The SNMA NLI January 2016 and Other Updates

2015-2016 SNMA National Osteopathic Schools Co-Chairs (ends) and National Secretary (center)

It feels like it has been forever since I last posted, but it’s only been a week, LOL. As usual, I’ve been super busy and so much has happened! To start, this past weekend I attended the Student National Medical Association’s National Leadership Institute (NLI) and Board of Directors meetings in Tampa, Florida. It was also held in conjunction with the Florida Health Disparities Summit, so I had the opportunity to interact with physicians from the National Medical Association and with researchers from the Moffitt Cancer Center. It’s always nice being able to network with physicians and medical students from across the country, and I learned a lot from the different sessions I attended. This was my last NLI for the year as the SNMA National Osteopathic Schools Co-Chair, so it was also a very productive time spent attending meetings and handling official business. I took the above picture with my fellow co-chair and the National Secretary (center), and we are all very excited for next month’s Annual Medical Education Conference that will be held in Austin, Texas. So much work has been put into making sure the conference is an informative and amazing experience for all attendees, so if you haven’t registered, do so now!!!!

Returned home to my little cutie looking extra cute :-)

I drove to Tampa because I waited until the very last minute to buy plane tickets, and there was no way I was going to pay over $300 for a six hour drive, so right after our final meeting on Sunday, I made my way back to Atlanta. I hate losing study time though, so I made sure to download Goljan pathology lectures to my mp3 player. My drive alternated between pathology lectures and ratchet music breaks to get me through :-) I made it back home with good timing, picked my daughter up, and made it into my door right as the halftime performance was starting. That and the commercials are the only thing I care about when it comes to the Superbowl, so I was really happy to be able to catch it. I was also extremely happy to pick my daughter up with her hair fully done. One of my schoolmates watched her for me again while I traveled, and is a true lifesaver! I honestly don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have the amazing support of people helping me out on this journey, so words can’t express how wonderful it was to return home with a few less worries.

The GA-PCOM SNMA recognizes Black History Month

Outside of that, last week was pretty eventful as well. I never really got a chance to celebrate my birthday because I was too busy, but the week and conference more than made up for it. Last Monday, for Black History Month, the GA-PCOM SNMA organized a “Black Out” day and that was a pretty big success. On Tuesday, we had Oliver Bullock, DO come to speak to our school, and I was in charge of the Q&A session for that. On Wednesday, we had a “Pink Out” day in order to honor the life of my friend/classmate’s mother who recently passed from stage IV breast cancer, and we were also able to raise and surpass our goal of donating over $1000 to the Breast Cancer Research Fund, so I was extremely happy about that. We also had a suture clinic that day, and I learned that silk thread is hard to deal with, and while I am still a beast when it comes to interrupted suturing, I still need more practice on everything else. I honestly can’t remember what I was doing last Thursday, and somewhere in between all of this, I still managed to fit in studying for board exams and going to class. We have a lot more mandatory lectures this term, so my schedule has pretty much been packed, but I’m making it through! Other than that, life is the usual. At this point, I am probably the busiest I have ever been since starting medical school, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I continue to love every moment of this journey, and hopefully I can continue finding the time to blog about it so that you all can share in my joy too :-) Until next time!

Pink Out Day in to raise Breast Cancer Awareness

Working on my suturing skills!

USF Health Center Selfie :-)

Med School Year Two, Second Term in Full Swing!

In love with my new mug!!!!

Happy New Year! We started back classes this week after a nice 11 day holiday break, and I am already exhausted!!!! Our second term actually started Thanksgiving week, but this week we began our Reproductive & Genitourinary Medicine (RGU) unit. The material is interesting and not too bad, but being full swing into my board exam study schedule and having had full day mandatory lectures this week starting at 8am, it’s really taken a lot out of me. Over the break I was able to wake up early, knock out my questions, review the content, and be done early enough in the evening to relax a little. With classes added on, it’s a lot tougher, especially since I learn better outside of the classroom, but I’ve been focusing most of my board prep on what is currently being covered in class, so the lectures were a good reinforcement.

148 days to go until sh*t gets real!

Speaking of board exams, I am now officially registered and scheduled to take the USMLE Step 1 on June 4, 2016 and the COMLEX Level 1 on June 10, 2016!!!! I just about cried having to shell out the money for both of these super expensive exams, but knowing that I’m close to conquering an important milestone in my medical career has me super excited. Not going to lie though, I am extremely anxious about scoring well and making sure I prepare in the best possible way. Everyone has a different way of studying, so there isn’t any correct way to prepare for the exams other than keeping it to a minimum and doing what works best for you. So far, I am sticking with UWorld, First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, and Pathoma. I’m also required to use Combank for my classes, so I have been going through that as well. I’ve already hit the 1000 question mark, and I should be finishing my first pass of UWorld next month. I’ll add in some other question banks at a later time, and I’ll take my first NBME self-assessment either next month or the beginning of March to see where I stand. Right now it takes me 3 hours on average just to get through around 30-44 questions, but I am mostly using the question banks as a learning tool. I attempt to answer the question on my own in tutor mode, and then I go through all of the explanations for the answer choices (both right and wrong) and either annotate in my First Aid book or take notes in a separate notebook. It’s extremely time-consuming, but I’m hoping to get faster as the months go by. At the very least, I can say studying for boards has helped with my most recent class exams, but I’ll make sure to keep everyone posted on my progress. 

ECG Fun!

Outside of board exam studying and school, there isn’t much in the realm of updates. This week in clinical skills we learned how to do glucose testing, urinalysis, and ECGs. I can tolerate a ton of pain, but getting my finger pricked is the worst! I also don’t know why I thought we would be given pretend urine to test, so it was a bit awkward when we were handed cups, and told to head to the bathroom to collect our specimens. I learned that I was a bit dehydrated that day, so I’ve been stepping up my water game all week. My favorite part was working the ECG machine and learning how to set a patient up. Reading an ECG is still a weak area for me, but at least I know how to properly set one up! In OMM, we worked on our ultrasound skills for extra credit, and my group was able to get a really nice image of my classmate’s bicipital tendon. I posted the picture on Facebook, but then had to quickly go back and add hashtags when my mother asked if I was pregnant (Really, Mom?!?!...Sigh…lol). I also had to add hashtags after someone asked if I was ok after posting the above ECG picture, so I’ll adding a lot more clarification from now on when I post pics to social media, LOL. 

This is a bicipital tendon, NOT a baby! LOL

Anyway, I think that is about it. My daughter currently has her friend spending the weekend with us, which means she gets company and someone to talk to, and I get to study uninterrupted. I have my study schedule set to have breaks on the weekends, but since I have an exam next Friday and I won’t be doing any board exam studying the two days prior, my plan is to knock out the missed days this weekend. I probably won’t post again until I have my official scheduled break next weekend, so until next time!