Mermaid Doc: October 2016

Hey ya'll. So unfortunately, I have not been updating you as much as I used to because now it is time for the BIG GIRL studying to begin. Honestly, studying the subjects this time around is more crucial than before. This time I am studying for a big test called the USMLE Step 1 if you are not familiar. This test pretty much determines what type of doctor you will become. I have a goal in mind and I am sure with my faith that I can achieve that goal as well. I am doing my best to study as effectively as possible to understand and review some material.

So I am sure that people want to know exactly what I do all day. I literally wake up and begin making tea. Just kidding but I do that out of all honesty and then I get ready to go to class. So what is class like you might ask. Well, it consists of 3 hours of Kaplan videos. Being that the old program involved professors lecturing for 8 hours straight, I'll take 3 hours of videos I can speed up if I watched them on my own. So honestly, for that portion I don't "need" to be at school other than to sign in. Around 11 am, we have a professor that comes in to review some concepts by going through practice questions. I would understand why the school wouldn't choose their best professors but it is still helpful in seeing how the information is supposed to be incorporated into our learning.

Lunch is still at noon for an hour like it was on the island. Mondays are the days we learn material for the CS exam from a great instructor. He is very helpful and likes to challenge us to see if we remember material from basic sciences such as the brachial plexus and volume of distribution equation. Yea, we are supposed to remember that and yep, I forgot it. So those days happened but I can tell you that I won't forget it again.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are reserved for clinicals. My first set of rotations is in family medicine. I really like this doctor and he somewhat reminds me of a certain professor on the island based on his intimidation but I enjoy it. He keeps us on our toes. I can honestly say that we have learned how to take a history and watched a lot of physical exams so far. I think everyone in my group has seen at least 5 patients thus far in our two-hour block for rotations. It may seem pointless to some but seeing what may be in my future is pretty exciting.

Thursdays and Fridays are set aside for Q/A sessions with the visiting professors. At this time, the professor can choose to go through questions on the topics and explain answers. I find the sessions really informative and I am starting to learn again that I know more information than I give myself credit for. Looking forward at this exam scares me greatly but I keep forgetting that I know more information than I give myself credit for.

Recently we completed the biochemistry section and since we didn't have a professor, my group and others went to the hospital like the overachievers that we are to take a scrub class for the surgery rotation we will have in a few weeks. I think you can say we had fun and I will let you judge.

A lot of people had opinions of this hospital and I really must say that I am impressed with the resources they have. They have a lot of medical students that are walking around with a variety of doctors as well. I find the strangest thing that there is actually no trauma centers on the South Side of Chicago so the fact that this hospital is in place without that is really nice. It is in a minority-based community so that was a prediction of the patients we were to serve.

Other than that, what have I done that was interesting? Well, I took a walk at the Navy Pier and Lake Michigan and studied. But that's about it!