Fall Off then Bounce Back

This is my first Blog Post in a while and this is actually my first post as a Second Year Medical Student (Drum Roll and Round of Applause!!!!!!!!!!)

As I am writing this post I am thinking of all of the items on my Monday Sept 25th, 2017 "To Do List" that I still have to do ;-) but I definitely want to share my thoughts on 2nd year so far.

Class started Mid August and I am currently taking Pathology, Medical Microbiology & Immunology, Pharmacology, and Fundamentals of Medicine. In about 3 weeks we will begin Pathophysiology. I will share with you all in a later post more details about all of the classes. 

The last 5 weeks have been crazy, when I say crazy I mean crazy and to top it off we just completed our first set of exams for our year long courses. I can only speak for my school and my curriculum but 2nd year is completely different from 1st year, there is 5x more material to cover, longer class hours and did I say 10x more the material. 

But Five exams in 3 days does not sound that bad at first but it was definitely more challenging than I thought. And guess what I did absolutely... .....HORRIBLE (well not super horrible but bad enough on 1 exam to really make me rethink everything for a quick second). 

Learning to balance the new load of material was a challenge but the most demanding or worrisome part of the past 5 weeks had to be "other" issues I had to deal with equaling to an undue amount of stress, from financial stress, to home stress, to work stress, to financial stress, to just extra stress leading to an unfocused mind. And to be very honest I did not study everyday like I should had. Nope I didn't, on days when I was just completely over it, I might have studies for 30mins- 1 hr.  I was not getting adequate sleep, all adding up to not so ideal circumstances. 

A few good/not so good things that I did prior to this exam block was:

1- Met with a tutor to get an idea I how I should tackle studying for my courses. I received a few good tips but ultimately the tutor and I were not the same type of learner of many of the tools mentioned were not ideal for me.  Try out multiple tutors, until you find your match!

2- Attempted group study. This was not effective for me either (at the time) because I was the weak member of the group, I was ill prepared and honestly couldn't keep up. I could have more effectively used that time to catch up on material. Going forward I will use group study to review questions (share common or differing point of views) and topics that I don't fully understand. 

3- I did quite a bit of practice questions. Initially, I did practice questions to early before we covered all the material (so I could not answer many of the questions) and I didn't thoroughly review my answers afterwards. I plan to go back to my trusty MCAT question review method: Review all the questions and take brief  notes on topics I get incorrect, if the topic is in my "REPEATEDLY MISSED" list, take more in depth notes and discuss the topic with a tutor, professor or another student.  

Immediately after my exams, I emailed my advisor with revisions to the my study plan for the next test block, I met with one of my professors to discuss best practices for doing well in their course,  I reached out to another tutor, received tips/guidance and then I reviewed my missed exam questions. AND I GOT SOME REST, or simply put did something none school related.

My transparency is to let you know that life will continue to happen whether we are students or employed adults. I mean this isn't my first time failing an exam but as with any time that you fall short of your goal, you have reevaluate your actions and work harder the next time. 

Relax.Relate.Release: DIY/ChefMD

When I need a break from my everyday routine a few things I enjoy doing are DIY projects and cooking!

Here are a few of my recent projects and dishes:

Year Around Center Piece: Rocks, 3 different floral arrangements and glass vase.

I purchased all of these items during a Dollar Tree Haul! I super glued various glass pieces together to make the bathroom decor items.

2 cheese, spinach, & mushroom Stuffed chicken with Zucchini, Squash and peppers

Devin Making his own chicken

Curry Chicken

Caribbean Style Cabbage

Sweet Potato Pie (before the oven)

Curry Chicken, Cabbage, Rice & peas

How do you find time....

I have officially been in school for almost 2 months and school recently started back for my son as well. Is it just me or does like feel like once school started that some time goblin stole several hours out of my day. Not only does it feel like the standard 24 hour days no longer applies for me but I am in a time warp and everyone and everything around me is going in overdrive.

Where is there time to eat, sleep, go to class, take notes, read notes, re-read notes, sleep, eat healthy, help with homework, cook, sleep, attend study group, sleep, exercise and did I say breathe lol

Ideally, when school began I wanted to incorporate healthier habits into my life such as exercise a few times a week, meal prep, healthier foods, sleep 8+ hours, in addition to my normal parenting duties and attending class and studying. However,  during the first two weeks of schools I found it very hard to do much of anything that wasn't considered absolutely necessary (Eat whatever was available, sleep, go to class study and normal family obligations) and doing those things felt like a stretch.

Now that a few weeks have gone by and I feel more comfortable with balancing everything. Of course some days a way better than other days but over the last 2 months I have discovered that I will have to sacrifice somethings in order to find this balance. One thing I am working on is scheduling majority of my daily activities in order to feel like I am actively accomplishing my weekly goals. I am doing this for both school and home (you can image some of the items on the daily checklist for a little boy smh LOL). However, I have yet to find time for exercise :-( so in lieu of not being able to rigorously exercise, I skip the elevator and take the steps everywhere I go, take walks during extended breaks and "try" to do small workouts at home and I have incorporated several healthy food items into my weekly meals.

I am glad that it is still early in the school year for both my son and myself because it gives us time to tweak an ideal routine. I am always looking for suggestions on how other students balance school and personal life , so please share!!!   Stay posted for new updates on our school/home routine.

Mini Update

2 Exams down

1 exam next week

Organ systems and Gross Lab starts in 2 weeks!
White Coat Ceremony in 3 weeks!!!!!!

MEDICAL SCHOOL: Week 1

It's official, I am official!!! After a whirlwind pre-summer, I can say with great pride that I am officially a medical school student. I have been rejected many times, pre-screened, waitlisted, and finally accepted multiple times over! Now I can say with certainty that I am at an institution where I belong and feel I will thrive and have all of the support I need.

This Monday I celebrated my birthday by taking my first ever Medical School exam as an actual Medical student (last year I took a medical school exam with M1s but as a summer student). I was not originally excited about having a major exam on my birthday but what other way would I want to celebrate my life and have another year to accomplish goals and be with family/friends than by living out a life long dream!! Well lets get to this a synopsis of the first few weeks of school.

Our orientation was at the end of June and class began immediately after the July 4th Holiday. Orientation consisted of faculty and student introductions, class photos, debt management talks, school public safety sessions, learning communities introduction and Ethic dilemma session among a wide range of other things.

The first week of class was a bit surreal, even though it was only a 4 day class week due to the holiday it probably felt like one the longest weeks so far. At that point it still had not set in that I was actually in medical school and that I was in a position that I had envisioned for so long (not sure if it has even set in yet lol).

My school typically has class Mon-Fri first starting at 9am and the end of our day ranges from 3pm to 5pm but once gross lab starts we will definitely be there till 5pm or later. I am accostumed to the long days because I just transitioned from a full time job back to being a full time student, despite that I found myself searching for energy after lunch, during our 3pm session and even sadly sometimes midway through our 9am session. If you have ever heard medical school classes being referred to as like a fire hydrant... its true because the amount of information you are flooding with in a short amount of time can be mind blowing. Being a single parent makes my situation a bit different as well. I have tried to get my feel of things and work on my study schedule, find people that I can potentially study with and those that I can build relationships with, its a work in progress!

Prior to our test on this Monday we had over 25 different lecture sessions (13 actual class days)  ranging from biochemistry, histology, molecular cell, cell biology, fundamentals of medicine, etc and our test was 118 questions. I will go into more detail about the test and what I learned in another post!


Here are a few words that my classmates used to describe there first week of school........

Indescribable, Woaaaah, ugh, Introspective, fun, Crazy, Seriously, Interesting!


           

I am a proud member of the Class of 2020!!!

Spring/Summer Update

As I discussed in my previous post I have a few things up my sleeve for the summer months. Outside of my prep course (class time, studying and all that jazz) I will be working on getting my Non-Profit off the ground. The major work will not take place until Aug after I take the MCAT and it is set to launch in the fall, after 2-3 years of working on it off and on.

I think that researching my target groups, drafting proposals etc for my Non-Profit is doable even while participating in a summer enrichment course. I don't know about any one else but after going to class (in person and/or online) for 4-8 hours a day then studying for hours on end until I fall asleep, is not how my brain operates. I have to study in chunks and give my brain a break for the  MCAT and even from school material. During those breaks, instead of surfing the web looking at useless items, on gossip sites, facebook/IG/Twitter and so on, I plan to use a small fraction of the time during my study break to give my brain a cool down and feed my soul. Outside of medicine, I am very passionate about my non-profits' mission of and helping other individuals from similar backgrounds and circumstances as myself achieve their goals.

I will periodically blog about various stages of starting a non-profit organization, learn more about my mission, goals and about me of course, take a peek!
My Non-Profit blog page!

Summer Plans

Part 1
Summer Break has officially started for me. My son's last day of school was May 22nd and I must say we ended the school year spectacularly well. He received tons of awards at his 1st grade Spring Honor's Ceremony, The President's Award for Educational Excellence for receiving A's in every subject area all year around just to name one. I was definitely happy of his accomplishments and I gladly gave myself a pat on the back as well LOL now off to 2nd grade :-) And fortunately for him mommy knows that learning is a 365 day job so his summer will include a summer reading/math camp along with fun stuff life Six Flags/White Waters etc

As for me I will not have a summer break this year. I took a leave of absence from my job in order to participate in a Summer Enrichment Course that includes MCAT Prep. My last day was this past Friday and my class starts bright and early June 1st (a whopping 2 day break). After working every day thus far in May, I can say that I am completely exhausted, but since I will be out of work for at least 12wks I couldn't pass on working as much as I could to make up for the income I will be missing. I doubt I will have a moment to breathe this summer, Transitioning back into an academic setting, dealing with declining health of close family members, cross country transitions, working on my non-profit and so much more. I have a lot on my plate for this summer but I am welcoming it all with open arms, facing my fears, confronting health challenges, and multitasking is a continuous process that is preparing me for rigors and time constraints of medical school and eventually the hectic schedule of a practicing physician.

So I'm sure that you have gathered by now that I have decided to take the new MCAT. It was not my first choice but I have to face it, despite interviewing in previous cycles, I was not granted and interview this year. The medical school application process is becoming increasingly more competitive and if I hope to get into medical school I need to have more competitive scores to back the other aspects of my application. I chose to partake in a MCAT prep course because of my previous struggles with the MCAT which is ironic because I actually saw my largest increase in PS/BS (on the flipside also the greatest decrease in my VS) when I did self study prep. But this is a new test, new material, and I need to insure that I am doing everything I can to knock this test out the park!

Fall Update & Halloween DIY

I have not had the opportunity to add any news blogs lately because I have been computerless (Yikes I know right) but now that has all changed!

So basically heres a kind of not so brief update: I have been working diligently to complete my business plan, Articles of Incorporation, and other supporting documents for Non-profit and I hope to submit my AOI to my secretary of states office today (I am super excited). I am still shadowing a local OB/GYN and attending OB/GYN grand rounds. As far working goes, my fellowship officially ended Sept 30 but technically ended 2nd week of Oct because I participated in a Roundtable webinar as a panelist. Outside of that I work independently doing contract work. But for the most part I am a full time mother, which consume majority of my evenings, weekends and life LOL and working on my non-profit consumes that remainder of my day, the pay is Zero, but the personal rewards I am receiving are far more valuable

Writing, Helping others (through medicine, education, mentorship) Cooking and "hobbies" that keep me motivated and allow me to express my self. Writing- is my outlet, my so called "creative corner" and an area of reflection. Helping others- keeps me at peace, I am not a millionaire or even an expert in every matter under the sun, but I have life experience, words of encourage to offer, and personal faith to offer. Cooking- I am from the south and love good southern meals (well i love food in general :-) and I enjoy cooking for other people, providing them with nourishment, comfort and a good meal too! Now I need to find one that makes me some money!

As you can see the nuts did not want to cooperate, initially. So once the apples has sat for a while I took a spoon and moved the nuts in place and added more nuts to some of the apples. 

This weekend I decided that we would have a day of fun. Saturday consisted of a movie matinee, we saw the "Book of Life" and I actually thoroughly enjoyed it lol and then we went home and made (semi) homemade caramel apples dipped in nuts and made a jack-o-lantern. Check out Pursuits of Happiness for the the caramel apple recipe we used. They were sooo delicious!

I dropped my laptop last summer(July 2013) more than a month before my Aug 2013 MCAT test (the absolute worst feeling ever). To repair the computer would have been just like purchasing a new laptop and I was not financially able to make that move. So I had pretty much been without a computer until this June when I had the pleasure of using a company own laptop for the fellowship position, well I shipped that boy back earlier this month upon completion of my role.  And initially I had planned to wait a while before I purchased a computer but then I thought about all of the things I needed to do that required the internet, word processing etc. While the library was an option I tend to work into the wee hours of the night and computer availability is not guaranteed. I purchased a Desktop computer last week. I chose a Desktop versus a laptop because it is more family friendly, cost efficient  and because I will be in medical school in the coming summer/fall and my school will either provide me with a laptop or I can allocate funds from my loans and purchase one! I learning to speak everything into existence, there is nothing that I want or need that God hasn't already set aside for me. All I have to do is remain faithful and claim what is already mine! Here's a challenge for you- eliminate estimation, guesstimation {yea I know its not a real word but that's why I love creative writing} and if statements from your vocabulary, use AFFIRMATION STATEMENTS instead.

Take a Deep Breath

I have been running non-stop for months. From studying 6-7 days a week for the MCAT, primary/secondary applications to working 40+ hours weekly, then play dates, the park, guppy swim lessons, and limited sleep. And I honestly did not know the toil it had taken on my body until today.

I literally completed my Fellowship on Tuesday and was on to another opportunity on Wednesday. Today after spending a day at an OB/GYN Clinic, seeing patients, participating in discussion and listening to presentations, I could barely keep my eyes open as I drove home. Then I was greeted by a very energetic kid and my exhaustion was an after thought and I remembered who I was and what my life consisted of, that yesterday, today and even tomorrow, will probably be considered calm days in the grand scheme of things, compared to what my future will hold. Then I took deep breath in and thought about the budding couple I met expecting their very own Thanksgiving surprise. And, after discussing school lunch, math, reading and my day downtown, my little one reminded me that I always have a "test patient" at home who doesn't mind a cold stethoscope. And then I took a deep breath out.

Have you every looked up and been amazed at how much time has gone by, whether you were consumed in excitement or with the daily going abouts of life?? That's sort of how I feel, it will be 2015 before we know it and I feel like just last week I was waiting for the snow storm to pass. So tonight I plan to indulge in whatever fantasy my mind can concoct and have long sweet dreams. And tomorrow I will get up and do it all again, reminding myself throughout the day to just take a deep breath and take it all in as comes.

UnderGrad Chronicles:The Student Worker

{My typical undergrad school/employment semester schedule. Freshman through Senior YR. Its kind of hard to schedule certain parenting obligations and studying, (which unfortunately was fit in wherever I had a moment to breathe) so they are not listed in the schedule above.}  

Lecture/Study/Life balance is an essential component of maneuvering through college and being academically successful. When you add working part time and/or full time as well as being a parent, the balancing act can feel more like you’re walking a tightrope 20 stories high.  

I chose to work while in college because working was a necessity for me. Coming from a single parent home, my mom and family couldn’t afford to contribute substantially to my siblings needs and towards my education. And, even after multiple sources of funding, there still was an unmet need. Working helped supplement that void. When I became a parent, working was even more essential, it was my year around means of healthcare, adequate means of transportation, and so on. This lead to an imbalance in my work/school life schedule. And, not only did my academic performance suffer tremendously, but so did my personal outlook on my future.

Working as a full student is probably one of my biggest regrets but it’s also one of the most valuable lessons I have learned. I wish it was different but for majority of the time that I worked while in undergrad I had poor time management, stretched myself to thin and neglected my studies, which was ironically my primary reason for working. It goes a lot deeper than a 300 word post but in summary: I am not the first student to have to work while in college and I am sure I won’t be the last.  I learned that this is just another obstacle, I will face in life, a test of my true strength, and an opportunity to exhibit perseverance. I have held several jobs since undergrad and I will continue to work until I enter medical school, because that is my reality (unless I win the lottery ;-) but now I am wiser and I know that I can’t let short term factors take precedent over long term goals.

When I finally decided to quit my long term employment role (of 7+yrs), my former manager said to me, “Don’t be a career student.” Initially I kind of took that as a “Jab” at my professional aspirations with a twist of bitterness because of my departure. Today, I find wisdom in her words because now I see that there is nothing wrong with being a “Career” or better yet a lifelong student. I never want to reach a point in which I am complacent and think that I have all the answers. I want to continue to evolve and grow, this will require an endless array of “Schooling”, which will consist of collegiate training, filled with worldly experiences.