Typical Med Student Moment

One of the pillars of a medical student’s life is Med Student Hypocondriasis. At least once a week we diagnose ourselves with a disease we’ve read about.

I had been sitting in the same chair for about 10 hours attempting to install cardiovascular physiology into my brain with what little hard drive space I had left in there, when suddenly I had this terrible pain in my left leg along with weakness. It wasn’t the usual sciatic nerve compression kinda pain you get once in a while either.

I immediately thought, “Oh great. I’ve been in stasis and I’ve got risk factors….. DVT!” I pretty much though I was going to die if this DVT embolized into a CVA.  I started to consider what my final facebook status update would say. Should I go with sad or funny. They say no one ever died from studying, but I was ready to become the exceptional anecdote.

Thank god I found a 5th term student who gave me some diagnostic test to d/dx. I guess I’ll live to study again…. *sigh*

Home is Where Your Head Collapses

I just realized that in the last 48 hours I’ve slept more at a desk in a study hall than in my own bed…….. midterms in 1 week. Kill me now.

Who Hit the Gas?

Term 2 started off really slow. The majority of  students were so completely burned out from Term 1 that a large majority of students did not study in the first few weeks.
But now the first set of exams are 12 hours away and the mass panic and chaos has flooded the study halls. All the new Term 1 grunts are worried about their unified exams and are taking up study space that is clearly upper term turf. Thus, I have been displaced into one of my secret study spots.

I haven’t slept well in days and my colleagues look like the living dead. What a perfect Valentine’s Day gift: an exam on 50 Parasites to memorize that has been dumped on you in 2 weeks…

(The amount of humor in my posts is directly proportional to the amount of sleep I’ve had)

Looking forward to “Black Day” in 2 months, but no-one here celebrates it.

 

Recon Mission to the North

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any pictures here. So here are some I snapped during the tour of the North Eastern sector of the island. I had been meaning to check it out ever since CFP 2 Terms ago, but I just never had the time to get away from campus.

Grenada is actually quite beautiful when you’re not trying to hang yourself by your stethoscope in the library. These parts of the island remind me a lot of Asia and Hawaii.

SGU Rumor Mill: The Future of Charter Foundation Program

When you’re stuck an island less than 200 square miles with the same 2000 people everyday, part of your life becomes keeping up with rumors. Our micro-society thrives on them. The SGU Rumor Mill which I personally refer to endearingly as “The Bamboo Telegraph” keeps us up to date on everything ranging from campus-wide changes to who ordered a smoothie different from their usual favorite.

So The Bamboo Telegraph says that the Charter Foundation Program’s days are numbed. Although a new class CFP class has just arrived on the island there are changes rumored in the near future.

CFP is to be eliminated and replaced by a post-bacc program. This program is actually a full year in length and will have a stiffer completion requirement of a 3.5 GPA.

Why this is bad: It will take longer to get into the School of Medicine and it will be more difficult with that increased GPA requirement.

Why this is good: Rumor is the program will qualify for Federal US Student loans. CFP was a lot of money to pay out of pocket. Students also have a 2nd semester to fix their GPA if they screwed up their first semester.

Why this makes sense for the University: Other than the obvious profit involved, it streamlines a lot of the pre-med programs into one cohesive unit. It was chaos, people were failing CFP and had to do it again and some applicants w/o degrees were admitted to the undergrad school as a 3rd year undergrad instead.

The only evidence I have seen personally of this change  is that CFP students from last term who failed were not allowed to comeback and repeat CFP.  In the past some were given a second chance. So far I feel this rumor to be plausible .

 

Term 1 In Review

In Short: pure hell.

Academically

All classes we’re very slow to start especially having been an previous Foundations student.

BioEthics: any student will tell you this is the most unfair course ever made, your grade is practically determined by a roll of the dice, exam questions are unfair – good thing it’s only 1 unit otherwise people might riot

Histology: Deceivingly difficult. Most students ignore this course and put minimum effort into it because the lecture schedule is not heavy and you can scoot by lab with minimum effort if you do not feel like learning the material. However there is actually a lot of detail to memorize when you sit down and finally read everything. Exam time comes and people are panicking at the volume of stuff they ignored.  Bottom line: what should have been a “relatively” easy A turned out to be a disappointment for a lot of people. Although failing the course is not common.

Biochemistry: There are two ways to tackle this beast: 1 – actually understand what’s going on or 2 – memorize random facts without connecting the dots. I personally think method #1 is much easier but some people just hate Biochemistry so much they rather not think about it and just memorize facts.  Understanding concepts will get you a B, but there are some borderline unfair details they ask that you will need to know to get an A. Good thing about this course is that all the professors are good.

Anatomy: “The Beast” – it’s worth about 50% of your GPA in Term 1. Between the lectures, labs, and group discussions, this course takes up an ENORMOUS amount of time. I lost more sleep to this course than any other. The sheer volume of material is overwhelming. This is the course that students worry about failing. Even if your a former Foundations student the benefit is not that drastic.

Personally

The term started out very slowly, most foundations students were very bored the first few weeks. Then things went into overdrive out of nowhere. I usually say that the average medical student is allowed to have one emotional break down or crisis per semester. But I think I had couple including an episode where I was so stressed out I couldn’t sleep for 4 days. That’s surprising given the fact that I’m usually not one to stress out. I’m more of laugh or *sigh* as your plane is crashing into the ocean kinda guy.

 

I’m Not Dead

Well, by that I mean I still have a pulse…. but that’s about it.

As you can see from my absolute lack of updates, Term 1 is keeping me busy. Finals are in 2 weeks and I will get my butt kick if I don’t step it up a notch.

Planning a long over due comprehensive review of Term 1 once finals are over and I have room to breath.

Online SGU Flash Cards

I don’t know you “CCOLLURA” but god bless you!

http://quizlet.com/user/ccollura/

Gearing Up for 2nd Deployment

I just got back from an exhausting trip of LA to Vegas to San Jose and back…… 50% work 50% fun, and no sleep for 4 or 5 days…… I’m beat.

Leaving to go back to Grenada in 2 days……

I shipped a little over 100lbs worth of stuff via Amerijet that is supposed to arrive in 3 days…. well see how badly the customs officer has his way with me…..

FinAid/Loan checks are being mailed out of SGU’s NY office tomorrow.

Almost all the other terms are already on the island.

Summer is about to end: 10% sad, 20% excited, and 70% relieved….

Now in the Red

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been a mental vegetable the past few weeks. Most of my travel has been within California, visiting friends all over LA, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego county.

I attended the New Student Orientation for SGU in Hollywood last week to meet some of my new incoming classmates. From what I assessed it was your typical med school spread of Arrogant to Normal to Weird with no one demographic overrepresented.

I just accepted my student loans for the year totaling approx $70,000. Cute huh? That includes tuition, housing, food, travel, school supplies the whole deal.  This is my first time ever being in any real debt…. and it’s not a comfortable feeling.

oh well…. approx 20 more days till returning to the island!

Banking on It!

I was filling out my application for federal student loans and was relieved to see this clause in the Master Promissory Note……. so far all is going according to plan

Section G – 24

1. Department of Defense and other federal agency loan repayment. Under certain circumstances, military personnel may have their federal education loans repaid by the Secretary of Defense. This benefit is offered as part of a recruitment program that does not apply to individuals based on their previous military service or to those who are not eligible for enlistment in the U.S. Armed Forces. For more information, contact your local military service recruitment office.Other agencies of the federal government may also offer student loan repayment programs as an incentive to recruit and retain employees. Contact the agency’s human resources department for more information.

When Does It End?!!!

A year later they’re still rolling in!

The process of selecting the first year class is finally complete. We regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you a seat for the entering fall class.

We thank you for your consideration of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and wish you success in your future endeavors. If you wish to reapply, all documents will need to be resubmitted.

Sincerely,

WVSOM Admissions Office

ASCO Pics!

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ASCO After Action Report

I’ve finally gotten back to California and stabilized my sleep cycle. Living in 3 time zones in the last 3 weeks was exhausting. I have settled back into the little rural home town where I went to high school, just sitting here rotting till the next semester starts. I had forgotten how boring this place is.

ASCO truly was a great experience (pictures to come in a separate post). Being surrounded by thousands of doctors was truly a humbling experience.

Some of the convention staff assumed I was a physician which I found both comical and awkward. Having people address me as doctor was definitely something that was foreign to my ears.

I was very happy to see that there was a seminar on physician suicide and mental health. I feel like it has been an issue that was usually swept under the rug and am glad it’s getting more attention.

Thank God my undergrad degree was in Molecular Biology, because it would have been next to impossible to understand all the pathways covered in lectures. The one thing that gave me trouble and prevented me from understanding 100% of the material was medical statistics. About 80% of the data presented were results of clinical trials. I’ve never seen “waterfall” graphs and “P values” before, even in pharmacology classes. The only other thing that held me back were some of the cancer pathways that presenters automatically presumed the audience to be familar with.

Overall I feel like I understood 65%-72% of the material presented at the conference. It was all so a blast seeing all the fancy pharm booths and touring Chicago. I’m kinda looking forward to going again next year if possible or mix it up and hit a surgical convention.

ASCO Annual Meeting 2010

Hey guys!

I’m reporting to you live from the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago!
It’s overwhelming being surrounded by thousands of specialized doctors when you’re only a lowly MS1. Bottom of the totem pole.

This conference is some serious business. It’s is when the latest developments in cancer treatment and drug studies are announced. There are actually stock brokers and financial advisers that attend the meetings to determine if a pharmaceutical company’s stock will drop or rise depending on the result of clinical trials.

I have been to dozens of conventions over the years and I can say that the air of seriousness here is like no other. Usually conferences are just one giant party. Political conventions have their open bars and “hospitality suites”. Auto shows have sexy car models and ultra cool lighting. Video game conventions and ComicCon are full of people in costume and amazing entertainment.

Here at ASCO, people are down to business. I can compare it to a finals week at school. People hurrying from point A to B with very few smiles or laughter.

I just got out of a lecture on the development of  renal cancer treatment. Next up on the docket is clinical applications of epigenetics.

A complete 180 from picking up drunk politicians and interns off the floor at a political convention.

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to hitting up the Pharm Company Booths: Cool demos, cutting edge research applications, and Hired Guns

I’m hoping

Hey Can I Borrow $250,000?

I haven’t been too busy the past few days.

The only thing give me a headache lately is the FAFSA and applying for financial aid and student loans. I’ve never done it before so the whole process is a little confusing and overwhelming at first. Luckily SGU is having Financial Aid Webinars throughout the summer to walk you through the process. I’m really interested in seeing the difference between the Stafford loans being phased out and replaced with the new Federal Direct Loans.

Ooooorrrrr…… if you’ve got an extra quarter million just lying around you could save me all this paperwork. I’ll pay you back in 20 years… promise!

Officially Offical

You know you’ve been admitted to medical school when……….. they start asking you for money

So it’s finally official in writing. I came home to California this week to find the letter from SGU acknowledging that I successfully fulfilled all the requirements of CFP – FTM. So I just sent in my initial deposit and housing form today. Hello MS-1!

East Coast Vacation Tour Cut Short

Well I had been planning to stay here in Jersey and New York for at least another week, but things have gotten complicated.

SGU needs admission papers signed and a $1000 deposit to hold my slot. The deadline is in 10 days! Factor in the cost of hotel and travel and getting home in time to complete this task; I have had to cut my plans  short.

To give you an idea of rapidly this plan has changed:

- 3 Hours ago I was having lunch on the boardwalk in Atlantic City enjoying my vacation

-2 Hours ago I purchased plane tickets back to California

-Now I’m sitting here in the airport waiting for my plane to board in 30 minutes!

Sorry to everyone I didn’t get to see! And thank you to everyone that helped me out during this trip!

Cali here I come!

And The Results Are In!

Drum roll please………….

GPA above 3.2: PASS!

Pre-Medical Sciences Comprehensive Exam: PASS!

So it’s official (minus the acknowledgment letter)! I have completed the program and become part of the elite Charter Foundation Program – Foundations to Medicine Alumni (please note dripping sarcasm).

All joking aside, I really can’t believe I made it through to Term 1 and MS1. When I came to the island I had no expectations. I really didn’t think I could do it at all. There were so many classmates with more education and experience than me that I didn’t know if I was ready for this. But here I am today, successful in my endeavors.

I have never, in my academic career, worked so hard. I’m sure the result of my undergraduate education would have been significantly different had I put this much effort into it.  I had my share of fun too during this semester, but I only gave myself those breaks when they were truly appropriate.

I believe several Thank Yous are in order:

1. Thanks to The Man Upstairs. Ask anyone who knows me pretty well and they wouldn’t believe you if you told them I go to church every week. But I do. Generally I’m NOT a very devout Catholic, but I have never prayed so hard in my entire life.  With the way I usually operate, just getting me to open a book requires divine intervention.

2. Thanks to my mother who put up with all my phone calls day and night. Thank you for answering all my questions about class materials, listening to me complain, and reassuring me I could do it when I was overwhelmed with anxiety. I couldn’t have done it without your support.

3. Thanks to my friend in law school back in the US. You know who you are! It’s was so helpful to have someone has both known me for a while and is going through a similar stage in their life. Our conversations were what got me through the daily grind. I hope I was just as helpful to you too.

4. Thanks to my fellow CFP-FTM crew: Dr. Fluffy, Dr. Sneezy, Han Solo, Mr. Murse, That Guy, Mango, Maserati, and Obese Guy. You guys made the island more tolerable and the laughs were a great stress reliever. Whether we were joking around or complaining to each other, time flew by when we were together. I’m really going to miss you guys this summer.

Reflecting on this has taught me another lesson about medical school: Although your performance  relies solely on your intelligence and the amount of work you put in, you cannot survive medical school alone. Your family and friends are a vital component in your medical education: emotional support. To refer back to Psychology, they are your resilience factors that contribute to your ability to adapt and survive. Keep them close and informed and on speed dial, and you just might get out alive.

He Has Returned!

After 3 days of partying, packing, no sleep, and 20 hours of travel I have finally made it back to my beloved land of $1 Double Cheeseburgers, 24 hour pharmacies, and Starbucks!!

This time around I was able to arrive at my destination only half dead and managed to only acquire 1 superficial laceration to the hand and a mild skin infection.

This was a vast improvement over arriving to Grenada 75% dead, disoriented, and with 30 small micro cuts all over my hands and arms.

I guess it’s sign that this get’s easier every time. Only 8 more rounds between now and term 5 I guess…….fml

I actually didn’t want to travel all the way straight to California because it is such a hassle to fly there from GND. Instead I’m currently here on the East Coast at a relative’s house and I plan to spend the next couple of weeks visiting family, friends, and classmates from SGU.

Then it’s back to Cali for a week, then Chicago for a CME conference, then …. Vegas? Korea? Mexico?

For now it’s just sleep and eat for two days to allow my body to recover from all the terrible things I’ve done to it lately.