London 2011: USMLE Step ONE

Something which I haven't really blogged about is my trip to London last year to take my Step 1 Exam! 

Mike & I traveled to London by train on Sunday, June 5, 2011. I listened to a few of Goljan's hematology lectures on my I-pod while I flipped through my First Aid for the Step 1 review book during the journey and Mike listened to music and tried his hardest not to distract me (too much).

When the train made its way into Euston Station, we walked through the rain and hailed a London Cab, which took us to our hotel located on the River Thames, which was right across from the testing centre where I took my exam.

Since the rain had slowed, we decided to take a little stroll from our cab to the hotel. (Also, the hotel was on a pedestrian street, so no cars were allowed.) The hotel happened to be located in the same area of the Shakespeare's Globe, so we had a little walk around to get a glimpse of the city before tucking in for our first night.

Of course I spent the first night with my books, flashcards, notes, rapid reviews, lectures, and my doctors in training review guide. We did manage to sneak in a cheeky take-away Indian...the portions were massive, leftovers served us well for the next two days. Of course I didn't have much of an appetite, the biggest most important exam in my life was within 36 hours!

*Oh I would kill for a proper take-away right now!!*

 The following day, I woke up early (did I even sleep?) and began my final day of revision. By the early afternoon, Mike was getting antsy and I couldn't resist the urge to take a long stroll around London. So we took off with our minds set on finding a nice cafe to sit and have some coffee while I study the afternoon away.

 Seeing as we were in London, I had imagined it would be fairly easy to find a nice cafe. I mean, there are literally hundreds scattered throughout Paris, and Paris is so near to London, surely we would find one nice cafe! But the only things we came across were full and busy, not exactly what I had pictured. Nothing like the atmosphere in Paris, with the long déjeuner and the relaxed business women and artists enjoying croissants and cappuccinos or the plat du jour!

 So we ended up walking and walking in search of the cafe I had hoped to find, and we eventually found ourselves at Buckingham Palace. So we had a look around and sat in St James' Park for a while so I could quickly look through some more of my notes.

 The flowers in St James Park are gorgeous. There are several little ponds scattered throughout the 58 acres of land with many little gardens of flowers throughout.

 There were a lot of super friendly squirrels and other animals in the park. They are definitely used to annoying people (like us) that feed the animals our snacks (which is a horrible thing to do really, but hard to resist the urge when you're missing your own little animal 4000 miles away!)

 It was at Buckingham Palace where we saw the Royal Military Band performing a medley of John Williams' songs, including a little Harry Potter action.

 We walked back towards our hotel and stopped at Patisserie Valerie for a bit of indulgence with a few sweets and a coffee. We walked through the business district as well as a few more touristy areas, so we really got to see a lot of the city on our long journey of a walk.

 When we arrived at St. Paul's Cathedral, I wanted to have a stop inside to light a candle and say a few prayers before exam. We walked up the stairs & through the doors before we noticed that they charge money to get inside. I don't really understand it, but I do know that everyone is strapped for money these days so it makes sense to charge.  I certainly don't agree with charging a fee in order to pray in a holy place...but I suppose that's what you might expect from the Church of England! (On a side note, I'm sure my mom lit enough candles to make up for me not lighting one of my own!)

 And we headed back to our hotel, and on our way stopped for a little bite to eat; of course I didn't have any bit of an appetite as I was too nervous for my exam!

 And so we went back to the hotel, where Mike watched the tele while I studied. I took an excessively long hot bath with a few cups of tea and my notes in an attempt to calm my nerves so that I could actually sleep that night. I really wasn't so lucky. I only had a few hours of sleep before I woke up too anxious to lie still. So I revised again, starting at around 5am.




And so by 7, we were in the hotel's restaurant enjoying light breakfast and cup of tea. Mike fired a few more questions at me, and then we sat and talked about how hard I have worked, how well I will do, and did the whole confidence boost thing. We then took a little walk over the Thames to the testing centre, Mike kissed me and wished me good luck and I went in to face my fate.

 We met up for lunch together during my 45minute lunch break (Mike brought me a delicious sandwich and a few treats). I finished my exam and came out of the centre to find Mike standing there. I can't describe the relief I felt when he gave me a hug and told me that I deserved a good mark on the exam after all of the hard work I've put in.






So from there, we strolled around London once more, back up to the Palace and over to Big Ben and back to Euston for some fish and chips, a few beers, and our train ride home. We only had a day left in Liverpool before we headed over to Spain for a week in Marbella! (more on that later!)

The theme song for this week for me (which makes me happy and excited every time I hear it!)