Today’s inane image of the day:
 |
| This has been my baby for the last month or so. Hopefully it survives until May 20th! |
Dear lovely readers,
I am alive and well but ridiculously busy with trying to 1.) keep up with school; 2.) keep up with my other blogs [more on this later]; 3.) keep up with my Step 1 study plan; 4.) stay healthy and calm. So far, so good but I anticipate that the worst will come after April 15th when our preclinical classes come to an end.
Today’s inane image of the day:
 |
| There was a lot of Starbucks and hand cramps during this block… |
Our final block of the fall semester was a 3-week Endocrine one. Here’s how I thought it went:
Course Overview
Since this was only 3 weeks long [unlike our last couple: Repro, GI, Renal], it felt extremely accelerated. Personally, I liked that it was short and sweet, although it meant there wasn’t much time to relax at the start of the block. We only had 1 TBL and an NBME final exam.
Thoughts
New TBL format. We were all given credit for the GAP questions [the last component of TBL where a group gets a clinical question and can use any resources to answer it] as long as we participated and discussed them. Our IRAT and GRAT [the individual/group quizzes] still counted for a grade depending on performance Personally, I liked this format better because I thought it was more conducive to learning and less an argument about semantics or little things. Hopefully this will continue in future TBLs.
No Anatomy practical. Since we had seen all the Endocrine structures in previous blocks, there were no Anatomy lab sessions or a practical. It was definitely a different [positive] experience to walk out of the exam and not have to immediately lock myself into a study room to prepare for the Anatomy practical. However, I understand the utility of Anatomy practicals so it makes sense to have them for most blocks.
NBME final exam. Similar to the last couple of blocks, we had an NBME custom exam. I thought that it was a fair exam [plus, the average was our highest yet!].
Final Thoughts
Dr. Thomas and Dr. Ospina did a wonderful job coordinating this course and I applaud them for their hard work and dedication. Kudos to Dr. Thomas for his excellent communication with the class about anything course-related.
Today’s inane image of the day:
 |
| Do not be fooled by my smile – I’m freaking out inside right now… |
At 10:42AM, I received my USMLE Step 1 Scheduling Permit and at 11:20AM while sitting at my favorite Starbucks, I scheduled my exam. It’s official – I’m taking the first of many medical Board examinations on May 20, 2013.
*hyperventilates a little*
—
On another note, small changes here and there will be made to this blog – I want focus my entries on a more specific theme with a targeted goal. Hopefully before classes begin again [on Monday!], I’ll decide what direction this space will head as we dive headfirst into the new year.
Happy New Year, my loves! I hope the very best to all of you in 2013!
Today’s inane images of the day:
 |
| Tried a new recipe for my oatmeal muffins and they turned out even better than ever! Woohoo for having time to bake a healthy breakfast item! |
 |
| I’ve been doing plenty of tea-drinking as of late – this particular blend is one of my personal favorites but is sadly only available during the holiday season. |
Whew! I made it through my third semester of medical school [and didn’t have to remediate anything]! Now, I get 23 days away from school to do whatever I want. Except… not really because I’ve started to freak out a bit about the Boards. In fact, I’ve been so anxious about them that I’ve already made a skeleton outline for my dedicated Step 1 study time. We only get ~4-5 weeks of true study time, so I need to make sure to use every moment as efficiently as possible and that means charting out a pretty extensive schedule [otherwise… I’ll just sit around on Facebook or Google Reader or watch TV].
Somehow I’m already 6 days into my break and I feel like I’ve just sat around [which is mostly true]. Sadly this weather has taken a bit of a toll on my mood – when will the sun come out?! I do hope it takes a moment to visit the metro-Detroit area soon…
I’m sure you’re all wondering what other exciting plans I have for this time off? Well… I’ve been going home to spend time with family a bit more and am planning a trip to Florida for next week. Mike and I will be reunited the week after next. Sounds to me like a pretty pleasant break.
In the meantime, take a moment to take a deep breath in and out. Sometimes I think I forget that I actually need oxygen to think clearly. Sometimes, I need to remind myself to breathe. Either way, the simple act really clears my head and calms me down.
Finally, Congratulations to Hannah, Asheema, Sana, Laura and Jennifer for winning the Calendar Giveaway! Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry!
Today’s inane images of the day:
Remember how I made these really cool 2013 Square Desk Calendars? Well, as a small token of my appreciation for my blog readers, I thought I’d do my first ever GIVEAWAY! [Can you tell I’m excited? Well, I am]. As you can see above, I had them printed [on heavy, semi-coated paper/cardstock] and they are awesome. I can’t wait to write in the little Accomplishments box on the May card, “Finished USMLE Step 1.”
At this point, I’ll be giving away at least 3 of them and since I don’t have a million readers [if I do, someone please notify me ASAP – that would be huge news to me!], you have a pretty good chance of winning.
To enter the giveaway, follow these 3 simple steps:
1. Comment on this entry with at least one accomplishment you’d like to write onto one of these cards OR tell me why you want a calendar.
2. “Like” my blog page OR design page on Facebook. Don’t have a Facebook? Then subscribe to my blog using the email address that you include in step 3. [If you do all 3, I’ll give you 3 entries.]
3. Include your email address & name in your comment [if you win, you must reply within 24 hours, or I will select another winner].
The deadline to enter is by 5PM on Monday, December 17th. Also, to win, you must have a U.S. address. Each completed entry will be assigned a number and I’ll use a random number generator to determine the winners. If I receive a large number of entries, I’ll give a couple more than 3 away.
Winners will be announced on this blog once they are confirmed [and if you’re a winner and have a blog/website, I will link my readers to your site… woohoo free advertising!].
Good luck!
Today’s inane image of the day:
 |
| The Reproductive chapter title from First Aid Organ Systems. |
Our third block of the semester was Male and Female Reproductive. Here’s how I thought it went:
Course Overview
This was another 5 week course [just like Renal and GI]. We had a handful of TBLs, weekly quizzes, labs and lectures. Our final grade was determined from our performance on quizzes, TBLs, the Anatomy practical and final NBME exam.
What I loved
White space. Although it seemed like we didn’t have much time off, after looking back at our schedule for this block, it is pretty clear that the couple of mornings/afternoons and an entire Friday off made a difference. Either way, having time off to study the material is always welcome.
Bringing back the TBLs. Some of my colleagues may not agree with me on this, but I definitely thought that they did a pretty good job reviving TBLs and overall, they were positive. I still have my qualms about how they are run and there are definitely some issues that still need to be worked out, however, I still [for the most part] support the concept. [We tried a different approach to the TBL during this current block that I cannot wait to share with you once finals are over!]
We also brought back the peer evaluation component of TBL back. Sadly, I did not receive high marks and a few of the comments brought me back to my discussion of TBL feedback. I obviously have some shortcomings to work on.
What could be improved
Final exam. The exam was another NBME-written one, however, I was pretty frustrated by how the questions didn’t seem to reflect the material that was taught in the course. In fact, there was a basic biochemistry question that somehow snuck into our Reproductive exam. Although the class did well as a whole, I thought that more attention could have been focused on selecting appropriate questions. Either way, this is a relatively easy fix for the future.
Anatomy lab timing. I appreciated the additional Anatomy lab time set aside for us to dissect and learn the structures, however, it wasn’t clear when we were free to leave. I usually dig right into dissections, which helps me pass the time and learn the structures. But there comes a point where my brain feels saturated or there aren’t enough faculty members present to point out structures. And since my gloved-hands are usually covered in formaldehyde and other bits of the cadaver, I don’t usually like to bring any of my study materials into the lab. So, at least to me, there felt like a lot of down time that could have been used for studying.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Dr. Venuti, Dr. Starr and Dr. Yeamans put together a great Reproductive course and I applaud them for their hard work and dedication.
Today’s inane image of the day [scenes from this past study weekend]:
 |
| A new Great Lakes Coffee location opened within the Maple Theater so I decided to change up the scenery this past weekend and studied there. Oh, and they were giving away free coffee between 6AM-10AM so that was a plus… |
 |
| I like pictures of pictures in my textbook. |
 |
| How awesome is this wall of old cameras?! This definitely sets this particular coffee shop apart from Starbucks – there’s a movie theater attached! |
[Rest assured, I have not abandoned Starbucks… I’m just trying out new study partners.]
We just wrapped up our Reproductive unit Tuesday with an NBME exam and anatomy practical [look out for my review on the course in the near future], which means that this Thanksgiving holiday will be the first time I have absolutely nothing pressing to study! Somehow I’ve always had an exam looming right after Thanksgiving or a huge assignment due the week we return, but this year is a first in the do-nothing-over-Thanksgiving-break department for me and it feels really nice. I felt like I floated out of bed this morning because 1.) I didn’t have school; 2.) I didn’t really have to do anything; and 3.) it was sunny outside. Days like these are limited [or almost over – depends on how you look at it], so I plan on enjoying the art of doing nothing for as long as possible.
Last year, around this time I wrote about Giving thanks and I stand by those words today. If I wrote more on what I’m thankful for this year, it would be very similar to last year, so I’ll just leave it at that.
—
Have you started your holiday shopping? Consider picking up one of my Accomplishments and Quotes Square Desk Calendar as a stocking-stuffer at 20% off with the coupon code, BLOG20. This offer expires on November 30th and applies to any product in my store.
Today’s inane images of the day:
 |
| My pink backpack has gotten me through many engineering exams, projects, the medical school application process and ~1/4 of medical school – but now it’s time for it to retire. |
 |
| The new backpack – took me forever to finally give in and buy one that was substantially more expensive than my previous ones, but I expect this new baby to last me well past residency. |
In my experience with writing this blog and now the Kaplan and Medscape blogs, I’ve learned that having a thick skin is a basic requirement for publishing anything online. The internet sometimes affords a bit too much free-reign on speech leading to offensive comments and responses that one would never venture to say in real life. I try to only write things that I would say to someone’s face, but not everyone subscribes to this mentality.
Recently, I received this comment [on this entry]:
“If you want to be a doctor stop whining about it. You are the problem with the medical world, you should be excited to learn about the human body and passionate to make connections, having to be around people like you sometimes make me question whether I really want to do this or not becuase there are really so many other students like you. Stop letting it make you miserable or atleast stop whining about it, you know its for your own good (and that’s why you do it). The people drinking on Friday night will actually hate their lives in a few years, hopefully you still won’t.”
Yes, I agree that this particular entry was whiny in nature, but how else am I supposed to portray the weekend before big exams? As daisies and sunshine? That I’m just so enthralled with the prospect of cramming sometimes obscure knowledge into my head? Surely, this individual realizes that I am “excited to learn and passionate to make connections,” [what does “passionate to make connections” even mean? Passionate about making connections, perhaps?]? And why would someone decide not to do medicine just because of “people like me”? If you’re passionate about medicine, I shouldn’t be the thing stopping you.
[Aside – I still love the human body and medical school. The reality is that the process is tiring and writing – whining – about it is cathartic.]
The first time this particular comment was posted, it was written with vulgar language that made me laugh aloud [do let your mind wander on this one – it was ridiculous]. Since I’ve received a number of interesting responses to prior entries, this one didn’t bother me too much. But it made me wonder, why would anyone waste their time and energy on this? When I started this blog and received harsh comments, they really stuck with me. I couldn’t stop myself from referring back to them and wondering where I went wrong. I wondered how I could produce work worthy enough of these commenters. It was kind of pitiful how personally I took some of those blatant attacks.
But time and experience have taught me well – while I do still cringe at some of the responses I receive, I don’t spend weeks agonizing over them. In the end, if someone wants to offer constructive criticism, I appreciate it [yes, that means if you want to tell me that I use the word, “rather” too often and it’s driving you nuts, please do]. I’ve never claimed to be a talented writer or a flawless person – there is always room for improvement and I welcome the feedback. However, attacks are unnecessary and unwelcome. Trolls, please move along.
[Time for me to get back to learning about penises and vaginas – oh, Reproductive unit!]
Links to some of my recent posts on The Differential and Med School Insight:
There are pros to being in a long distance relationship
Reasons to love medical school
It’s personal
Today’s inane image of the day:
 |
| I’ve been working on completing this 2013 Health Awareness Calendar which features graphs depicting the disorders/conditions/diseases we recognize and educate on during specific months. Note how April and May aren’t done yet… |
This last week of gloomy weather has really taken a toll on my mood [but, the sun finally came out to play for a couple hours today!]. A couple nights ago I wrote a pretty extensive post that I published for all of 10 minutes before deciding that it was too whiny and completely unnecessary. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t keep it up.
For the first time since starting medical school, I accidentally turned all seven of my alarms off this morning and ended up a wee bit late to class. I feel accomplished that this didn’t happen until the 81st day of my 2nd year… but I hope it never ever happens again. On the plus side, at least I feel semi-rested!
—
What are your thoughts? Please vote by clicking on this link!
… I’m thinking of selling the above calendars for $10 with half the proceeds benefitting the organization that receives the most votes [to be eligible to vote, you would have to purchase one] and the other half to my tuition bill. What do you think? Would you consider buying one? Maybe for the holiday season?
Please take 2 seconds to click on this link to answer a poll about the calendars – it’s anonymous and will help me out!
[P.S. What happened to all my dedicated readers/commenters?! Are you out there?! Am I talking to an empty room? Stop by and say hi, please!]
Today’s inane images of the day:
 |
| I was greeted by this vibrant foliage on my way to the parking lot at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak. |
 |
| I love wrapping/packing gifts… [woohoo for the upcoming holiday season!]. This was one of the speaker gifts for our Symposium. |
 |
| Yesterday [Fri, 10/26] was our Symposium – here’s the front of the program. |
The last couple of weeks have been filled with obsessing over every little detail for our Symposium. Yes, I admit that I am a semi-perfectionist and set some pretty high standards, but I also believe that if I’m going to commit to something that it better be done well. So it follows that I spent hours upon hours agonizing over confirming the speakers, combing through our flyer, poster and program and ensuring we had enough funding to make this event happen. Since things almost never work out the way you plan them, I anticipated that we would run into at least one issue and it ended up being with our speaker gifts [after emailing our supplier on Wednesday confirming the arrival of the gifts on Thursday, he notified me that he hadn’t heard whether they would arrive on-time… way to not let me know earlier…]. I frantically took care of this slight snag on Thursday evening. To my delight, nothing went too horribly wrong last night.
What bothered me most about last night was the final turnout – keep in mind that we required attendees to register in advance and I sent two reminder emails [with a line noting that the individual should notify me if they no longer plan on attending]. Yes, I recognize that it was a Friday evening. Yes, I recognize that most of our registered individuals are busy medical students. But seriously, don’t register for something then fail to attend.
Let me repeat that – don’t sign up for an event you don’t plan on attending.
We had 60 registered attendees but 16 didn’t show up – that’s a 27% no-show rate [I took out the individuals that notified me that they wouldn’t be attending ahead of time – thank you for letting me know]. I understand last minute emergencies [this one can maybe account for 2-3 people] and other things come up, but at least shoot me a quick email so that we don’t waste our resources expecting your arrival. We could have cut back on how many programs we printed and saved almost 3 sheets of printed name tags We could have rearranged the room that the event was held in to make it feel more well-attended [we had 40ish people in a room designed for 150]. We could have saved money by ordering less food. Had we known that only ~40 people would attend, things would have been handled a bit differently.
This is one of my biggest pet-peeves. All of us at some point has planned/hosted an event and should therefore understand basic event etiquette. Moreover, these are medical students – you’d think there was a baseline level of professionalism to either 1) not sign up or 2) cancel a registration. In today’s digital age of smartphones, tablets and laptops, there’s no excuse for failing to send: “I won’t be attending.” Our four physician speakers took time out of their busy days to create and present talks. All but one of the physicians that registered to attend, showed up [the one that didn’t was on-call]. What does this say about our generation of medical students?
Am I overreacting? Yes. But do I have a valid point? I think so.
—
In other news… we’ve started our Reproductive unit, which means that I can no longer study in public without feeling really uncomfortable with the images of a pathologic penis or vagina on my laptop screen. Maybe I should invest in one of those privacy screens…