So long Saint Maarten

For the last 20 months I've called Saint Maarten my home away from home. Between moving to a new country where I knew no one and the rigors of med school it has been quite the experience. 3 days from now I will be back home in Minnesota and I couldn't be more excited. It's actually a really weird feeling. I'm excited to get home to the cold and see family for the holidays, but it's weird to think that I may never see people from my island family ever again.... Down here I have seen everyone in my class almost every single day for the greater part of 2 years, and now, I won't. You grow accustom to seeing the smiles and the nervous faces...and now...nothing. I can't imagine what people did without Skype/FB/email or any other sort of instant contact. I know i'll keep in contact with my good friends and a majority will drift but that's the nature of a situation when you put thousands of miles between people again; especially when everyone is busy studying for Step and during clinicals.

Top 3 things I will NOT miss about SXM:
1. Traffic: 1 island, 1 road, too many hours in traffic just to go to the grocery store.
2. Having to go to more than 1 store for random things....AKA no Target
3. Everything costs more $$!

3 things I'll miss:
1. The people....mostly friends from school, but also getting to be friends with your pizza guy or the ladies at the coffee shop. All in all it really is a friendly island and having friends or someone to cheer you up everyday made it all easier.
2. Friends that are like family...I really can't imagine going through these past 20 months without great friends.
3. The beaches, winters on the island and chatting up the tourists.

Alright, I'm going to try and finish up these last few days with some fun and goodbyes and call it a wrap. I'll try and keep blogging and maybe do a post about shelfs/NBME comps/kaplan comp and what I found worked for me in case anyone who is in basic sciences actually reads this.

Noxolo

Comp

Since I'm getting no studying done today I might as well post about something useful....comp. So at AUC we have to take and pass a comp which is a cumulative, standardized exam for all of basic sciences. It encompasses all disciplines and is a pretty big deal. In order to get off this island 5th semester we must pass a comp with a scaled score of 64. I feel like everyone always gets confused with the scoring but it really isn't too bad. The test is 4 blocks of 50 questions with 64 minutes per block. I thought our comp had a wide array of topics and really didn't focus too heavily on anything...which was a little surprising. This semester our average on the 1st comp was a 67 which is one of the higher first comp scores I believe. Thankfully I passed and am decently happy with my score.

In order to prep for comp I think it is important to start as soon as possible. I started doing questions during 2nd semester to stay on top of old material. I continued doing questions all the way up until comp. I think I've done somewhere between 4000 and 4500 questions between books and online Qbanks. Along with doing questions I also went through the entire Kaplan MedEssentials book, but I think doing a ton of questions was the single most important thing for me passing on my 1st attempt. As long as you use questions as a learning tool and not just an assessment of where you're at they can be a great prep tool.

I'm planning on taking the last comp on Dec 8th as well, hopefully by then I can be through first aid, rapid review path, and Pathoma but we'll see...I'd have to find a lot of motivation between now and then!

Noxolo

ugh

Serious amotivational syndrome going on right now....hopefully it will pick up soon. On the bright side we have no class tomorrow due to Saint Maarten day and then wine and cheese is on saturday. Hopefully the weather will be nice and not too humid.

Noxolo

Serious countdown

As of today, I found out I passed the first "comp" aka one step closer to getting off the rock and back to the states! Since my last post there has been lots of studying, a bunch of tests and then even more studying. We've had shelf after shelf after shelf (shelf tests are standardized tests that the NBME puts out to kind of see where everyone is sitting in the different subjects). So far i've been pretty pleased with how i've done given how much I've studied for certain aspects.

Also, I'm officially DONE with the basic science classes. We finished up Behavioral 2 and Pharm 2 last week and I couldn't be more happy. Just another thing to have finished.

I've also gone and finished 2 rotations. One in anesthesiology and one doing general surgery rounds. Both were good experiences and I learned a good amount from both.

It's weird thinking that I have a little over a month left here (fingers crossed). A few more tests and lots of studying still to do but 20 months is coming to a wrap.

Noxolo

blah blah blah

So over classes....thankfully we only have another 4 days of formal lectures. Seriously though, they can't end soon enough. I'm trying to get back into studying for comp on top of classes and it's going alright. I'm actually a pretty big fan of step studying so far since it's nice to review and make more connections.

As per usual SXM is pretty nice. It's still pretty warm during the day but has started to cool down at night. Hopefully the humidity will leave for the season soon!

Back at it

oops

So it has been quite a while since i've last posted, sorry for that. I've been back at school for a little over a month now and time is flying by as usual. Being that it is 5th semester our schedule is different than the rest of the students in basic sciences. We now have only 2 blocks, we have ICM the whole semester and now we have ICM in the morning and classes in the afternoon. I'm not a huge fan of the change in class time. By the time we have class I'm usually ready to take some time and relax, oh well. We had our first block for pharm 2 and behavioral 2 last week...everything went fine and i'm looking forward to finishing up classes so I can just study for the comp.

Now that my hectic week last week is done maybe i'll try and get on and post some more. Although between class, ICM, planning the 5th semester party, the Biochem Shelf, and a Harvey review it is looking like another busy week.

Noxolo

A.L.M.O.S.T. home....whew

19 days from now I should be landing in MSP! Waahoo! This semester has been quite the whirlwind with school and trying to wrap up my time on the island. Hmmm I don't think a whole lot has happened socially. My birthday has come and gone, yet again in another country. A few of us went out to dinner at The Stone and then out after that for a bit. I'm definitely going to miss the amazing food in St. Maarten!

Other than celebrating birthdays pretty much every other weekend it's been pretty low key. We had a little guys night after ICM 4 wrapped up with block 3...and since both went quite well it made it a fun night with a little bit of everything SXM has to offer.

Right now school is school and i'm pretty burnt out. 4th semester is kind of in coast mode and now I'm more focused on studying for step. Tonight I just finished 50% of the Kaplan Qbank...a whopping 1144 questions in the bag! This weekend hopefully I can find some time to set up a study plan for break and next semester...the last thing I want to be doing at this time next semester is worrying about the 3rd comp!

It's kind of crazy to think I've been down here for 15 months and only have 5 more to go...the time has absolutely flown by. On one hand I'll miss a few things around here but for the most part I'm ready to move on to the next phase of Step 1 and clinicals.

Oh I also got to shoot another engagement a little over a month ago! Photography has really taken a back seat to school and step studying but it was a fun little project. Here are a few of the shots:

Noxolo

la la la la la

Block 1 is done and block 2 is under way. Behavioral sucks, neuro was disappointing, but path was crushed. On to the next set I guess. It's really heating up and getting humid...now i remember why I loved the dorms and the free AC!

Just think...a little over6 month's from now I'll be heading home for good if everything goes to plan!

Graduation was this weekend so it's been fun to see some of the grads coming back to walk at graduation. I'm glad to see they actually exist and seem happy!

Noxolo

4th semester, up and running

We're already a week and a half into block 1 of 4th semester and tests are a little over a week away. Time is flying by per usual. I guess I just get used to losing track of the day and time. My life really doesn't change on a day to day basis....wake up, school, study, maybe some soccer and then do it all over again. I went to the white coat ceremony last night to watch a friend get awarded the student of the semester and it amazed me how quickly time has gone since I was sitting where all the 1st semesters were. On the same note, how QUICK it'll be before i'm sitting where honors society was sitting. Everyone said that the time would fly but you never really know until your immersed in it.

Oh well, back to some neuro and path 2....hello saturday!

Noxolo

It's been a while...

It's been a pretty crazy past month and a half or so! Block 3 ended up going well, block 4 seemed to go alright until I got my phys grade back and it was my lowest test score here at AUC by 20%! It sucks when you drop 11% in a class simply because of one poorly written test. Oh well. The same thing happens as always when it comes to finals....i'm burnt out! I try and study because it is usually the difference between deans list and missing it but everyone, including myself, just get too burnt out to really care anymore. I did what I could and ended up doing pretty well on all my finals...in fact I got the same grade for all three of them! I THINK it'll be enough for deans list but it's going to be pretty close! All in all i'm glad 3rd semester is over with! I really liked 3rd semester, at least content wise, but the amount of information was ridiculous at times. I can't believe it's been just under 1 year that i've been on this island...crazy really. My family was down for the past week which was fun and now I have another 8 days or so before school kicks back up....breaks go by soooo fast!

I'm going to try and really start my Step 1 prep this semester so by the time i start 5th sem I will be through FA once, through the Kaplan Qbank for the classes im done with, and hopefully ID some of my weak parts. I'll probably try and set up a schedule in the next few days, maybe ill post it up if there is anyone who actually reads this lol


Cheers

blhakslfdj

blah, block 3 is done....finally! It was a pretty redic block...the tests were OKAY at best and the material was interesting yet copious! Should be a pretty busy week....St. Patty's day, NCAA tourny starting, soccer tournament on Friday, and Wine and Cheese on Saturday.....it never ends!

Noxolo

Quick but productive

The weekend went by fast, per usual, but was weirdly productive. I got through all of my endocrine path and typed up my own notes on it....yes, 19 pages, single spaced. I feel pretty solid on med micro, but still need to do some work in phys. Less than a week til the regatta, which should be some pretty good motivation to get a lot done this week!

Here we go

Hi weekend!

The weekend is finally here! and by weekend I mean tons and tons of time to study! I suppose I should start it off strong by putting in  some good ol Robbins reading on the porch!

Wish me Luck

Noxolo

Face down

Forget the distractions, time to just focus. Pass it on. There is always something  that can take you off your path but you just have to keep pushing....get at it.

Noxolo

Oh people

First off, I have super weird/funny friends...I love it...I really don't know how anyone could do this whole med school thing without a strong support system between friends and family. 2nd, why are some people such douche bags? We had the tri annual? (every semester, but in reality we have 3 semesters a year...blah this is confusing)...hockey tournament on Friday night. This was my 2nd time playing and it was a good time, but yet again it amazes me to see such gym class heros trying to run the show like they're NHL pros. There is a reason you're not in the NHL...YOU'RE NOT THAT GOOD! Sure, you may have been a high school star....here's a cookie...now sit down and shut up because we don't want to hear it. Anyways.....I need to try and blog more! I started another project on my other blog and have another project potentially in the works..we'll see! Hopefully this week will be a little less busy. It ceases to amaze me how busy the week after blocks is! You would assume that since tests are done it would be time to relax...er...it never seems to work out that way, at least for me. As of now I don't have as much planned this week outside of class but that can always change!

Noxolo

Whew

Block 2 is in the books and I'm done with ICM3! Waaaahoooo!

Everything we do, we do it big

Time sure goes by quick

I feel like it was yesterday that I wrote I'm a week away from tests but here I am again, a week from tomm is block 2 of 3rd semester! Block 1 ended up going pretty well and block 2 has been a blur because of ICM but it'll all be over soon enough. This week is going to be a LONG week but hopefully it'll all pay off!

Noxolo

Oops...that was a quick month!

So I didn't realize, but it's been over a month since my last post! Um...big things...I made it home for a few weeks over break/xmas, and now 3rd semester is kicking me straight between the legs. It amazes me how much stuff we can cover in 1 day! A week from tomorrow is our first block of 3rd semester and it should be interesting. I always hate first tests because you never know what to expect! Oh well...i'm just trying to keep on pushing, trying not to get sick, and enjoy some of the amazing weather during some study breaks!

Noxolo