If you don't recognize the title of this post you will understand it by the time I finish. First off, I forgot to blog. Ok, so you can't really blame me, I had alot to do. It's hard to find time for little luxuries like this but it's even harder to remember that it's even on your list of things to do when the list is twenty pages long and single spaced daily.
Right now we're in a post-midterm slow down so I have a few minutes to sit down and collect my thoughts. Speaking of midterms, this time as opposed to last term I'm very pleased with my performance, far more on par of what I expect of myself. It was to say the least, a confidence booster. It also reaffirmed a fact that I desperately needed to prove to myself, that I do in face belong here and in this profession. I have what it takes to make it through and even do well. In MS1 (Med School Year 1) that fact is critical for one's mental health. It's a very unsure time, it's like an odd limbo, another test to see if you have what it takes. Especially here in a foreign med school where the drop out rate is far higher than in the states. The school I'm in takes in X number of students and expects Y number of students to fail or drop out by the time we reach clinicals and the number of clinical spots they reserve yearly reflects this fact, as it does not nearly equal the number of students in the first term class. X-Y= The number of able students who will more or less become MD's. This is a business, income insuring model. A U.S. school has much smaller class sizes and makes sure that 99% of that class makes it through to clinicals and residency. So out here, if you do bad in MS1, chances are you might not make it through MS2.
I can attribute alot to my upswing. I study harder and more efficiently, I have good routines down, I don't waste much time (I do waste time though, everyone has to) and while those are the most major factors that shoved me forward there are two others that were significant in my opinion. A loving, supporting family who is always there and a set of friends that are both supportive but also studious. My friends would actually make me feel guilty for slacking off when they would spout out some random need to know fact that I had never heard. I would now remember a new fact and then study even harder to make sure I was on level with my friends so as to not, and this may seem childish, feel stupid around them. Though they will tell you I'm a few cards short of a deck if you ever asked them, and if you ever asked me I'd tell you they were a bunch of slackers that played way too much ping pong.
Lessons I've learned in med school that will follow me throughout life:
-No man is an island and if he is he most likely is miserable. When it comes to tough times, there's nothing like going through them with a good set of comrades by your side.
-Ants can get into everything, no matter how well you seal something or how much poison you spray.
-BOP, a local insecticide used in the home is in fact illegal in the U.S. and both carcinogenic and mutagenic. I had breathed in alot of it before finding that out.
-Medicine is alot of science when you're in school, alot of technique when you're in clinicals, and an art when in practice.
-Don't leave a bag of clothes in a friends apartment if you think they might do something to them, like put them in the freezer.
-Shaving in public restrooms gets you some odd looks.
-The age old idea that hard work and determination will in the end yield excellent results holds true today, but most people try to bypass it in this new age of immediate gratification.
You were probably expecting me to say a bunch of random medical facts or tests but chances are I'll forget half of what I learn in my classroom years as most doctors do.
Another first happened this term, the girlfriend came to visit. She finally got to meet my friends, see how I live, and see where I spend most of my time (Taylor Study Hall). It was a blast having her here after midterms for a few days. A mini-tropical vacation with my girlfriend that ended way too soon.
As a follow up to my previous post after living in a replacement villa for a few days me and my roommates were moved back into our original place. All the fire damage had been fixed and so far it's been an awesome place to live minus the distance. I got back on campus for housing next term seeing as it's the most intense term of the two years here and the easiest most convenient place to live really is on campus.
"The Knife and Gun Club" is a photo essay written by Eugene Richards. It chronicles Denver General Hospital's ER and Paramedic services for several months in the 80's during a time of extremely high violent crime. My father owned it and it was definitely one of the first glimpses I ever had into the world of ER's and medicine. It's what originally interested me in the idea of becoming a doctor and later working in an actual ER for several years during undergrad. When this term is over in a month and a half MS1 will be over and I will be one step closer to hopefully returning to "The Knife and Gun Club" and being a physician in it.
