I'm finally done with the host defense block, which means we only have one more block left - neural science. I'm excited to be done with host defense because it was mostly memorization and I didn't find most of it very exciting or interesting! I think that neuro will be much more interesting and more conceptual - which makes it easier to learn for me.
I can hardly believe that I am just nine weeks away from being done with my first year of medical school! This year has gone by so quickly - and I'm excited for things to come!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Forward Progress
Today's exam marks the point of being 2/3 done with my first year of medical school. I can hardly believe that I'm already that far along. It still seems as though it was just a month ago that I began here at OSUCOM. I'm excited to be that much closer to being done!
I received exciting news earlier this week that I got a position for this summer that I really wanted. I will be shadowing a family medicine physician who will be helping me work on my history taking and physical exam skills. It will be a great experience and a good opportunity to really develop my skills. I don't know many details about the position yet, but there were a lot of people applying for only a few spots, so I'm really excited that I've been given this opportunity! This position will be infinitely better than spending my summer doing research that doesn't interest me!
I received exciting news earlier this week that I got a position for this summer that I really wanted. I will be shadowing a family medicine physician who will be helping me work on my history taking and physical exam skills. It will be a great experience and a good opportunity to really develop my skills. I don't know many details about the position yet, but there were a lot of people applying for only a few spots, so I'm really excited that I've been given this opportunity! This position will be infinitely better than spending my summer doing research that doesn't interest me!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Specialty Ideas
I get asked at least once a week what area of medicine I'm going to practice. At this point, I really have no idea, but I have some thoughts about certain fields. I mentally have lists going of fields that are good possibilities and fields that are definitely not of interest. There are a lot of maybe fields in the middle that I just don't know much about. I fully expect these lists to change a lot over the next few years, but for those that are curious, I thought I would put these lists on here so that other people can see how my thinking changes along the way too.
Good Possibilities: (roughly in order of most likely to least)
Med-Peds (combined internal medicine/pediatric training)
Peds
Emergency Medicine
Heme/Onc
Genetics
Family Medicine
No Thanks: (no specific order)
Surgery (and all subspecialties of that)
Urology
OB/Gyn
Geriatrics
Pathology
Psychiatry
Radiology
Good Possibilities: (roughly in order of most likely to least)
Med-Peds (combined internal medicine/pediatric training)
Peds
Emergency Medicine
Heme/Onc
Genetics
Family Medicine
No Thanks: (no specific order)
Surgery (and all subspecialties of that)
Urology
OB/Gyn
Geriatrics
Pathology
Psychiatry
Radiology
Friday, January 29, 2010
Reality/Humanism Check
For one of our lectures today, a patient was brought in to talk to us. I normally don't go to lectures, but since this was a patient encounter, I wanted to go.
I didn't realize until I got to class that the patient was a young woman who had been diagnosed with cancer when she was 22. She was a healthy 22 year old enjoying life when her health severely deteriorated over the course of one month and she was told by her local doctor she had a tumor the size of a 2-liter bottle in her chest and that she would be lucky to live more than a few weeks. 22 - and told that you only have a few weeks. Since I'm 23, that was quite the reality check.
After going to OSU's cancer hospital, her prognosis (projected outcome) looked a little better due to their phenomenal staff and treatments, but the future was still unknown. She is now three years past her diagnoses and has been in remission for just over two years - and has only a small chance of recurrence. At five years of remission for her particular type of cancer, she will be considered cured.
Hearing her speak was so beneficial for bringing back the human side of medicine. Our lectures often are so focused on the facts and science that it's easy to lose sight of how this will tie in to treating patients - but hearing her story and what treatment felt like for her was a perspective that reminds me why I'm doing this. And those reminders are always appreciated and rarely forgotten.
I didn't realize until I got to class that the patient was a young woman who had been diagnosed with cancer when she was 22. She was a healthy 22 year old enjoying life when her health severely deteriorated over the course of one month and she was told by her local doctor she had a tumor the size of a 2-liter bottle in her chest and that she would be lucky to live more than a few weeks. 22 - and told that you only have a few weeks. Since I'm 23, that was quite the reality check.
After going to OSU's cancer hospital, her prognosis (projected outcome) looked a little better due to their phenomenal staff and treatments, but the future was still unknown. She is now three years past her diagnoses and has been in remission for just over two years - and has only a small chance of recurrence. At five years of remission for her particular type of cancer, she will be considered cured.
Hearing her speak was so beneficial for bringing back the human side of medicine. Our lectures often are so focused on the facts and science that it's easy to lose sight of how this will tie in to treating patients - but hearing her story and what treatment felt like for her was a perspective that reminds me why I'm doing this. And those reminders are always appreciated and rarely forgotten.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Post "Cell"abration
Wow, It's been a while since I've updated my blog! I didn't intend to go so long without updating - but there wasn't much that has happened in school since anatomy has finished. Yesterday was the last exam for Cell Block - and as a celebration, I'm heading to Florida for a mini vacation!
In the last few months, I've mostly just done my class work and prepared for the exams. The extracurricular things and meetings have decreased drastically as people get into more of a routine. I no longer go to lectures because I've found that studying independently from home is much more efficient for me - and so I rarely even make it to campus.
One project that has started recently is our "Senior Partner" program where we are paired with an elderly person in the community to get a better perspective on what older adults deal with in health care. Some of our assignments are to write a biography on them, take a full medical history, accompany them to a doctor's visit, and generally just try to get a sense for how they live. I recently met my senior partner, "RB" and talking to her was quite interesting. While asking her about her life so that I could write the biography, she shared much more than expected - including details about her love triangle in her senior citizens community (which was entertaining to say the least). I think I'll really enjoy spending time with RB and the different perspective will be interesting.
Another project that will be starting soon is our "Community Preceptorship" program. Essentially, for this part of our curriculum, we are paired with a physician in the community and have to shadow them roughly once a month for the next two years. We don't get any say in what field we get placed in, but I was really hoping for a pediatrician or an internal medicine physician. Unfortunately, I got paired with an OB/GYN, which would have been one of my last choices (second only to surgery). I may try to trade to a different field, but if that doesn't work out, I'm going to keep an open mind and hope to still be able to gain a valuable perspective from the experience.
Our next block is Host Defense and it will be all about the immune system. I've heard it is one of the harder blocks, but I'm just going to keep doing what I need to do.
In the last few months, I've mostly just done my class work and prepared for the exams. The extracurricular things and meetings have decreased drastically as people get into more of a routine. I no longer go to lectures because I've found that studying independently from home is much more efficient for me - and so I rarely even make it to campus.
One project that has started recently is our "Senior Partner" program where we are paired with an elderly person in the community to get a better perspective on what older adults deal with in health care. Some of our assignments are to write a biography on them, take a full medical history, accompany them to a doctor's visit, and generally just try to get a sense for how they live. I recently met my senior partner, "RB" and talking to her was quite interesting. While asking her about her life so that I could write the biography, she shared much more than expected - including details about her love triangle in her senior citizens community (which was entertaining to say the least). I think I'll really enjoy spending time with RB and the different perspective will be interesting.
Another project that will be starting soon is our "Community Preceptorship" program. Essentially, for this part of our curriculum, we are paired with a physician in the community and have to shadow them roughly once a month for the next two years. We don't get any say in what field we get placed in, but I was really hoping for a pediatrician or an internal medicine physician. Unfortunately, I got paired with an OB/GYN, which would have been one of my last choices (second only to surgery). I may try to trade to a different field, but if that doesn't work out, I'm going to keep an open mind and hope to still be able to gain a valuable perspective from the experience.
Our next block is Host Defense and it will be all about the immune system. I've heard it is one of the harder blocks, but I'm just going to keep doing what I need to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
