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Love letters [vs. letters of intent], rank order lists and the match

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image of the day:

Detroit view at night from Ford
New Year’s Eve at Henry Ford. [I started writing this post back in 2016 but never finished; it felt fitting to leave the image].

Introduction

It’s getting to the time of year where medical students across the country have interviewed [though, this is a weird interview season with the pandemic and the virtual format and all…] and are starting to ask themselves: Where do I see myself living/being/working for the next 3-7 years?

I still remember the feeling of utter exhaustion from interviewing, but also this sense of impending doom about how I was going to navigate the waters surrounding sending a love letter to my top program, how I would rank programs, and whether ranking SEVENTEEN programs would be enough to match [remember, I was in the INAUGURAL CLASS of a BRAND NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL that everyone assumed was in California]. Now that I’m a few years out, have sat on recruitment committee meetings, and have heard the advice from other program directors surrounding these exact questions, I feel that I’m in a place to provide some insight and advice to all of you.

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How I’m studying for the anesthesia oral boards [ABA APPLIED exam]

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image of the day:

Introduction

I was supposed to take the oral boards in June of 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic totally derailed those plans. After being canceled and anxiously awaiting news from the ABA about how I would take my exam, I was finally notified a couple weeks ago of my date. The ABA APPLIED exam will be VIRTUAL for 2021; I have been assigned an April 2021 date.

Usually I would wait until I’ve passed an exam to provide information about how I’m studying, but I wanted to share my process earlier this time since this exam is so different from any other board exam we’ve taken. I disagree with comparing it to the USMLE Step 2 CS [clinical skills] – sure, parts of the OSCE are similar, but the actual Standardized Oral Examination [SOE] portion is in a format we haven’t encountered during prior board exams.

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VLOG: COVID vaccine & a diary of my vaccination

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

References

On Stanford’s roll out [MIT Technology review]

On MGB’s roll out: article 1 [Boston Globe] and article 2 [GBH news]

If you’re curious about why I’ll be feeling better about my immunity to the virus after my second shot [I got the Pfizer vaccine, also known in the literature as the “BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine”] here is the New England Journal of Medicine [NEJM] paper outlining the results of the phase 2/3 trials including 43,000+ individuals: “Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine.”

What’s in my backpack!? [you’ll NEVER guess the last item I reveal 🤔]

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

Image/video… all the same, right?!

Introduction

Inspired by all of the videos that delve into what’s in people’s purses or bags or backpacks, I thought I’d share with you what is in my daily backpack! I have a problem with wanting to have everything with me at all times [and yet, still find that I’m always missing something useful, e.g. I just figured out I don’t have acetaminophen readily available in my little medication bag], so I end up carrying a massive north face backpack [reminder to fellow healthcare workers – the 50% North Face coupon expires at the end of the calendar year; I’ve already used mine once and am considering buying this new backpack with the discount…] with me to work every day.

I had to do some digging to find the blog post, but I confirmed that I’ve had this backpack since 2012! Wow, it’s crazy to read an entry from so long ago…

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A day in the life of an intensivist (ICU doctor)

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

Introduction

As a premedical and medical student, I always wondered what an attending’s schedule the really looked like. Individuals that embark on this journey to becoming a physician are often reminded at each stage that “it gets better.” When I was a medical student starting on rotations, I frequently wondered when I would have an opportunity to really influence patient care. As an intern, I felt like I was making a difference in patient care, but lacked the experience and knowledge base to feel confident in my decisions. There were numerous moments of self-doubt when I started the anesthesiology part of my residency; after all, most medical students do not get real exposure to the complexities surrounding anesthetic care of a surgical patient.

Anyway, I digress. Long story short, at every stage of training, I wondered what the next one would look like and feel like. Now that I’m finally an attending, I can share my schedule and overall experience as an intensivist with all of you! Look out for a separate video/blog post on the anesthesiologist part of my job.

Super-detailed schedule breakdown

If you’re curious about an hourly look at my schedule, here’s an overview [in military time]:

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Unboxing & review of the new MACBOOK AIR (M1 chip)

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

If you prefer a VIDEO version summarizing my review below, here it is!

Introduction

I had an itch to scratch [I wanted to start editing videos!], which led to binging on YouTube videos about the new Macbook Air/Pro with the M1 chip, which led to purchasing the new Apple Macbook Air with the M1 chip [I was actually so impatient that I walked 2 miles to Best Buy to purchase my new Macbook Air rather than wait for shipping from Amazon]. This was an unnecessary purchase and one that was done after being inundated with ads about just how incredible this new M1 Apple chip is. Yes, I fell for the marketing. But in my defense, my trusty Lenovo Yoga [this is the most updated Yoga 740] was approaching its 3rd birthday and I was getting frustrated with the lack of free Windows software for video editing. I wanted to try out YouTube as a new medium to share tips, advice, thoughts, and ideas and there did not seem to be a good way to edit the footage. Nor were there tons of tutorials available for more complex software. So, here we are.

[/excuses]

Anyway, I go through my unboxing and review of the product in my video above. I also break it down in my blog post below.

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How to study for the ITE, BASIC, and anesthesia

Amanda Xi

Today’s inane image of the day:

My bookshelf. Just kidding. This is our MGH Anesthesia Library bookshelf. Note how clean the Harrison’s binding is…
An updated, detailed version of many things in this post in VIDEO form! And I share my ITE scores, too…

[Entry Last Updated 9/2022 w/new TrueLearn discount code for $25 off!]

It’s that time of year when new residents are roaming hospitals across the country. As a result, I’ve received an influx of emails, texts and in-person requests for advice on how to study as an anesthesia resident. There are plenty of posts on the SDN Anesthesia forum as well as blog entries from my esteemed colleagues [e.g. Rishi Kumar, AnesthesiaHub]. However, this time last year when I was looking for real advice and guidance on how to study for daily clinical practice knowledge, the ITE and BASIC, I didn’t find anything satisfying online. Scrolling through SDN and asking my colleagues led me to recognize that like the USMLE Step 1, there are a plethora of resources but only a fraction of the amount of time necessary to really digest it all. Eventually, I just committed to a plan and sort of stuck with it – this entry attempts to explain that plan and some resources I thought were helpful.

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