my favortie word to learn:
Mittelshmerz
Oh, definately sonic hedgehog gene!
Kate
I don’t know, spinnbarkeit is pretty cool too ( I can just imagine German Ob-gyn’s coming up with these.
Kate
So I showed up for orientation this morning, and I immediately visit my financial aid office… i thought there was a problem with my loan, because my disbursement amount was far too low.
It turns out, however, that I am getting a scholarship!! 75% of my tuition all four years… WHAT THE CRAP???
They sent me a letter, but I had already moved. It arrived in Nashville today. Oh. My. Goodness.
I cried all day…total shock! What a first day!!! Admittedly, the entire day was pretty overwhelming. I am ready to get into a new routine and get this thing done. Congratulations and good luck to everyone starting soon…
Congratulations!! I am so happy for you. You deserve it!
That’s phenomenal, Carrie Liz! Nothing like a surprise like that to pull the rug out from under you (even good surprises can still bowl you over 
).
Hoping that the new routine comes quickly and that you figure out all the remaining details as you go.
Getting nervous about my first day of orientation, in exactly three weeks.
I think I told you at the conference Carrieliz (and you and Terra looked at me like I had six heads), that if this is your path, and this is what you are meant to do, a way will be provided, and the issue of debt becomes a non-issue. Now, just stride forth on the confidence of that, and CEASE to worry!!!
Well, I finally have a plan for my commute. Parking has been a big worry for me: there is no way to get a parking permit as a first year student unless you car pool, and even then it’s a total of $120/month split between car pool members. And I don’t have anyone to carpool with. Street parking reportedly “exists” if you get there before 6:30 am or so, but no one can tell me where.
So…I found another option: a vanpool 3x/week (about an hour each way that I can actually use to study, now), drive the remaining 2x/week. Costwise, it works out to about the same as just driving & paying for parking elsewhere. It feels good to have this one thing taken care of…it’s been weighing on me more than it should have.
My school has good parking (at least this year since they expanded the lot/garage). But the parking is 20 bucks a month. I realize overall this is a good deal but it feels a bit petty considering the tens of thousands of dollars I am giving them. And gym access is another 15 a month. Again…really?
@dnelson: I hear you. $40K isn’t enough? My gym access is included, but I still know I’m paying for it. $20/month for parking seems really sweet right now. It’s $12/day at my school without a monthly permit - and that is about $120. In the grand scheme of things, it will balance out - but it does still feel petty now.
Fabulous news CarrieLiz!! Congrats. Hope all is going well this week!
Lynda
Wow…I didn’t even think about parking. A permit sticker was in our welcome packs… I’m sure I paid for it somewhere, but I’m glad it’s not the issue it could be at bigger schools. My ID gets me into the student center and gym…complete with massive rock wall. It’s crazy that you’re being charged on top of tuition for that stuff. Seems like it should be included. Good luck as you navigate these new waters!!
On a brighter note, I am home with my girls this weekend. My six year old is sick and has a fever. She hasn’t been sick in two years. Frustrating!! I know she was in loving hands this week, but it hurt that they weren’t mine. Definitely something I’ll have to deal with in my own way. The kids are fine…it’s me who is the wreck. 
We had our white coat ceremony last night. Anatomy begins Monday morning, with a focus on embryo the first three days. We see cadavers on Thursday…first exam is next Monday (on embryo and back/thorax), and I already have two 1-page papers due next week on professionalism in medicine. So…naturally, I’m watching a movie with my sick 6-yr old. I’ll get the rest done later.
My husband is home from Afghanistan on Friday…counting the moments!
OH my goodness.
I’ve survived two whole days of medical school! LOL
Let’s just say, this train is rolling… Good Lord! I feel like I should be studying every second. Embryology all week, taught by the incredible guy who wrote the book…and we meet our first patients (i.e., our cadavers) on Thursday.
First exam is Monday, and the sheer volume is…well, truly “firehose” worthy. 400 pages of Embryo text, and back/thorax. After 5 days of class.
Whew. I think I can, I think I can!
I am so glad I chose this school. It was definitely the right fit for me. This community of learners is so positive, and I am ecstatic to be walking out the next 4 years with this group.
never under estimate the power of a study group
Just finished day 1 of orientation. Can’t believe that I am officially a M1!
SO excited for those starting this week! Enjoy every second… I can tell you, it gets ridiculous FAST.
We have gross anatomy in a single block for 13 weeks, and then it’s done. So this is INTENSE. The only other things we have going on are a few pass/fail courses (Gross is graded) like Case Oriented Learning, Intro to Physical Exam, and Communications. I like those, because it gets us out of the classroom, and we get to work in the sim lab with patient actors and robots. Very cool… I got to auscultate the lungs and do blood pressure and reflexes yesterday. Of course, it felt awkward, but the patient was fantastic and really a good teacher. It felt good to wear the coat and stethoscope and “play doctor…” I still feel like such a poser! Our patient actor and two people in my group actually said, “I want Carrieliz to be my doctor.” My response, “WHY? I can’t even find the brachial pulse!” Their answer? “You are so calm and NOT awkward, and you just make everyone feel really comfortable. It’s very nurturing…” FINALLY! I feel like I did something right! LOL
In Gross, we’ve covered embryology, vertebral column, back muscles, spinal cord, chest wall and thorax (incl lungs), and heart. We’ll do mediastinum, and then we review for the first exam/practical that’s on Friday. Whew!
Nerves, arteries, and veins, oh my!!
I did ok on my first exam (embryology), but I want better on the next one…
This is going to sound strange, but I’m so proud of our cadaver. He’s kind of a rock star in our lab… As surely as he suffered in life, he is teaching us so much in death. It’s an honor to learn from him. To say he has a tumor is putting it mildly. It’s consumed his entire left thorax, and given us an extremely sobering look at the aggressive, violent nature of some types of cancer—I honestly had no idea it could look like that. It has been such an unbelievable experience. I’m just grateful for all the people who choose to participate in the donor program—what they have to teach us as our “first patients†is beyond comprehension. To be made completely vulnerable for all to see, so we can learn… what an incredible gift.
So that’s my first 3 weeks of med school. WHOA!! I have to frequently remind myself to breathe.
I miss my babies…my husband is home from Afghanistan, and I’m not there. It’s rough, but we’re making it. I live for the weekends…
Thinking about each of you over the next several weeks. We just have to take this one structure at a time…
Hey Guys!
Glad to see the Class of 2017 on this forum. Woohoo! Class for me starts tomorrow (Aug 12th) but it looks like it’s already started for a few of you. Had my orientation this past week, I think a few of my classmates were surprised to see a toddler running around in a white coat (I had to get him one) after the white coat ceremony.
I am so thankful that I will not have a commute to my school as it is located less than 15 minutes away. I actually plan on using the bus to get to class so that I can study and/or sleep during my “commute”. Gone are the days when I had to drive over an hour each way to finish my pre-reqs.
A little tidbit of information I found out during orientation. Guess who the oldest 1st year medical student is at our school?
61! Isn’t that incredible? I think it’s amazing and although I haven’t met this person yet, I’m sure he or she awesome.
Also, they just implemented a Pass/Fail system this year so there should be less pressure to make the best grades. They are keeping a shadow grading system though (not public) that is used for certain things like AOA (honor society). I’m excited for school!
Congrats to each of you…!!!
Carrieliz…that tumor story took hold of me. Your description painted a very vivid image in my mind of how that cancer spread, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know if I’m horrified, amazed, scared at the power of such a thing…or what. I’m sure I’m feeling only a fraction of what you are, though. Incredible.
Congrats and good luck again to everyone who started this week. This is such a fun time.
I am in my 4th week of class, and I am completely amazed at what I’ve learned in such a short time. My school does an incredible job of synthesizing info from lecture to lab to physical exam to case oriented learning to simulation lab… So every thing we do reinforces the same thing at the same time. It is a beautiful process, and it’s really opened up my capacity for this material. I feel like I’m really understanding some things and making correlations instead of studying for exams, and that is a delight.
And it’s working! Got my first real gross exam and practical out of the way…and I killed it!!! Unbelievable! The practical was intense, and I was so freaked out walking out of that thing that I’d have been happy just to pass. I was unsure of so many things, but I just went with my gut… Our lab group is in continual dialogue about what, why, and how for everything we see, and I just trusted that in the end. I NEEDED this boost of confidence, because I’d been feeling a pretty hefty dose of FUD, honestly wondering what I was even doing in med school to begin with. It was a wonderful reward!
And it never stops… On to abdominal cavity this week, with exam 2 next Friday. Way more info on this one, so the pace is picking up fast!
If I had any wisdom to pass on from what I’ve done so far, it would be the importance of good lab group dynamic. Pimp each other for details…take turns…and never stop talking through your entire dissection. We have iPads mounted above each tank, so we access Netters and Visible Body apps to assist with the continual dialogue…but even if you can’t do that, appoint someone each day to be the “reader.” Work together, and teach and learn at the same time. You’ll avoid cramming and be so surprised at how much you know in the end.
I’ve held a heart in my hands, seen a tumor that ate through a rib cage, sawed into the spinal cord, and actually followed the entire intestinal tract with my fingers. Folks, I could NOT do this in Corporate America. As hard as it is, there is nowhere else I’d rather be. I feel lucky… I feel blessed. All is good!
Colleagues,
I have been meaning to post my congrats to all of the 2017’ers for a while now. I am excited for all of you in taking your next step in the journey. Additionally, I am motivated by your contagious enthusiasm for the challenge that medical school is bringing. Remember that enthusiasm when things get tough as you will find others become “jaded” with certain parts of the process from time to time.
I will leave you all with a story I have told on OPM before but want to reiterate it to my M1 friends. My mentor gave me three gifts when I was accepted. 1) A stethoscope. To not just listen to my patients HEART, but to remind me to LISTEN to my patients, they are not a Sx, a disease, or a case, they are a mother/father/friend/daug hter/son. If you listen to your patient long enough and intently enough, they will give you their Dx. 2) A wine opener. To remind me to keep my wife’s HEART. You are in this journey with your family and friends together. Don’t forget their sacrifice, and include them in your balance and give them 100% of yourself when you can spend time with them. 3) A new bike tool. To remember to follow my HEART, to continue to do things that I love (I mountain bike…a lot…) and to live in those moments without stressing about the next test, or to feel like you should be studying instead of enjoying yourself. Medical school is stressful and it is hard, but with balance it can be the best years of your life. Good Luck! Cheers,
Celtic, OMS II