Long time no see...

So, it’s been about 18 months since I’ve written anything.  What can you do?  We’ve been busy.  Without taking a year to go over all of the details, I’ve been busy rotating in Orthopedic Surgery trying to get a residency spot.  I spent 3 ½ months in the Midwest at 3 different programs.  As a result, I got 4 interviews for positions.  I have already been to 2 of them and had to turn 1 down because it was at the same time as another interview.  I cannot express how utterly gut wrenching it is to be trying to get into Orthopedics.  There were 130 applicants for 3 spots at the first place that I interviewed. They interviewed 15.   I did not get a guaranteed spot, but am ranked high enough that if things work out just right, I could still get a spot there.  The second place that I interviewed has 2 spots and 120 applicants.  Can you see where this is going?  They interviewed 12.  I am waiting to hear where I ranked with that program.  There are a bunch of legal issues with programs directly telling applicants where they are ranking them, so I cannot really give many details.  Sometime, I’ll have to describe the match process for getting into a residency, but not now.  I have 1 more interview in 2 weeks, but am hoping that I will hear favorably from the program from last week.  If I do, I will not have to travel again.

 

Right now, I am back in Phoenix rotating in Internal Medicine.  It is alright, but not my favorite.  To each his own.  I am sure glad that there are people that enjoy doing that work.  It is very important, but not my cup of tea.

Tadaima....

That’s what you say in Japan when you return home from being gone somewhere.  It is typically followed by someone at home saying, “Okaerinasai”.  That means literally that, “You must enter”, but in effect simply means welcome home.  It’s been a while (OK, a year and change) since I posted anything.  Frankly, I was surprised that my blog was still active.  Seeing as it is, I guess I should use it again.

 

Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that the past year of school was long, hard, confusing, trying, exhausting, depressing, and fattening.  However, in retrospect, it has flown by.  Last week I finished finals and now have about 3 weeks to complete preparing for my first board exams.

 

Being a DO student, I have the option of attending either an allopathic or osteopathic residency.  I am intent on becoming an orthopedic surgeon.  However, currently there are no orthopedic residencies in Phoenix.  Good Samaritan is planning on opening one, but it is not running yet.  There are two different board examinations available.  The USMLE, is required for MD physicians and the COMLEX examination is required for DOs.  However, DO students wishing to compete for an allopathic (MD) residency also need to take the USMLE.  Long story short, I am taking both so that I can apply to whichever programs I choose.  First, I take the USMLE and then one week later, I take COMLEX.  I have a long way to go before I will be ready for the exams, but much like the Grim Reaper and April 15^th, regardless of what I do, the exams will come.  I guess that I should use my time wisely.  Therein lies the challenge.  It’s like trying to review and relearn the equivalent of a 4 year degree (we have accumulated 136 credit hours in 2 years) in 3 weeks.  Granted, I have been reviewing over the past 2 months also, but now it’s crunch time.  I just keep telling myself, thousands have done it before me and passed.  I will, too. 

 

 

Hopefully……..

Back in the Saddle Again

It’s been a while. The week of Feb 21st to the 25th was finals. I was nonstop studying. I had Biochemistry on Monday, Psych and Clinical on Tuesday, Physiology on Wednesday, and Anatomy and Histology on Friday. It was a rough week. The worst of the exams were Friday’s. I walked out of the exams genuinely concerned that I might have failed the courses. Unfortunately, since there were written portions to the exams, they would take a few days to grade. Then, to cap off an already long day Friday, we had our memorial ceremony for the cadavers following the exam. We had to work an additional hour after finishing the exam. Part of the wrap-up process was a literal “wrap-up” of the cadavers. We had to package the bodies for return shipment into body bags. We left the brains out because we will use them this (3rd) quarter. We finally finished and were ale to leave. You wouldn’t believe the uses we found for duct tape!

The week after finals was spring break. We had planned a trip to Legoland and Disneyland. I had 2 days for work around the house and then we left on Wednesday. I got a lot done. We got our spring/summer garden planted, car maintenance, landscaping maintenance, cleaning, etc. Oddly enough, I actually enjoyed doing those chores. Anything but studying! Wednesday rolled around, and still I had no word on my results. I had all of my grades except for the two that I was most concerned about. I checked our online reporting system about ½ hour before we left. Anatomy had a line displaying for the grades, but it was not populated yet. But Histology was there. Something is wrong when you walk out of an exam thinking you might have failed, and you end up with an A in the class. I checked back with Anatomy. Still there was nothing. I kept refreshing the screen. After about 5 minutes, there it was. My B. After all of that worrying, I got an A and a B. It just reinforces my feeling that I am the worst assessor of my own performance on an exam.

The trip was fun. We invited my in-laws to go with us. Legoland was better that I expected it to be. The kids really enjoyed it. There were lots of rids and activities geared for their ages. Disneyland was fun, too. But the crowds were larger and there was more walking. By Saturday night, we were all ready to go home. But that meant that I had to drive all night to get there. We pulled in at 3:00 AZ time. Sunday was restful.

Monday was back to school. My courses do not appear to be too difficult except for Neuroscience. I am taking Physiology, Immunology, OMM, Psychiatry, Clinical Medicine, and a couple of general medical lectures. I have spent about 3 hours per night on just Neuroscience. More than all of my other classes combined. I hope it pays off. We have our first exam on Friday.

The blog hiatus was unfortunately necessary due to a lack of time. As it is, I have much to do tonight before bed, so it’s off to the brain vasculature…

Endure to the End

Have you ever had one of those times where you feel like you are at mile 25 of a marathon and just realized that the last mile is up a 10% incline? That’s about how I feel. Today was the last day of class for the second quarter of school. One more to go and I will be done with my first year. However, next week is my finals week.

I already had finals for my OMM class last week. It was a two-parter (written and practical). I did alright. I scored slightly above average, but not what I had hoped for. However, there is some controversy. The final lecture given was poorly done. Worse than the delivery, was the handout. Our exams are primarily taken from our lecture handouts. When they printed them (from the PowerPoint slides) they did a “background print” which reversed the text coloring. In other words, all of the text was white (on a light gray background). None of the notes were legible. We asked the professor about the notes and he indicated that we would receive new notes from the department secretary.

Exam day rolls around and we had not received any notes, so we concluded that that lecture would not be tested on the written notes. Wrong. 10% of the questions were from those notes. In discussing the exam with other students, it turns out that the secretary did print new legible notes and put them in the OMM lab. However, she did not tell the class that they were available or where they were. There were about 5 students that happened upon the notes and got copies. They did not let the other students know about the notes either. The really sad part is that one of the recipients is our class liaison and should have emailed the class to let us know about the notes.

Well, the secretary thinks that the exam is OK since a few of the students found the notes. Of course, that doesn’t sit well with the other 150 students that did not. A few (5) have formed a formal appeals committee (med school beurocracy) to appeal those questions. Who knows what will happen.

This coming week I have 5 final exams. Friday is my last one. Fittingly, it is Anatomy. I have enjoyed the course, but it has been a challenge. Following the exam, we are having a memorial to pay respect to the donors. Then we package the bodies for return to the donor program. We have had to keep ALL parts removed in a large plastic bin under our tables. The donor company verifies that all parts are accounted for thanks to the UCLA scandal.

I have a TON of studying to do over the next week for my exams. I hope things go well. I am in a good place with regards to my grades. I’ve done well enough this quarter so that I only need about a 30% on my exams to pass, but of course I want to do as well as I can.

Wish me luck (or skill, whichever works)!

The Court Jester

So, I have decided that I hate lawyers. I’ll admit it, I’m a rabid anti-lawite. Now before any pro lawyer type goes ballistic and sues me, let me say that my sister is a lawyer. Also, may I submit a recent experience for your consideration (lawyer talk for Here’s a little story).

I got drug (as a witness) into a lawsuit filed by a former coworker (from 5 years ago). He supposed that I had some incriminating information about my former employer (which I did not). His lawyers really wanted to depose me, so I was extended an invitation (a.k.a. subpoena) to meet with them as well as the defense counsel. In order to confirm my address for the subpoena, someone concocted an elaborate scheme to trick me into thinking that I was giving my address to a potential client. When I tried to call the individual back based on the phone number on my caller ID, I was connected to this former coworkers’ cell phone. Hmmm, already fishy.

I was eventually deposed and videotaped. I had hoped that that was all. But no, I then got subpoenaed by both sides to testify at trial. A couple of days before the trial, I called to confirm the time to be there and they told me that it had been continued until a later date. Apparently they had no intention of letting me know that. Nice communication!

A few months later I get another 2 subpoenas, one from each side. I called the prosecution to try to find out when I will be testifying. As it turns out, THEY DON’T WANT ME! But the defense still did. That’s irony. The people that took the time to hunt me down decide that they would rather not have my information but their opponents would. It took 4 phone calls to the defense to find out when I would be testifying. It was finally set. Wouldn’t you know it, right in the middle of Finals at school! Of course, my schedule and convenience don’t really matter when there’s cash on the line. I had to get special permission to miss my final anatomy lab (we are required to be at all sessions). I was to be at trial at 1:30 PM on Tuesday.

Then on Monday at 3:30, I got a call from the defense. They now needed me there at 9:30 in the morning. They were anticipating finishing early and didn’t want to have to wait until the afternoon for my testimony. Great, now I have to quickly rearrange my morning to accommodate them. Plus, my wife and I were planning on attending a temple session since the trial was about 5 miles from the temple. That was not going to happen now, too.

So, I get up and drive the 1 hour 30 minutes in rush hour to the courthouse. I was prompt at 9:30. Wouldn’t you know it… I waited until 12:00 before ANYONE gave me an update on when I would testify. “After the lunch break at 1:15 sharp”, they told me. So I went to lunch, fairly put out. I got back at 1:10 and waited around until 1:35 to testify. I was asked a total of 12 questions (including my name and occupation) that lasted 7 minutes!!! The answers that I gave were confirmation of facts they already knew. Then they dismissed me.

I understand that I am not paying their bills, but come on. A little common courtesy would do wonders for their already less-than-pristine image. If this whole experience never happens again, it’ll still be too soon!