MS3

Friends!

Long time no post!!! I've been waiting to post and finally share that I have closed the door on MS2 and am moving forward to MS3!

I think this is the year that all medical students dream about. Finally getting into the hospital, being done with Step One, interacting with real patients with real problems and really diving into medicine.

Since writing Step I've been running around trying to get my life organized and finish all of my pre hospital health check ups along with organizing my life into two suitcases before I head off to IMF.

I've slowly been updating my professional attire since, let's be real, I've been living in leggings and tank tops for the past year.

What is IMF you may be wondering? Well my school has a six week program called the Internal Medicine Foundations that we must complete before starting our core rotations. The simplest explanation is it's a pre-clinical bootcamp... we get to work on and perfect our patient encounters, practical skills (scrubbing in, IV lines, physical exams), SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan) notes and History and Physical Exam notes. Even though I haven't started yet, I am very thankful that my school has this since it allows us to brush up our skills before we're in the hospital on our rotations (I know my first few interviews/physical exams aren't going to be the smoothest).

After six weeks of IMF we begin our core rotations (one year) which consist of Family Medicine, Surgery, Internal Medicine, Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics and Psychiatry.

Also, I've been looking at all of the different resources available for core rotations and it's been VERY overwhelming!

I'm planning on keeping you all updated throughout this part of my medical journey as well - what resources I've used and my experiences along the way. If there's anything in particular you want me to write about please let me know.

AND THANK YOU, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, for joining me on this journey.

- Jen

Type A or B?

Hi Friends!

I'm writing this post because I've been having many conversations about this topic over the past few weeks and I honestly find it pretty interesting.

I'm sure you've all heard about Type A and Type B personalities - but what do they really mean?

I just typed them into google and this fun little quiz came up to see what personality type you are

What Personality Type are you?

As medical students I think we all have a part of Type A personality in us, some more than others, but what does that really mean?

Other than the obvious personality traits a Type A person is described as impatient, concerned about time management, anxious, rigidly organized, workaholics... the list goes on. What else does Type A mean?

There have been several studies published that show that people who have Type A Personality are more likely to have early CAD (coronary artery disease), high blood pressure and are at an increased risk of stroke. As someone who is trying to be in the medical field and who's job it is to advocate healthy choices and decisions, I believe it's pretty ironic that we could be the patients who have very preventable health issues.

Then what do we do to prevent this? I'm going to be honest I'm still trying to figure it out for myself because my personality heavily sits on the Type A side but I think it just all comes down to having an outlet.

Whether that means drawing, working out, dancing, singing, going in nature, playing with animals (favourite by far), reading, watching your favourite TV show - we need to integrate something into our schedule that can help relieve some of our stress.

For example, I'm gonna use myself here, my first round of studying at home I just studied day in and day out. No breaks. Nothing fun. No days off. And I noticed that my energy levels were SO LOW. It was so hard to get out of bed in the morning - so difficult to get motivated and tough to even learn new information. I decided something had to change so I started integrating in work out breaks, dance parties, study space changes and little did you know my productivity levels increased and even though I was waking up an hour earlier (some days even more) than I did before I had a heck of a lot more energy. I gave myself one day off a week and to my surprise even though I was working one less day a week (shame, shame, shame) the other six days I was working I was able to get so much more done and I was able to retain a lot more.

Figuring out a schedule that works for you can be a pain but once you figure out what works best for your body I promise your studying will feel totally different.

- Jen

Finding Dory in Dominica

Hello friends!

Just writing to you after my first weekend off since coming to the island! We just finished our Neurology block - we had our practical exam on Wednesday and our Mini on Friday. I think I can speak for my whole class in saying that we've been waiting for this weekend since first semester. Even though we had no classes this week it was a tough week. I find neuro very interesting but there was so much information to try and cram into our heads. After this semester I'm 100% certain we deserved this weekend off (even though it went by in the blink of an eye).

Second semester has been tough I'm not going to lie. I'm not very strong in Physiology and this is a very Physiology dense semester. I've been working my butt of to try and grasp this information as much as I possibly can (along with trying to figure out how to get more hours in my day - if anyone has an answer please let me know).

This weekend was so relaxing - but we also had a lot of fun! On Friday night we went to a Paediatrics Student Auction where my friends and I were auctioned off for 2400 EC - approximately 860 USD. We were so excited that we were able to raise that much money for a child on the island to have a heart surgery.

On Saturday we spent the afternoon Snorkelling in Cabrits National Park. It was a nice boat ride - three hours and two different reefs. The water was so blue, clear and stunning - one thing that I love so much about the island. I'd never been snorkelling before so I was so excited to finally go and cross that off my bucket list.

Today I had a nice sleep in and a brunch at my favourite breakfast place called Aunty Graces. A group of us then went to a lazy river past the airport and just enjoyed nature - admiring our Jurassic Park Island.

I still sit here in total awe of where I am studying medicine. Not only am I living out my dream of becoming a doctor but I also get to do it on a stunning island. As I've mentioned before it can be frustrating because it's not like home and we don't have the same things readily available but the island itself is so beautiful. It's very easy to get caught up in the little bubble surrounding campus and you don't even realize it but it wears you out. It's always go-go-go around here and you don't ever get much time to just relax and not do anything.

I know I surely needed this weekend to pull everything back together and regain some mental sanity. These next four weeks are going to be long and difficult but I need to keep pushing through. I always tell you guys I keep it totally honest here and I'm going to keep it that way. I'm mentally exhausted and I'm nervous for the next two blocks we have, Endocrine and Reproductive Systems. I haven't had too much exposure to either so it's going to be a larger learning curve for me. All we can really do is keep moving forward and stay positive.

Jen

Snorkelling

The Upper Deck

Food my parents sent

Sunsets

Study Day

Snorkelling

Snorkelling

Snorkelling

Snorkelling

Tubing

You Get What You Give

Hello friends!

I've just finished up my fourth week at the clinic and I couldn't be happier with the people I work with. They've inspired me so much that I've decided to write a blog post dedicated to them.

I've always kind of thought that the energy you put out in the world you get back. I say "kind of" because I thought it but I wasn't totally convinced. I've seen examples of it and have experienced it myself but have never been immersed in it.

At my job I am the new employee, fresh out of undergrad, nervous as ever about her first big girl job. Ever since I first stepped foot in the clinic I have felt very welcome and supported by every other physiotherapist, chiropractor, sports med doctor, massage therapist and other admin.

From always shouting a warm welcome as I come in (or they come in) to asking how the adjustment to the new job is going or offering free treatment to me. I've always felt so welcome into their little clinic family and for that I am forever grateful.

I'd like to pass that message on out to the public (or people reading this) that no matter how crappy of a day you're having you should ALWAYS try to put positivity and happiness out into the universe.

It'll come back to help ya!

- Jen

Just a Reminder

Sit back and relax every once and a while. Med School applications may be hectic and consume all of our time, but we're only young once and we need to enjoy it while we're here! Take that breather, go for a walk and enjoy nature. You'll feel so much more relaxed and energized after :)

- Jen

Summer Living

I don't think I've been so busy before. I am 100% doing more work now than during a school semester. Not only am I studying for my MCAT but I'm also taking three online courses. I've never really learnt how to take it easy. It's always go go go with me, which I sometimes regret, but if I have nothing to do I get VERY bored. I like to keep myself busy and always doing something. I like to learn something new or try something new to say that I've at least done it.

BUT BACK TO ME BEING BUSY! Don't fall into the same trap I have and push yourself too hard. I've always been a hard core perfectionist, having to do anything and every thing perfectly. Which is good, but at the same time you can become obsessed with it (cue me) and it isn't such a great skill anymore. You have to learn when to say "I've done my best… and that's it". I've found myself sitting and working on one lab report or assignment for hours trying to make it as perfect as possible. You could say I became obsessed with making this assignment/lab perfect.

As I've gone through my undergrad, I've slowly come to realize it's impossible to make every single lab/assignment perfect. It's been a pretty bitter pill to swallow but it's the fact of life. You do what you can do and that's it. Don't push yourself to make every aspect of your life perfect because it isn't going to happen. If you perfect one aspect of life another will suffer. The great example of social life vs. academics comes to mind. I spent most of my third year studying my life away. My social life was extremely lacking. People in my program thought I had taken the year off (how embarrassing). But I knew I had a heavy course load and I needed to buckle down and study my life away (quite literally) so that's what I did.

It's hard coming into this summer already exhausted from my third year but I made myself do this (MCAT + three online courses) and I have to get through it. Thinking back I shouldn't have taken as many online courses but that's a part of my perfectionist nature coming out again.

Back to studying for me though.

- Jen

Burnout

The topic for today is burnout. I know we've all experienced it… pushed ourselves too far and then we're turned into a mental mess. Once you've burnt out it take some time to recover. Everything takes so much longer because you're mentally (and physically) exhausted. Your grades won't be as high as you want them to be, assignments will take forever, you'll be making silly mistakes. I've done them all.

I know how easy it is to put off hanging out with friends, working out, going for a walk, reading a book in order to sit in your room and study or finish those 50 million assignments. Remember you need to give your brain a break! Sitting for long periods of time is actually bad for your health! It can cause lower back issues from constant spine flexion and neck pain which leads to killer headaches. Trust me, I'm in kinesiology. And I've experienced this too many times for it to be okay.

I like to work out, or go for a walk as my breaks. I feel like I'm on top of the world after a workout and I'm so much more productive (it's those endorphins at work ;) ). I know how difficult it is to actually get your butt off your chair, change out of your pyjamas and trek over to the gym; I've made up every excuse in the book to not get off my chair.

"I have way too much to do, I'm going to be wasting my time", "I don't have time for this. I have x, y, z to do" - typical excuses of mine

But I've also learnt that if I don't take care of myself that will be more detrimental and will waste more of my time than the one hour I'll be "wasting" at the gym. It will take two times longer for me to actually write a lab report or do an assignment, than if I take a break and come back to it later.

If going to the gym isn't your cup of tea then watching a favourite tv show (in moderation, no netflix binge watching), meditating, reading a book, practicing yoga, having a dance party in your room (another favourite) all work as well! As long as you're giving that poor brain of yours some well deserved rest.

So next time you're trying to decide if you need a break after you've been working for a long period of time the answer is always yes!

- Jen