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.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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."
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."
Saturday, January 22, 2011
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.
sigh.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
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!
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!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
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.
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.
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