Buying / Gift Ideas for Medical Students and Residents

Click the picture to check out my Amazon Storefront!

Not too long ago I received an email from one of my readers who was about to start medical school and wasn't sure what to buy. Most schools are pretty good at providing lists of recommended items and providing PDF files of textbooks, but this is not always the case. This inspired me to create a few idea lists on Amazon to help out individuals starting medical school or residency. So far I only have a few idea lists, but will be adding more in the future.

Feel free to check out my Amazon storefront (www.amazon.com/shop/minoritydoctor) and let me know if there is anything you want added. I'm always open to sharing what worked for me and things that help make my life better. I also remember how lost I felt beginning both medical school and then again during the start of my intern year, so hopefully this will help you out a bit!

Register Now for SNMA AMEC 2017!!!!

The Annual Medical Education Conference of the Student National Medical Association is about a month away, and I am super excited!!!! It will be at this conference where I finally end my elect year and become National President of the organization, so I can't wait to share what I have planned for the year with everyone in attendance.

The deadline for regular registration ends tomorrow, and then the prices go up, so if you haven't registered yet, click HERE and do so today! Plus, the hotel is selling out fast, so be sure to reserve a room if you haven't already done so. We will have many great workshops and speakers including my inspiration Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, as well as neurosurgeon Dr. James P. Chandler, just to name a few. The schedule is super packed, so feel free to click HERE and check it out if you would like to see it for yourself.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Atlanta, and I hope you all are having a fantastic week!

My 3-year Blogiversary (Yay!), the End of My Plastic Surgery Rotation, and Holiday Relaxation!

Happy 3-year blogiversary to me!

Can’t believe I’ve managed to keep up with this thing as long as I have, but last Saturday I became a three-year blogger! It’s been fun sharing my experiences with the world and I hope to continue to bring you all more excitement in the coming years. I’m super appreciative of anyone who stops by to read my random musings, and I’m even more thankful to those of you who have kept up with my blog over the years. If it weren’t for all the support, comments, questions, etc., I probably would have stopped writing a long time ago, so THANK YOU for reading and continuing to stay with me. It really does mean a lot to me.

In other news, I finished my plastic surgery rotation last Friday and I miss it already. I had an amazing month, learned a lot, and met some pretty great people. I’ve pretty much enjoyed all of my rotations thus far, but this one was the best yet. I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better surgery experience, and I can’t wait until I’m back in the operating room again. The coming months will be filled with a lot of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine, and I look forward to new experiences and learning as much as I can on these upcoming rotations, but I will be patiently counting down the days until I get to have another surgery rotation.

Holiday selfie with Dr. Earl Stephenson and the staff of Signature Plastic Surgery

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I am looking forward to spending time with my family. I was supposed to make the drive today, but since my sister decided to take my daughter out of town for me today, I figured I would take the day to enjoy some much needed alone time. I had this week off and I will have next week off, so I have been thoroughly enjoying the first break I have had this year. This week I mostly got caught up with some things I’ve been procrastinating on, slept, and binged watched Netflix and it was awesome. I even had the opportunity to volunteer at my daughter’s class holiday party, which made her super happy. It’s not often that I’m able to participate in her school functions nowadays, so showing up and making her happy when I can makes me happy.  

But anyway, I hope everyone reading this was a wonderful Christmas full of love, laughter, and happiness. Being busy with medical school definitely makes me appreciate the rare moments I get to go see and spend time with my family, so I am looking forward to dealing with all the craziness and laughs this weekend will bring. Have a Merry Christmas!!!!

SNMA Region III RMEC 2016 Recap – Jackson, MS

Pictured with SNMA Past National President Dr. Loretta Jackson ('92-'93)

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Student National Medical Association’s Region III medical education conference in Jackson, Mississippi. The conference was hosted by the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and it was a wonderful weekend filled with great pre-medical and medical student tracks that had everything ranging from simulation labs for the pre-medical students to one-on-one talks with current residents for medical students. It was nice being able to interact with the membership of SNMA and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the conference.

Pictured with the founders of White Coats Black Doctors

Since I became involved with SNMA on a national level, conferences have typically meant either sitting in full day meetings or running around making sure that workshops or anything else I was involved with is running smoothly. This conference was the first time in a while that I was able to just sit back and enjoy the programming. I also met some pretty awesome individuals such as the founders of “White Coats Black Doctors”, MAJ Ezella Washington – a family medicine physician and fellow DO (Woot! Woot!), and I was extremely excited that one of the speakers was a surgeon and that there were a few surgical residents in attendance.

College Buddies!

What made the conference even more exciting for me was that it served as a trip down memory lane. Although I am a proud SNMA Region IV member at the moment, I started off with the organization as a pre-medical student in region III, so it still carries a large piece of my heart. Speaking with the pre-medical students in attendance reminded me of where I used to be and it gave me a lot of inspiration for my presidential agenda that I am currently hard at work on. I even ran into one of my old college buddies who is now a physician. Just reminiscing about how we made it through the struggles of undergrad (that biochemistry major is a beast!), to now one of us being a physician and the other on the way, really makes me feel blessed. This journey is definitely not an easy one, so it warms my heart to see those around me succeed.

Selfie with the parents!

The other highlight of the trip was being able to stay with and see my parents since they live fairly close to the medical center. My mother’s birthday was the day before the conference started, and it had been almost a year since I had seen her, so it was nice being able to celebrate and spend some time with her. I had already seen my dad a few times this year since he came to pick up my daughter for the summer and brought her back, but it was pretty cool hanging out with him too. I made sure to take a selfie with them both before I left because I just love my parents!

But other than that, it was a great experience attending last weekend’s conference, and I look forward to the rest of my travels with SNMA. Oh, and shameless plug: registration for SNMA AMEC 2017 is now open, so sign up now! It will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on April 12-16, 2017 and I am looking forward to seeing you all! Feel free to head on over to www.snma.org to register and find out more :-) 

Goodbye Pediatrics, Hello Psychiatry!

Goodbye Peds!!!!

I’m a little late on the updates, but I’m a week and a half into my psychiatry rotation, and so far I’m really enjoying it! I was happy to finish my pediatrics rotation without getting sick the entire month, and while I learned a lot, I was happy when it was finally over. Between the screaming kids, endless colds, and what seemed like every other parent demanding an antibiotic prescription for viral illnesses, I think it’s pretty much safe to say peds isn’t for me!

My first day of psychiatry "gifts"

As for psychiatry, I am currently working with geriatric populations, and it is super interesting! I would have never thought psychiatry would offer a ton of variety, but in just a short time, I have been exposed to so much. I have seen patients with various mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and delirium, to name a few. Last week, I even had my first electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) experience. This is a procedure done under general anesthesia, and it basically involves inducing generalized seizures in patients experiencing severe depression, Parkinson’s disease, and other mental illnesses. My attending is pretty aware of my interest in surgery, so he made it a point to have the anesthesiologist teach me a few things. What’s even more exciting is that I got to ventilate and administer the anesthetics to the patients! I seriously thought the anesthesiologist just wanted me to hold the syringes when he handed them to me, so I couldn’t contain my excitement when he told me to administer them. I got a little grilled afterwards when they asked me what I had just given to the first patient and I didn’t know, but lesson learned! Never administer an anesthetic without first looking at it and verifying. That same morning, I also had the chance to feel pitting edema on a patient, which I thought was pretty cool to experience in person.

Couches and psychiatry are a perfect match!

Today was spent visiting patients in assisted living facilities, and I really enjoy the personal aspect of visiting patients in their homes. Seeing pictures of their families on the walls and hearing their back stories somewhat helps me gain more empathy for they are experiencing. The memory care section of the facility also brings about some interesting moments. Yesterday, I saw a patient with Broca’s aphasia, had another patient poke me from behind and whisper asking me if I was scared, and I also had a chance to witness the inappropriate behaviors that come with frontotemporal dementia. I also enjoy the days when we’re in the office, and I’ve always envisioned psychiatry as a profession where people lie on a couch and discuss their problems, so I am just tickled that there is a couch in the office. I was tired of no one actually lying down on it though, so I took the initiative and lied down on it for a few seconds, LOL.

But other than that, I am excited about what is to come for the rest of this rotation. Tomorrow, I will be back at the hospital bright and early for more ECT sessions, and then afterwards we will make our rounds at the assisted living facilities. I am looking forward to hopefully sharing some more interesting experiences this month, and hopefully you all will find them just as fascinating as I do :-)  

Halfway Through Pediatrics!

Stethoscopes and Dressy Clothes :-)

Happy Monday! It’s been a while since my last post, but that’s just because I’ve been super busy (as usual, LOL). I’m also pretty behind on reading my emails, but I plan on being caught up by tomorrow night at the latest if you sent me a message and are waiting on a response.

I finished up my surgery rotation last month and now I am making my way through pediatrics. It’s definitely been a huge adjustment from surgery, but I am learning a lot and everything beats sitting in a classroom all day. I was absolutely in love with my general surgery rotation though, and I found every minute of it exciting and full of great learning experiences. My preceptor even gave me an Honors Pass at the end of the rotation, and hopefully I performed well enough on my shelf exam at the end of the month to keep it. The way it works is a student has to honor the exam in order to keep an honors grade, but if you just pass the exam with an honors evaluation grade, you end up with a High Pass. Since I’m interested in surgery, I probably won’t be happy with just a High Pass, but we’ll see how things go. The shelf exam wasn’t too bad, but I had quite a few questions on cases I hadn’t encountered at all during my month of general surgery. 

When it comes to pediatrics, I’ve completed two full weeks of the rotation, but it feels like I have been on it for six months. I had really long days during my general surgery rotation and would come home extremely energized, but eight hours a day on pediatrics has me super drained! It’s not even the children that I have a problem with, as they tend to be really interesting. I think I just thrive in intense environments, and it’s been a huge change going from being a member of a surgical team and seeing patients on my own to essentially just shadowing all day long and not being able to do much. Either way, I will make the best out of it and try to learn as much as I can, because I will never have the opportunity to have some of these same experiences again.

So far, I have seen some interesting cases that before now I only had the chance to see in textbooks, so it is nice being able to tie what I’ve learned in the classroom with what I see on a daily basis in the clinical setting. The other plus side to pediatrics is the variety of cases. I’ve had the chance to see orthopedic patients, patients with neurological issues, hematology and oncology patients, and pretty much a little bit of every subject I was taught my first two years of medical school. I’ve also been doing pediatric UWorld questions nightly, and it’s kind of fun getting questions similar to something I saw earlier during the day.

Anyway, it’s late and I still have work to do, so I’ll end here, but until next time!

Loving my General Surgery Clerkship!

Future Surgeon Happiness :-)

I made it through the first week of my general surgery rotation, and I loved every minute of it! It’s no secret that I’m interested in going into surgery, so that’s probably affecting my judgement, but so far this has been the best experience ever! If it’s true that most medical students change their minds about what specialty they’re interested in once they start rotations, then it’s already looking like I’m going to be one of the inexorable few, but I am thoroughly enjoying every moment of my third year of medical school.

I started my rotation last Monday, and that day was spent attending different orientations, driving around to each hospital I’ve been cleared at and picking up my badges. My preceptor was also out on vacation last week, so we had to plan which surgeons I would be with and so forth for the week, but other than that, my first day wasn’t too bad.

I arrived bright and early the next day, and could definitely tell things would be a lot different from my previous rotation. It was a clinical day and I thought I would be following the surgeons around and just shadowing, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Patients were already there waiting in exam rooms, and it was my job to go in, take their history, examine any areas of concern, and then come out and present the patients. Luckily, I’m pretty comfortable dealing with patients, so I thought this was pretty fun. I also learned how to go into the computer system to see the cases and patient information since it is expected that I know all of this before the surgeons arrive.

The next three days was where the surgeries started and the real action began. I thought as a medical student I would be stuck outside of the sterile zone observing surgeries, so I was both shocked and excited when I was asked why I hadn’t scrubbed in yet during the very first case. They didn’t have to ask me twice though, as I went right away to put on my scrub gear and tried to remember the proper technique to scrubbing in. The surgeons each let me assist whether it was holding retractors, working the laparoscope camera, blotting away blood, or cutting the suture string, so I definitely felt like a part of the team. They even introduce me to patients as one of their colleagues or doctor, instead of calling me a medical student, so that just makes my soul smile. One of the surgeons even let me suture a patient, which was the highlight of my entire week. My goal is to make at least one incision by the end of the month, no matter how small, so hopefully it will happen. Even the anesthesiologist said that he will teach me how to intubate a patient, so I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to do that this month as well.

Other than that, my first week in general surgery was super fast-paced, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. In just a few days I had the chance to see and participate in things such as port placements, inguinal hernia repairs, colonoscopies, upper GI endoscopies with Bravo placements (EGDs), lipoma removals, appendectomies, and crazily enough the list doesn’t even end there. My days were long, but there was so much action that the time just flew by. Also, I was prepared for super hard questions, but so far the questions have not been too bad and I can tell the doctors are really interested in just making sure we learn as opposed to making the students feel dumb.

Today was a lot slower than last week, but I welcomed it. The best part of the day was not having to go in so early this morning which meant I was able to take pictures and see my daughter off to school on her first day of fourth grade. I also had a chance to meet my general surgery preceptor this morning and he is super nice. We spoke for over an hour about what we would be doing this month and just getting to know each other in general. He also assigned a couple of topics that I have to present tomorrow, so I will be spending the rest of the evening reading up on that and getting my talk ready, as well as making sure I am read up on the patients we will have tomorrow. So with that being said, I will get back to work, but I look forward to what the rest of the month has in store, and of course sharing it with you all!

Board Exam Study Update

My daughter is really into Pathoma! LOL

Hi all! I decided to resurface for a bit to give a quick update on how the board studying is going. Right now, I am 19 days away from taking USMLE Step 1 and I'm definitely feeling the pressure! It feels like there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want, but I'm slowly working my way through it all. The good news is that my NBME assessment scores continue to improve by a lot each week, so even though I am nowhere near the score range that I want to be right now, knowing that I haven't hit my plateau gives me hope. 

In case you're wondering about my daily schedule, today pretty much went like this:

4:30-7:00am - Four sets of 40 UWorld Questions in random, timed-mode back-to-back (I usually finish each block with 15-20min to spare)

7-7:30am - Made sure the little one got dressed and ate breakfast, did her hair, and then headed out to the bus stop

7:30-12pm - Reviewed all of the morning's UWorld questions (even though I'm on my second official pass, this still takes me forever!)

12-1pm - Took a break to eat lunch and caught up on last night's episode of Fear the Walking Dead

1-4pm - Did two 40 question sets of USMLERX questions on tutor mode in the subjects of MSS and Embryo since my latest NBME listed those as my weak spots. I also took a break when my daughter got home to help her with her homework/discuss her day and I had a little extra time, so I did 10 Combank questions on the USMLE side.

4-5pm - Watched a chapter of Pathoma (had to speed it up a bit because 1x is too slow for me)

5-6pm - Dinner with the little one (I cooked last night and had leftovers, so it didn't take the entire hour) and then finished up some outside business

6-7:30pm - More Pathoma and got the little one ready for and tucked in bed.

At this point, I've pretty much covered everything on my list for the day with the exception of reading a chapter out of First Aid, and it equals a little under 11 hours of study time with all the breaks subtracted (I literally calculate and write down how much time I spend on every individual thing). Not sure if reading that chapter is going to happen tonight though, because I have an 8:30pm conference call that will most likely go until 10pm, and then I'm calling it a night!

My schedule is super exhausting, but since it seems to be working for me, I don't want to change it too much. I do need to get to a point where I am doing more questions per day since the COMLEX will be 400 questions (compared to only 280 with the USMLE), but I'll just have to slowly increase the amount over the next 3 weeks. Tomorrow I also have my very last written exam of medical school (yay!) for my Primary Care Skills course, so I'll have to put an hour towards my schedule in the morning towards studying for it and another hour towards taking it.

Anyway, this post pretty much sums up my life nowadays in a nutshell. I'm about take a quick shower before my call begins, so I hope everyone has an amazing week!

A Little Board Exam Study Motivation :-)

Super short post tonight as I just finished with my studying for the day, but I started at 4:30 this morning, so I'm exhausted! I came across this picture though and just had to share. Seeing this gave me a little extra fire to keep going with the board studying, and I'll definitely be looking at this whenever I need a little inspiration or an extra push to keep going over the next month. For those of you on the board study grind with me, hang in there! Nothing great ever comes easy, and anything worth having is worth working hard for. Wishing everyone a productive week! 

Happy December!

Took advantage of the holiday to dress up a bit

Happy December!!!! I have two exams next week and I've finally put together a decent board study schedule, so it's going to be an extra busy time until I take the exams in June. Blogging makes me happy though, so I decided to take a quick break to update everyone. 

First off, I hope everyone reading this had an awesome Thanksgiving! We started back classes last week, and even though I had the entire previous week off for vacation, last week was even more relaxing. Since I dropped my daughter off at my parents' house for the week, I was able to focus on studying, got to semi-sleep in, and it was just really nice having no major responsibilities outside of class and studying. Driving back for Thanksgiving would have taken a lot of time, so my family said it would be fine if I missed it this year as long as I agreed to spend Christmas with them in a few weeks. Plus, my daughter was having so much fun that she didn't really care that I wasn't there. I used the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving day with an old college friend who lives in Georgia, but will soon be moving back to Louisiana, and we had a blast. I also got to eat some good food, meet some new awesome people, and I really enjoyed reflecting back on our college days and the growth that we've both achieved over the years. The rest of the weekend was just as enjoyable, and it was really nice having some true "me" time for a change.

A Night of Orthopedic Fun! (One of these days I'll buy some green scrubs lol)

My sister brought my daughter back Sunday night and she agreed to stay for an extra day so that I could attend an arthroscopy workshop on Monday evening at the Atlanta Medical Center. This was an event put on by the Ortho Club at my school, and the current orthopedic residents took time out of their extremely busy schedules to teach us how to do bone reductions and the like. We got to use the same tools that they use in the OR, and there was a rep there to explain how everything worked. We also got to have one-on-one time with all of the residents and get their advice on boards, rotations, and just about anything else that came to mind. I was happy to see that they have a female resident in their program, and I definitely used the opportunity to get a female perspective on the field. Outside of that, the best part for me was getting the chance to learn how arthroscopy works. There was an actual cadaver shoulder and knee available, and the residents showed us the different landmarks and how to navigate through each section. It was an extra cool experience and it coincided with the musculoskeletal sections that we are currently covering, so it was a double win :-)   

Future Surgeons in the Making!

I think that's pretty much it for the updates. Outside of studying, my daughter's school will be having a holiday lunch tomorrow, so I am looking forward to attending that, and I have a few things planned in the coming weeks that will make this month extra fun. Of course the studying will come first, but I tend to do better in classes (and keep my sanity) when I take the time to have a little fun every now and then. I'll try my best to keep up with my weekly posts this month, but don't be upset if I skip next week because school comes first! Until next time :-)

Medicine and Mount Everest

I successfully finished the first term of my second year of medical school, which means that last week was my vacation week, and tomorrow I go back to reality. Having the week off, you would think I would have embraced the opportunity to be as lazy as physically possible, but I managed to stay busy with board studying and an entire checklist that I had been putting off due to classes. I also spent this weekend driving back and forth out of state to drop my daughter off at my parents’ house so that she can have a fun Thanksgiving break while I attend mandatory lectures this week:-/

Despite staying fairly busy, I did make it a point to take a few hours every day to completely relax. I love movies, so I pretty much used this time every day to watch a different movie. One of the movies I finally got around to watching was Everest, and the following quote from the movie inspired me to write this post: 

“It hurts. It’s dangerous. It costs a small fortune and ruins relationships…why?”

When I heard this, the first thing I thought about was the path to becoming a physician. Technically, medical school doesn’t really hurt, but it has its moments of pain just like anything else in life. It hurts to not perform as well as you would have liked sometimes, and it definitely hurts when you have to miss important life events such as graduations, weddings, etc., but I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I started on this path. When I think about it now though, the application process was what hurt the most for me. Nothing hurt more than dealing with rejection after rejection over a span of multiple years, or having so many people not believe in me and my dreams. So yes, this path does have its fair share of pain, but the good outweighs the bad so much, and I wake up every day smiling and happy to be where I am at in life.

As for the dangerous part, I don’t think many people understand how dangerous it is to be a physician. It’s a lifestyle that involves constantly being exposed to deadly pathogens, having the risk of accidentally cutting/injecting yourself, patients that may physically cause harm to you, and the constant danger of being sued. Plus, it can be a stressful job, and we all know that stress is not a good thing for the body. Personally, I’ve always been a bit of a risk-taker, and I tend to thrive in stressful environments, so I say, “Bring it on!” LOL. Even with every single precaution taken in life, there is usually some risk of danger, so I prefer to stay positive, be as prepared as I can, and face things head on.

As for it costing a small fortune, I really don’t think that needs too much clarification. Unless you’re lucky enough to come from a wealthy background or have multiple scholarships, then becoming a physician WILL cost you a small fortune. There really is no way around it. Not only do I have loans that I will need to pay back from my undergraduate and graduate years, but you can add close to $300k worth of debt to that when I graduate from medical school. People think I am joking when I say that I will probably owe close to half a million dollars worth of debt when I graduate, but with interest rates and such, I’m really not. The good news is that it will all be paid off eventually, even if it takes me decades to do so. I don’t think it’s possible to put a price on someone’s dreams, and for me, this journey is priceless and worth every last penny. Plus, it’s not only an investment into my future, but into my child’s as well.

The last part of the quote about ruining relationships isn’t really one that I can say applies to me, but it might for other people on the same path. I’ve heard that medical students and physicians have a high divorce rate, but I was already happily divorced before I entered medical school, and school keeps me way too busy to pursue traditional romantic relationships anyway. As for ruining relationships with friends and family, I disagree. Most of the people in my circle understand why I can’t be around all the time or why I have to miss important events, so in my opinion, if pursuing my dreams leads to a loss of any relationship, then it really wasn’t meant to be in the first place. It may sound harsh, but I honestly cannot devote my energy to catering to the feelings of people who only want to be around during easy times. My focus needs to be on performing well, so the only relationships worth entertaining in my eyes are those that bring positivity, support, and overall good vibes. 

So as you can see, this quote really hit the nail on the head for me when thinking about this very long (but amazing) journey I have chosen to be on. There is no other path that I would rather be on, and I absolutely love every moment, be it good or bad, so there really is no question as to why I choose to stay on this path. I’m sure there will continue to be moments when I question my decision to pursue medicine along the way (especially when I’m sleep-deprived, stressed out, and hungry lol), but as long as I keep my sights focused on the finish line which includes impacting lives and really benefiting the world around me, then I will continue to climb my medical Mount Everest. 

SNMA September 2015 NLI Recap

Fresh off the plane and ready for business!

I’m a couple of weeks late, but I just had to do a recap of my experience at the most recent Student National Medical Association (SNMA) National Leadership Institute / Board of Directors’ Meeting. This NLI was hosted by Duke University School of Medicine from September 11 – 13, 2015, and it was a really great experience! The theme of the NLI was “Mental Health, Social Media, and Leadership in 21^st Century Medicine,” and every workshop and speech did a great job of incorporating the theme.

Meeting Flow

I had class that Friday morning, and then I had to make sure my daughter was squared away, so I ended up catching a late afternoon flight to Durham, NC. When I finally checked-in to my hotel, and made it to the welcome reception, I had missed most of the welcome speech. The last fifteen minutes that I was able to catch were really powerful though, so I hate that I missed most of it. Luckily, there was still a lot of food available and I was right on time for the National Committee meeting that was held much later that night.

"A Conversation about Race"

The next day during breakfast, there was a very powerful “Conversation About Race” presented by some of the medical students that really hit me hard. Of course, everyone is aware of what is and has been going on in the news, but to see all the new victim faces up on the screen and past faces (such as that of Emmett Till) really hit home for me. To discuss the entire presentation would take up an entire blog post of its own, but current medical student Samara Jinks (MS3) helped lead the discussion, which began with a YouTube clip of her that can be found HERE.

Dr. A. Eugene Washington with PMBM Kevin Anderson (left) and SNMA President Anthony Kulukulualani (right)

The rest of the day involved workshops that dealt with topics such as finances and establishing our own personal branding. During lunch we had a chance to have a Q&A session with Dr. A. Eugene Washington, President & CEO of Duke University Health System, and it was a great interactive experience. It really was interesting hearing about his journey through medicine which involved leaving medical school twice to pursue other passions, and ending up in OB/GYN when it was thought he was highly unlikely for the path. At the end of the lunch, he was presented with a SNMA t-shirt by our current National President and Pre-Medical Board Member as seen above.

Took a small break for photos!

The rest of the conference involved Board of Directors meetings where we discussed everything related to the organization and ways to improve it. I really do love my position as Osteopathic Schools Co-Chair, and it feels great being able to be a much larger influence within the Student National Medical Association. I also enjoy attending these meetings because it allows me to network with so many different and unique individuals who are where I want to be in life. I especially enjoyed the final dinner of the NLI where we had the chance to sit and eat with current residents at Duke. My table had an anesthesiologist resident, and while he thought I was absolutely crazy for wanting to pursue surgery, he gave a lot of great advice about the school and area in general.

Duke Selfie :-)

I think that pretty much sums up my experience. I flew back home that Sunday afternoon after our final meeting, and I had an OMM exam that Monday morning, so I didn’t get a chance to really experience the nightlife or the general area of Durham since I was in my hotel room studying during my free moments. I did receive a ton of great information from the school though, so maybe I’ll get the chance to come back during an away rotation and explore when I'm a fourth year medical student :-)

Accepted.com Follow-up Interview as a 2nd Year Medical Student!

Hey, Everybody! It's been an awesome week, but I am so happy that tomorrow is Friday!!!! Anyway, just wanted to log on to let you all know that my follow-up interview with accepted.com is now live! It's hard to believe that one year has passed since I had my first interview as a newly accepted medical student, and it's even crazier to see how much I have been able to accomplish in such a relatively short time period. Click HERE to read the full interview (it also has a link to the original included), and don't be afraid to tell me your thoughts! 

50 Things I Learned During My First Year of Medical School

I still can’t believe I made it through my first year of medical school! It feels like it was just yesterday when I ended my career in research, moved to Georgia, and started a very crazy and demanding first term of medical school classes. This year has been an absolute roller coaster, but there have been more ups than downs, and I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences for the world. I am officially 1/4th a doctor and I can’t wait for what else this crazy ride has in store!

With that being said, I have finally reached a point where I can sit back and reflect on some of the things I learned during my first year of medical school. In retrospect, I probably should have been putting together a list as the year went on, but for now I just compiled a list off the top of my head. It is completely subjective and based solely on my experiences, but I am sure a few students can relate. If you’re about to enter medical school, then you might even find it a little bit helpful. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

1.   Buying all that expensive equipment at the beginning of the year is a huge waste of money. You’ll probably only use it a few times during your first year, and a lot of hospitals supply the basics. You should definitely buy a stethoscope though, and a cheap otoscope and ophthalmoscope should suffice if you don’t want to borrow one from a classmate.

2. Buy yourself a copy of First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 and treat it like it’s your lover. It will make your life a whole lot easier. (If you’re lucky enough to be attending my school, you won’t really need it until you hit second term)

3. Invest in a large desk and white board for your home.

4. If your anatomy lab is like mine, it will probably provide all the tools needed to do a dissection, so don’t bother buying your own dissection kit either. (By the way, I have an unused dissection kit for sell if anyone wants to buy it, lol). The basics for anatomy lab are scrubs, shoe covers, gloves, googles, and copies of Grant’s Dissector and Netter’s Anatomy books (my lab provided the books, since they get so nasty that no one who brings one in actually takes it out of the lab).

5. There will probably be an electronic version of every textbook you need available completely free from your library, another student, or by other means. This won’t help if you’re an unfortunate soul like myself who prefers to actually feel the paper and be able to turn the pages of a book, but it can save you tons of money if you’re strapped for cash.

6. After about a term or so of reading all the chapters in your textbook that correspond to a lecture, you’ll quickly realize that passing most exams depends on how well you can memorize the PowerPoint slides and other material that is presented in class. It will also save you a lot of time study-wise. 

7. Even if you don’t necessarily want to get involved, attending club meetings is a great way to get free food and you might even find a few you like :-)

8. I’m convinced the sole purpose of orientation week is to get students used to sitting in one room for eight hours straight. I think my week mostly consisted of talks on financial aid, professionalism, and ethics. The real fun lies in the nightly social events where you’ll get a chance to hang out with and have fun with your new classmates, so make sure you go to at least one of them if possible.

9. You will find a group of classmates that will quickly become your main support system throughout school. Whether it’s celebrating birthdays, pushing you to not give up, or forcing you to get out the house and have fun, these will be the people who help you make it through. There also won’t be many people who understand the med school struggle as much as your classmates around you. You don’t have to be a social butterfly, but try to find one or two people that you connect with early on. Medical school is so much better when you don’t feel like you’re doing it all alone. 

10. It’s worth it to have people outside of medical school with whom you can talk to or hang out with every now and then. It will help you feel somewhat connected to the real world.

11. Don’t feel bad if you don’t have any previous knowledge in the subject matter that will be taught before attending medical school. Even if you do, it really won’t help that much, so everyone is pretty much in the same boat. In other words, pre-studying the summer before is a waste of time! (Note to all of you entering medical students trying to get ahead by studying all summer)

12. Taking one day every weekend to do nothing school-related was one of the best decisions I made all year. It’s so easy to get consumed with studying that you lose focus and become miserable. A small weekly refresh button does wonders. (Ignore this during exam weekends)

13. Taking a two hour break each day is also nice. Go exercise, watch TV, do nothing, or if you’re a parent like me, spend it with your child. That way when you get back to studying you won’t be so easily distracted.

14. You’ll have more free time than you actually think you do during your first year. Take advantage of it so that you don’t completely lose your sanity!

15. It can be completely overwhelming at first. Remember to take everything one day at a time. You have everything it takes to make it, and if your school didn’t think so as well, they wouldn’t have accepted you. 

16. Don’t wait until the last-minute to ask for help. Whether it’s from your classmates, school administration, or outside sources, get it even if you’re not sure if you need it. Everyone struggles at one point or another. 

17. It’s a good idea not to talk with others about grades. Not only can it potentially stress you out, but I’ve found that the ones who aren’t doing as well tend to lie about how well they’re doing, while the top scorers in the class will try to act as if they’re struggling.

18. During your first year, passing is the only thing that really matters! Don’t get caught up in trying to obtain honors or being in the top 10% of the class, because it will just stress you out even more. Almost every physician I have spoken with (including those in super competitive fields) has said the same. Ten years from now, no one will really care what your grades were the first two years of medical school.

19. Try not to forget the information learned after every block exam. You’ll most likely need it for board exams, so try to learn the material the best you can the first time around.

20. You will learn that you can be completely stretched beyond what you thought were your limits, and still succeed.

21. When I first started, one of the 2nd year students told me to “get used to the constant feeling of being uncomfortable.” So true!

22. You will quickly learn how much of a luxury sleep really is. Don’t make it worse by trying to pull an all-nighter. I have yet to see anyone actually benefit from not sleeping before an exam.

23. Weekends will no longer mean sleeping in and being lazy. You’ll actually be excited for the extra time to study without the worry of having new material added in. Three day holiday weekends will excite you even more for the very same reason.

24. You will probably lose the ability to carry on a normal conversation with people outside of medical school, and you will also learn that not everyone can handle hearing your awesome stories from anatomy lab.

25. Try not to commit yourself to many outside activities. School will probably cause you to miss things like graduations, weddings, etc., and if you’re worried about upsetting anyone, just think of how upset you all would be if you ended up failing out of medical school because of it. Learn to say no, and be happy with focusing on your priorities.

26. Don’t put off doctor’s appointments, oil changes, and other important things because of school. Ignoring these things can prove to be very costly. 

27. There will probably come a time where you will cry. Sometimes for no reason at all, sometimes because of what you think was a bad exam, and other times because you’re so stressed you don’t know what else to do. Let it happen!

28. When it comes to attending classes, do what works best for you. Don’t let administration try to guilt trip you into attending lectures if you know you learn best on your own. It’s really not worth it to perform poorly on an exam because you didn’t take the time to find out how you study best and use that time wisely.

29. Don’t be afraid to switch up study techniques if something is not working for you. A large portion of the first year of medical school will be spent finding out how you learn the best and most efficiently.

30. A lot of your learning will be through independent study. YouTube and Google will become some of your best friends, and if you really get stuck on something, there will most likely be a mnemonic or some other tool available on the internet.

31. Once you discover that you can listen to lectures at 2x’s speed, you’ll start to wish that everything you watch could be sped up as fast as possible. 

32. When it comes to learning neuro, Dr. Najeeb is awesome, and if you can get past the accent, listening at 2x’s speed is even better.

33. Those lesions on the MR image? Don’t feel alone. Half the class doesn’t see them either.

34. Histology sucks! That is all.

35. Use Robbins and Pathoma to get through pathology.

36. If you’re a weird learner like me, then Picmonic will be the best thing since sliced bread. I can’t tell you how many times the pictures popped into my head during exams and helped me get a few extra points.

37. Put down those paper notecards…Quizlet and Anki flashcards are awesome!!!! You might even get lucky and find cards made by past students which will save you a ton of time.

38. Drinking after each and every exam will probably become the new norm. (Note: I am in no way condoning excessive drinking) 

39. When it comes to basic primary care skills, you will start off BSing your way through using your stethoscope, reflex hammer, ophthalmoscope, and other equipment. When you actually do hear or see something, it will be the coolest thing ever. When you actually get out and start seeing real patients, actually learning how to use the equipment will become a top priority, since you’ll realize that lives will depend on your skills one day.

40. When it comes to dealing with standardized patients, fake it until you make it! I’m convinced they can smell your fear during every practical exam and take off points because of it. 

41. By the end of first year, you will most likely be sick of hearing about Horner’s Syndrome, Bell’s palsy, and sepsis. The good news is you probably won’t (and better not) miss these in a clinical setting.

42. If you’re attending an osteopathic medical school, do not neglect OMT! If your school is anything like mine, then failing the course could be the reason why you have to repeat the entire year. It can feel completely subjective at times, but suck it up, and get through it.

43. Try to practice OMT skills at least once a week. It’s no fun trying to learn how to do 20+ techniques right before a practical exam. Trust me, I speak from experience.

44. If you’re a D.O. student, you’ll also get used to be half-naked in front of your peers fairly quickly. You’ll also get pretty comfortable touching your classmates in awkward places. Yay, for that sacral rock! Lol

45. Since you’re a medical student now, you’ll probably get phone calls from random family members and friends asking about a specific medical problem they may have. Chances are you won’t know the answer.

46. Your white coat ceremony will be one of the most memorable experiences of your life. Hopefully you won’t have an exam three days afterwards (as was the case for me), so take some time to really enjoy it and have fun with your close family and friends who attend.

47. Medical students who don’t have families to take care of have NO idea how easy they have it. Try not to roll your eyes as they complain about how tired and stressed they are. We’re all working hard, just in different ways.

48. Once in medical school and living off student loans, you’ll quickly find out what it means to be truly broke and how hard it is to stretch student loan refund money into the summer months.

49. You will probably question your decision to attend medical school on a weekly basis. It will seem like pure torture at times, and to be honest it somewhat is. At the end of the day, if it’s really meant for you, you’ll love it more than you hate it.

50. You know what they say: “If it were easy, everybody would be doing it!” Medicine is not for everybody, and you should only pursue it if you can see yourself doing nothing else in life. The first year of medical school is tough, but getting through it will feel better than you know.

To those of you who have successfully made it through your first year of medical school, CONGRATS!!!! We still have a long way to go, but if the first year is a sign of things to come, then it will all be over before we know it. I hope you all are taking the time this summer to relax and hit that refresh button, because the grind will be back very soon!  

To the newly accepted medical students, CONGRATS AND GET READY! Enjoy the calm as much as you can, because the storm is coming! LOL 

DiverseMedicine Inc – Web Based Mentoring for All!

With it being application season for pre-medical students, and the fact that a ton of medical students (along with myself) are always looking for physician mentors, it is only fitting to have a post about DiverseMedicine Inc.

If you haven’t already, please go to www.diversemedicine.org (or click on the DM logo to the right of your screen if you’re in desktop mode), sign up, and check out all that it has to offer! It is a completely free website that provides mentors to both pre-medical and medical students, in addition to having many other awesome features. The DiverseMedicine website also provides forums where you can ask any questions that you may have regarding medicine, and the cool thing is that you can get answers from your peers and physicians alike. What really sets this website apart from others like it though, is its committed focus to underrepresented ethnic groups. One of the things that I have talked about often (and is a major reason for the creation of my own blog) is that I do not see a lot of others like myself largely represented in all fields of medicine. DiverseMedicine does a great job of shining a spotlight on these individuals while helping to connect its members to people that can help them reach their goals. The website also boosts videos, podcasts, and even a “Doctor Like You!” spotlight that highlights and interviews physicians in various fields. Medical students can even find a very helpful array of practice clinical cases and lecture series.

I was recently connected with a physician in the surgical subspecialty that I am interested in through DiverseMedicine, and he not only answered all of my questions, but provided me with an amazing list of suggestions to help me on my path. I have also had the chance to answer questions from pre-medical students on the site, and it has been really rewarding for me in that aspect as well. I definitely think it is a website worth being a part of for anyone interested in medicine.

To further increase your interest, I recently joined the DiverseMedicine leadership team as the Director of Articles and Blogs, so if you like reading this blog, then you’ll love reading posts from physicians and others in medically related fields. There really is something for everybody on the site, so don’t take it from me, go and check it out for yourself!

SNMA National Leadership Institute June 2015 Recap

You would think being out of school for almost two and a half weeks now would equal a ton of sleep and extra relaxation, but nope, not for this girl! I have somehow managed to stay extra busy and on-the-go, and so far I’ve loved every minute of it.

Fully transitioned into my new role as SNMA Osteopathic Schools Co-Chair

This past weekend I found myself in Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania attending the Student National Medical Association’s National Leadership Institute and Board of Directors’ Meetings. This NLI was hosted by Christiana Care Health System (CCHS), and they did an amazing job with the prepared workshops, talks, food, and general sessions. I learned so much about leadership and work-life balance as a physician, and we even had the chance to speak with current residents and find out about the residency programs that CCHS has to offer.

Great time meeting Edmondo Robinson, MD, MBA of CCHS 

My favorite part of the weekend was getting the chance to meet and talk with Edmondo Robinson, MD, MBA, who not only is a former Vice-President of SNMA, but he currently serves as the Associate Chief Medical Officer of Christiana Care Health System. He presented two talks (one titled “The 5 A’s pf Failure” and the other called “The 5 F’s of Success”) that were absolutely amazing! I plan to do future blog posts on the information he presented, because it is absolutely too good not to share. It was also nice being able to sit with him during dinner and ask questions about his career and personal life, and he shared a lot of valuable advice on just about everything.

Learned about leadership and met Edith P. Mitchell, MD, current President-Elect of The National Medical Association

My other favorite session focused on balancing life in medicine, and it was presented by Deborah K. Witt, MD, of Sidney Kimmel Medical College. In this workshop, she gave the attendees a chance to talk about how they currently balance life as students on the path of medicine, and she offered some excellent suggestions to further help us seek a good balance. This session stuck out to me because as a single mother in medical school, I am always trying to find a way to maintain a good balance and my sanity. I also attended talks focused on becoming a leader in medicine, and I even had the chance to meet and chat with current President-Elect of The National Medical Association, Edith P. Mitchell, MD, who also presented a nice talk focused on Medicare.

The bulk of my weekend: meetings, meetings, and more meetings!

In addition to attending amazing workshops, I also sat in a number of Board of Directors meetings where, as the 2015-16 SNMA Osteopathic Schools Co-Chair, I had the chance to discuss new ideas and ways to make SNMA an even better organization. These meetings took up quite a bit of time, so I wasn’t able to go out and explore the cities I was in, but it was such a pleasure working and interacting with fellow members of the BOD. Our last meeting even took place at Thomas Jefferson (now Sidney Kimmel Medical College), and it was very nostalgic for me since during my previous career as a research associate, I had the chance to collaborate with many people at the institution. It was nice finally being able to see the campus in person for the first time.

Being on this campus brought back memories of my time as a research associate

Other than that, it was a super amazing weekend, and I am glad I had the opportunity to attend. I am also excited to be working with some amazing individuals within SNMA leadership, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have in store this year. Our next NLI will be held at Duke University School of Medicine in September, so if anyone reading this is interested, I would love to see you there!