Man, I have GOT to start studying! Two weeks to the day until boards and not much to show for it. I've done a few practice Q's here and there, made some notes in the USMLE Bible that is First Aid, but I seriously have to step it up! I'm taking all of next week off, today's the last dossing day.
But it was a good one ;). Went to the gym early to release all the pent-up energy from the last few days - we're on a little lighter schedule of rowing training to accomodate the exam period. Didn't work too well cuz I'm still wanting to go for a run now. Then spent this morning running errands and splurging a bit before a few of the rowing gals came over for lunch. We're really close - I suppose a few of us have been together a few years now and seeing someone every day for like 2-3 years tends to bring you together :). It gets a bit bitchy sometimes, but we're each other's psychologists too. So myself and Anna decided to give people an exam pick-me-up, especially since one of the girls has had a tough time of it lately, and made a gorgeous lunch, I love lunches like that. Anna brought over a warm loaf of multigrain brown bread from Avoca that seriously could have been like a cake, and some salad leaves/tomatoes. I had corn for the salad and ham/cheese for the bread and ice cream to top it all off! I'll miss those lunches when I leave - they started about 3 years ago when Dor was Captain - a really good salad +/- potatoes with mayonnaise and bread in Rowing Rooms. And of course something sweet to top it off afterwards with a cup of Barry's Gold or coffee. Simple but perfect.
Continuing on my reflection... I love Trinity. And I love that all students of Trinity love Trinity. It gives us a really unique sense of community and pride, moreso than any of the other Irish colleges. It could have something to do with the fact that it's a closed campus...literally...it's walled all the way around and all open space is contained within the college campus itself. But I feel like I'm catchin up on that sense of school pride that I missed while attending CWRU, since I really didn't like being there, everyone was apathetic and that place really didn't suit me socially. Apart from a few friends, I wish I never wasted my time going there not from an academic point of view (the educational opportunities are endless)but for my own personal happiness and sanity. Ultimately it's what led to me and Viv coming to Trinity in the first place on junior year abroad...we just had to escape from the confines of that soul-sucking place. I hear it's better there now with the new renovations. Good for them, but I'm so happy that I came here. I'll be an IMG (international med graduate) but it's been worth it!
Friday, May 26, 2006
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
On some down-time waiting for lecture to begin. So I'll continue updating my life :). It's a nervous time right now because although we're not in final med yet, all the rotations/study/tutorials are being geared towards doing the obs/gyne and paeds finals in November, then the medicine/surgery finals in April. Lecturers are going through what they're looking for when you present, how to make yourself shine, and all the stuff they expect you to know...and some of the things they want as basic knowledge seem like honors questions! That plus trying to figure out what you want to do and narrow down your field choices.
I'm definitely more a surgery person than medicine. Medicine's too boring for me, can't stand the 4+ hour ward rounds and 2+ hour conferences. Guess it won't be a life of free pens for me :). So I'm considering more active medicines like Emergency Med (which I really enjoyed) and am also interested in musculoskeletal medicine (PM&R), following on my natural inclination to fields like anatomy and exercise physiology. Problem being that physiatry doesn't really exist anywhere other than the US, so I haven't had any real exposure to it yet except for 2 days shadowing I did at Christmas. I also would consider general surgery, but I haven't heard anything good about surgery in the US in terms of lifestyle and colleagues. Lifestyle I wouldn't have a problem with. People being dicks to each other for absolutely no reason, or trying to one-up each other all the time, I would have a big problem with. I always think people work best when each person tries to be cooperative with everyone else, and I would not deal well in a situation where everyone keeps to themselves and hoardes info/ambitions. I'd really like orthopedic surgery (more an jocks/boys club than anal surgery) or even ophthalmology, but those are impossible fields to get into especially for IMGs like me.
Right now, planning on returning to the US for internship/residency. That's where the best post-graduate training and resources are, even though primary med ed is pretty standardized universally. And a life of large space, luxury and efficiency is appealing. To be honest, I like the european lifestyle (and dare I say people) better but it would be nearly impossible to advance career-wise over here, since I'm non-EU and non-Irish. If I could stay in Europe with an equal chance for career advancement I would, though probably would explore somewhere other than Ireland. Wouldn't mind doing a bit in Australia either, and I think eventually I would like to join one of those groups like Doctors-without-Borders to explore a different side of medicine and expose myself to problems/issues that I would never encounter otherwise.
But first things first, I've got to pass this damn USMLE first. It's an annoyingly difficult exam, and my studying hasn't been the best for it. I can't seem to concentrate very well, and it's a bloody 7+ hour exam! Each subject you study in medicine is huge as it is, and this exam combines them all! Whoever devised this exam must've been a big time nerd with a chip on his shoulder who's getting payback on those docs who've managed not to have social problems. Well it's working, it's KICKING MY ASS.
I'm definitely more a surgery person than medicine. Medicine's too boring for me, can't stand the 4+ hour ward rounds and 2+ hour conferences. Guess it won't be a life of free pens for me :). So I'm considering more active medicines like Emergency Med (which I really enjoyed) and am also interested in musculoskeletal medicine (PM&R), following on my natural inclination to fields like anatomy and exercise physiology. Problem being that physiatry doesn't really exist anywhere other than the US, so I haven't had any real exposure to it yet except for 2 days shadowing I did at Christmas. I also would consider general surgery, but I haven't heard anything good about surgery in the US in terms of lifestyle and colleagues. Lifestyle I wouldn't have a problem with. People being dicks to each other for absolutely no reason, or trying to one-up each other all the time, I would have a big problem with. I always think people work best when each person tries to be cooperative with everyone else, and I would not deal well in a situation where everyone keeps to themselves and hoardes info/ambitions. I'd really like orthopedic surgery (more an jocks/boys club than anal surgery) or even ophthalmology, but those are impossible fields to get into especially for IMGs like me.
Right now, planning on returning to the US for internship/residency. That's where the best post-graduate training and resources are, even though primary med ed is pretty standardized universally. And a life of large space, luxury and efficiency is appealing. To be honest, I like the european lifestyle (and dare I say people) better but it would be nearly impossible to advance career-wise over here, since I'm non-EU and non-Irish. If I could stay in Europe with an equal chance for career advancement I would, though probably would explore somewhere other than Ireland. Wouldn't mind doing a bit in Australia either, and I think eventually I would like to join one of those groups like Doctors-without-Borders to explore a different side of medicine and expose myself to problems/issues that I would never encounter otherwise.
But first things first, I've got to pass this damn USMLE first. It's an annoyingly difficult exam, and my studying hasn't been the best for it. I can't seem to concentrate very well, and it's a bloody 7+ hour exam! Each subject you study in medicine is huge as it is, and this exam combines them all! Whoever devised this exam must've been a big time nerd with a chip on his shoulder who's getting payback on those docs who've managed not to have social problems. Well it's working, it's KICKING MY ASS.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Summary of the year so far
Well, after nearly a year I've decided to rekindle my blogging efforts. I've joined the bebo and myspace craze (great inventions!), and as awesome as they are, ya don't want to read a lot on them...makes them crammed. I like my internet aesthetically pleasing. So I've recently gotten in touch with a few mates who I haven't talked to in literally years, and since I'm cutting myself off from AIM cuz I get a bloop everytime I try to study, I figured this blog would be a great way of staying in touch!
I'm still in Dublin at Trinity College (I love this place!), one year away from becoming a full-fleged doctor. Right now I'm doing a rotation in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of. Today in my group was me and 3 guys - we went to see a C-section of a woman with placenta accreta (a complication of pregnancy). Because it's relatively rare, there were like 20 people crammed at the foot of the bed trying to get a view. So the placenta dislodges spontaneously, and there was huge gushing of blood...like seriously, waterfall coming out of this tiny woman. And the surgeons are in there tugging away trying to get the baby out but one of them was rather rattled from all the blood spewing forth and her hands were shaking badly. When they got the baby out, it was blue and not breathing and was the most awful shade of pale grey imaginable. If anyone had looked at us 4 med students they would have seen 4 people who couldn't have gotten out of there faster! None of us were particularly keen on seeing a baby die. So they whisk the baby away and are slapping it to get it to respond and eventually have to intubate the baby (the instruments are kind of cute actually cuz they're like mini versions of the adult tools) , which they had trouble doing so there was a bit of panic. But after what seemed like ages, they got the baby tubed and she turned a nice normal color, and they controlled the mother's bleeding too (after a Lynch suture which makes the uterus look kind of like a pork round...) . So all was good. I'll give it more time, but not really falling in love with obs/gyne right now.
My last rotation was Ophthalmology, which was really cool. I enjoyed it, found more doctors to add to my list of people I want to be when I grow up, and learned loads. I thought it was going to be incredibly boring when I first came into it, and I don't like things poking eyes and whatnot, but it was cool watching the cataract surgeries and finally learning how to use the fundoscope. The only thing I didn't like was watching the unblocking of a lacrimal duct in a kid - that is viscious! They take this wire and literally jam it down the inner side of the eye...EW. I'd consider Ophtho if it wasn't so bloody hard to get into.
Before that was ENT. Which I pretty much skipped because of all the work that had to be done for the Trinity Student Medical Journal (which I directed this year). This year ended up being a hell of a lot more work than it should have been for various reasons - laziness on the part of some people and type A personalities of medics. Seems sort of ironic that the two happened simultaneously. Fortunatelly for me, the ENT rotation is a bit of a joke and as with some other things, it's "teach yourself medicine" time. I went in for two hours the whole rotation, and learned how to use an otoscope. Not well.
Before that, I was doing Anesthesiology which was an AWESOME rotation simply because the anesthetists were so keen on teaching. I really wish I could have spent more time there, but because of the feckin TSMJ, I had to skip a bit. I don't think I'd do anesthesiology, but it was way better than I thought it would be and not too boring because in theatre when anesthetists are just basically monitoring, you'd get a tutorial so you're not just sitting there staring into space. This rotation was split with radiology, which was also quite interesting. I liked viewing the MRI interpretations. For some reason, I just like MRIs in general. Not any specific body part, but MRIs of anything.
In January, I did Paediatrics. That was hell on wheels. A whole load of bitchiness came out of everyone. All I'll say for now is that MEDICAL STUDENTS AND GROUP PROJECTS DO NOT GET ALONG. DO NOT ASSIGN MEDICAL STUDENTS GROUP PROJECTS! I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory isn't it? What happens when you put 10 type-A personalities in together? And add to that a couple people who rank 10/10 on the laziness and stupidness scale? (trust me...there are some really stupid people doing medicine. I know that's not reassuring to the general public). That just really ruined the rotation for me. Plus I've never seen such flagrant examples of subjective grading in my life, with examiners hiding behind the excuse that "life isn't fair." Why the hell does that give them license to ignore the universal best practice of standardized examinations? The kids were the actual fun part. And I'm so glad I didn't drop any of them.
In December, I did Hepatology. That sucked because the team sucked. I learned nothing and felt it was a waste of time so essentially skipped it.
For October/November, I was doing Psychiatry. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But that's probably because I started off interviewing a bipolar patient, who are mad fun people (I don't mean "mad" to be a pun). When they come into hospital, they're in their manic phase and delusional, but really fun to hang out with and interview. My patient even sang for me! So I got a good introduction to psych :). The rotation was enlightening and not too difficult. Some people in my class are now enamoured with it...but not for me. I find it still a bit waffly and psychiatrists are a different breed - sorry to the psychiatrists out there, but man...they say in 45 minutes what they could have said in 10, and what makes it worse is that you can anticipate what they're going to say about 3 minutes before they get around to saying it :).
Anyway, that's just a long brief recap of my rotations so far. All this + studying for USMLEs and Captaining my rowing team + TSMJ + SDN! I'll be glad when I can look back at this year and laugh.
I'm still in Dublin at Trinity College (I love this place!), one year away from becoming a full-fleged doctor. Right now I'm doing a rotation in Obstetrics and Gynecology, which to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of. Today in my group was me and 3 guys - we went to see a C-section of a woman with placenta accreta (a complication of pregnancy). Because it's relatively rare, there were like 20 people crammed at the foot of the bed trying to get a view. So the placenta dislodges spontaneously, and there was huge gushing of blood...like seriously, waterfall coming out of this tiny woman. And the surgeons are in there tugging away trying to get the baby out but one of them was rather rattled from all the blood spewing forth and her hands were shaking badly. When they got the baby out, it was blue and not breathing and was the most awful shade of pale grey imaginable. If anyone had looked at us 4 med students they would have seen 4 people who couldn't have gotten out of there faster! None of us were particularly keen on seeing a baby die. So they whisk the baby away and are slapping it to get it to respond and eventually have to intubate the baby (the instruments are kind of cute actually cuz they're like mini versions of the adult tools) , which they had trouble doing so there was a bit of panic. But after what seemed like ages, they got the baby tubed and she turned a nice normal color, and they controlled the mother's bleeding too (after a Lynch suture which makes the uterus look kind of like a pork round...) . So all was good. I'll give it more time, but not really falling in love with obs/gyne right now.
My last rotation was Ophthalmology, which was really cool. I enjoyed it, found more doctors to add to my list of people I want to be when I grow up, and learned loads. I thought it was going to be incredibly boring when I first came into it, and I don't like things poking eyes and whatnot, but it was cool watching the cataract surgeries and finally learning how to use the fundoscope. The only thing I didn't like was watching the unblocking of a lacrimal duct in a kid - that is viscious! They take this wire and literally jam it down the inner side of the eye...EW. I'd consider Ophtho if it wasn't so bloody hard to get into.
Before that was ENT. Which I pretty much skipped because of all the work that had to be done for the Trinity Student Medical Journal (which I directed this year). This year ended up being a hell of a lot more work than it should have been for various reasons - laziness on the part of some people and type A personalities of medics. Seems sort of ironic that the two happened simultaneously. Fortunatelly for me, the ENT rotation is a bit of a joke and as with some other things, it's "teach yourself medicine" time. I went in for two hours the whole rotation, and learned how to use an otoscope. Not well.
Before that, I was doing Anesthesiology which was an AWESOME rotation simply because the anesthetists were so keen on teaching. I really wish I could have spent more time there, but because of the feckin TSMJ, I had to skip a bit. I don't think I'd do anesthesiology, but it was way better than I thought it would be and not too boring because in theatre when anesthetists are just basically monitoring, you'd get a tutorial so you're not just sitting there staring into space. This rotation was split with radiology, which was also quite interesting. I liked viewing the MRI interpretations. For some reason, I just like MRIs in general. Not any specific body part, but MRIs of anything.
In January, I did Paediatrics. That was hell on wheels. A whole load of bitchiness came out of everyone. All I'll say for now is that MEDICAL STUDENTS AND GROUP PROJECTS DO NOT GET ALONG. DO NOT ASSIGN MEDICAL STUDENTS GROUP PROJECTS! I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory isn't it? What happens when you put 10 type-A personalities in together? And add to that a couple people who rank 10/10 on the laziness and stupidness scale? (trust me...there are some really stupid people doing medicine. I know that's not reassuring to the general public). That just really ruined the rotation for me. Plus I've never seen such flagrant examples of subjective grading in my life, with examiners hiding behind the excuse that "life isn't fair." Why the hell does that give them license to ignore the universal best practice of standardized examinations? The kids were the actual fun part. And I'm so glad I didn't drop any of them.
In December, I did Hepatology. That sucked because the team sucked. I learned nothing and felt it was a waste of time so essentially skipped it.
For October/November, I was doing Psychiatry. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But that's probably because I started off interviewing a bipolar patient, who are mad fun people (I don't mean "mad" to be a pun). When they come into hospital, they're in their manic phase and delusional, but really fun to hang out with and interview. My patient even sang for me! So I got a good introduction to psych :). The rotation was enlightening and not too difficult. Some people in my class are now enamoured with it...but not for me. I find it still a bit waffly and psychiatrists are a different breed - sorry to the psychiatrists out there, but man...they say in 45 minutes what they could have said in 10, and what makes it worse is that you can anticipate what they're going to say about 3 minutes before they get around to saying it :).
Anyway, that's just a long brief recap of my rotations so far. All this + studying for USMLEs and Captaining my rowing team + TSMJ + SDN! I'll be glad when I can look back at this year and laugh.
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