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Basic Sciences to Clinical Sciences Timeline

Technically speaking, I didn’t miss my “by Friday” post this past week, because I published two entries, but I felt the need to share something really very important.  I’m talking about a precise timeline from when I finish basic sciences through residency application.  If you check out the image below, you’ll find a really great timeline that was kindly put together for the current basic science students.  I am posting my semester’s timeline, as it’s applicable to me.  You can adjust yours accordingly.  You may have to click it to better make out the details.  It’s block week, so I do apologize for the shortness of this entry, but I’ll make up for it post-blocks.  Enjoy!

Clinical Timeline for Current May 2011 class (Courtesy: Matthew Goodwin; click for full size)

 

Posted 05 March 2012 † Spen § AUC § Year Two ‡ Comments (1) °

Prosection Status: Complete

It’s just after Friday, and for the record I stood by my promise and indeed made a post, but I feel compelled to write about “Prosection” here at AUC.  By definition, prosection is a dissection on a human cadaver performed by an experienced dissector.  Surgery has always been a favorite medical specialty of mine, and it’s an area I’m still considering.  So, logically I made it a priority to complete the Anatomy Department’s Prosection certification.  There are three requirements that must be met in order to qualify for the prosection certificate:  craniotomy (using a medical-grade cadaver power rotary saw, culminating in removal of the brain), opening the thorax (chest) to expose organs like the heart, lungs, diaphragm, etc., and today a hemi-pelvectomy (bisecting the pelvis).  Each prosection is meant to make internal structures easier to discern by 1st semester anatomy students, while maintaining the flow of normal dissection.

It really feels amazing to be a part of the Anatomy Lab TA (teaching assistant) program & complete the Prosection requirements.  It’s honestly a little nostalgic to know that today’s prosection was the final one in my medical school training.  To be sure, there are other cuts (like the vertebral column) that I might participate in next semester, but finishing today’s dissection still has a certain sentimental feel to it.  A little over half way into my 3rd semester, and almost finished with my duties as a lab TA, it really puts things into perspective — time moves extraordinarily fast here at AUC.  Ok!  I just wanted to give everyone a little flavor of anatomy TAing here at AUC!  More later!

Posted 26 February 2012 † Spen § AUC § Year Two ‡ Comments (0) °

Essential Books & Resources Semesters 1-3

A huge concern for basic science students is:  ”What books do I absolutely need?”  The truth is, there’s a sizable list of required

texts, but I think I speak for many when I say I used only a select few.  When needed, the library has a few copies of every required text on reserve.  I can think of more than a few times where I’ve used the library’s resources to supplement lecture slides with a text I chose not to purchase, for instance.  Of course, I speak as a current 3rd semester, but I think I’ve got a good grasp on what texts are useful for the first three semesters.  An important caveat:  like other medical schools, AUC frequently taps into its pool of visiting professors from a myriad of US medical schools.  What does this mean for required/recommended texts?  They vary, depending on the particular professor.  I find it always useful to ask an “upper” semester for their input.  I’ve been lucky to have a girlfriend who advises me on texts and other informative sources; the point I’m trying to make is that it’s a good idea to inquire about the best source of information for each specific course, and again for each professor.  Some professors’ lecture slides are completely sufficient for block exams, but there are definitely some who are notorious for deriving questions from textbooks.  By semester:

1st Semester

  • BRS Anatomy, 6th Edition
  • Netter’s Atlas of Human Anatomy, 5th (+ flashcards, if you like looking at smaller renditions of Netter’s work).
  • New Clinical Genetics (highly recommend it for those who have a weak/non-existent background in genetics)

2nd Semester

  • Lippincott’s Biochemistry, 5th Edition

3rd Semester

  • Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 8th edition.
  • First Aid (for periodic review)
  • KAPLAN Medical books + lectures (to supplement lecture material) — this is provided to all incoming AUC students.
  • BRS Physiology (perhaps optional, but cheap — worth picking up).
  • Look into Pathoma.  I’ve tried it out, and it’s extremely useful in shoring up the important points in Pathology.  The online streaming videos are meant to supplement a Kaplan-style comprehensive Pathology text.

Robbins & Cotran -- Pathology

Posted 24 February 2012 † Spen § AUC § Year Two ‡ Comments (2) °

Friday Posts… Go!

A marina on French Saint Martin

So I’ve concluded that I need to do one of two things:  indefinitely pause writing blog entries or make a concerted effort to make regular posts.  Yadda-yadda, I know.  So I’m instituting a My.Plasticity first — New Post Fridays.  Starting today, on this glorious 3rd Friday of February 2012, I pledge to publish a brand spankin’ new entry by the Friday of every (non-block) week.  For those who are unfamiliar with AUC examination policy, “blocks” is another term for exams.  AUC examines its students once every 3 (or 4) weeks, with all subject exams on that Monday (or Tuesday if you’re in the class below mine).  Thus, the Friday prior to blocks will go sans new posts, but rest-assured that I’ll update the blog-o-sphere on my happenings every Friday.

I’m now in my 3rd semester here on Sint Maarten at AUC, and I have to give props to every “upper semester” who told me that every subsequent semester would progress at an exponentially faster rate.  Time is absolutely flying, and I have to say that I sort of prefer it this way.  Of course there are times where I’d like to hit the “pause” button on everything and just lay in bed or on one of the gorgeous beaches, but in general it brings me a lot of satisfaction when I stay busy — particularly when it pays off with good scores on exams.  This semester, I’ve had mixed success so far on exams — 3rd semester courses are vastly different from 1st or 2nd semester courses.  I’m a true believer in finding your own study “sweet-spot,” or the perfect combination of study techniques that yield the best results.  I do think I’ve found what might be near my sweet-spot, but if 3rd semester has taught me anything, it’s that I need to once again tweak my studying methodology.

The Pathology professors here are great — but with that level of instruction comes a deeper expectation of understanding, and that shows in examination questions.  Path is actually my best course thus far (after two rounds of blocks, with two more to go), so no complaints there.  3rd semesters also take Physiology II, which started out with two blocks of Respiratory (Lung) Phys.  I have to say that it was a tough stretch for me, as well as the class (our class average was lower on the first two exams), but I can speak for all of us when I say that I’m looking for redemption in the 2nd half of exams, starting with Renal (Kidney) phys.  We also take Medical Microbiology, where we learn about all the bugs — what causes folliculitis, pustules, ophthalmic diseases, abdominal abscesses, and GI problems to name a few syndromes.  That is my main focus going into the second half of block exams; I need to tweak my approach slightly, but I think I know the key.  The big advice for Med Micro is to create a “story line” for all the bugs.  You’d think that it’d be easy:  Staphylococcus Aureus — gram positive, catalase positive, etc. that causes XYZ diseases.  Not the case; you need to keep this organism (+ all its virulence factors) compartmentalized in a nice neat little bubble because you’ll have 30, 40 other bugs that give similar symptoms with only a couple subtle differences.  Information overload is really the theme, but it’s the way of medical school.  Drinking out of a fire hydrant, yeah that’s what you can call it.

As crazy as things can get in class, I find time to spend with my girlfriend and best friends.  Sint Maarten really boasts some amazing restaurants, a lot of which have French influence.  A couple recent visits landed my girlfriend and I at Patagonia in Simpson Bay, what we deem as the place for a good steak and potatoes-type meal in a fancy setting.  I’d also highly recommend The Greenhouse Restaurant.  Right on the ocean, it’s a really cool spot for seafood.  Finally, the Stone Restaurant gets the award for (nearly) the best Steak on the island, also on the water in a quiet bay.  These could each be a post on their own to do the restaurants a good service, but I’ll hold off on my advertising for now.

I love medical school.  For all its annoyances and frustrations, I see what we’re working towards.  It makes the insane amount of data dumping worth it, and oddly makes me want to learn more (once I’ve finally gotten through all of the slides I need to do!).  TAing in our Anatomy cadaver lab and tutoring Molecular Cell Biology force me to review material from 1st and 2nd semester, respectively.  Oh!  Before I go — I really have to comment on speaking with professors personally here.  There are certain professors who are better to talk to one-on-one, but for the most part, the professors here really do care, and make themselves available at essentially all hours of the day to talk Pathology, Med Micro, Physiology, whatever it is you want.  As a prospective student, this was something I was keenly looking for in the faculty, and can say that AUC has backed up on their intimate student-professor promise.  This, too, could — and probably will — be its own post

Posted 17 February 2012 † Spen § AUC § Year Two ‡ Comments (0) °

AUC Residency Statistics 2011

As both aspiring and current medical students can attest to, the residency track record of any school is a vital component when determining what school to attend.  After all, your residency placement is what dictates the type of doctor you’ll become, but you already know that.  As one of the all-time most popular posts on my blog, I thought I’d post a completely refreshed set of residency placement statistics, this time for 2011.  AUC administrative staff puts out a very nice PDF compilation of Match statistics, and so I thought it’d be nice to share these well thought-out tables and summaries.  I remember that not too long ago, I too was extremely interested in how certain international medical schools fared in the Match.  After all, open information is good information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

–End of 2011 AUC Residency Placement Statistics post–

Posted 23 December 2011 † Spen § AUC § Med School Research ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: ,

Notes on 2nd Semester

I promised to write another entry summing up my second semester here at AUC, and well, here it ’tis.  Time has flown by, in the most literal sense of the meaning.  It honestly felt as though my second semester took half as long as first semester did.  You’ll read that first semester is itself another “test.”  Essentially:  how bad do you want to be a physician?  It’s quite obvious from the very first day at AUC that the professors expect a high degree of performance among the students — and they should.  We’re here to train to become tomorrow’s doctors, a truly humbling role.  So when I say that first semester was a “weeding out,” it really was.  Those who remained and showed up for second semester were those who performed well and want to become physicians.

With that, we started second semester.  The real nice thing about second semester was the fact that we didn’t have anatomy lab every afternoon.  As I’ve written in the past, anatomy was by far my favorite subject during first semester, but I must say it was also the most time-consuming.  There daily lectures as well as a lab requirement every afternoon (Mon. — Fri.) for 2 hours.  Factoring in the hours of studying the day’s new material, and first semester was jam-packed.  While second semester courses did not let up as far as the amount of material, more (and I use that term relatively) free time meant more time for study in the library.  I absolutely took the free time and utilized it to study, and I believe it paid off.  If there are two overarching themes to medical school, it’s managing both limited time and energy stores.  I’ll go into each briefly below (disclaimer:  I don’t pretend to be perfect; I still strive to maintain competency in these two items to this day).

Managing Limited Time…

Along with controlling energy levels, managing the limited time we have in a given day is of the utmost importance in medical school.  I suppose I should start with a definition of “managing:”  use (or control) of a commodity in a manner that maximizes output.  Your next question might be, what do you define as “output?”  I like to think of output as a simple term to define the result of all of the highly complex processes that must happen between the time of acquiring new material and mastering it, the ultimate outcome being a grade you’re proud of.

With all of the definitions aside, I believe that managing limited time is one of the most integral keys to making it through medical school.  Think about it.  If we are able to manage time effectively, we will be able to finish new material in a timely manner, review, and then review some more.  It is true that med students are presented with an enormous amount of information, 99.99% of which is relevant and potentially testable.  However, a subset of managing limited time should include skills that include effective study methodology.  This is a skill that everyone in med school vies for — the ability to study only the very most pertinent information for test purposes (nicknamed “high yield”).  To be accurate, it is highly emphasized that all information presented must be mastered by every med student if they wish to be a truly effective medical student.  However, just like with everything in life, certain facts and ideas are more stressed on exams.  Thus, a key skill to master if one wants to manage limited time is honing in on the most important ideas for exams.  For me, and many others, a great aid has been tutoring sessions and slides.  Only you can decide how to use the information presented in tutoring sessions; for instance, I only really used MCB tutoring whereas others might have utilized Physiology or Immunology.

Regulating Energy Stores…

This will probably sound like a no-brainer, but it’s exceedingly important for med students to be aware of.  Regulating energy stores in the med school sense means pretty much what the title implies; we all have a finite amount of energy, even though who claim to only require “like next to no sleep.”  We also need to mentally prepare ourselves for periods of stress followed by mini-breaks immediately following block exams.  First, let’s get back to the idea that we carry finite stores of energy.  I believe that everything we do in med school is hugely energy-consuming:  attending and paying attention in lectures & laboratory assignments, tutor sessions (depending on preference), and self-study after all class time has been satisfied.  Furthermore, for those (like myself) who TA or tutor, that is an additional time and energy sieve that you must factor in.  Regulating energy levels requires one who is cognizant of their own limits.  What do I mean?  If you feel yourself falling asleep at the table day after day, chances are, you should quit studying early that night and go home.  Keep it simple; I think some may complicate this relatively simple concept.  Another way to regulate energy is to take a half hour or hour a couple of days a week to make it to the gym; I’ll be honest this is an area that I still have to work on.  I used to be really into working out during undergraduate school, but it’s extremely difficult to keep up with a similar routine in med school.  Now, I make sure that I make it to the gym 2-3x/week during non-block weeks.  Going with a girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend and setting a schedule may also help commit yourself to a schedule that works for you.

Setting a schedule and sticking to it, ah the utopia of a medical student.  Arguably the most sought-after, scheduling study and break time is a fine balance between madness and expectations.  Madness in the sense of studying too much; expectations meaning what is required to get good grades.  For those starting med school, make sure you at least try to set a schedule and stick to it.  It’ll help during the first days of figuring out what study methods work for you.

Posted 19 December 2011 † Spen § AUC § Year One ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , ,

Reflections on 2nd Semester

As I sit here in my apartment recuperating, burnt out from another round of block exams (blocks are AUC talk for exams), I felt the need to reflect on my 2nd semester.  Of course, one more week and a round of cumulative finals stands between me and that oh-so-sweet 2 week break, but I can still talk about everything that’s happened this block, right?

Little disclaimer, I’m not feeling motivated enough to sit and write for a couple of hours to get out the bulk of what I want to tell you all, because after all, I normally spend 12-14 hours a day staring at my computer screen.  Not complaining — it’s inevitable in medical school.  My eyes are telling me I need an electronics-break.  However, I will press on — for you, my anonymous readers (Hi Mom!!).

Somewhere on French St. Marten

Comedic relief aside (for a few seconds, anyway), I wanted to make generalized comments on how my second semester of medical school went.  Overall — a whole lot better than first semester.  As much as I loved Gross Anatomy, going into lab every afternoon for 2-2.5 hours, Mon.-Fri, grew tiresome.  Sooo, not having that to endure this semester left much more time for review of class material.  For those unfamiliar, second semester students at AUC normally take Molecular Cell Biology II (Biochemistry), Immunology, and Physiology I (mainly cardiac physiology), Biostats, and Intro. to Clinical Medicine 2.  ICM2 is a great first-step towards the actual practice of clinical medicine (what we’re here to do) with our first lessons in setting the agenda in an interview, gathering the chief complaint(s), and taking the history of present illness.  My ICM2 professor is a family practitioner here on Sint Maarten.  Super nice guy; he helped us form our very first differentials!  ICM2, in addition to teaching us the fundamentals of HPIs, also included tasks like learning how to take vitals, use of the otoscope, and ophthalmoscope.  Pretty neat stuff.  I can now say I’ve officially seen another living human’s retina, macula, optic nerve, and optic vessels!

Second semester has been both more enjoyable and very challenging.  Challenges have been met with countless hours in the library, but I can say that it’s paid off.  I finished the first half of my commitment as an Anatomy TA in the cadaver lab (it’s a two semester commitment), and I can say with 100% certainty that it’s been an amazing experience.  Yes, it’s really tough going in during block week (the week before exams), because I’d much rather study for my own exams, but I’ve come to realize that 2-3 hours once a week isn’t so bad.  It literally forces me to be smarter with time allotment that week, a skill I’ve slowly honed over the past semester.

I’m looking forward to seeing my family and — gasp — some snow in New York over break!  I’ll definitely be sure to post some further detailed posts in between getting snowed in.  See ya!

Posted 05 December 2011 † Spen § AUC § Year One ‡ Comments (1) °

My Long Lost Blog

I know myself; and what I feared might happen with my blog actually happened.  Haha, what is that you ask?  Getting lost in all the rigors of med school and leaving any and all efforts towards the blog behind me.  Not in the rear view mirror, not even in the next town — we’re talking a different area code here.  All ridiculous (and mildly funny) commentary aside (well, probably not), I’ve missed writing in my blog.  I continue to get very thoughtful emails and comments on prior posts, and I thoroughly enjoy reading them.  I never intended to write a blog for the sole purpose of reader comments/hits/what-have-yous, but it is oddly motivating when I do happen to get a comment in the email inbox.  Don’t judge.

What have I been doing since my last post (which was so long ago, I can’t remember the precise date without looking at the date/time stamp)?  Whelp, you might say there has been a multitude of things.  Without writing a thesis on the happenings since my last post, I’ll summarize.  The second half of my first semester went well; I finished very strong on the final exams, including the SHELF exam we took for Anatomy and the Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) comprehensive final.  For all those reading that have no idea what the SHELF is, it is essentially a subject exam, with questions that have been “shelved” from prior national anatomy exams administered by the NBME.  You can read up on everything-NBME by checking that link.  In any event, the gross anatomy SHELF was our final exam in anatomy, comprising about 20% of our overall grade (can’t recall the exact percentage).  A comprehensive exam, it blended both clinically oriented anatomy and straight gross anatomy questions.  By clinically oriented, a question might be:  A patient presents with a broken humerus at the mid-shaft.  What motor functions might be affected?

After all the craziness of studying for finals in what seemed to be a time vortex in the library and various study locations, I think I can speak for everyone in my class when I say it was an immense relief to complete our very first semester of med school.  Looking back on it now, I truly used the bulk of first semester as a way to discern what study methods worked for me.  Just like a lot of other pre-meds out there, I spent a lot of time reading up on study methods — what worked for medical students and what didn’t.  The truth is:  there is no perfect study method.  You absolutely must go into it with a high level of motivation, because med school is no joyride (maybe right after Blocks that weekend, and after Finals).  Things take a serious backseat whilst you study; we’re talking about going to the gym (at all, even if you normally work out a lot), partying, and even the simple joy of sitting around watching TV for a few hours (don’t judge).  What I’m trying to get at here is the general notion that once things really get rolling in med school, if you want to stay on top of the material and do well, it is definitely advantageous to study every day.  That is pretty much the only study advice I find holds ground:  study your notes.  Every.  Day.  Next step (and the much more difficult one to hone) is sifting through the volumes of information you will be force-fed on a daily basis, including the day after you discharge all the information you stored in your brain (also known as Blocks, aka exams).  By “sifting,” I’m referring to memorizing and understanding only the most important information, because there is a lot of relevant but maybe less important information out there.  Sifting.  Yeah, I like that term.

I’m now a big-bad “upper semester” (second semester).  We just took our first round of Blocks this past Monday, and I’m very happy with the results.  It’s not really something you consciously think about on a daily basis, but the testing process does feel somewhat more familiar as a second semester.  To be sure, second semester doesn’t really “let up” from the rigors of first semester, but it does help having one semester under your belt.  I can also say that moving into my new place was a nice change.  The dorms were absolutely the right choice for me, because I do feel that it’s a safe option, especially if you’ve never set foot on St. Maarten (like me).  The dorms are on their own water and electrical “grid,” so outages are rare.  As I’m finding out as we speak, off campus water is extremely sketchy.  It’s a fact of life on the island; water (and electricity) go out.  Storm or no storm.  Your bathroom might even flood after you spend the morning taking Block exams and go out running a bunch of errands, but I digress.  Haha, that actually happened.

A view from my new apartment! If you look closely, you'll see Saba in the distance.

I think living on one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean while attending a reputable medical school is an extremely unique experience.  Sure, while there are some deficiencies (like the water situation), I feel very fortunate to be living in the apartment I’m living at for the next year (and change).  I of course feel fortunate to have a spot in the medical school.  Course material this semester has been very interesting; subjects like Immunology, MCB II, intro to clinical medicine (ICM) and Physiology stand out.  We’re also taking Biostats, but that will be over within the next two weeks (can’t say I’ll miss it!).  It’s also been pretty cool spending time in the gross anatomy lab as a TA, helping the current first semesters with dissections and directing them towards the “higher yield” structures and ideas.

Alright, I should get to studying.  Will update sometime soon.  It’s been real!

Posted 21 September 2011 † Spen § AUC § Year One ‡ Comments (1) °

Block 2 Thoughts, On to Block 3

It’s crazy to think I’ve been here two full months (plus a few days), but the time has come and gone.  I’ve let my blogging go to the wayside as school has kept the bulk of my attention.  As a first semester, the workload increased significantly during block 2 (three weeks or so into the semester) with the start of wet lab in anatomy, e.g. our cadavers.  As much as I love working with our cadaver and learning hands-on, which is one of the best ways to learn muscles, relationships between structures, and some innervations (to name a few, in my humble opinion), I do miss the 2-2.5 hour block of time where I was able to study (during 1st block).  Nevertheless, wet lab is one of those things all first semesters look forward to, and I’m no exception to that rule.  That person donated their remains to you in an effort to help educate future physicians, and that’s something I take to heart.

Overall, block 2 went well for me, I went up in all classes, did well in anatomy and histology, but still couldn’t get to my goal in MCB.  This block (Block 3), the professor who has been teaching us in MCB is quite different; her powerpoints are some of the most organized I’ve seen (something much appreciated, especially when flying through detailed material).  Block 3 MCB deals with a lot of proteins, protein sequences, signal transduction, filaments, and the extracellular matrix.  I’m liking this stuff more than the first two blocks, which has made it relatively easier to study for.  As far as histology, we’ve covered a wide range of material from the liver all the way through reproductive organs.  This block actually marks our last exam (!) in histology.  Annd, since histo lectures ended last Friday, that means we have an extra 50 minutes every day.  It’s just how the scheduling fell, and no one is complaining since we have an incredible amount of material between anatomy, anatomy wet & dry lab, and MCB (not to mention keeping up on the information learned in histo!).  Any way you slice it, first semester, particularly this block with the additional week’s worth of information, is strenuous.  I’m looking forward to learning all the information and getting Block 3 out of the way on Monday!

Other than devoting myself to school, my friends and I were actually able to go to the French side to a quiet beach as well as go out to a couple of bars.  More on this at some point in the future.  I’ve got to review a couple things real quick and head to anat. lab!

Posted 04 July 2011 † Spen § Year One ‡ Comments (0) °

A Month Deep

It’s been a little over a month on the island (of Sint Maarten, in case you weren’t paying attention), and a little procrastination has forced me to reflect a little on my time spent here.  Technically, May 28th was the one month-er, but who’s counting?  I’m not talking to all my finance friends out there.

I met two of my good friends the very first day/night at a place called the Summit Resort Hotel, a cluster of one and two-story buildings, just on the outside of the outskirts of the AUC dorm boundary.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and we’re in the thick of classes (I was studying on the first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the semester).  I think we all fall prey sometimes to desensitization; a phenomenon wherein repeated exposure to a stimulus will, over time, cause the person to show less of a response.  I urge everyone who is preparing for medical school to not fall into the desensitization trap.  Personally, I spent the year between graduating college and starting med school working and mentally preparing myself for the rigors that I am facing now.  Also, I want to point out that doing your research, including school websites, nationalized data resources (think NRMP-like organizations), personal accounts from students from US-MD, US-DO, and international MD programs, will pay dividends.  I feel as if the countless hours of sifting through both useless and useful websites and speaking with professionals in health care paid off.  A month into my studies at AUC, I am confident in the education provided here.  Sure, not everything is ideal (power goes out now and then, some professors may move too fast at times), but no school is 100% perfect.  Someone who tells you their school is without flaws is undoubtedly lying.

Block 1 went well, overall.  I passed everything.  I mention this because the topic of failing was brought up by some upper semester students, warning us that it might happen if we didn’t put in the hours.  Anyways, I scored a little lower than expected in Molecular Cell Biology (MCB), but did very well in Embryology (only the first block of Anatomy) and Histology.  Now that I know what exams are like (the difficulty level, computer-format), I’ve made a few tweaks that I truly hope will propel my grades to the next level.  Got to stay confident.  So far, I’ve stuck pretty close to the aforementioned guidelines.  This weekend will be huge in terms of re-reviewing all the PowerPoint slides and annotations made since Block 2 notes began.  That’s the goal, and that’s what I’m going to do.  I’ve heard from more than just a few successful upper-semester people that repetition and active learning is key.  I agree, and am using the two in my overall strategy.

I’ve been attempting to make it to Mullet Bay Beach once a week, and lately I’ve found time to take a 45 minute swim break.  I’ve also recently incorporated a 15-20 minute run into my workout, although I don’t run every time I workout (which I aim to do 5x/week).  Running gets worked in about 2x/week, and so far has been great.  Increased perceived energy levels and alertness.  One amazing thing about attending medical school on St. Maarten is that when it’s time for a study break, it’s always 84-85 degrees outside.  It might rain heavily for 5-10 minutes only to concede to the powerful sun.  Bottom line:  if you’re an active outdoorsy person looking for a reputable med school, AUC should be at the top of the list!  Personally speaking (of course, isn’t this my blog?), I feel healthier when I spend some time outside whether it’s swimming, running, or just grabbing a quick lunch at the nearby Sugar Cane.  Studies are of paramount importance, but it is vital to always work in a little outdoor time.

With Block 2 fast approaching and a series of double lectures in Histology and MCB this past week (and next week) due to Ascension Day and a local symposium, we’ve endured a barrage of new material.  I just caught up today (finally!).  We’ve also begun anatomy lab (e.g. working on our cadavers).  Amazing experience thus far.  I stayed a half hour late on the first day just to clean up some fascia and make our body look cleaner.  I can tell it’ll get intense, but I love working meticulously and feeling the structures we spend so much time lecturing and reading about.  The studying never stops though; like I said, this weekend = review city!  Tomorrow, I’m hoping I feel really good about my studies so that I can meet people out at a bar called Brother Jimmy’s.  Want to know what the place is like?  Picture the most American a bar can get (thousands of plasma TVs, long bar, neon lighting, etc.) and put it in the Caribbean (fishbowl drinks, random alligator toys — not sure why they’re so popular at BJs).  That’s BJs.  A lot of AUC students like heading there and Tantra (only real dance club near school, other than Bliss).  With lab in the afternoon, we’ll see if I can make it out.. I’ll have to let you know next post!

Posted 02 June 2011 † Spen § Year One ‡ Comments (2) °