MSIII: Day 2

Today was focused on how to communicate with patients most effectively. We talked about handling families, treating children with disabilities, breaking a diagnosis and treatment plan with a patient and his/her family, interacting with geriatric patients, how to deal with end-of-life situations (and how to stop aggressive treatment and begin pain management and comfort measures), and how to handle conflicts between the medical team. It was like a crash course of How To Interact with People, which many of us needed, considering there has been little to no interaction with other people in the past 2 years of our lives. It's unbelievable how socially awkward people can become if you isolate them from normal life and surround them with mountains of books and notes for two years...!

I'm finally starting to feel like I am in exactly the right place in my life. I am excited about the future, I am content with who I am becoming, and I have never been more confident that I have chosen the best life-partner in the whole world! Things are looking pretty good, and I can't wait to see where the future takes me!

MS III: Day 1

After an all-too-short summer break, we're back into the groove of things. I had my first day as a Third Year Medical Student today! First thing this morning, we were greeted by the Dean of the College of Medicine, who graciously reminded us that even though we sometimes doubted we'd ever make it this far in our medical education, we have finally actually made it through the didactics and we're on to patient-care. He then admitted that he "hopes to see most" of us make it to graduation...uhm, I thought we could breathe a bit easier now, having the tempest of Step 1 done and over with!haha

That got me to reflecting upon how much I have grown in the past 2 years...I think the person that I was 3 years ago wouldn't even recognize the person that I am today, I have changed that much. I believe that I have become a better person, for the most part, but it is astounding just how much the pressures of med school can change someone. To be honest, I am a bit scared of how I will change in these next two years, as I frequently witness pain, suffering, and death, as well as healing and life. I am exceedingly overjoyed to finally reach this stage in my education, but I am scared to death of how much I have yet to learn before I will feel comfortable as a trustworthy and knowledgeable physician. I do find comfort knowing that all of us are in the same boat; As Third Years, we're all complete novices in the grand scheme of things. I am looking forward with much anticipation to the amount of knowledge and experience that I will gain throughout this year. And I will try my best to share interesting experiences with all of you as you watch my eventual transformation from an eager student into a real physician.

Time Off!

Apologies for my significant lack of blogging lately. I finished the last 2 weeks of Step 1 revision with most all hours of each day being consumed by first aid and DIT. Mike and I went down to London on Sunday, June 5th. We stayed in a nice hotel right outside of the Prometric testing centre. We spent Monday walking around London, checking out Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and things like that. I was lucky to get a few hours of sleep Monday night before I went to take my exam. It was hard. It was really long. It was exhausting. After 8 hours, the exam was finally finished and I walked outside to be greeted by a big hug, kiss, and a smile from my fiance. All that work, all of those hours spent on revision, and it was finally over!! So we went, with our luggage in tow, and walked around London again. I took a few photos and I have a pretty sweet video of a marching band playing a pure tune, but you'll have to wait to see all of that until I have some time to post them! But for now, I'm taking in all I can of my last week of freedom before the real work begins again. So, I'll be in Liverpool with my fiance, soaking up every minute of the Scouse life while I can. I'll be sure to fill everyone in on the details of the trip to London, the week in Marbella, Spain, and the weeks in Liverpool when I finish loving every minute over here in rainy, chilly, cloudy England. (I guess you can't have it all!) ;) Hope you all are well! :)