In Deep (that's what she said!)

School is tough right now. We are covering about 150 pages of in depth anatomy and physiology material every week. It's extremely challenging to stay on track. Today is Monday and we are just starting week 3 of the 6 week block called "Cardiovascular Pulmonary Block". It is really interesting, we are learning about the heart and lung system in depth for 6 weeks. I have been playing catch up with the material since last week. Almost caught up, and then more gets piled on!!

This past weekend was Martin Luther King weekend and the student group I am with at Rush called OCP held a medical fair, where we provided free medical screening for people in the Latino community. It was great! I took blood pressure for about 20 people.

The best part was the little kids that wanted to be doctors, we inspired them to want to get into medicine and it was neat having them listen to their hearts!
So as I am starting week 3, I truly am in DEEP. It hurts, but at the same time it is awesome. Medical school is a way of life. STUDY. EAT. WORK OUT. STUDY WHILE WORKING OUT. COFFEE BREAK. IPAD GAME BREAK. STUDY. GAME BREAK.

-MD in 14 

My Heart is Pounding: Opening my First Medical School Grades

Ok, so I wanted to write this last Friday after our exams, but I was too lazy and too tired! Today is Tuesday and I just opened my email 10 minutes ago and got this message,
"Hello M-1 students:
We have received the 'all clear' for use of the new and improved Blackboard system, therefore I have released access to the grading center for you to view the scores and final grade information for the Musculoskeletal Block. Each column has information about the scores listed and the final grade column includes information about MPL, mean and SD."

I just went to my email and the first thing I see is 60/75 for the first part of the exam and 56/73 for the other part. I thought I had failed! So, I got 80% on the first part and 77% on the second part. I passed!! Overall I got a 78%, and I needed a 70% to pass the class, so I passed by a nice 8%. My heart has never pounded so fast though, I saw the 60 and thought that was the overall percent I got in the class! Whoooo. I am in the clear, and P=MD (P is Pass). I did fine. This was the hardest class I have ever taken. Studied my ASS of for three weeks and still only got a 77% overall. WTF right?! It's crazy how much harder Medical school is than regular college. 3 weeks of studying hard every single day, and only a 77%?!! WOW. But I feel great about it, because I knew my stuff, and its just the way the tests are written, they are IMPOSSIBLE! Why was it so hard? We just memorized all the muscles of the entire ARM, LEG, and BACK. We also learned nerves, arteries, and a complex of nerves called the BRACHIAL PLEXUS. We also learned all about how our bones grow and the hormones that help with that. I feel very doctor like for learning soooo much.

I can't believe that I am 1/8 of the way to being a DOCTOR! Its gone so quickly, it's just like a few days ago I was writing essays and applying, getting the acceptance letter, and now I can say I have completed my first full semester of my medical education! It's such a great feeling!! So, I think one of the reasons I passed was that a friend of mine, Josh, and I randomly went out for Sushi in the Sear's Tower (also called Willis Tower) after our first major test. We did that again after this exam, and we have agreed to start doing it after all exams as a good luck charm, it worked so far! We have agreed to keep it up. I think its the Wasabi sauce giving my brain the spice its needs to stay sharp! Anyways, I am really excited that this semester has gone so well.

Its Christmas this Saturday, I have stayed in Chicago since Friday, on Friday the M1 class went to a classmates apartment and partied and then to a club called the apartment to get our groove on! It was a blast! It's the best feeling ever to not have to start any studyin until January 3rd! I have already used the time to catch up with a friend who just came back from India for 4 months, and seeing Chicago with the Christmas lights. Its nice to just chill. Going home tonight to see the family and have a great Christmas! Wow time flies. Before I know it, the whole M1 year will be over. But I am going to take it slow and just enjoy this awesome Christmas break. Time for Christmas movies!

-MD in 14 

Say Hi to the Cadaver: First Day in Anatomy Lab

Today was our first day as medical students for real! We got to see and meet our cadavers. It was intense. As I type this, my hands smell like crap. I already thought the lunch meat I opened smelled just like the chemicals in the lab. It kind of ruined my lunch. My hands smell and I didn’t really even do anything. There are 4 people per cadaver. Today, two people dissected and they will teach me and my partner on Friday what they learned today. 

 My cadaver is a old woman who had breast cancer. One of her breasts is completely destroyed. As we unzipped the bag with the cadaver in it for the first time, the cadaver wreaked and the cadaver had ropes tied around the neck and arms and a black bag over the head. It was really disturbing. What I didn’t like is that the cadaver had pink nail polish on her finger nails. It gave it a more than needed lifelike appearance. Also, the hands and feet are very realistic. The skin is really wrinkly and the face looks pretty real.

-MD in 14 

First Test of Medical School

Yesterday was our first test. It was for the block class called "Cell Molecular Biology". It was tons of information, but yet I felt comfortable taking the exam. I finished quick, it was scheduled for three hours and I got done in one hour. Also, I studied everyday for the last two weeks very hard. I actually got bored of studying over the weekend before the test. But I do think I did fairly well, and I will know for sure on Friday! Other than that, not to much is new.

I went on a walk today to the Sears tower, now known as Willis tower, and around that area. Everyone around there acts like they have somewhere to be right now. It's a rat race, and to where, I don't know, it was kind of funny watching everyone run around. Some were really running. Downtown is really neat, I like walking around there at night time, its so cool looking. I hosted a student interviewing at Rush last week and we were walking around and saw a man in a wheelchair peeing into the middle of the sidewalk, right into out path. It was unreal. So, tomoroow starts our new class, Immunology and Hematology, it's 3 weeks long, and then another exam. This weekend I am going to Iowa City for the Wisconsin game and I cannot wait to see friends in IA City, it has been to long since a good hawkeye style weekend.

-MD in 14 

20 days into this Med School Thing

So, its been 20 days since day one. Today was another perfect fall day. It was clear skies and perfect temps. Why do I emphasize that? Because today was the first time I went on a bike ride in Chicago!! It was awesome. We got out of class at 11am so I decided to give myself free time until 1pm. Getting to the lake shore bike path is dangerous, you have to ride in the hectic street, and taxis are jerks and will try to run you over. Only taxis. Once I was there it was awesome. I went north from where I am at, and passed Navy Pier and went up to the North Beaches. Its soooo cool. Pedaling to jams on my mp3 playa and taking in the skyline, people watching, and having the sun shining makes it the perfect relaxing thing to do. It was great! I hope there's more weekends for that!
Besides that, what do I think about Medical school? HARD AS HELL. everything I learned in undergrad in one semester of biochemistry, I have taken in in two weeks. Its insane. My word of advice to everyone in college: Remember EVERYTHING you learn. Wow! It all comes back, and its just the review part. Its basically expected of you to recall everything they point out in the lecture notes. The coolest part about Rush is that I have gotten to shadow a doctor in internal medicine. I watched for 5 hours as she took history and diagnosed issues. I really liked it alot, I could see myself in internal medicine.
Chicago is crazy at night. I was asked to buy cocaine and weed in less than a block and a half last Friday when all the first years went to a night club. My friend Joe, and his brother were stunned as well. Then, you meet the craziest people ever on the subway "EL". We met a 45 year old creeper who claimed to have been kicked off a bus for dancing in a bad way. I asked him to demonstrate the dance move, and I saidf maybe they had a reason to kick him off, and he did! Joe, john, and I clapped a beat as he danced. Then he busted out a liter of whiskey and started jugging it! Insane people here.

So at this point, school is going well, its hard, and harder than expected, yet I don't feel terrible. It's interesting too, so that helps! Time to study for a quiz tomorrow!

First Day of Medical School

Today was officially my first day of Medical school. It was long as heck. I am not used to this! It was from 8 am to 530pm, with an hour for lunch. It was mostly lecture in a single room, with small small group activity in other rooms.

The best part of the day was we got to start to learn how to take someone's BP and listen to their heart, and then give a few different type of eye exams! Then, I walked along Lake Shore Drive after class. It is awesome. It was a perfect fall night, and the nightline and Lake Michigan are awesome at night. This town is awesome!!! So excited!!

-MD in 14 

Deep Dish In CHI- TWN

I made it! My parents and I loaded a truck and moved into Chicago on Saturday. The apartment is huge. My parents helped a ton. They went out and bought me the nicest couch ever, you sink like 5 feet into it, end tables, a coffee table, really nice kitchen stuff, and just random stuff. Awesome. Only bad thing was the kitchen cabinet doors had mold on them. They cleaned those yesterday. I officially am moved into Chicago! I went jogging last night for the first time in down town Chi town. Awesome. So many people out and doing the same thing. So much to see and take in. I like it. Downtown is going to be great for study breaks.

I had my first Chicago deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's on Sunday with a buddy who is going to Moody bible school here (so strict there: no t-shirts to class of any kind, no televisions in the dorms, censored internet, dancing off campus was just allowed last year, no girls in guys dorm room, only allowed to skip class certain amount of times in a semester, its soooo crazy strict). So the deep dish was really good. It looks tiny when they bring it out, and I was like "This aint going to be enough". I was full after one and a half slices. It was like spinach and stuff, the house special. It was the bomb. Today I was on the "EL" train and some dude asked me for the time so I gave it to him. After, he began to rant how he was going to visit his grandkids, and then he took a huge swig out of a bottle in a blakc bag and hopped off at the next stop, meanwhile yelling goodbye to the entire train car. Welcome to CHI TWN. Anyways, orientation starts tomorrow. Going to be doctors! Going to clean stuff tonight and organize.

-MD in 14