Although totally unrelated to medicine/medical school, I couldn't help it....I had share this video.

Preparing for my Hiatus

Since I have last posted I have finished both OB/GYN as well as Anesthesiology. If you haven't already gathered, I LOVED OB/GYN and seriously considering going into it. Although the lifestyle is rough and it is notorious for the long, hard hours, I can't imagine doing anything else. It was crazy, during my rotation I got up at 4:44 am every day, did 12 hour days, then came home and studied/read until I went to bed around 10:00 pm and still loved it. I didn't ever have to drag myself out of bed or anything. I have yet to feel like this about any other specialty so far. This doesn't mean that I am automatically going to be going into OB/GYN as I still have many different rotations left, but as of now, it is what I love. I would also consider going into Family Medicine since there is a great need for thorough family docs in my area. Only time will tell.

Today was my last day of Anesthesia. Hallelujah! I did not enjoy intubating people AT ALL! I wasn't particularly good at it and didn't enjoy getting yelled at by the anesthesiologists on a regular basis. I was frequently told "you know, the patient isn't breathing!" Ha, go figure! They were just given propofol, succinylcholine, and they aren't breathing!? Imagine that! I understand how important establishing an airway is and I was trying my best. I suppose I just wasn't fast enough for them. Ah well, it is done and over with now!!! :)

So, as of today, I am off for my medical leave until March 1st. I have surgery planned for Thursday Jan. 5th, 2012. It will be great to get all fixed up since trying to do medical school rotations with chronic pain is utterly exhausting. I look forward to the day that I do not need Naprosyn to function during the days, and a muscle relaxant/narcotic to sleep at night. After next week, I will be on my way to a recovery and able to totally focus on my education. Yippee!

OB/GYN

So I am on OB/GYN and I absolutely LOVE it!!!! The last two weeks I have been on OB and I delivered 4 placentas and a baby! (although the baby was delivered with a lot of help from the resident)....but still, I brought baby into the world. How cool is that?!?!? For a living being to come out of another human is just mind-boggling and so incredibly cool.

I love the L&D, and am now starting to work in the clinic with 2 OB/GYN docs. They are both great and are starting to let me do things like PAP smears, fetal heart rates, fundal heights, etc. I really enjoy that too (not as much as delivering and working in the hospital), but MUCH better than psychiatry.

I have finished reading the required textbook and now am going to have to re-read it. I actually dont mind studying it at all.

I don't want this rotation to ever end! But, the week after next I move onto Anesthesiology for two weeks. Ah well, I plan on doing more rotations in OB/GYN so I'll for sure not be leaving it forever. :)

Update

So, it has been way too long since I have written on my blog and promise that it won't be this long again. I have now finished my third rotation: Psychiatry. And thank goodness I survived it. The doctor with whom I worked was awesome, the people at the office were great, but Psychiatry was just not for me. There is absolutely no way that I am going to be a shrink....ever! Since I am a lowly third year, I couldn't even do anything except basically shadow the doctor. It was frustrating to not be able to do anything on my own as well, it was frustrating to not have to think through anything; my entire month at the office, I didn't make one clinical decision that affected the treatment plan for a patient. But, I hope that Psychiatry is done for good (provided I passed my shelf exam, which was rather difficult). Just a few board questions here and there and I'll have enough Psychiatry to last a lifetime.

Now I am onto OB/GYN. This is the first rotation where I am truly excited and hope to really love it. I begin on midnights this week. This should be interesting since it is 9:45 and I just slept all night last night and I start tonight at 6pm. I hope to sleep this afternoon; if I don't it is going to be a heck of a night.

Another thing that is exciting is that I have been approved to work through my Christmas holiday. I will be on anesthesia following my OB/GYN rotation. It will be perfect timing to bring me to the New Year, at which point, I will be off for 7 weeks starting the beginning of Jan. for my surgery. Not long now!

Anywho, that is what is new and promise to post more exciting things in the near future :)

Now Onto Logistics

So yesterday I got an email from the surgery scheduler at my current surgeon's office and it looks like we are going to book surgery on my left hip for Jan. 5th, 2012. Woot, woot!

Although I'd rather be doing the surgery, I am very much so looking forward to getting fixed. As it stands now I am going to finish up my current rotation, complete my next one (OB/GYN) and then I am hoping to put in anesthesiology (which is a 2 week rotation). This would put me right at the time I would have to leave for my surgery. I will see what my clinical coordinator at the hospital says is possible. I am so, so happy that this is starting to work out.

After my surgery I am going to be off for 7 weeks to allow myself to somewhat recover, at least enough to hobble around a clinic to do my rotation when I return. Although I will have taken off a lot of time, I am still going to be able to start residency on time. Basically I will go right from medical school to residency without a break. My school is letting me walk at my ceremony and I will just have to finish up my rotations after I walk at my graduation. This is not ideal but much more tolerable than having to take a year off (which was a very real possibility).

I really try to keep this blog about my school and solely about my school, but this is a big deal and it is going to affect my school; hence why I included it. I will be so incredibly happy when this hip business is out of my life. Honestly, having three surgeries during the first three years of medical school is quite the feat; one I hope will not be repeated!

Thumbs Down to Psychiatry

So I started my Psychiatry rotation and I am not really digging it. I really, really miss my Internal Med! I miss being in the hospital, I miss being around lots of people, I miss doing things, I miss working on my assessment and plan, heck, I even miss being pimped! (and yes, I know that this is going to haunt me some time in the future). In any case, I don't like my rotation currently.

The doctor is nice enough it is just he doesn't let us do anything. More or less it is shadowing (with us being able to see the patients prior to him). One thing that is a bit disappointing is that he also does half family medicine. So I feel like I am missing out a lot on the psych portion. Another thing that worries me is that I was really interested in Family Medicine, but if I hate going to this rotation, I might dislike doing family med. I suppose that is why I have two other family med rotations during which I can decide on what I actually like. It is hard to figure out if I don't like the rotation or if I don't like my preceptor. (nothing against him though since he's a great doctor!)

So, after tomorrow I'll be 25% done my rotation. Yipee! Then OB/GYN! :)

IM = Round and Round

So I am on IM right now and we just go round and round. Patient after patient, presentation after presentation, note after note. All....day....long.....

Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot better than radiology, but it is a lot of rounding.

Currently though, I am trying to organize another surgery on my hip. I really need it done but I just wish that I didn't need it done so soon. We are looking into after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. This royally messes up my rotation schedule but I am going to be working with the med-ed people and hopefully we can figure things out and make it work.

Why can't my hip listen to me and figure out that I am kinda busy at the moment and really don't have time to deal with him? But, he calls, and I am going to get him fixed for good this time. No more hip surgeries for me....four surgeries will suffice a lifetime!! :)

Awkward Conversation

Whilst sitting in the ICU writing a progress note some random man comes up to me:

Man, "Hi! I am going for a smoke."
Me, "Ok."
Man, "Do you think that it is odd that I am going out for a smoke?"
Me, "Well, I don't know if you smoke."
Man, "Do you think this is funny?"
Me, "No." (me clearly not laughing)
Man, "Oh, you don't get it!"
Me, "I guess not?" (very confused at this point)
Man, "I am so-and-so-in-room-###'s twin brother and thought I'd trick you."

Evidently I did not think that it was as funny as he did since I had never seen the patient in room ### before.

Patients' Charts Should Come w/ User Manuals!

Today was my first day of Internal Medicine (IM) and it was overwhelming to say the least. I seriously was given a list of patients to see and told "go!" No resident or physician to tell me what to do; only my two fellow classmates to instruct me on what they thought they knew.

I literally saw my first patient ever today. I was so scared! I have had practice with fake (actors) patients but never a real-live sick one. It was definitely a first for me. I attempted to read up on the chart, then proceeded into the room to speak with the patient and her husband. They were very nice and helpful (besides the lady being agitated a having to sit up).

I really don't think they had any idea how nervous I was! But, I got a quick history and did a small physical and attempted to write my progress note. I hadn't done a SOAP note since April and had to dig deep to remember what the components were. Furthermore, the notes that I had been taught were around 5-7 pages long and there was no way that this was going to fly. I got the note down to one page, but whether I included the pertinent information is questionable. I certainly hope that I get some feedback on my notes (especially for my assessment and plan) so that I know what is actually expected of me.

To add onto the stress the attending asked if I could dictate a Discharge Note for her. Ha! I fumbled my way through the chart and started to attempt to dictate when I realized that I was pressing the play button when I wanted to pause and the pause button when I wanted to play. Ugh. Then, I got really confused since I couldn't see the physician signed copy of the meds that the patient was to go home with, so I ended up stopping the dictation completely. I had asked somebody around me if there was a sheet that I had neglected to see and he didn't see the correct form either and my attending was no where to be seen. Luckily the patient isn't going to be discharged until tomorrow and I was told that I could do the dictation tomorrow if I wished. And I definitely wish to do it tomorrow! After I discuss the med sheet with the doctor.

I feel like I am feeling around in the dark really having no idea how this world in the hospital works. Eek! :O

Radiology - Check!

Well, I have officially finished my first rotation - Radiology. Woot, woot!

And, I have definitely ruled out being a radiologist. Seriously, I basically sat in a dark room almost all of the two weeks staring at a computer screen reading radiographs, CT scans, and ultrasounds. There is not a lot of patient contact at all. It is more like there is NO patient contact in diagnostic radiology. Boring!

I feel like I did learn a bit about learning how to read chest xrays, CT scans, ultrasounds, etc. I really had no exposure to radiology prior to this experience and I am glad that I had it, but I just don't want to do this for a living.

The best part about the rotation was that I got to see several interventional radiology procedures (biopsies, lumbar punctures, etc). I really liked this part of it, but the interventional radiologist was quite the moody guy. Most of the time I stood against the wall in the room observing, but the last day I was with him he let me hold the lidocaine container while he sucked up the medicine in a needle, as well as put a piece of equipment onto the sterile field. He really did take his time to teach me and the other medical student on the last day and I really appreciated him going through things step by step.

Well, one rotation in the books. Now, onto Internal Medicine!

Holy Cow

Whoa is how I feel at the moment. Currently I am on radiology and feel like I am a such a little fish in a big pond it is sad. Really, I am overwhelmed and amazed at how much people know and how much I don't know. I have some serious hard learning ahead of me...that is for sure.

Today I saw radiographs, CTs, upper GI swallow, CT guided biopsies (2) and learned much, much more. Plus, I read my first entire chest xray correctly today...without any help at all. Although it was all normal, I still had to look at all of the components of the chest xray and convince myself that everything was actually just fine. Small win for the little third year medical student.

I definitely have to be more assertive. I know that I am quiet and soft-spoken, but I really don't want people to think that I don't care, because I really, really do, it is just that things are so new and intimidating that I will have to try extra hard to ask appropriate questions, speak up when I don't understand, etc., etc.

Basically my schedule has been: sleep, drive, lecture, sit in a dark hole all morning, lecture/lunch, sit in a dark hole all afternoon, drive, eat, read, sleep, repeat. I put in 10 hours yesterday and 9 hours today...and this was supposed to be an 'easier' rotation, phew. At least I am learning lots! I call this hard learning (vs classroom learning which is definitely soft learning).

Well, off to bed to catch some zzz's and do it all over tomorrow!

Entering Clinicals

Tomorrow morning marks my first day out on clerkship and in the hospital. I am both excited and scared at the same time. This is finally the time that I begin to learn about real medicine and how to do doctor things. I have dreamed of this for the last two years! Studying endless hours, telling myself, 'get through this part and the next part will be more fun.'

I have lectures every morning at 7:30 AM followed by working with radiology in the morning, then noon hour lecture followed by working back on radiology in the afternoon. I am so excited to get my feet wet, yet, at the same time, I am frightened. I feel like I don't know anything. Honestly, I couldn't tell you one thing that I have learned from my first two years of medical school and now I have to use my knowledge. Frightening.

I will definitely update tomorrow after my first day and I apologize for not posting in nearly a month. That is a long time! I've been trying to enjoy the last bit of my medical leave but now I am ready to move on. Let's hope my brain and body kick into gear here soon too! :)

Tough Times

So the past week has really been difficult for me. I traveled back to school to hang out with friends and have my six week follow-up with my surgeon. I had a great time with my friends and really had a difficult time saying good bye. We have all grown so close over the last two years; we share a special bond that nobody can describe. Given that I moved away two years ago and didn't know anybody and now have formed friendships that are as wonderful as family, it makes it really hard to move away for clinical rotations. I didn't ever think that I'd have such a hard time leaving. I will forever cherish my friendships formed during my first two years of medical school! I know that my closest friends will keep in touch via Skype, Facebook, email, and texts, but I will still miss the venting, daily encouragement and general camaraderie while going through medical school.

On another note, at my six week appointment with my surgeon, I was told that I should notice a difference in pain levels by this point and the fact that I don't notice much change at all suggests that the surgery didn't do everything we were hoping. I have had my file sent to another surgeon for review and, as it stands, I have two options: having another surgery at the end of fourth year and before residency - which would be the most ideal situation or, if I can't suck up the pain, have the surgery as soon as I can get it. As it stands, I am going to do physiotherapy for 3 months and see how I progress, if there isn't any improvement, I may have to just get the surgery. If I do this it means that I may be put back a year. I can't imagine doing that, but I will do it if I have to since I can't be a doctor if I can't physically do the job. So things are up in the air right now and I am going to put everything I have into PT so that I can get the best results possible.

Stop the FB Status Updates!

It is very annoying! Seriously. All of my classmates have started rotations last week and there are a dozen or so of them who consistently update their Facebook status as what they are doing on their current rotation. I understand that it is exciting and new, but it is also annoying; all of us will eventually help with a delivery, drain an abscess, or suture closed an incision, etc., etc.

I PAAAAAAAAASSED!!!!!!

Yup, I passed my Step 1 board exam. My original goal was to get the average or above, then, after I wrote the exam, I lowered my standards to just pass the stupid thing. Well, I was so close to getting average, I only needed a couple more points, but I didn't get it. I was so darn close :(

At first I was ecstatic that I had passed the exam and then I was kind of sad because I didn't meet my original goal. Actually, I was more mad than sad since I missed my goal in the didactic portion of school just slightly too. Don't get me wrong, I didn't do horribly, and was still around the average.

I didn't bomb it by any stretch of the imagination, but it would have been nice for my board score to help me into certain specialties and it probably won't do that, but it certainly doesn't limit me into the specialities in which I have some interest.

All in all I am thrilled that I have the Step 1 out of my life forever. Now, I can focus on healing up, reading up, and preparing for the next phase of medical school: CLERKSHIP

:)

Still Stressed About Board Scores

My board scores should be released within the next couple of weeks and I am getting pretty nervous. I feel like there is a chance that I could have failed them. I know that everybody tells me that I passed, but they really don't know. If I don't pass, I'll have to study two more months for round two. That means that I'll be further behind my class since I am currently on medical leave. I certainly hope that I am just over-reacting and that I really did pass my board exam, but I'll have to deal with whatever is given to me. If I didn't chose wisely on test day, then I suppose I'll put more time in and write the stupid exam again.

This whole passing boards thing is really starting to invade my thoughts, especially whilst lying in bed at night.

Let's all start crossing fingers and toes and start praying that I passed.

Thanks! :)

Long Time No Post

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while. I have been pretty successful at suppressing the stress of not knowing if I passed my board exam. Thus, I have not written on here. I think that I am trying to suppress traumatic memories LOL.

But, really, since I moved home from school and had surgery I have just been lying around and trying to heal myself. It is a far cry from the busyness that I had having for months on end, now all I do is lie around, knit, and sleep. What a boring life!

I still have slightly less than two months before I start rotations (since my medical leave is until Sept. 12th). The rest of my class starts on August 1st. But, I do get to go to orientation on Aug. 1st and 2nd. That will be a tremendous amount of fun being that I am on crutches still and in a hip brace. Ahh well! You gotta do what you gotta do!

Boards - CHECK!

I am happy to announce that I am done my step one for boards. Well, hopefully, because it was so hard I hope I passed! eek!

I haven't had time to post since I wrote boards since I have been so incredibly busy. I have moved my stuff out of my apartment, changed all of my addresses, changed my bank, send off some stuff, had my pre-op physical, and written boards, all within two days! Man, so many things that are changing.

I have been so busy that I haven't had time for all of this to hit me.

I will definitely post more about my board examination, but I am not in the mood to rehash my feelings toward this ridiculous exam. That is what it is! I think that if I had studied for another month that it wouldn't have made any difference. Blah. At least it is over! :) Now I have re-entered society. :)

Strange But True

So earlier this week I was a nervous wreck. Honestly, I was sick to my stomach-worried with fear of failing. I was frantic and anxious. But now that I have poured my entire last few days into really cramming the minute details into my brain, I feel a lot better. I figure, I have done what I could and now the rest is dependent upon what questions the exam throws my way. I am unsure if this is good or not, but I feel a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely nervous still, but I am not going to get sick over it; I will do my best and see what happens.

After boards, I get to become human again. yay! Well, on second thought, I get to be human for a week and three days because then I have surgery which will put me into a drug-induced stupor for a week or so, then I will re-emerge from my narcotic blur and hopefully begin recouping my hip and then, yet again, I become human :)

And Breathe

Oh man, I really need to get boards over and out of my life. I hate this stress. And everybody here is just the same which compounds the problem. I've only studied my butt off for two years and now it boils down to this eight hour exam on anything and everything. I really just want to pass and move on with rotations because I know that nothing gets worse than this in medical school. Really, it can't.

I can't study at school because the other people talk too much about boards and it makes me nervous. I can study at home, but not for too long because then I start to get into a cyclical pattern of bipolar-like behaviour: thinking I'll pass one minute to crying the next because I am scared that I'll fail. Today a friend and I studied for a couple hours at a coffee shop. That seemed to be exactly what I needed - being around people, but not all-stressed-out-medical-student-freaks! I have come to the conclusion that we are all freaks. All type A personality freaks who really, really care about board exams. In fact, I think that we care too much. I know I do. I am having such a hard time eating that I can't wait to feel hungry again. I feel nauseous so often that I am afraid of getting an ulcer so I bought some Pepto Bismol to take to prevent this. Oh man, that does sound like I am not handling this well at all. I just hate the fact that I somatasize my stress. Thank the Lord that there is less than a week left of this and then I can live. Phew!

What I did today: memorized 10 pages of fungus, learned about HIV, did 120 micro questions and reviewed them, read OMM board book for 6.5 hours, and passed a level on Angry Birds on which I have been stuck for a week. Successful day.

I Hate This

I have 5 more days of studying and 6 more days until I write my first board exam. And I absolutely hate preparing for it. Honestly, the information is interesting (some stuff is useless but the board thinks it is necessary that we know it) but the stress that comes with this is horrendous! I hate, HATE feeling so nervous and anxious all of the time. I wake up with a knot in my stomach and I feel sick all of the time. I am never hungry but I force myself to eat. I have started dreaming about the boards now. Ahhhh, I just want it over with! But I have so much to cram yet, that I really can't afford to have them any sooner. I have become a bipolar person too; one minute I feel like I can conquer this feat and get it out of my life while the next I feel like I am going to fail. Ugh. At the beginning of this I wanted to be in the top 50% of the people taking it, but now, I wanna pass.

Well, if I keep writing I'll just keep complaining, so I should stop and get into my studying for the day. Only a few more days of this before I can become human again.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

I am afraid that I am gonna be one strong person when I survive these board exams since they are really testing my ability to memorize, understand, and to remain sane.

Today was great though, my friends and I took a study break and we went out to lunch at a diner that we love to go to. We LOVE their over-priced cinnamon buns. Honestly, I dont' know anywhere else that I would spend four bucks on a dessert! But they are wonderful and it was great to get out with friends and see humans again.

It is pretty warm here studying in my room. I have to often study sitting on a heating pad to alleviate muscle spasms in my lower back (presumably from my bum hip), so it is a wonderful combo of heat + heating pad = very hot studying! Ah well, only 9 more days of studying and 3 more weeks with a bum hip!

Time is flying so fast, I can barely keep up!

I will now go back to studying and eating my frozen twinkie! :)

The Stress Meter Rises

Board exams are approaching and everything seems to get more and more stressful. I put in full days studying and then feel guilty when I am not studying. It is a viscious cycle. I write my boards on June 27th. I really want it to come and be over with, but I also wish I had more time to study. But, I could study my entire life and still not get through everything. I just hope that I am going about it the right way. Basically, all I want to do is pass and anything else better is icing on top of the cake.

Some days I feel okay while other days I feel like there is no way that I will get though enough information to pass. It is a real roller coaster physically, mentally, and emotionally. I get more sensitive when I am stressed, so my roommate bugs me even more than usual. I am having trouble eating now since when I get nervous my appetite goes away. (But don't worry Grampa, I am still forcing myself to eat!! LOL). I just want boards out of my life so that I can move on.

I keep telling myself that people at the very bottom of the class still pass. And I am not at the bottom of our class, so, I should pass, right? It is difficult to determine since my practice scores are all over the place: 73% one day and 49% the next. It really depends on the questions. I think that everybody should start praying that the exam I take has questions that are on concepts that I know! (or at least can guess the answer).

I thought the MCAT was bad, but this is another beast! A beast I want out of my life! (but not too soon, since I have to get through so much before I write it!)

Well, I have 5 pages left to read of the review book I am currently getting through, so good night and sorry for the boards rant. It is just a very stressful time :S

So this is what bored studying is.

No, I didn't spell the title of my post incorrectly. I believe that board studying should be called bored studying! I am sick and tired of board studying that I really hope I last another 2 weeks strong. Blah.

You know, often times you hear about doctors and surgeons being 'board-certified' in their specialty and nobody really pays attention to it. My goodness, everybody in the entire world should think - 'Oh wow! That is awesome!" hehehehe. After putting in steady 12 - 14 hour days of studying, multiple days in a row, it kinda gets old. Oh well. It doesn't last forever and in 2 weeks and 3 days I will be home free and done with this studying (hopefully) FOREVER!

Although I get a really long (unwanted) summer, it will be nice to decompress after I am finished with this portion of my medical education. Hopefully get a nice tan whilst sitting in the sun (with or without that lovely hip brace I have to wear all summer!)

Well, I am off to bed now. Catching some REM, to make some neuronal connections in order to consolidate all of the neurology I have learned into my hippocampus. Oh neurology - the love hate relationship we have.... it will endure for a lifetime!

Building Character and Making Memories

I had this as my Facebook status and thought that it would make a good title for a post here. Firstly, let me apologize for not writing for a while, things have just ramped up to a new level. I am in the midst of studying for my first step of my medical board exams. I have 19 more days before I write my 'big' test. Honestly, this might be the most stressful period of my life so far. It also doesn't help that all my friends and (almost) everybody around me is in the same boat. We all sit for 12 - 14 hours a day cramming as much information into our heads as possible in hopes of passing this stupid exam. I am not looking forward to it at all! I hope that I pass and will do everything in my power so that I pass. Plus I'll be praying and looking to higher powers as well :) And....I wouldn't mind your prayers either :)

I have been studying since 9:00 this morning and took a few breaks but learned a lot. I have had to revamp my preparation schedule so that I alleviate as much stress on myself as I can. I seem to have a hard time doing questions and not knowing what the answers were (because I haven't studied that section) and then going back and looking up the correct answers. It stressed me out, so I decided (along with consultation with the person who helps me cope with this most - Love You!!) that I would study for a couple of days straight and then amp up my question amount after. It works out that I do the same number of practice questions, but I hopefully will be less stressed. Sigh, I can't wait for these next couple of weeks to be over and have the step one board exam OUT OF MY LIFE!

To make matters even better, I was studying some vascular diseases and I had it all figured out how I was going to remember Osler-Weber-Rendu disease when I flipped the page to see a Sturg-Weber disease. Why Weber, why? Why must you have discovered two diseases?!?! You should have named one of the diseases after your dog so that I could distinguish between the two in my head. Now this guy I know whose last name is Weber - he has to have two diseases in my head. ugh. I got angry, stopped reading and headed to bed.

Well, I better get to bed so that I can study my butt off again tomorrow!

Good Night Neverland!!!

Changes

Since I have finished the classroom portion of my second year things have certainly changed. I have moved into my roommates room (since she has moved out) so now I have my own room. Which is both awesome and weird. I mean, I LOVE my privacy - I could walk around naked if I wanted (but I don't, so you don't have to worry!); at the same time, it is odd. At night, I feel homesick and then I can't fall asleep. It is so odd. Perhaps it is because I am in a different room and it is just change coming through in a weird way. I dunno, but I don't like it.

Everybody seems to have left town now too. Two of my good friends are out of town and my other really close friend has been a hermit at her townhouse while the other girl I sometimes study with has had her Mum in town since the weekend. So, I've been studying all by myself. Except for this evening when an acquaintance (I don't know her well enough to call her a friend) sat with me and studied boards until about 10 o'clock tonight. It was great to have human contact (since I've been cooped up in my room for two days studying and then sitting around all day today studying alone), but man, she was annoying. Every time we talked it seemed like she was saying how fast she learns and how she remembers everything she ever reads. This made me barf in my mouth a little bit. Some people.

Today was the graduation picnic at school. I decided that I would go and 'watch' the picnic whilst studying some drugs and doing some practice questions. It was a pleasant distraction because I could really get some studying done and still see people (man, what an antisocial life med school causes!) I decided that there was enough food for the graduates and their families that I could grab some food too. I had a huge burger, chips, potato salad, fruit, cookies, and a pop. I figure- I am paying enough money to go to school here that I, in some way, shape, or form, have paid for at least a part of that meal. I might as well partake It was great and it stuck with me for a long time too - good brain food!

This picnic really made me think how fast time goes. Today I am sitting on my butt memorizing infection after infection, drug after drug, and have never 'really' seen a real patient in my life and in two years I will be attending that picnic and will become a doctor the next day. That is only two years!!!!! I think that it is amazing how much I will learn in the next two years. How exciting. Also, I will definitely know what I will be when I 'grow-up'. It would be great to fast forward to see what kind of doctor I will end up. Family medicine? OB/GYN? Surgery? Who knows. But, as of now, I have to just get past this next month and pass my darn boards. Which are a bit daunting at the moment since I have so much to get through still. Hopefully it will come together in the end.

Well, sorry for the long post. I had a lot to write about! Good night!!!!!!!!!

- Me

Boards, Boards, Boards

The B-word (Boards) has now officially taken over my life. Scary, but I just want to put my time in and get it over with. Honestly, I want to pass. I would love to be over the national average, but I will just do my best and then see what happens and where my score ends up.

My parents have moved out a bit of my things (ie a SUV load full of my junk) and now I only have 5 weeks before I write my first set of boards, then I have a week to fill in before I get my surgery done here. I had an appointment yesterday which cleared up some logistical details. So, it is a go: July 7th at 10:00 AM. Blah. At least I am getting all fixed up so that my hip is happy for the remainder of my med school and life! :)

Done and Done

I just got back from writing my last test of second year. Thank the Lord it is over!

110+ tests, liters and liters of caffeinated beverages later I am done with the tests for my didactic portion of medical school. Now I just have to pass that little quiz at the end of June, also known as boards. I have heard that it is easy! Ha.

Today I wrote Health Law which was so incredibly boring it literally put me to sleep! I compare studying health law to eating sand. Downright painful. Alas, it is over!!!

Now I am going to sleep for a couple of hours, do one lecture of pathology for board review then call it quits for today. How nice! Also, my parents are coming down this weekend so I am taking that off too. I am so excited to see them since I haven't seen them since Christmas. It will be great!

On another note, I have booked my surgery for a week and two days after I write boards. Which is perfect timing! I am in the process of organizing my medical leave for the beginning of next year and trying to get my lease extended so that I have a place to live after I am supposed to move out. All of these life things going on; at least it seems to be working out so far and things are starting to fall into place.

Yay, I am practically 50% of a doctor. I will say that I am a half doctor when I pass my step I board exam though!

Some Nurses are Angels

Honestly, they really are! Man alive.

Today a group of four medical students (including myself) had to go to the clinic that is attached to our school and, along with the help of a midwife/health-educator and a nurse, learned how to do a breast exam, speculum exam, bimanual exam, and rectal exam on the nurse. I can't get over how wonderful the nurse was to do this for us fumbling medical students.

We watched the midwife do each of the exams and then each of us four students did the exam on the nurse. I am thankful that my first time doing these exams was on somebody who was giving me feedback as to how I was doing and what I could do better to improve my future patients' comfort and ease with getting a breast/pelvic exam. Even though I had a bit (rather a lot) of guidance whilst doing this, I got the cervix right centered in between the speculum bills on my first time! I was pretty pumped since I was the only one who got the cervix centered on the first try.

I thought that it was going to be awkward, but it really wasn't that bad. It was, though, visibly more stressful for the guys in the group. The two of them were pretty nervous, you could tell the way they were talking and the way they 'tried' to play it cool, but these hot-shot guys (which is definitely what they are!...to say the least) was a bit amusing. I guess it helps us girls since we have the same plumbing as the patient!

We learned how to phrase words that will make the patient most at ease and exactly how best to do all parts of the exam. In all honesty, we learned A LOT more, but I suppose that it would not be appropriate to go into too much detail in a post that can be seen on the Internet. Needless to say, it was a very helpful experience and I am so, so grateful for the women that give their time to teach us the best way to do it. Imagine having 5 full pelvic/rectal exams in one afternoon. I don't think I could do that; but blessed are those that can.

Life

I feel that life should stop when one is going through medical school. Well, actually, no, maybe just life 'things' should stop. I've been extremely busy as they throw the last of our diadactic coursework at us, plus I've been dealing with organizing my hip situation. I can't remember the last time I posted, but since then, I've had an arthrogram and met with the surgeon again and both the surgeon and myself have come to the welcomed conclusion that we are going to go ahead and get my hip fixed up right after I write boards at the end of June. I am thrilled that I have a chance to get my hip fixed, and it is going to be through a scope and not a more drastic surgery or two (that was mentioned in previous appointments with this doctor). I have to figure out logistics yet, but I am over-joyed that I have a chance to get better!

Having all of this going on has really taken time away from my studies. I know that taking care of my health is important because I can never be a doctor if I don't have a functional hip, but it still sucks to study less and still have to go and write exam after exam. I now have two exams in two days and am not as prepared as I would have liked. I will post more about my current situation, but I am in the middle of cramming for dermatology. So, off to the books and will post soon with an update on 'life'.

My First Save

A couple of days ago I was at the local hospital completing my Advanced Cardiac Life Support course (which is learning how to run a code) and I actually got to perform my first 'save'. lol

Actually, me and one of the other guys in my group were sitting outside eating our lunch (since we were the cheap ones and brought our lunch instead of buying our lunch) and then I saw his lunch bag fly through the air. It definitely caught my attention. When I looked over to where he was running I saw a very elderly lady (probably in her 90's) and, who I presume was her son, holding her up as she was crumpling to the ground as they were trying to get to the Emergency Department. So, I ran over to them too. The other medical student held up the women as I went and got a wheelchair. We both put her in the chair and he held her up in the chair and I pushed the chair into the hospital. We both noticed that her right side was drooping and we thought - man, she is having a stroke! Funny thing was, that we had just had a lecture on strokes.

The triage nurses came out to help us, took her information, and then we brought her right into the triage room. The poor dear was so upset and confused, I felt bad for her.

When we got into the triage room, the nurses asked if we worked at the hospital (since we were both dressed in scrubs) and I promptly replied that we were eating our lunch outside and that we were medical students doing ACLS....really, we don't know anything!!!!!

The bad thing is that I'll never know what happened to that lady. I do hope that we was alright.

What a Week!

This week has been absolutely insane. After putting in 19 hours of board review this past weekend, I had to cram in many lectures of rheumatology and orthopaedics for my test that is going to be tomorrow morning. I have never been so unprepared in my life for an exam. We had 22 lectures and 10 case studies for the exam and I have only been through the lectures and none of the case studies. And I won't get through them in the morning either. I still have to wake up at 5:00 am to read through 7 more lectures before the test at 8:00 am. This is going to be an insane test. I hope I pass!

In all fairness though, I would have been prepared as normal if I hadn't been so distracted these last couple of days. Normally I don't post anything about my hip issues, but I went to see an orthopaedic surgeon here in town for a second opinion and, it turns out, that in the best of circumstances, I have to have yet another hip scope (having the same thing that I had done last time to fix residual impingement and labral tearing). Worst case scenario, there are two other options that are more major surgeries which could complicate my future clinical rotation schedule enormously :( But, I have to wait until I go get my arthrogram done on Monday and then see the doc the following Monday to discuss what needs to be done next. All in all, this was NOT what I wanted to hear! This has been quite distracting to deal with whilst studying for a gigundous test.

Well, I think that I have vented enough on here, and am going to catch some shut-eye before I get up and cram the last few lectures into my brain. Talk about the fun of medical school! Especially when 'life-stuff' happens.

I don't think that my hip go the memo that I am in medical school and it can't act up now!

Slacking on the Blog Front

Sorry, I have been slacking and not posting on here for the last little while. In my defense, things have been crazy. I have now started studying for boards every single day. In fact, I spend all morning doing boards review. It is kinda frustrating because I am feeling like I have no retention and find myself thinking: 'I did know this at one point, I remember what it looks like but I can't remember what it says.' I am hoping that once I get a little deeper things start to come together. I find that I am having a hard time balancing board studying with my classroom work. We are doing our psychiatry block right now and, I am getting the feeling that this is not very high yield on boards, so I am having a hard time getting motivated. It doesn't help that two of the docs talking are so boring they could be insomniac drugs! I am going to tackle a butt load of psychiatric drugs today. Meaning, I am going to learn them until I am blue in the face. Sounds fun. I do get to do a surgery/OB clinic over the noon hour today. So I am excited about that. And I am gonna stop at 9pm tonight and watch a movie. So I have some things to look forward to today. Promise I will post again soon!

Case

After 8 hours of board review on minimal sleep, I figured I would post a case that was given to us by one of the lecturing doctors. It made me smile: A 2 year old girl following a fall acutely made a brief shrill cry, became apneic, developed generalized cyanosis and loss of consciousness and generalized clonic jerks, opisthotonius, and bradycardia. EEG is normal. A similar incident happened when the infant was upset over a toy being taken away last week. Diagnosis: TEMPER TANTRUM that is quite a tantrum!

What a Break

Today is my last day of March Break. It is kind of sad, but also signifies my final stretch of didactic work in medical school - which is the only reason I can keep going. Honestly, I am so over studying and am ready to go out and learn how to practice medicine! My break was filled with pharmacology. I made more than 400 flashcards online so that I can put them onto my iPod and flip through them 15 minutes each day for the rest of the semester. The sad thing is, that I still have a couple of sections left to put into flashcards. sigh. I will finish them up this week. But I quit for the rest of the day, I am going to go and make some doctored up beans, get stuff ready for a potato soup I am going to make tomorrow and then watch 24 on the Internet until I fall asleep. Sounds wonderful for my last evening of freedom for a very long time.

MARCH BREEEEEEEAK

Oh, it feels so nice to be off for a week. Although I am still stuck at school, it feels so wonderful to get rested up, relax and lounge around. Well, yesterday was the R&R day and today was the cleaning day. I cleaned my half of the room so that it is spick and span. I love it! Having a clean space makes me feel organized and in control. It makes me happy. I also did 5 loads of laundry and knitted for a couple of hours.

Speaking of knitting, I am starting to make a really neat afghan. It is going to be multi-coloured. At the rate it is going, it is going to need an epileptic warning to anybody who lays their eyes on it. Whoa! It is totally 'me' though- currently I have a hot yellow, bright pink, and a variegated green/blue skeins going. I randomly switch it up so that it is psychedelic. :)

I slept in today, so I am not very tired now, but am heading to bed anyway since I am going to start board studying tomorrow morning around 9:00am. Sigh. Studying does not sound that much fun, but I plan on studying 9-6pm, which gives me a decent amount of studying while still having my evenings off. It will be glorious to relax each evening. A far cry from the crazy hours I was putting in before break!

Well, I will post later on this week or sooner if I feel like it!

Holding on Until March Break

I am, as the title states, holding on for dear life until March break comes. I have no more classes and just a neurology exam on Friday morning and then FREEDOM for a couple of days! I am so excited. I would be more excited if I were able to go home and actually have a break, but alas, a couple of days off and a butt load of board studying will both do me good. It will feel great to finally get a start on my studying. I have been quite irregular on my board studying as I try to keep up with my course work.

So Busy and So Over Studying

Oh my goodness. Things are so busy right now, I feel like I can't keep up. Within one week I have a 22 lecture exam, practical exam, CPR certification, Neonatology lab (at the hospital), Gynaecology lab (in the clinic on an amazing person who lets us practice pelvic/breast exams on her). All this is above and beyond our regular 4 hours of lectures each day, elective courses, and laboratories. AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Things also aren't very interesting right now: renal and ophthalmology are both VERY uninteresting subjects for myself. I will never be a nephrologist nor an opthalmalogist. EVER. Ewww. It is hard to stay focused because I just came off of OB/GYN and loved it so much that switching over to study something that is not interesting is quite difficult.

So, another thing crossed off my list of potential specialties: nephrology and opthamology. That's two steps closer to figuring out what I am gonna be when I 'grow-up'.

:)

CPR Recertification

Today I had to get recertified to do the basic CPR course. This should not be a very difficult task, but it definitely was an annoying one. With every breath the computer told me- "too much air, not enough air, too fast, wait longer between breaths, speed up the breath", and then with each compression the computer told me- "push deeper, push harder, lighten your push, push faster, etc., etc., etc." All in hopes of me getting it just right.

We had to do full CPR on both an adult dummy as well as an infant dummy. I got the adult down pat, but the infant dummy. That was a different story. By the 6th cycle of trying to do compressions on the dummy I finally had to have one of the TAs come over and help me. The darn computer didn't think that I was pushing in the correct location - meaning I heard "good compressions, but your finger placement is incorrect" 1000000 times! Finally I passed the infant CPR portion and got through the course.

At the end of the day - I AM RE-CERTIFIED IN BASIC LIFE SUPPORT SKILLS. yay.

Success out of an Unsuccessful Test

Yesterday we had our first renal (aka nephrology) test. And, in very kind words, this test was HARD! I thought that I had understood the material as I studied, but when the test questions take a clinical scenario and then we have to apply our knowledge, it made it very difficult for me to reason through things.

I understand that we will have to use our medical knowledge when taking care of patients in the future. But it is very hard to reason through clinical scenarios and apply our knowledge on paper because I haven't really "worked" with the information. Yes, I can sit there memorize/understand the information, talk through the information with friends, etc. but I think that the only way to really learn renal is to use it; and use it on a regular basis. Hence, I struggle with the application of renal.

One good thing though, I did get to check one more thing off my list of potential careers: nephrology.

I Really Need to Stop ...

eating full meals at midnight. It just makes me stay up longer and, undoubtedly, is going to make me fat.

Fish Murderer

I was going to write this post tomorrow, but I decided that I was hungry before I went to bed so I made myself an egg-on-a-bagel sandwich and had a piece of cake (courtesy of my friend's husband's birthday party), and I can't possibly go horizontal will all that food still in my esophagus (I know, not literally.....but point stands).

So yesterday I finished up my OB/GYN block (as previously noted) and I decided to get myself two gold fish. I named one Sal and the other remained unnamed. Well, when I woke up this morning, Sal was belly up at the bottom of the vase I was using as fish bowl. So, I changed the water and flushed him down the toilet. Sad.

I wasn't heartbroken because I know that many times goldfish don't last that long. Not to say that Sal was a backup, but I wasn't terribly surprised that he croaked. But the bigger guy that was still living, I noticed that he had had a tumour on his side from the moment I got home. When I came home at lunch his tumour was flaking off (aka in medical terms: excoriating) into the water and his tail was turning whitish. Not a good sign for a little fish. When I got home from lab this afternoon, the unnamed fish was also belly up at the bottom of the tank.

That is two fish, dead, within 24 hours. Horrifying. Although the second fish didn't have a name, his death hurt more than the previous death; I had figured I could have had him in my life more than 24 hours. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. When a fish's time comes, a fish's time comes.

As I flushed him down the toilet and watched him swirl away into the abyss of sewage....I thought of the perfect name: Swirls.

I go to bed mourning the loss of two fish.

It has been quite some time....

So things have been very busy on my part. I have been studying my OB/GYN notes like crazy and had the final exam today. It really enjoyed this block and, can say with some certainty, that OB/GYN has been my favourite block and unit in all of medical school. It is just so fascinating. I actually liked the gynecology portion better than the obstetrical portion (odd, I know). But I am kind of sad that it is over.

On another note, being that I am moving back home next year and plan on commuting to the hospital each day, I will have to have a vehicle. Now, something came up that seemed like a decent car for a decent price. But I found out about this this afternoon, and would have to make my decision this evening. Although it might have worked out just fine, I feel like I need more time to make a decision of this magnitude. It involves thousands of dollars and I just couldn't commit to something on such a short basis. I hope that I made the right decision. I realise that I need a very reliable car and will not be able to get it for a thousand dollars, but I simply need more time to digest something of this nature. Part of me thinks that I should have gone ahead with this- and just get the car....but then the other part of me tells me that I could probably find something that would suffice for similar pricing and not be all freaked out and nervous about it. Such a difficult decision - one that I will have to make in the near future about any sort of vehicle. Hopefully the next car that comes around will allow me to have some time to digest some details.

In the mean time, I suppose that some of my study breaks are going to be spent looking up cars for next year. Fun.

Hospital Placement!!!!!!

Yesterday the results came out for the lottery process that our school does in order to determine what hospitals every student will be at next year. Because our medical school doesn't have it's own hospital, the school tries to keep the majority of the class in the local area, but many students can travel farther away to do their rotations. Since I have no connection to where I am going to school, I really, REALLY wanted a specific hospital or two so that I could live at home and do my third year rotations.

And, I GOT MY FIRST HOSPITAL PICK!!!!

I am so incredibly happy! :) I get to do my third year rotations a half an hour away from my house. This means that I get to live at home, be around family and friends, save a lot of money, and still go to school for what I want! I don't think that things could have turned out any better.

So now I know that after I write boards on June 27th, I will move back home to do my clinical rotations for at least a year. I am SOOOOO thrilled!

Honestly, I prayed about this for so long - God is good!! :)

Blizzard and Uncertainty

Today school was closed at 3:00pm because the weather was so bad. There were blizzard conditions that started around noon today and then are expected to continue until noon tomorrow. We are guessing that they will shut down the school tomorrow because if they closed it yesterday and it isn't going to get any better tomorrow I can't see them wanting the students or employees travelling to the school. But, I hope that they don't do this because it would cause all of our classes and labs from tomorrow to be squished into another day; which makes things more stressful.

Another thought that I am trying to suppress is the fact that on Friday we find out what hospitals we are going to be placed at for our third year clinical rotations. Eeek! It will be nice to have an idea of where I am going to be next year! Fingers crossed I get my first or second choices!

Decisions, Future, Boards, Blaaah

I just had a meeting with the clinical affairs coordinator at school today to discuss some issues I had with taking my board exam(s) and possibilities for the future. It sure is hard to know what I want to do with my life before I actually get a chance to go out and actually try doing some of this stuff.

Since I am at an osteopathic medical school and I have to do an allopathic residency, I was seriously contemplating taking both the COMLEX and the USMLE step one board examinations. I do not want to limit my opportunities in the future yet I do not want to shoot myself in the foot by doing poorly on the boards if I decide to take both sets.

When it comes down to it, I will not be taking the USMLE and will be prepared to KILL the living daylights out of the COMLEX. Seriously. I was told that general surgery, OB/GYN, ER, family medicine, internal medicine are very feasible options as a DO in the allopathic world even without taking the allopathic boards. So, I save $500+ by taking only one board exam this summer, plus the time and energy to prepare for it, whilst not really closing any doors at all. The coordinator stated that the ppl who take the additional board exam are usually in the top 50 in the class and that it would be like flipping a coin as to whether or not the adidtional exam will help or hinder me. So, instead of shooting myself in the foot, I am going to not take it and save all my energy for the COMLEX.

One very exciting thing I found out is that I can do up to 2 months back home in the hospitals near my house so as to get an idea of what the medical system is back home. I think that doing up to 2 months of rotations at home will help me get an idea of what the medical system is there which will be extremely beneficial since I plan on going back home after I finish residency (unless I decide to rank programs in the CaRMS system as well as the ERAS system). But this is putting the cart before the horse.

In any event, I am going to go back to sipping my coffee and learning about HIV infections.

Med Students Gone Mad

I swear that if I taped some of the stuff that happens around here and gave it to a TV show it would be more ridiculous than a trashy reality-TV show. Honestly, some students act like children!

We had our second and last endocrine test yesterday. Let me preface by saying that it was a very interesting block, I didn't mind studying the material and thought that I learned a lot of information. The test we had yesterday was quite difficult. I think that mostly it was due to poorly worded questions to which I failed to select the correct response - leaving me below the average on the exam. All this said, I learned a lot and I believe that is kind of the point of medical school - to learn things.

So I went to our test review today to find that there were a handful of questions that I got marked incorrect due to the question being written poorly by the presenting doctor. But if everyone thought the questions were quirky, then they should be adjusted. I think that it is important to let the course coordinator know so that he/she can alter our test scores, but there is no reason to get all in a huff about this. Some students were literally yelling and verbally attacking the coordinator and clinician present. It was absolutely terrible. I felt so bad for these people who have to listen to flustered and down right rude medical students fight for a couple of points that were completely nonsignificant in the grand scheme of things. I fail to see the usefulness of getting that worked up.

Like the saying goes: "you get more with sugar than with vinegar."

Waiting on the Underwears

So, like most other students, I never stay on top of my laundry. Honestly, I usually let my underwear number determine how often I do my wash. When I almost run out, I throw a load of wash in. Well, I neglected to keep track of how many I had left and now I am waiting on my load of underwear to finish so that I can get dressed. So....I sit in my jammies studying on my bed until they are done.

sigh.

Simulation Gone Bad

Yesterday we had a simulation on a dummy with a group of four of my classmates. We usually work really well together and get the praises of the doc who is the voice behind the patient. Yesterday was not the case. We kept thinking and talking around in circles and did not figure out the problem which meant that we didn't figure out how to treat him either.

The doctor came out half way into the simulation and said that we were way off track and he helped guide us towards the right direction, then came back out again because we were off track yet again. After this was done we had a debriefing and he went on and on about how disappointed we was in us and expected better from a group like this. In any event, the experience was not uplifting. I suppose that I will have to get used to being told that I am totally wrong and treated in a way like how-the-heck-could-would-you-think-that-could-ever-be-right.

Lesson learned: speak up more (because what I thought was actually the correct thing to do) and don't take it personally when the doc chews you out for not knowing enough.

Board Prep Begins

As I am getting settled into my last semester of second year I have boards eating away at the back of my brain. It is really strange since I have all of this school work to do and then I have to start thinking about adding on more studying so that I will be ready for boards this summer. Being that the boards covers SO MUCH information, I think that it would be very helpful if I started early and gather my materials as I go thru the semester so, when push comes to shove, I will be ready to suck back massive amounts of information near the end and rock the boards.

So, I start studying. I plan on doing an hour of Goljan pathology each day until I have made my way through all of his lectures. He is very entertaining and think that it will be a good way to start each of my days. This means that I will be forcing myself to get up one hour earlier each day so that I am forced to do my board prep before class starts at 8am. This also means that I have to go to be an hour earlier so that I don't run myself down. It might take a bit to get used to, but I am sure that it will be worth it in the end.

As far as classes go, they are going fine. I am at the point that no matter how much / little I study, I get the same mark (almost to the same percentage each time). This makes me really feel as if I have to focus less on grades and more on how much can I actually learn during each block. For example, we are doing endocrinology right now and I studied my butt off and got the same grade that I get in almost everything. But, I felt like I learned A LOT and hope that lots of this sticks around in my neurons until July of this year (and perhaps into the future too! lol). I think that the process is more important than the outcome during the didactic portions of med school. A's and B's won't make you a good doctor, but really knowing the information will!

Alas, I must get back to studying!

Hit the Ground and Run....Happy New Year

As I entered my final didactic semester of medical school I basically hit the ground and RAN! Literally!

I had to come back to school a couple of days late due to having a doctor's appointment that I could not miss. So, I came back to school with the mindset that I am so far behind everybody else - how the heck would I ever be able to catch up!?! So I have been working non-stop since I got here to catch up, then do my normal amount of studying so I don't blow my first couple of exams (which are Monday - tomorrow- and Wednesday of this week). This test schedule seems as if we have been thrown into the lions den since we don't have two exams in a single week again until mid-March!

In the midst of the craziness, I am trying to figure out where I want to do my clinical rotations for next year, as well as deterimine if I am going to write both sets of boards this summer. I am making some appointments with counselors in the near future to help me make these decisions. Sigh, decisions, decisions.

Well, I am gonna hit the sac now. Time to organise all I have learned these last several hours of studying.