13 posts tagged “med school”

SCENE:  August-ish... Start MS-1, Semester 1

You:  "Oh, hi.  So you're a med student here?"
Him:  "Yeah, first year, like you."
You:  "Where are you from?/Where did you go to college?"
Him:  "Chicago--what about you?"
You:  "Oh, a small liberal arts school in Springfield, MO."
Him:  "So, you wanna go steady/be my girlfriend/hook up and see what happens?"
You:  "Sure!  I'm totally into med-cesting.  I've heard it's the best way to ensure the future strength of a relationship... especially when you date someone in your own class."
Him:  "I agree."

SCENE:  End of May... End MS-1, Semester 2

You:  "Wow, first year is over!  It went so fast, I hardly had time to catch my breath!  I can't imagine what the rest of med school will be like..."
Him:  "Hey, we've been together for, OMG, 9 months now. Want to meet my parents?"
You:  "Yes!  I'll have my parents come up too--they can visit our new cohabitat condo!"
Him:  "Great idea."  .......... "By the way, wanna get married?"
You:  "Of course!  Don't be silly... I don't need any more time to get to know you or figure out my own life!"

I'm sorry.  I don't want to sound like a total bitch or anything, but...  Seriously?

These two just replaced my top pick for Most Ridiculous Med School Couple.

I'm officially done with my first year of medical school.  I finished my pathology final today at ~10:30 AM.  Holy shit.  I'm done.

I passed pharmacology (by the skin of my teeth--I don't know what the fuck happened there...), and though the grades for pathology aren't posted yet, based on the test today, my last exam grade, and my performance in the lab portion of the course, I should pass very easily in that class as well.

I've learned a lot this year (not as much, probably, as most people would imagine--there's just too much to retain long term when you're drinking from a fire hose), and I'm excited to get past this boring basic science crap and onto organ systems next year.  We start with neuro, so I'll have to get geared up for that when the time comes.

For now--I'm on the last summer vacation of my life, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!! :-D

P = MD

While surveying the wall posts from a facebook group called "Overheard at Mizzou"... I came across this:

"Overheard on shuttle from Hearnes to Brady: "my friend who works at the hospital was cleaning an obese women and found a biscuit underneath her back rolls of fat. she asked the lady about it, and the lady laughed and said 'oh yeah. that's a game me and my husband play. i hide food in my rolls and if he finds it he gets to eat it'"

So gross.

So hilarious.

Too good to keep to myself!!!  Ahhh, the joys of working in medicine...

Oh, yeah--this time tomorrow, I'll be a Second Year Medical Student!!!!!  Memorial Day Weekend with the In-Laws, drinking copious amounts by the pool, will kick off the LAST Summer Break of my life.  Yeah, it'll be great.  :)

From a (rich, Indian, Los Angeles native) classmate's Facebook status history:

Sheri would trade having children for couture, She definitely can't afford both...

11:40pm

I guess that's why she'll be an AOA graduate Neurosurgeon at the age of 28, and I'll be... a mother who happens to be a doctor of a 'less illustrious nature.'  A woman who wears sweatpants and rolls on the floor making noises and goofy faces at a tiny, innocent person who she loves more than life itself.  I wonder if our individual satisfaction quotients with our lives will be any different?  I wonder if either of us will ever look back to this time in our lives (myself nearing 24, she just having turned 21) and say, "I wish I'd done *that* rather than *this*"?  Or will our respective lives--though completely divergent in everything from culture to politics to taste in television--turn out as we wanted them to?

This is how I feel, and we're only on week 3.

Enjoy!

I'm in the library (since 7:00 AM) cramming for my anatomy final--bad strategy, I know... but I've lost all competitive edge since I started med school.

Anyway--there's really nothing quite like watching a video in which your instructor grabs a divided pelvis, pulls the cervix out of the divided vagina, and squeezes approximately 10-15 mL of formalin out of the external os.  What a great way to start a day!

I am SO ready for this test to be over.  I'll be the happiest person alive at 5:45 today.  I will also have been awake for almost 12 hours.  *shrug* Meh.

Addendum:  If I hear "Water under the bridge" one more time, I'm going to punch a 60-year-old woman in the face.  Seriously.

Secondary Addendum:  Grey's Anatomy is making me very angry... My entire life turned to shit after I move to St. Louis, it seems.  Hopefully I can turn things around in the next couple of weeks.  More posting, for sure.

So, I got my test results from my first medical school exam...

I PASSED!  I rocked out on the Radiology/Cross-Section section, did fairly well on the Practical, and sucked, but hit the average, on the Written exam.  I scored a *single percent* below a friend and classmate who studies for at least 9 hours a day.  I'm not sure what my other friends did, but I hope we all get the "P" for now.

I have never been so happy to see such a low number.  But I have plenty of "cushion" for the next two exams, and can be confident I'll not be spending my VERY LAST EVER free summer at Creighton SOM in Omaha.  Anyone who has spoken to me in the last 6 days knows that waiting for the grade has made me crazy, anxious, and probably a little depressed--I was about 50/50 expecting to fail this exam and be invited to the Cooper's Kids Tutoring Group.  That's the group of the lowest 20-25 exam grades who get targeted tutoring to try and get their next exam scores up....something that would be helpful, I'm sure, but also a huge blow to one's ego.  However, I'm sure the person who scored the 38% on this exam will welcome the extra help, as he/she will require a 75% on the last two exams to pass.

Our next exam day is two weeks from today--and right about now I'll be getting fairly intoxicated and gearing up for the Grey's Anatomy season premiere.  Hopefully I can improve my score, but it's not a requirement.  I think I'm just ready for anatomy to be over with--5 weeks and a day left to go!

I have amazing friends.  Amazing friends in medical school, who are doing, pretty much, the same things I am doing.  Conversations with these friends often lead me to one of two conclusions:

1)  I do not, in fact, belong in medical school.  My admission was a fluke, and I should have gone to business school instead.  I feel more lazy than I ever have in my entire life.  I cannot spend 10-12 hours a day staring at a syllabus, drawing and redrawing carotid arteries and their branches, feeling my face, and reciting information to myself like a schizophrenic.  I love patient interviews and clinical situations/questions/vignettes, but hate the tedium that IS human anatomy.  I just hope my other Basic Sciences courses go better.  5.5 more weeks to go!

2)  I am, provided I actually graduate, going to be a horrible doctor.  Not in terms of competence (hopefully), but in terms of plans and motivations.  My intentions as a physician are not in line with the profession's actual purpose; I am too selfish, and am looking for a cushy career with above average compensation and a pleasant lifestyle.  I want to hear patients stories and help members of my community, but I don't see myself as a Doctors Without Borders volunteer.  I just want to get married, have my family and my job, and live my life.  **SELFISH, SELFISH, SELFISH**

I guess I should study now.  The superficial face calls.  Vomit.

Sorry for the overwhelming dose of pessimism--medical school is not being kind to my psyche.

We had a short morning of classes today:  8:00 to 10:45.  I came home for lunch and then headed out for errands at around 11:30--namely, paying my rent and going to Schunck's.

After lunch hour traffic, lots of utility work and resurfacing on South Grand, and very, very brave jaywalkers, I make it home at about 12:45.  Yes, it took me more an hour to travel all of 3 miles roundtrip.  Anyway, now to the fun part of this entry.... what I bought, and how it fits into my plans for the rest of the week.

• Gatorade X-Factor... to maintain hydration during my 5+ hour anatomy exam on Friday

• Peanut Butter & Honey cracker packs.... to maintain my blood glucose levels during my 5+ hour anatomy exam on Friday, along with whatever I bring for lunch
  

• Luigi's Real Italian Ice.... for evening study breaks--I LOVE LUIGI'S

• California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza...because I don't want to cook until after the test.

• A few routine items

and finally.....

1.5 Liters of Beringer White Zinfandel, on super sale for 10 bucks.  That's right.... one gigantic bottle of wine, guaranteed to get me smashed, for only 10 bucks.  THAT is my plan for Friday night, starting at about 6 PM.  And there's nothing to do until Monday morning's lecture!  JOY!

Also:  this is my mental note to stop hurting my fingers, particularly those on my right hand.  I am going to need them a lot this week--and they're likely to rebel if I don't treat them better.

So, here's a not-so-fun, not-so-uplifting story about birth control access in St. Louis.

A box of 12 condoms, purchased at the Walgreens on South Grand:  approximately $13.00 after taxes.  Yeah, that's a buck a fuck.  It's a tad steep, don't you think?  Especially considering that, after my insurance coverage, my birth control pills are only $25.00 for a 28-day supply... with no restrictions on sexual behavior to ensure contraception.

Today, I'm in Wal-Mart in Kirkwood.  Greg checks the price of a box of 12 Trojans:  just about $7.  For 15 dollars, I could get a whopping 36 raincoats (in a single box--not three boxes of 12).  Which brings the Walgreens mark-up to roughly 200% for a box of 12.... more like 250% for 36.

I would expect such a high mark-up in a convenience store--that's how they make their money, off of candy and insanely priced necessities.  But at a PHARMACY!?  Give me a break.  These people claim to care about the health of our nation, and the last time I checked, several life altering (if not life-threatening) diseases are prevented through the use of a simple latex condom during each instance of sexual intercourse.  Why would these products (which do not cost more than a dollar to produce) be priced so high that many of the citizens who need them most would be unable to afford the number they might need in a given period of time?  I understand that other vendors exist, but it just seems like there would be a little more reason exercised universally in pricing for sexual health products.

I know I rant about this a lot, but I'm becoming more and more disgusted with the fact that sexual health is either ignored completely (i.e., Abstinence Only Sex Ed) or written off as "dirty" material that is only the concern of sluts and married people (i.e., Abstinence Only Sex Ed, Pat Robertson, George W. Bush, etc.).  How can we expect people to know how to protect themselves and their partners if we do not afford them access to the tools necessary to do so? 

**Frustration**

I would write more, but the brachial plexus and all of its wonderful characteristics are calling.  Human Anatomy: 20% complete.  8 weeks and 3 exams (plus 1 embryology exam) to go.  I can't wait for Biochemistry!