2 weeks to go...

Final 2 weeks of surgery anddddd I'm ready for the 2 week break that follows finishing! Kind of crazy to have been going every day since early July with no real break. Is this what real life is like? Everyone said clinicals was a lot better than basic sciences and on one hand I do agree. In clinicals at least we get to apply what we've learned to real situations, however, I think you're even more busy (or should be). Not only do you spend 8-12+ hours at the hospital each day, you're still expected to study outside...and needless to say...there is just as much, if not more to study now than in basic sci. These past 10 weeks have been pretty much a joke for studying..the last thing I want to do after being at the hospital for 12+ hours is go home and read or do Qs. Most of my studying comes on the weekends and even that can be a struggle at times. I finally put together a little study schedule for these last 2 weeks so hopefully I can get a good amount done. Time will tell...surgery shelf is in 11 days and then hopefully home in 12 or 13 days...crazy how fast it has gone!

In other news, I signed up for step 2 CK and CS....$2165 later of course! Ill be heading to Chicago in mid march for CS and most likely take CK at the end of June depending on how I'm feeling/how much studying I can get done in March/April.

These chairs are starbucks are not so comfy today so...off to the groc store before some more Qs this afternoon.

Cheers

3 weeks and 2 days left!

Who would have thought that surgery would fly by as much as it has!? It's crazy that I only have 2 more days of colorectal and then 3 final weeks on vascular! No joke, I think I'm going to miss it a little. The OR keeps growing on me. Even doing simple bed side procedures are more and more enjoyable....but still no way I would want to do 5+ years of surgery residency! I think a lot of it has to do with how great the residents are. I don't know if i've just been lucky or what the deal is but the residents I've gotten to work with have all been amazing. They're always there to teach and have fun doing whatever we are up to. I never feel pressured or over worked. I really couldn't as for a better experience, especially given that coming into surgery I thought I would hate it for sure.

Noxolo

Who would have thought...

Kind of shocking, but 5 weeks of surgery are done...7 to go! I still really don't like the long hours we have as students...heck, the residents and attendings are at the hospital more than we are....but then again I think they're crazy so yah.

To be honest, I kind of really like surgery now. Not so much rounds/consults, but the OR is a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Maybe it's because I get to do more than I thought I would and actually feel like I can be of some help.

Favorite OR Quotes:

"Surgery is a contact sport"

"hold it like you mean it"

"boo"


Noxolo

Scratch that...

Week 2 is done...officially 1/6 of the way done with surg andddd the next 10 weeks can't go by fast enough. I really don't know why anyone would choose to live at the hospital like general surgeons do. I'm there generally 5am-5pm and I know the residents are there longer than I am for the most part....sounds like no life and no fun to me. The OR is still a lot of fun, but I miss the medical management that was integral in IM.

Oh well. At least it's cooled down, the trees have changed and football is in full swing....give me something to look forward to when I'm not at the hospital and not sleeping...

noxolo

Maybe surgery isn't sooo bad after all....

My first week of surgery is officially in the books....only 11 more weeks and 3 weekend calls to go!

Overall, surgery is a lot better than I thought it would be, but there is still no way i'd want to pursue it. The OR is a lot of fun and definitely the highlight of the rotation, but I don't love it enough to give up patient care....plus the hours suck. So far I've scrubbed in on 3 cases which have all been unique in their own way. One was a Lap distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy, one thyroidectomy and one ventral hernia repair. It's been interesting bringing back all my anatomy and actually applying it. I think surgery is the one place that you actually need to know where something should be, but also where else it could be.

One bad thing about surgery is that when I get home the absolute LAST thing i want to do is study. Sooo I'm finding it hard to get a chance to do anything more than read up on what ever case I may scrub. I guess that's what weekends are for?

Noxolo

Bang bang

The other day on living social they had a deal for target shooting for an hour for 2 people at a place in Livonia. Since my roommate has NEVER shot a gun, and we dooo live in the D, I figured it would be a good experience. We get an hour of range time, ear/eye protection, targets, two 9mm's and ammo...all for $28! I'm not sure when we'll go since I start surgery tomorrow...but hopefully sooner than later! I went to a different range about a month ago now, tons of fun! (If that's what you're into I guess)

In other news....MN football is somehow 4-0!? Pretty sure that hasn't happened since I was back in undergrad..which feels like forever ago. I might have to see if they play out here this season and get some tickets.

Cheers

IM...done!

So, my first rotation of 3rd year is done! I took the internal medicine shelf this morning and pending some sort of catastrophe on thattttt I am done with IM. It's pretty bitter sweet. I really enjoyed IM and have all but decided that is the route I want to take for residency! I still need to do a sub-I and a few electives to further solidify, but that's the way it's looking as of now.

Up next, surgery....welp. We'll see...it's going to be a longgg 3 months. The hours are looking like 5am-5pm, plus Q6 call.

In other news....I recently got a Keurig! It's pretty darn amazing. The chai latte, coffee and tea are all really good.

It's weird to have a free weekend...it has been a while. We'll see if I get anything done, might just need to relax.

As for the IM shelf...I really dislike when you take tests and about half way through you realize there was no good way to study for it. I did quite a bit of studying for IM...between step up to medicine, kaplan lecture notes, UW and USMLE Rx....I put in a few hours to say the least. However, there were still tons of Qs on there that were simply out of left field. I guess we'll see when scores come back in a few weeks.

Noxolo

and it continues...

So I guess it's been a little bit since I updated....in all fairness I've been kept pretty busy!

Lets see...as of now I have 2 more weeks of IM left! I started on a new team this month and it's crazy how different teams can be. It's still a ton of fun and I learn a lot, but it's just different. Here are a couple of pictures from last months team. Our attending was really nice and took us out to lunch on one of our last days.

Coming up in 2 weeks I also have the IM shelf which will be a little weird. It'll be the first test i've taken since step 1 a little over 6 months ago...crazy!

As for now, back to studying and trying to stay sane! At least football started and the weather is cooling down!

Noxolo

Another week done...

It's crazy how fast the time flies by! This week I was on night call, my first of many, and it wasn't too shabby. I think half of that has to do with having great residents to work with. We never really get scutted out and they love to talk and teach about PE skills or work ups on patients. With that...our attending right now is amazing as well. She really takes time to work through differentials and treatments for our patients even if they are very basic such as asthma or ACS. What is now second nature to her is somewhere in our minds...just not as organized and fluent as it should be. It's going to take one heck of a team to top this one next month but from the general consensus around here is that everyone is great soooo we'll see.

We have had a lot of lectures this week and I can honestly say i've taken something away from all of them...which is a rare feat in todays world where we have far too many lectures IMHO.

I really need to get back on my studying...night call really threw me off by a few days trying to catch up with sleep. Oh well.

Noxolo

It always gets busy at the end

Yesterday was my first day on call and it wasn't too shabby. Here we are on Q4 call meaning we're on call every 4th day. We also alternate between day and night call. So either 7am-7pm or 7pm-7am. Yesterday I was on day call and of course it was slow. I mean really slow. Until the last couple of hours which is exactly what you would expect to happen.

It was nice to kind of have a more relaxing day, get a little bit of studying done and see how the residents handle their busy work when we were in a lull. I couldn't be more happy about our team this month. My Jr, Sr and attending all really enjoy teaching and make sure to stop and always keep us involved whether it be through pimping, PE skills or just running through protocol work ups on our patients. It has all been really fun up til now, but having a solid team who is willing to teach and recognize where we are in our training is the cherry on top.

Yesterday I also had my first admit which I was completely nervous for...why...I have no clue. So when you're on call your Sr will get a call from the ER and then someone, usually the med student, will go down and see the patient in the ER. We take a complete H & P, talk it over with our Jr, who then also has to see the patient and fill in/double check the important info we gathered.  I think I was really fortunate to have a patient who was very lively, friendly and kind of just along for the ride.

I think both of my patients were DC'd today so tomorrow may be a pretty quiet one. Which is never really the case...always studying, presentations, meetings, lectures, etc....but..it's fun. Even though I've only been on inpatient for all of 5 days now, I think I could see myself doing this....I guess we'll see

Noxolo

A whole new world....

Today was my first day of inpatient and let me say, it's a whole different world than outpatient. I like some aspects, others not so much...I guess it's just different. There is nothing like being back to the bottom of the totem pole....We have our attending, a Sr resident, 2 Jr residents, a 4th year Med Sub-I, another 3rd year med student and a post intern year doc acting as an observer this month. Needless to say, our team of 7 could beat just about any other IM team in a tug of war match this month!

In outpatient my days were more 8-4...see a patient, present, see with the Dr, then move to the next. With inpatient there are a lot more lectures (resident lectures, student lectures) and we all round on all our patients together...then more lectures. Either way I feel like I'm learning which is good, but it makes me feel like I know nothing still because it is never ending.

Such is life.

Noxolo

Boom...outpatient is done

So, today I wrapped up my last day of outpatient IM. It's kind of weird knowing I won't be back that office for quite some time. I'll try and swing back to say hey sometime while I'm still around here but my schedule will keep me pretty busy. Given that it was my first rotation and did a lot of my "firsts" there it will definitely be missed. However, on to more exciting things with inpatient.

Cheers

1 month done...almost

So, come Tuesday, I'll have my first month done....crazy. It's amazing to me how fast these past few weeks have gone. I knew i'd be kept busy with the clinic plus studying, however I didn't think it would all go THIS fast. Come wednesday I move back to inpatient for 2 months so that will be a nice change of pace.

All in all, outpatient has been a great experience. It's given me an interesting perspective on medicine simply based on the population base in the clinic I'm at. Family, friends, musicians, athletes, homeless, CEO, retired; the list is never ending. The ability to communicate problems with a wide array of patients is really a skill all by itself.

My one gripe with outpatient is....drugs! In school we learn all pharm by generic names...whereas now in outpatient I feel like everything is done by trade names! Plus when you throw in all the combo drugs it gets to be a headache. I think i'm finally getting a hold of it now though, of course right when I'm finishing. I've heard that inpatient is mainly generics so that'll be a little better for me.

On another note, the olympics started which is always fun. It's crazy to think that 4 years ago I was watching most of them in Sanford during CA training. A lot has happened in 4 years and it's crazy to imagine what will happen between now and 2016 in Rio.....

Yeah this post was all over the place...which sums me up right now. 2098323 things going on and even more that i'm probably forgetting! Today I worked on my CV which makes me want to kick myself for not working on it as I did things these past few years....would have saved some time.

Noxolo

Hump day

1. It cooled off some today....thank goodness!

2. Reps brought breakfast (starbucks and muffins/donuts), lunch (pitas) and a snack (coldstone ice cream) today...needless to say it was a good day.

3. So in basic sciences when you're face deep in a book trying to learn all these drug side effects and random disease facts you honestly think WHEN will I ever see a patient with this or that. Well, today was one of those days for me. It's always interesting and invigorating  to see the details you've learned in the past. To me, it helps put all the work into perspective. We're past the phase of learning to pass the test; we're on to learning to help patients (granted that has been the ultimate goal from day 1, it's a little harder to appreciate the knowledge until you get legitimate patient interaction).

Cheers

Monday funday

Today was a new day, new doc and new pts. I'll say this, lots of patients means keeping me super busy and thus the time FLIES by at the office. All in all it was a solid day filled with murmurs, bruits, SOAP notes and cortisol shots. Just another day in the life....

Oh and trying to study after I get home sucks! Honestly it's the last thing I want to do buttttt it has to get done...

Noxolo

2 thoughts from this week

1. Drug reps are okay in my book. Sure, you're pushing some drug or some test that probably costs far too much money and shouldn't be used for the people you're pushing it on...that's fine, it's my job not to use your product when I shouldn't. However, please keep bringing free lunch and I will continue to entertain you for about 5 minutes as I pick through what you've gotten us.

2. Since when does everyone in a hospital wear a white coat? If a person only associated a white coat with a doctor there would definitely not be a doctor shortage in this country. I swear every other day I find a new job title that now decides it's time to wear a white coat...I really think other color coats should be implemented. That way you get your coat, and I don't look so funny being the ONLY person in a group of 20, 5 of which may be doctors, who has to wear a short white coat.

Cheers

1 week down. 75 more to go

My first week of MS3 is officially behind me. It was filled with orientation, a holiday day off, and 2 days in the out patient clinic. It was nice to sort of be eased into it all but I think this week may be different. As of now, it's still just study and study and study and keep on studying. Hopefully the temp will at least stay low(er) this week. Otherwise it makes it stupid hot with dress clothes and a white coat on! Oh well.

On another note, I started UW and USMLE Rx Qs again with the goal of finishing how ever many Qs they have for each core. UW alone has around 1400 for IM sooo I have no clue how doable that goal is but I guess time will tell.

Cheers

Orientation: Checkkk

As of today: goodbye sleeping in, goodbye relaxing and goodbye TV shows I used to watch to kill time. We had orientation and I have a feeling it's about to get real, real soon. Although I did just find out I'll be on outpatient IM to start, and from what i've heard it isn't quite the kick in the face I was expecting for time requirements....not that I'm complaining AT all. Hopefully after tomorrow I'll have a better idea of my schedule and what is expected of me because as of now a lot is still up in the air to me. 

We also got our pagers and IDs today which makes me feel like it's all official now. HA. Lets just hope I don't lose either in the near future and I'l call it a win.

Nom nom nom

Last night we took our free $100 from rent.com and went to Texas de Brazil in downtown Detroit. It was my first time at a Brazilian BBQ spot and it definitely won't be my last. Between the fillet mignon, the filet wrapped in bacon, the house sirloin, the lamb chops, chicken and brazilian sausage I think I won't be able to enjoy meat for at least a week. The meats were a little bit salty but still really good. They had a nice salad bar plus au gratin potatoes, rice, black beans, mushrooms, mashed potatoes and fried plantains as well.

I think i'm still full even though we ate 12 hours ago....

Cheers

Booyah I'm back!

So....after going back and forth about whether or not I should continue to blog I figured why not. No promises it'll be updated all that often...it'll really depend on what kind of time I find myself having over these next 2 years of med school.

So this kind of marks the beginning of my 3rd and 4th years of med school. I'll be throughout the midwest trying to save lives, learn as much as I can and hopefully stay out of the way.

I think when I started basic sciences I was nervous as well but it was a different type of feeling. I was nervous about finding my group of people and handling living in a new country all alone. I was never really worried about school or succeeding in the classroom. Now, however, it is the opposite. I have the same roommate as I did on the island, I know a decent amount of people here and yet I'm more nervous than I was 2 years ago. Now...it's all about clinicals and trying not to screw up toooo bad. They can't expect us to know EVERYTHING right out the gate can they?

Well it has been a long 4 months since I took step. (which is still crazy to me...4 months is a long time but it flew by!) This is essentially my last full week of "freedom!" Once I start next monday I'll pretty much go straight until match (march 2014). I get 2 weeks off for xmas but other than that I go from July 2- March 31st with cores. Tentatively I'm looking to take step 2 CS and CK at the end of June. Then hopefully an away elective or 2...finish off electives in neuro, rads and fam med...then call it quits. Oh toss in there applying for residency...hopefully tons of interviews (fingers crossed already)...then that thing called the match.

All in all it should be a pretty interesting next year and a half. I'm sure i'll be tired, run down and questioning whyyy I did it but in the end it'll be worth it.


Cheers

Final post

So it's been a few months and now I bring about my last post for this blog.

Since I left the island back in december I took a few weeks off and then studied for a solid 6 weeks for Step 1. I took it Feb 23rd and got my score back today! It's a good feeling to wrap up basic sciences and I am more than ready for clinicals to start. I still don't know where I'm going to end up but hopefully I'll find that out in the next few days.

I figured I would give a little run through of my step studying just incase anyone actually reads this.

I started out and did Pathoma, then read through Goljan rapid review path and listened to his audio sporadically throughout the 6 weeks. My weak areas were micro and biochem so I did those subjects out of the kaplan books along with immuno and pharm as well just to brush up. Next, I went through the entire First Aid Cases book. I thought it was a great resource and could really help you connect dots if you were willing to put in the time to think while you read. Finally, I did First Aid cover to cover twice over the last 2 weeks. Then 3 days before the test I reviewed some high yield biochem and micro, two days before I read through the entire pathoma book again, and finally the last day I relaxed and did NOTHING!

All in all I couldn't imagine studying any longer and highly recommend taking the test sooner than later (pending you feel prepared).

As for Qbanks....I started Kaplan Q bank during 2nd semester and finished it completely during 5th semester. Then I started UW Qbank and did the entire Qbank TWICE before the test. A majority of the Qs were during my 6 weeks of studying. I also used the FA Qbook for a few hundred Qs.

I believe doing Qs is the single best prep for STEP and will continue to stand behind that. Between comps, NBMEs, Qbanks, online and book Qs I ended up doing 12,586 practice Qs. Originally my goal was 10,000. People may think you're crazy but it was worth it.

I also recommend doing the UW Self assessments and the NBMEs while using test like conditions starting 6 weeks out.

My results were as follows:
UWSA 1: 234 6 weeks out
UWSA 2: 240 5 weeks out
NBME 6: 224 4 weeks out
NBME 7: 224 3 weeks out
NBME 11: 231 2 weeks out
NBME 12: 235 1 week out

I finished the Kaplan Q bank with a 58% average, UW first time through= 63% and UW second time through=80%

I'm pleased to say I am quite happy with my score and the way it all turned out.

The only must have resources for step in my opinion are First Aid, Pathoma and UWorld Q bank. Although I highly recommend goljan rapid review path, FA cases and kaplan for pharm, biochem, immuno and micro.

It is a very stressful time and no one really understands unless they've been through it but if you study hard and efficiently there is no reason why anyone can't reach their (realistic) goal on Step 1.

If anyone has any questions feel free to shoot me an email: brink127@gmail.com

Noxolo