Friday, November 13, 2015
The [Almost] End to First Year
Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a lovely Friday afternoon, and since I just finished my Neurology block this morning, I thought I would sit down and write a quick blog post!
To put it bluntly: Neuro was tough.
To put it more bluntly: WHOA.
I just finished my exam this morning and I am happy that the scores were literally posted fifteen minutes ago and now I can enjoy my weekend! I really would like to be a Neuroscience TA for next semester and with my current grade on the practical and the mini..I am definitely in the running! The great thing about having a block end on a Friday, is that there is no new material to study until Monday. That has never happened here at Ross before for our class so this weekend is planned with some amazing hikes, catamaran rides, swimming and just chilling. A "block" means a section of material. Our first block was Respiratory/Cardiovascular physiology, our next block was GI/Renal physiology, and our third block was Neuro. We will finish 2nd semester with Endocrine/Reproductive physiology and this is where things get hectic. We have our final histology practical, Mini 4 exam, Final exam, and our final practical exam all in on week...and it is going to get Crazy. With. Emotions. (sorry in advance Steve)
Our 2nd semester practical is nerve-wracking because if we fail it ....then we fail the entire semester and have to repeat, even if our "in classroom" grades are completely fine. There are three stations and they are all timed. A total of only 25 minutes, but a lot could go wrong within those 25 minutes. We get a random selection of patients with cold and cough, headache, muscle plain, etc and we have to make sure we know what to do in those situations, answer questions from our proctor, perform the appropriate physical exam skills, and summarize our findings in the end. All within eight minutes. YUP. Eight (8).
I can't believe that my first year of medical school is coming to a close. The time has literally escaped me. I remember starting the Merp program way back in December of last year thinking: "okay..this is it! This is how my medical school journey is beginning!" It was a really cool feeling to imagine Dominica, what it's like, how are classes are run, how are the people, the professors, the education. Even to this day, Ross has blown me away. I am very happy in my decision to come here, and the fact that I do not really want to return to practice in Canada (wayyy too many healthcare cuts in Ontario), that the Step 1 geared education for the U.S has become very beneficial. I am learning more than I have ever imagined, with some fun along the way as well. THAT is key.
My last blog post sparked some personal sentiments of my followers and I absolutely love when that happens. I have had a couple emails that have said "thank you" or "that is exactly what I have been thinking, thank you so much!" to "whoa..deep Em...real deep". Every comment has made me so happy and I just want to say that I do this blog because of everyone that reads along with me. Sure, I can write for myself, but I could write in my journal...(if I had one). Writing out loud to a vast audience gives me a certain type of calmness and it makes me feel good after a long week in medical school. I feel connected to all of you, even if you have read my blog once and moved on, or people who have stayed from the beginning, all of you mean a lot to me. It is nice knowing that people from afar are on this journey with me, and I will say it again as I have said it 204964255642 before...thank you.
This is a "quicker" post than usual and maybe not as "deep", but know that all of those deep emotions are in there, and I am just too excited to have a WEEKEND OFF. WHAT?! Is this real life?!
Stephen and I are off to dinner at 5:30pm at a beautiful restaurant called "Sisters", I thought it was fitting at I will be seeing my sisters and my family in a little more than a month!
Bye for now,
-E xo
