New Voices!

So, of course I am not in medical school alone, and more importantly, all doctors DO NOT think alike. (I guess that makes us special huh?)  I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce some of my classmates, who are also great friends, and allow you to hear their voices.  The following three posts are written by a few of them.  The first is from what some may call a rebel. (I prefer to think that Student Dr. Francois just marches to the beat of his own drum lol).  He brings us his perspective on why he may just be missing in action from time to time.  On the contrary, we have Student Dr. Partridge who I vehemently commend because she makes it to EVERY thing. (I just do not know how she does it!) She is a great example of a scheduler as she speaks about how she manages to make it to EVERY class.  Lastly, Student Dr. Hinson (who will be an absolutely fantastic doctor one day) brings us up to speed on his not-as-imagined transition to medical school.  I think his story is a story that many will share as they navigate the terrain of medical school.  I am just thankful that they offered their insight.  Since they have taken the time out of their busy schedules, please feel free to comment and let them know what you think!!  I have to get back to some work now!  Enjoy!

With utmost appreciation,

Best wishes in your endeavors,

Student Dr. Glawson

A CLASSless Med Student.....

A Typical Day in Medical School:

Biochemistry 8am to 10am

Embryology lecture 10am to 12pm

Gross Anatomy Lecture 1pm-3pm

Gross Anatomy Lab 3pm-5pm

There are many who believe keeping a religious adherence to class attendance is optimal to success in medical school, and I tend to fall outside of that faction.

But don't judge me.

I tend to take a practical approach to things in life. Constantly questioning the utilitarian purpose of my actions.

For the first few weeks of medical school I often found my mind wandering in lecture, half asleep, and disengaged. The funny part about it was that while the professor saw that half of the class had laptops and were furiously typing away, little did he or she know that they were actually chatting on Facebook and not at all focused on how the descending branch of the occipital artery gives off a superficial branch and a deep branch which are separated by Splenius Capitis and form an important anastomoses with the superficial branch of the transverse cervical artery and the deep cervical artery, respectively.

I quickly began to realize that I was losing roughly 8 hours a day passively learning lecture material.  It donned on me to ask the question:

"Why?… Why am I here?"

Was it to appease the professors? No, they would not have noticed if I were present or absent in a room of 160 students.

Was it to better learn the information? No, I could more easily sift through the material at the pace of my understanding if I were to study the lecture materials on my own.

Was it to make sure I had the appropriate information from the exams? No, all lecture notes are posted online. Furthermore medical education is fairly standardized—meaning that there are dozens of review materials in the form of textbooks, review books, and review websites which detail all the information that is required for a given topic.

The more I asked these questions the more I came to the realization that if I was not actively learning from 8am to 5pm then I was simply wasting the majority of my day to inefficiency. With that realization came the conscious decision to actively avoid lectures, which I did not find myself learning. Instead of wasting precious hours daydreaming and barely paying attention, I could study the material more efficiently on my own and maybe even get an extra hour of sleep. After about a week of this new technique I found myself with a deeper understanding of the information.

I am well aware that missing lectures can come with certain downsides. For example, the lecturer may verbally emphasize certain bits of information in class that are not found in lecture notes. While missing lecture certainly comes with certain issues, I find that spending 5 to 7 hours a day actively studying the information on my own more than makes up for these relatively minor downsides.

Throughout all of our educations we have ALWAYS gone to class, listened intently, taken notes, and followed all of the traditional rules of “the student.” Having done so in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college one would think that it would only follow for us to continue doing what we've always done. But, the most important concept that I have learned from this experience is that doing something just because you've always done it that way many times is NOT the most efficient way to go about things. And in this case it happened upon me that class was not the best route for me personally.

The basic question is: does it work for you? If it does, then by all means make the most out of those 8 long excruciating hours of class time per day. But if you find yourself barely awake, passively attentive, and disengaged in class, for the sake of efficiency, take the time for self-introspection and figure out how to make the best use of your time.

And if you are a medical student I’m sure you are well aware of the fact that there are definitely NOT enough hours in a day to study!

With all due respect and hope that you find YOUR way, 

Student Dr. Francois (the S is silent people!)

Hip HIP HOORAY!!! I make it to class EVERY DAY!!

Going to class every day IS NOT an easy task, especially when classes last from 8am until 3 or even 5pm.  After being in class all day, I am expected to study for 2 hours for each lecture hour, but I want to be in bed by midnight, which only leaves a good 6 hours for studying, eating, working out, and relaxing.  I often ask myself, “How in the world do I manage to go to class every day and then study while still trying to have a life?”  I have not quite figured it all out yet, but I am managing. I can admit that there are many mornings when I would rather lay in bed and watch TV (those who know me know how much I enjoy watching TV) and then spend my early afternoon and evening studying—I would definitely then be able to watch my Monday night TV lineup without a book in my hand!! But then I realize that missing class IS NOT an option for me—I learn best by being in class. We are bombarded with so many reading assignments that I know I will not fully understand what I am reading, so I go to class to figure out exactly what I need to focus my studies on.  Also, I feel like our professors put an emphasis on what we need to know, which is not always covered in our textbooks or explained to the greatest detail.  I feel like if I don't go to class, then I'm going to miss out on something important. I will be honest though, even though I am sitting in the classroom, I am not always focused.  Sometimes Facebook may take over my attention, but I do try and at least listen to the professors and pay attention at least 75-85% of the time. Everyone learns differently, and sometimes going to every class is not helpful for some people—I completely understand and by no means would I ever judge someone for not attending class (until they start asking for my class notes every day lol). Although I would love some extra study hours and TV time, I know that I have to attend class because that is just how I am, and it works best for me.  Now I am NOT perfect Bettye or anything. I know there will be some days when I decide not to go to class, and I am okay with that too.  Besides when I think about how much money I spent on each class per day, I want to occupy my expensive seat EVERY DAY :)!!!

Sincerely,

Student Dr. Partridge

GROWING Pains.....Caveat Emptor

Caveat Emptor -

For those of you who have successfully lived your academic lives in peace and relative isolation, allow me to introduce the concept of "the gunner"; the aggressive, "smarter-than-thou", Type A personality who must be the first - or best at everything s/he undertakes. They can usually be found by following the trail of annoyed faces formed as they marched into a room with an air of self-importance....trust me, I know—I used to be one.

My header - "Buyer beware" (in Latin) or as I have figuratively translated - "Gunner Beware" - refers to the reality of Med School academics and the fact that they should not be underestimated—by me, by you, or by anyone else with any hope of success. In the days leading up to the start of classes, we students received numerous speeches about how we must work hard, "for work will make the stupid among you bright, the bright among you brilliant, and the brilliant among you steady.”  As any self-respecting Gunner would, I nodded earnestly, taking care to write down every word that came out of the lecturer's mouth –as I’d already convinced myself that I'd repeat this phrase to my awed classmates while delivering my valedictorian (read: victory) speech 4 years from then.

I cannot tell you how distant that dream now appears.

I graduated with a double major in Chemistry and French from some "great school" in the eastern time-zone...frankly, I could care less right now as in three weeks they (Med school profs) covered every chemical thing I took four years to learn (in greater detail) - and I have learned so much other stuff that I can't even remember my French - despite the presence of a very attractive Togolese girl who could have definitely appreciated it.

I think a visual aid might help:

Every Bone has about 10 parts...usually the attachment points for a muscle.

Every Muscle has an origin and insertion, a nerve that supplies it, and a blood vessel that feeds it.

Every Nerve has a series of spinal roots that create it, as well as a series of vulnerable points along its course and about 5 more nerves it creates.

Every Blood vessel has about 7 branches (or tributaries if you have veins) - their own vulnerable points, and a complicated series of relationships with the muscles, bones, nerves and (other junk) around them.

You have 13 muscles in the space between your knee and your ankle.

Go.

Not convinced? No problem - I understand, I was a Gunner too - and one year ago, I held my mortar-boarded head up with my four roommates - A Stanford bound-engineer who had developed a bike that could stand up on its own, a Rochester-med bound Economics major off to learn neurosurgery, and a Tehran-bound photographer with dreams of starting a non-profit......

Today well,...Today, I just prayed to pass.

Beware what you get yourself into - Med school is a beast that should not be toyed with.

Caveat Emptor!!

Student Dr. Hinson

White Coats and Pap Smears, Anyone?

A lot has transpired since the last time I was here.  Well, maybe not a lot, but definitely some important things.  A few weeks ago we had that unforgettable ceremony—the white coat ceremony.  I also joined the class executive board and had my first few clinical experiences with my white coat.  I have actually been dying to tell you about these clinical experiences!  Lets start with the white coat ceremony though.

Now, some would argue that orientation means you are officially in medical school.  However, I would argue that the white coat per see has a way of really reminding you that you are now a medical student (besides when you receive that first email saying how much you have in subsidized/unsubsidized loans from medical school….Uhmm, can we take away a zero please!!!).  Back to the topic at hand, the white coat imbues a HUGE sense of responsibility and serves as a great reminder of the sobriety of the path that we have decided to take.  Our white coat ceremony was held on a Friday and included our friends and family.  My family, as I presaged, cried their eyes out for about 75% of the program, which resulted in what I like to call the “did you just get finished crying face???” (insert that awkward pause here).  Moving along, that program quickly came and went and pretty much left me thinking, “ok, what next?”  Since, I had been anticipating “using” the white coat for so long, I actually scheduled my first clinical experience for the ensuing weekend.

My weekend experience took place at a student run clinic in an underserved neighborhood.  Ironically, half of the patients that I was able to see with the fourth year medical student were not even from the city.  Of course as a first year, you do not know much, and people do not expect you too.  However, there is a sense of “although you do not know this, you need to know this, so learn it now” going on in clinics.  This was very different from previous years of experience that I had as a premedical student.  In fact, I remember that during my old shadowing days the physician would ask if it were ok for me to be in the room, but now I was introduced as Student Doctor Glawson, who would be observing you also.  And to think that all it took was a white coat with my name on it???? (I am certain other people may have had different experiences).   I was able to do some hands-on work including documenting patient information and vital signs.  I saw an array of cases including a patient who was possibly manic-depressive (interesting) and someone STILL smoking, with cancer and breathing problem (even more interesting).  It was truly a rewarding opportunity, and it left me excited about the next time.

The next clinical experience was a part of one of my classes.  Initially I was extremely apprehensive because it was the OB/GYN clinic and EVERYONE close to me (although some insist that I may end up being one just for that) knows that it is the one specialty that I would rather do without because I just dread being awakened at random times in the am to deliver a baby.  Who would want to do that?!?!  It’s borderline insanity to me!  However, for the three hours I was at the OB/GYN clinic, I had a VERY enjoyable experience.  In fact, I had never seen a pap smear until that day!! (but I guess unless you are an OB/GYN, you really wouldn’t either huh?)  For some odd reason, I guess it was just National Pap Smear day because most of the women got one.  This reminds me, if you are a female of fertile age (which probably definitely includes you) make sure you get your pap and all your friends too!!  To make it easy on you, just ask during your next outing with your girlfriends, “Hey, do you want to come get a pap with me?” (It’s ok to insert another awkward pause here). lol

Now, it’s back to the regular reality of the first two years of medical school—preparing for the next exam!

With utmost appreciation, 

Best wishes in your endeavors,

Student Dr. Glawson!