Getting into the Holiday Spirit!

Microbe Christmas ornaments that speak to my inner nerd

Today I completed my first exam of the term, and it feels so good to finally be over that hurdle. It still trips me out every time the score pops up on the screen immediately after submitting an exam, but with this being the first exam, I wasn’t too upset with my score. I am just happy that I don’t have to worry about practical exams bringing down my average this term. I also feel like this term may be the best one I have this year, mainly because last term was a struggle and next term we start neuro, which has never been my strongest subject.

Our "first" tree!

On another note, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! My microbe Christmas ornaments arrived last week, and they made me super happy! Nothing rings in the holiday season better than a Rhinovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, E. coli, neuron, and pretty red amoeba :-) I even bought a tree and decorated it with my daughter on Friday. Usually we’re never home for the holidays, so I’ve never actually bothered to buy a tree, but I decided to be a little different this year. It was a fun experience playing Christmas music and decorating the tree with my little one, although I think she was just in it for the candy canes.

I live for that smile :-)

The best part of last week was when I took a little break from lecture to attend a holiday luncheon at my daughter’s school. The look on her face when she saw me was absolutely priceless! I told her I would attend, but obviously she didn’t believe me, so it was nice being able to “surprise” her. It made me realize that while school and my goals are important, it’s not worth missing opportunities to spend special moments with her. People always say that children grow up so fast, and I’m really beginning to see it. So far, I feel like I’ve made a pretty good effort in balancing motherhood with medical school, but I know the quality times spent with my daughter will become few and far between especially when I start rotations. With that being said, I’ll take advantage of our recorded lectures and make an effort to attend more of her school functions and special moments. Unfortunately, she has a class holiday play next week on the same day I have a mandatory lecture, so hopefully I can convince my professor to let me skip out on the first hour.

I never miss an opportunity to bond with my little one!

Other than that, I have an OMM quiz tomorrow and an exam covering managed patient care on Wednesday that I need to study for, so I probably won’t post again until the end of the week or early next week. As always, I love the comments and e-mails that I get from everyone, and I apologize for not being able to respond as fast as I used to, but I promise I will get to them all. I hope everyone has a fantastic week, and hopefully you all are feeling the holiday spirit as much as I am!

Term 2 of Medical School: Let the Fun Begin!

Notes, notes, and more notes!

Last week we started our second term, and it looks like this one will be more intense than last term! Just last week alone, we covered 15 lectures, and that’s saying a lot considering we only had class Monday through Wednesday. It also seems like the professors we have this term are determined to fit as much information as possible into one Powerpoint slide, and the packets are thicker than ever! It definitely looks like I will have to make the switch to a bigger binder before the end of the week, but I don’t feel too overwhelmed yet. Today, we had six lectures over the course of seven hours, and I think the biggest adjustment thus far has sitting in lectures all day. Last term we usually had anatomy or OMM labs in the afternoon to break up the monotony, but anatomy lab has now been replaced with more lectures. The good news is we are now covering the basic sciences that I am familiar with, so I feel completely in my element. I just hope I feel the same way after our first exam next week!

Bonding and education: a win-win for us both!

On a slightly non-school-related note, having an entire week off before second term and an additional two days off after we started was just what I needed! Not only was I able to enjoy my Thanksgiving, but I accomplished all the small tasks I had been putting off for a while. I was even able to pre-read for today’s lectures which is something I never have time to do. My daughter was also happy about the free time, and we put it to good use. Yesterday, we took a trip down to Atlantic Station and explored Bodies: The Exhibition and Extreme Dinosaurs. After studying anatomy and doing dissections for the past thirteen weeks, it was a great experience for me to see all the parts I had worked on beautifully dissected. It put even my best dissections to shame, LOL. I think the only part my daughter enjoyed was seeing the fetuses as they transitioned from just a couple of weeks to a full term infant, but she was blown away by the dinosaur exhibit next door, so it was a win-win for everybody. Other than that, I need to get back to studying, but I hope everyone has a fantastic week! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! There are so many things that I am thankful for that it would be impossible to fit them all into one post. I am beyond blessed, and extremely grateful to be living a life filled with love, happiness, and a peace that helps me get through even the hardest of times. Furthermore, I am thankful for all the wonderful people in my life, including all of you amazing people who take the time out of your busy lives to read my blog. I wish you all a wonderful day filled with love, family, and good times :-)

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!

Check Out My Article in the JSNMA MAPS Minutes Fall 2014 Edition!

Two hours ago I completed my last final exam and officially ended my first term of medical school! I am so happy to finally be finished, and I am looking forward to a full week of relaxation, sleep, Netflix, and no stress! I also plan on writing a few new posts summarizing my overall experience during first term. For now, please check out my article on pages 11-13 of the JSNMA MAPS Minutes Fall 2014 edition. You can either click here or on the picture above to access the journal. Please let me know what you think and I hope it inspires some of you!