Babies, Pap Smears, and Early Hours: Starting off OB/GYN Strong!

Adding another hospital badge to the collection!

This week is seriously flying by! I started my OB/GYN rotation on Monday, and so far it’s been a super fun experience. I wasn’t sure if I would find it awkward or amusing that my preceptor is my actual gynecologist, but my first day started off smoothly with no awkward moments at all. I am actually pretty happy to have my gynecologist as a preceptor because I originally sought him out due to the fact that he is a DO, is African-American (we don’t have enough black men in medicine), and he had great reviews. Before Monday, I had never been in his office, so it was awe-inspiring to see all the degrees on the wall, awards from the National Medical Association, and even a gorgeous painting of black physicians and patients which is included below. I even found out that he used to be a member of the SNMA, so that made me extra happy :-)

Love this picture!!!!

My first day was spent seeing patients for mostly annual exams and OB follow-ups. I was able to use the mini Doppler ultrasound on some of the patients to make sure their babies heart beats were strong, and it was fun seeing some of them get excited over it. I even got to take the initial history of some of the new patients, and since it had been a while since I performed one on a standardized patient, the doctor went over how to properly perform speculum exams and pap smears.

Ready to find that heartbeat!

On Tuesday, I headed over to a clinic that mostly caters to immigrant populations and I really enjoyed my day there. I had one embarrassing moment when I walked into a patient’s room and immediately started speaking Spanish, only to find out that her main language was Russian and a small amount of English, but I quickly caught on when she looked at me like I was crazy LOL. In my defense, over 90% of the patients that morning only spoke Spanish, but from now on, I will definitely ask the language when I first step into the room. On the plus side, the doc treated us all to a tasty lunch from a Colombian restaurant and it was one of the employee’s birthday, so there were delicious cupcakes that day too. At around 2pm we saw the last patient, and the doc told me we were waiting on a patient to deliver at the hospital but it would be a while, so I went home to relax. I figured he had forgot about me when I went to bed around 11pm, but I was woken up bright and early with a text that said to meet him at the hospital. Luckily, the hospital I am rotating at this month is only 10 minutes away from me, and my sister is here taking on the nanny role, so I quickly cleaned up, got dressed, and made my way to the Labor & Delivery section. The patient ended up not being ready until after 7am, but the delivery occurred really fast. I was all gowned up and ready to go, and the doc instructed me where to put my hands and I DELIVERED MY FIRST BABY!!!!! It was such a cool moment, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it, because he was then instructing me on where to clamp, where to tell the father to cut, and how to properly remove a placenta. There were also two more deliveries we were waiting on, so we left to go check on those mothers right after.

The "I just delivered my first baby" Selfie :-)

All-in-All, I ended up delivering 2/3 babies (the last one too big for a beginner) and 3/3 placentas, so it was a great day! The only con is that there was a lot of waiting around for the patients to fully dilate and be ready to give birth, but I had the pleasure of being able to chill out in the physician’s lounge which was really nice. I caught up on a little Netflix and even finished up some work I had been putting off, so I was able to actually relax and get some rest when I finally did make it home.

I voted! Have you?

I can’t wait to see what the rest of my month in OB/GYN brings, and I am looking forward to getting the chance to perfect my suturing skills in the OR. Today I had the pleasure of having the day off, so I took advantage of the early voting that is currently taking place and went out and exercised my right to vote. It took less than 30 min and only required an ID, so I strongly encourage all of you to go out, vote, and let your voice be heard. Welp, tomorrow will probably be another super early day, so until next time!    

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!   

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 :-)

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! 

Enjoying My Last Month of Freedom!

Pretty in Scrubs :-)

I’m still here!!!! I wish I had a better reason for not keeping up with my weekly posts, especially with all the free time that I’ve had this summer, but honestly I’ve just been relaxing and enjoying doing as little as possible. Now if you know me, then you know that I’m not one to sit around and relax for long periods of time, but I can say that I am more rested than ever. Normally without distractions I could probably sleep well into the afternoon, but I think I’ve finally had my fill of sleep. I woke up at 8am this morning, and after about an hour of tossing and turning, I just had to get up. Fortunately, the little one will be returning home this weekend, so I look forward to having early morning fun with her until school starts in a few weeks. It will probably take me a week to break her out of a cycle of wanting to sleep in since I know my parents are letting her stay up as late as she wants, so waking up early will definitely be an advantage on my end. I actually miss my little love though, and it will be nice to get in a few weeks of heavy bonding before we both get back to our normal, busy schedules.

On a more interesting note, this week I am spending my free time physician shadowing. One of my favorite places to be is the operating room, and I am extremely fortunate to have been connected with an anesthesiologist who doesn’t mind me tagging along. The benefit of shadowing anesthesiologists is that if you’re interested in surgery (like I am), then you aren’t limited to just one type. It allows you to get exposure to many different types of surgical subspecialties and you even get to meet and network with different surgeons. During my first year of medical school, we focused a lot on the “bugs and drugs” of medicine, and anesthesia really is a combination of everything I’ve learned so far in medical school. I was amazed at how much information I retained when I was asked questions yesterday about the purpose of different drugs and procedures. It also showed me how much information I didn’t retain as well as I should have, so I will gladly be reading up on everything today so that I can be better prepared for any questions that might pop up tomorrow when I return. I can’t wait until I start my rotations next year, because the hospital really is my happy place :-)

But anyway, this post was just to let everyone know that I am still alive and well. It’s amazing how much I would rather type up a post when I am completely swamped than when I have what feels like all the time in the world. Blogging is my stress-relief though, so I guess if I’m not posting, it’s a sign that I’m relaxing, LOL. I hope everyone reading this is enjoying their summer. Until next time!  

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!   

Passing my First Term of Medical School and SNMA Region IV Conference Highlights

Can you believe we covered all this in only 13 weeks?!!!!

I officially passed my first term of medical school!!!! Words can’t express how happy I am to finally be finished with anatomy (even though it’s my favorite subject, lol), and being able to have this last week off was soooo needed! I also know I said I would write a few posts and get things accomplished, but for the majority of the week I did absolutely nothing, and it felt so good! I caught up on sleep, watched TV, spent a day in a sauna, went to the movies, and pretty much did any and everything I wanted/had not been able to do these past few months.

GA-PCOM SNMA Chapter at the Region IV Medical Conference

On Friday, I headed to downtown Atlanta for the SNMA Region IV Medical Conference which was held at Morehouse School of Medicine this year. We started off with a tour of the school, and then we toured Grady Hospital which is the largest hospital in the state of Georgia. Later on that evening, a mixer event was held, and it was really nice interacting with other medical students from various schools in the region. I was also very proud of my school’s SNMA chapter for showing up in such a large number. After the mixer, there was another social event at a nearby bar, so we spent most of the night there and had a blast. I have not been able to go out much since school started, so being able to have fun with both my classmates and other medical students was a great experience.

A great conference :-)

On Saturday, the conference seminars started around 8am, and I was very impressed with the selections. “Preparing for the Wards” was the first seminar I attended, and it gave really great information on ways to stick out and receive excellent marks when we start rotations during our third year. After that I headed over to a discussion panel on women in medicine, and we discussed double standards against women in the profession, and the ways that we can stick out and assert ourselves in the field. I also attended a suture clinic in the MSM anatomy lab, and it was really nice to be able to see the difference between their lab and the one in my school. I was also excited when they let us keep the tools we used afterwards! My favorite seminar of the day though was a panel that discussed balancing our personal lives with medicine. It included married, single, and parent physicians, and they all discussed the ways they manage to make it all work for them on a daily basis. We concluded the conference with a banquet that had Dr. Montgomery Rice (Dean and President of MSM) as a keynote speaker, and she also came by our table to speak with us before the dinner began which was really nice. I truly enjoyed being in the presence of such amazing people, and the conference made me want to strive that much harder to achieve my dreams.  

We work hard, and we play hard!

After the closing banquet last night, my classmates and I headed out on the town for one last night of fun before second term starts tomorrow. We danced the night away and had a ton of fun. I even lost my voice, so you know it was a good time, LOL! I’m starting to realize the importance of balancing medical school with a social life, and last night really confirmed that for me. Hopefully, this term I will be able to find that perfect balance that leaves me less stressed out. But anyway, I don’t want to ramble, so I guess I’ll end it here. We start second term tomorrow, and I am ready to put my best foot forward and really conquer this term. I’ll make sure to do a better update later on this week though, so until next time!

White Coat Official!!!!

First selfie in my new white coat!

It feels so good to finally have my white coat! On Saturday, October 18^th, GA-PCOM held its White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2018, and it was probably one of the biggest highlights of my life so far. I was lucky to have my parents and my little sister come to town to share in the special occasion (and watch my daughter, lol), and although it was a short ceremony, it was pretty awesome. Our Class Chair gave a speech that pretty much brought everyone to tears, and we even had one of the past students (who is now a 4^th year General Surgery Resident) speak about her battle with breast cancer while she attended GA-PCOM and what the white coat means to her. Sitting through the ceremony really made me reflect on everything it took to get to this point, and words really can’t describe how blessed I really am. It’s amazing that something as simple as a white coat can add so much confirmation to my purpose in life. I get really emotional just thinking about it, and I’m nowhere close to even graduating yet, LOL!

But anyway, the majority of this post will be pictures because I need to get back to studying. I had both a written and practical exam today, and I have one more exam to take tomorrow before I can finally relax. While having family in town was nice, it definitely took away from my studying and my written exam score definitely reflected that today, so back to the books! 

Can't look at this picture without smiling! So happy to be a GA-PCOM student doctor!

The moment I was "coated"

So blessed to know this awesome group of people!

Sisterly love :-)

My daughter and my parents

Mother-Daughter Love

Father-Daughter Love

P.S. If you want to see more pictures from the event, check out the White Coat Ceremony album on GA-PCOM's Facebook page. You'll find me in a couple on there too :-)