Block 1 Reflections

Block 1 is over! It really was a 20-week marathon...and I passed every class above average, bam! I figured I should write my thoughts about each since it's still fresh in my mind:

Physiology - I seriously thought this would be my easiest class, oh you know since I have a degree in it and all. It started out pretty easy, but once we got into the organ systems, things got super detailed and I was spending more time on this than I anticipated. I also went ahead and royally bombed the renal quiz. I mean hardcore failed it. Seriously. Which is sad since I felt like I had the best grasp on renal material in comparison to the heart or pulmonary sections. The problem was that the quiz was one case only and I missed a key physical exam finding (bad!) so I came up with the wrong diagnosis (very bad!) and my explanations therefore were tailored to this completely wrong conclusion. Oh well. It was sort of a wake up call in the sense that I don't think I was studying physio the way I should have. I was focusing too much on details and not considering the big picture or what physical exam findings would indicate. So in a way this was a good thing in that I really really really studied for the next module and reviewed very thoroughly for the final. I still ended up getting the lowest grade in this class among all of my block 1 classes, but oh well. The irony is not lost on me.

Anatomy - what a wonderful class. I feel sorry for other med students who have to study anatomy without our instructors. I mean they are seriously wonderful and stay waaaaay after class or come in just to review material with you if you need it. At first, I was annoyed that we had to do dissections and figured prosected bodies would make life and learning so much easier. But looking back I understand the importance of doing these things on your own and taking care of and learning from your person. Dorothy was such a great teacher. (Obviously her name isn't Dorothy. Maybe it is, but I don't know. My group thought she looked like a Dorothy so we named her that.) We wrote little notes for her and left her flowers after our final.

Histology - oh dear. This was my least favorite class (sorry!). Slides, slides, and more slides. What is there to say except that I coasted through the first 15 weeks of this class (like barely missed a question) and then missed A LOT of questions on the last couple of quizzes. So just like for physio, I rage studied for this final and did super well. Yay!

Biochemistry - it's biochem. What more is there to say? This year, the curriculum was adjusted slightly so that the genetics portion of Block 1 was switched with the Metabolism portion from Block 2. I think this was fine. Although the metabolism section was heavy and done in a very short amount of time, the clinical correlates really made the material stick for me, so I was happy with it.

Doctoring - I can do a full physical exam. Which is basically what I've been bragging to my friends back home and they probably want me to shut up and stop repeating that statement. But I can do a full physical exam. Oh yes. I can.

Overall - I do think I overstudy, but I also think that that is part of my personality. I like to be very thorough. It was the same in high school and undergrad. If a teacher said not to worry about a certain topic because it wouldn't be tested, I still studied it for my personal knowledge. There were quizzes where I triaged certain topics but I still studied everything (just not as thoroughly as I would like).

I am a little worried about Block 2 in the sense that this will be uncharted territory for me. I had already taken most of the classes offered in Block 1 but EVERYTHING in Block 2 will be new material: Pharmacology, Pathology, Microbiology, Immunology, Endocrine/Reproduction/Nutrition/Genetics (well maybe I know a little bit of ENRG after all). Just have to take it one day at a time and adjust things if necessary.

Goodies for finals from my Big Sib!

Dinner and a Movie...with a side of influenza

I saw Ender's Game a few days ago. (Confession: I actually have not read the books. I know. I know. Embarrassing. I hadn't even heard of the series.). I really liked it. At first, all I could think about was Hugo Cabret since the lead character was in that movie, ha! But the plot was captivating and intriguing. I hear the books delve into ethical considerations a lot more, so I think I'll read the first one over winter break. Don't know how far along I'll get in the series though - it's apparently 12+ books. That's a lot of commitment at this point. Sad. But true.

My lab group and I also went to dinner at this Mexican restaurant I've been wanting to try. But if you ever want a twist on dinner, you should do what one of our class presidents organized for us: Progressive Dinners! You go to someone's house for the Appetizer course, then the group plus the Appetizer host head over the Main Course house, and then the group and Main Course host end up at the final house for Dessert. Your group gets bigger at each point since you're bringing along the previous course's host so it's super-fun and tasty. My classmates are so talented. :)

Unfortunately, though, I am now sick. What was the point of that mandatory flu shot, again? Ugh. Luckily, it was a light weekend so I didn't have much to study. Unfortunately, it was a light weekend and I didn't have a lot to study...so I could have been doing other things. :( I even had to cancel my clinic shift.

Five days till Catching Fire comes out! Ten days till I'm home for Thanksgiving! Cannot freaking wait.

Med School Meltdown

This week I had my first med school meltdown. It was about a flat tire...Seriously. I was driving home from school and heard a loud noise, followed by those grating sounds. Okay, I thought, I'm basically a mile from home...maybe I can make it? Yes? Please? Nope. I felt the car slowing down so I quickly exited and put on my hazards. I figured I'd call AAA and get this sorted out quickly so that I could squeeze in some study time until the Peds SIG dinner later that evening.

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Apparently, AAA won't help you if the cardholder is not present. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I thought I could use my dad's information since my car is registered under my parents' names, but I guess they require a physical presence. At this point, I was on the verge of tears because I didn't know what to do. I was in a No Parking zone in this city that I've lived in for a grand total of 3 months, basically all alone. Good thing it wasn't dark!

The AAA lady gave me the number of a towing shop, suggesting that they could come and switch my tire since I had a spare. I called them and they said that they would only tow the car. Well, tow the car where?!?! What do I do after that?!?! That wasn't useful to me! I decided my next best option (besides begging a friend to drive out and help me) would be to call my apartment manager to ask if he knew about any nearby shops. At this point, I was *really* frustrated, so the tears starting flowing and my voice was cracking. And so my apartment manager actually came over and changed my tire himself! I couldn't believe, that was too kind. I baked him some brownies as a thank you but unfortunately they were a disaster so I put together this instead:

Even though it was shitty afternoon and I was even considering not going to the dinner because I was so frustrated, I'm glad that I just let that go and went anyway. My top choices right now are Pediatrics and Psychiatry so it's nice to get a perspective from practicing physicians as to why they chose their specialties and get an idea about their lifestyles as well. I'll probably try to start shadowing soon, too. I'm meeting with my preceptor this week (she's in Family Practice, though), so I'll take it from there.

Red October?

Wow! I haven't realized how long it's been since my last post. Well...actually, I have. I've been meaning to write, but I always leave it for the next day, and then the day after, and so on. So here we go.

A couple of weeks back, we had the Body Donation Memorial - basically a ceremony for those who have donated their bodies which we learn from. Their families came and set up pictures and newspaper clippings of major life events. It was really great talking to some of the families and expressing our thanks for their generosity. My class will be planning next year's ceremony. I've started a journal entry to organize my thoughts about our person and what that means to me. Hopefully, I'll get to share that once the block is done.

Here is my anatomy lab group, btw. We are a super cool bunch and many other groups have complimented both our dissections and how well we work together. :)

Credit to my very artistic med school bestie

After our second practical, we all went to the Dixon Corn Maze and had some good Fall fun walking around the corn husks and trying to find our way out in the dark, haha. Definitely have never experienced anything like this before.

And today, we actually had the day OFF (what?!?!) so the female portion of our lab group (see above) decided to shop shop shop. I mean, we need nice clothes for Doctoring and clinic right? We had a nice lunch afterwards at this place called Seasons 52. Apparently they have a seasonal menu and some of their items change weekly, hence the name. Ha!

You may be wondering why I've titled this post as such. Historically, this month is dubbed Red October but so far it's been okay. I think the course instructors have restructured a lot of the material from previous years so things have been a bit more organized and integrated. Can't believe that after Monday, we'll have taken 6/8 of our quizzes (already completed 2/3 of practicals), not counting finals of course. Thanksgiving cannot come soon enough though. I really do want to go home and just...eat.

What is a weekend?

1000 points if you call tell me where that's from.

This was the most relaxing weekend I've had since we started. On Friday night, I went over to my lab partner's house so we could watch the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy. (I can actually pick up on the few medical references, ha!) On Saturday, I had lunch with an MS3 friend at a little French cafe. On Sunday, I went to clinic in the morning and a Lebanese festival in the afternoon. My stomach is content.

Clinic was great! It's been my favorite clinic so far, and I think I will stick with it. I saw two patients, took the lead with the history, helped with the physical exam, presented to the preceptor both times, and wrote the SOAP notes. I'm feeling more and more comfortable with each part of it, so I am happy.

So many shows premiered this week. I sure hope I can keep up with everything. We all know how much I love my pop culture trivia. :)

What a week!

We had our usual biweekly exam on Monday and our first anatomy practical on Friday. Suffice it to say that I triaged other classes to make sure I had everything down for anatomy. I felt like I knew the material lecture-wise, but it might be tricky to identify structures on other cadavers. I haven't been doing a good job of going around in lab and viewing other people's work. I mostly stick to our cadaver and know her super-well. But I looked around the night before the practical, hoping that was enough.

Of course, by the random luck of the draw, my group was the last one taking the practical so I had plenty of time to just hang around. :/ Oh well; we actually get to go first next time and get it over with! I came out of the practical not feeling good at all. I felt very pressed for time and kept second-guessing some of my answers. I kept thinking about it throughout the night too. I was so anxious that I even woke up extra early on Saturday morning to go to school and pick up my results from my locker. Imagine my surprise when I saw my score. I have to learn to be less hard on myself and trust that I know the answers. I think a big issue with knowing so much material is that you keep thinking of the what-ifs and overthink questions.

But, on a lighter note, to ease the tension of the very first major anatomy exam, our instructors had us wear hats! It was even a question on the exam! Here's what I wore:

As one of my classmates astutely pointed out: Of course you would wear this hat. ;)

No, I actually do not own such a contraption. Thanks to my friend S for letting me borrow this. I made sure to bobby pin it to my head so it wouldn't accidentally fall into a cadaver, ha!

And then I went to clinic on Saturday. This time, I went to Clinica Tepati, which is definitely much bigger than Bayanihan. But I felt okay. I still need to practice some more blood draws before I feel comfortable doing them on patients. Next clinic appointment in a couple of weeks!

Of course, non-quiz weekends means dinner prep consists of more than heating frozen meals and/or leftovers. Here's cilantro-parsley-pine nuts coated tilapia with garlic-rosemary potatoes (with the skin on!).

It's been a year!

09/14/12 - interviewed at UCD
09/14/13 - volunteered at clinic

I dare you to find a cooler program

This week I took out a beautiful right lung and held it in my hands; scraped out clotted blood from the chambers of the heart and great vessels; and participated in a surface anatomy session with 50 other med students in which we took off our shirts and drew out the lungs and heart with markers on each other.

Yeah, med school is the greatest.

LA weekend

Wow. It's been a while. I think I'm finally in my groove with regards to school. It's still a lot of work, but that's not going to change anytime soon! I've just learned to adjust and prioritize certain things over others and just go with it. I can't know everything 100%, and that's okay. (Shoutout to my Big Sib for checking on me every couple of weeks.)

Since this was a long weekend, I decided to go home! I had never been away from LA for this long before (perks of attending college in your home city). Got to see friends and fam and of course, my minions J+C.

As a surprise, my mama spent hours making my favorite meal. It's basically a wheat and beef porridge, with heated oil/cumin/red pepper powder as garnish. Needless to say, I stuffed my face.

Herissa is the best.

Since we're on the topic of food, here is the eetch that I had made for our Doctoring class on cultural competency a few weeks back. It certainly doesn't taste as good as when my mom or grandma make it (does anything ever?) but it was satisfactory.

Food pics are obviously Instagramed. Obviously.

Already on Week 5. FIVE.

Clinic

Today I volunteered at one of the student-run clinics at UCD. I know it's still really early in the year and we've learned very minimal skills in relation to patient care (blood draws and flu vaccine administration!), but since it's a non-quiz weekend, I figured I might as well get started. The clinic I chose was the same one I had toured after my interview back in September (can't believe it's been almost one year!).

And it was GREAT! At first, one of my fellow MS1s and I tagged along with an MS2 so that we could observe the interview and physical exam. And then, my classmate and I teamed up to see our patient, present our notes to the preceptor, and present the assessment and plan to the patient. I'm really glad we teamed up for our first patient, because we each jumped in to ask questions the other may have forgotten. It felt like a comfortable transition. And then we wrote up a SOAP note after discharging our patient. A SOAP note stands for Subjective (what the patient tells you) Objective (exam and test results) Assessment (diagnosis and rationale) Plan (course of action, e.g. prescriptions, diet/exercise modifications, follow up appointment, etc.). Basically, a write up of the entire encounter so that the next time the patient comes in and another medical student is assigned to the case, they have an idea of what transpired.

Writing that SOAP note was more challenging than I thought! I've written countless reports for the research studies I worked on since undergrad. Each time I interviewed a study subject, I wrote up an assessment note, but I think it's just getting acquainted with the divisions of the SOAP note, which is a little different from what I'm used to. Common theme of medical school: everything is an adjustment! :)

But I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Yes, it's a lot of work. More work than I anticipated. But the human body is such a beautiful thing. And being in clinic reminds you of why you want to be a physician. Six hours of class leaves me exhausted. But six hours of clinic just flew on by. It was a really great experience and I'm glad I did it. I've scheduled a couple more days in September in different clinics, to see how it goes and which clinic fits me the best.

I still haven't experimented too much with cooking yet. I have a lot of food in my freezer (thanks, mom!) that I've been heating up everyday since I've been spending so much time studying. But I think going into week 3, I've learned to make some modifications in my study habits so hopefully I will have more time to cook. I miss reading books, too. Gone are the days when I would spend an hour reading at night. Hopefully, I can pick that up again soon.

Two weeks in!

And just like that, two weeks have flown by. We had our first exam on Monday morning (I passed everything! woohoo) and then dove in to the week's lectures. This week has really been packed, but I'm really glad I got a chance to talk to my childhood friend L (seriously, since Kindergarten) who's just starting medical school as well. We compared notes about our first days and what we're feeling. It's just nice to talk to someone who is going through the same thing AT THE SAME TIME. I hope we can keep a schedule of checking in maybe on a biweekly or monthly basis. :)

Class officer positions were also this week. I seriously considered running, but ultimately decided not to so that I can jump on some other opportunities that should be coming up later this block. I don't want to commit to too many things and then not be able to focus all of my energy on each adequately (or sleep, ha!). I really need to work on adjusting my sleep schedule. I've been going to bed around 1am, so when that alarm rings at 6:30, I just ignore it and then have to rush to get to class on time. Goal is to go to bed at least one hour earlier. I think that will also help me concentrate better during class so I won't need to study as much in the evenings. And boy do you study a lot in the evenings. I've adjusted my study habits for some classes already, thanks to advice from the MS2s, but Physiology is taking up more of my time than I thought I would, and Histology is the one class I have not taken before, so I need to devote more time for that.

But, since this is a non-quiz weekend, I decided to go ahead and volunteer at one of the student-run clinics tomorrow. UCD has eight free clinics (EIGHT!), each focusing on a specific underserved population. I thought I'd start out with the one I'm most familiar with, which is the clinic I toured after my interview in September. I've signed up for a couple more in September, once things settle down with exams and anatomy practicals.

Speaking of anatomy, the class has been much more interesting that I expected. Anatomy during undergrad seemed like rote memorization, but I really love the way medical school incorporates clinical correlates into all the classes. It makes the learning process more integrated and easier. I seriously adore our lead anatomy professor. He explains everything so well that I feel like I've already studied right then and there. I was definitely nervous going into anatomy lab on the first day. My main concern was (and still is) always feeling like I am going to tear something or cut through a structure and ruin the dissection for the day. It helps that we alternate among our group members, but I find myself constantly asking for reassurance that I'm doing things correctly. But other than that, it's amazing. Huge amount of respect to those who have donated their bodies so that students like me can learn.

I'll try to get in another post later this weekend to talk about clinic!

Medical school is hard

People tell you that when you say you want to be a doctor. They tell you again during undergrad. And again when you are applying/interviewing. And again during orientation.

And you don't believe them.

Until it hits you smack dab in the face. Medical school is hard. It's Day 4 and I've felt overwhelmed, exhausted, and behind my schedule since Day 2. We have had more lectures in four days than two weeks' worth of undergrad. To be fair, the material isn't that difficult. What's overwhelming is the volume of information thrown at you and the pace at which you need to keep up. And it's not just studying the material covered for the day. You have to prepare for the next day's lectures so that you are able to keep up with the lecture and understand the material. Needless to say, the amount of sleep I've been getting is significantly less than I've grown accustomed to.

To be honest, I thought I would breeze through Block 1. We are taking Anatomy, Physiology, Histology, Biochemistry, and Doctoring. Since I was a Physiology major, I figured that I have already been exposed to most of the material, albeit not in the great detail at this level. Plus, the first course you take as a Phy Sci major at UCLA is Anatomy, and Biochemistry (lecture course AND separate lab course) is a graduation requirement as well. But, again, it comes down to the pacing. We'll usually have multiple lectures from a course every day, so that's been a little adjustment. Everything is videocasted though, so I might consider staying home for certain lectures and going at my own pace to see if that makes a difference. Time is such a precious commodity!

And then, there's Anatomy Lab. I don't think there is anything comparable to Gross Anatomy. I do want to talk more about this, but think it may be best to save for another post, after I've had a few more sessions in the lab.

We have our first quiz (more like a midterm, if you ask me, ha!) on Monday...stay tuned.

Go HuGE or go home

Orientation this week. While it's been super jam-packed, I am so in love with my school and classmates. I've met about 50% of the class so far and everyone seems so personable and friendly. We are a smaller class than most med schools (104 in our class), so it's very intimate and family-like. Most of the days consisted of presentations and small group sessions to orient us to school policies, introduce important people aka deans and course managers, and just get to know everyone. And every night, the MS2s organized a fun event, like Trivia Night (nope, I'm not competitive at games AT ALL) and a Scavenger Hunt all over Sacramento.

Yup, scavenger hunt. Not your average run around and find hidden items deal. But a full city-wide search of Sacramento gems, like Gunther's Ice Cream, the Capitol Mall, the Art Museum, the Zoo, Evangeline's Costume Shop, and local coffee shops. Oh and we also had to get random people to take pictures with us for $1 and perform on the street corner. No sweat. Twenty-six items to check off in under 4 hours. And yes, my team got them all ;) with pit-stops at McDonald's and buying a bike off of a Craigslist post. Bam!

Our team mascot.

Costume Shop in Old Sac.

Dared to try the wackiest flavor. Rum Raisin.

At UCD, students also get divided in colleges, a la Harry Potter. So I'm in HuGE college, which is, of course, the best one in my humble opinion. [What size is it? HUUUUUUUUUUGE] Blue is a good color, after all. The color of Ravenclaw House, in fact! But to heat up the rivalries among the colleges, the MS2s also hosted a College Olympics this week. I'm talking Tug of War, Sack races, Wheelbarrow races, Water Balloon Dodgeball, and my personal favorite, Watermelon Eating. Translation: I am never eating watermelon again. [Why is there an entire watermelon all sliced up and ready to eat in my fridge? Why? WHY?] Needless to say, these last few days have been ridiculously fun.

Our awesome House t-shirt.

College Olympics with our amazing school in the background. [Photo credit: VL]

Most importantly, I got inducted into medical school, white coat, stethoscope, fancy badge, and all. The school put on a nice ceremony to officially welcome us into the fold. All med students receive white coats before starting this journey. But UCD likes to present its students with our first stethoscopes as well, as a symbolic gesture, which is super cool. [Fun Fact: the length of your white coat determines how far along you are in the field. So med students have short white coats, residents have medium-length coats, and attendings wear long coats.]

Sibs. My, he looks happy.

It's going to be a kick-ass four years. Classes start tomorrow!

Welcome to the real world...sort of

First blog post! Cause for some celebration, I think.

Med school orientation begins in less than four days! In order to capture the journey over the next four years and beyond, I decided to start this blog. I hope to look back some time in the not-so-distant future (or maybe sometime far far away) and reminisce over the small details I may have forgotten, chart my growth throughout my studies, and most importantly, laugh at my MS1 naïveté.

I've titled this blog "the scrub life" in order to encompass all things that might be related to my adventures as a med student. This includes books that I have read (yes, other than textbooks) and recipes that I attempt which turn out reasonably well, i.e. are edible and presentable to people other than my mother.

Here we go...but time for some ice cream first.