit of gross. Let's just say that I felt behind from the day after the exam and have not been able to get my head above water since. However, histology has let up a bit (and luckily my undergrad histology was good enough for me not to stress about that one to begin with) but embryo has started. I have to give my undergrad embryo prof major props for that class. It was more detailed than my current one and I've been spending lots of time helping my friends with what it going on. Needless to say, the helping is cutting back on the time that I should be studying gross anatomy... hmm, what to do? Be a good samaritan or turn into a gunner that tries to succeed at the expense of friends (and future colleagues)? I think I'll opt for friends and less sleep.

However, I've been trying to read the first lecture material for gross. Reading about bones is boring.... and it's like 30 pages. It's taking me forever and I'm getting really distracted. Hence blogging and checking the news.

Interestingly enough I found a news article about breast cancer in African American women. Just to happens that in Clinical Medicine today we talked about health status in African American vs. European American and talked about the very same thing. I love that I learned about something in lecture before it's a CNN headline.

Where has she been?!

Yes, I have been gone for awhile. But I can rationalize away the disappearance:
1. Last week was TEST WEEK
Yes, that's right. The dreaded first medical exam. I spent almost all Monday and Tuesday studying at school (until the wee hours of the morning) along with some of my other nerdy friends. And while I was sitting there studying the common topic was, "How did 77/280 people in the M2 class get into the danger zone on this exam?!?!"

Explanation: My school uses a standardized score. The average becomes equivalent to 500. One standard deviation above and below (aka 400-600) is passing. If you are above 600 you are honoring; if you are below 400 you are in the "danger zone"... meaning if you don't shape up, you might be retaking the class in the summer.

The general consensus was that we were only talking to people who were actually studying consistently over the past 3 weeks. To which I replied, "I feel like everyone has been studying and that everyone feels like they know their stuff." People told me I was imagining things.

Wednesday was test day: Anatomy lab practical 9-12; Anatomy written 1-3; Histology written 3-5. Needless to say, it was a long day. But afterwards, again everyone seemed to think that they had done okay.

Thursday our Histology prof said that the scores were looking good. And then our Anatomy prof leaked that the average was somewhere near an 80%!!! WHAT?!?! That is not looking good. Why? It means that you HAVE to get a 75% to pass, whereas, if the average was lower, you might be able to get by with a 70%.

When I told this to some M2s, they looked astonished. Then promptly told us there average on the first exam was a 69%. I'm hoping that our averages drop. Otherwise, I'm screwed.

2. Wednesday night was POST GROSS PARTY
Let's just say that med students know how to party, and we did party after our exam. We headed out to a local bar to drink, dance, and celebrate the fact that we made it through our first exam. We had fun until about 2-3 am, and then somehow made it to class the next morning at 10 am (let's just say that there was lots of coffee and an after class nap involved).

3. Thursday was MOVIE NIGHT
Now, I should probably used Thursday night to prepare for Friday (since Thursday was like throwing a brick at my head and expecting it to stick, rather than knock me over), but a group of us went out to a movie instead. Superbad, to be specific. Which, I might add, is a great "post-exam, minimal thinking required" type of movie.

4. It's Labor day and I went camping with the family
I headed up state to meet up with my family for a fun-filled weekend of camping in Traverse City. We spent Saturday at the beach and on Sunday mom and I went to all the vineyards on Missions Point for wine tasting. I only ended up getting one bottle (White Cherry Wine), but I was very tempted to buy at least 2 more. The only thing stopping me was the brain telling me, "You're on financial aid. You don't have the money for this right now. Stop, but it back." Hmm, so many good things. I did, however, cave into buying Cherry Raspberry Perserves! YAY!

The rest of the weekend was spent playing with my puppy (whom was gotten very big in the last month and even more cute) and pseudo-studying... I made flashcards for 3 lectures.

All-in-all. a very restful and fun weekend. But now, the books are starting to crowd in and yelling at me as to how much of a slacker I've been. More specifically, Gray's Anatomy is calling my name oh so softly, and I'm about to have an affair with Netter.