#oms1

Hey there everyone! I’m gonna do my best to start writing again, now that boards are over. I also wanted to just let everyone know the YouTube will be back up and running in no time but I had a tonsillectomy complicated by 4 trips back to the OR!!! As a result, my ability to speak is currently quite limited, but as that returns, so will the videos.

Let me start with a short preface. I am not going to post my boards scores but to give you some “benchmark” on why you would or wouldn't want to trust me, here’s this: This post is targeted at the students who want to break 230 comfortably, be above average etc. I cannot say that this is the advice that will get you above a 245... but that said, I'm sure some of this advice will still work for anyone. As for a COMLEX benchmark, I would say to you keep reading if you are interested in breaking 600 quite comfortably. Again, I’m not guaranteeing scores or flaunting mine, but I feel it would be helpful for you to have an idea of who is writing to you.

So without further ado, what do you need to know, to start second year strong?

1. Mental Health is key. I cannot stress this enough, the old adage you cannot take care of others without taking care of yourself has never been so true. additionally, if you are not in the right mindset for second year, you will not succeed. In my opinion, the best way to approach second year is a challenge that you are excited to tackle and grow from. The biggest “wall” in most students mind isn't the coursework, but the exam at the end of the year. You will start hearing students talk about how they “aren't doing class anymore” or “I just reading first aid” and to me that B.S. Your classes second year are incredibly high yield. They essentially contain the material you are going to see on boards. The more work you put in second year, the more you are going to get out. You need to keep that mindset because it is easy to fall into the trap of “oh I will just study for boards”. Please don't be that guy or gal, just study like you actually want to learn medicine and I promise the scores will follow. This leads me to #2.

2. Boards are not the MCAT, they are not a beast, they are not unfair. You will hear a ton of folks talking about how they are bad at standardized tests, they didn't do well on the MCAT, they don't think boards focus on real medicine, this list goes on. I truly believe all of the above don't matter. Let me first address the content issue. The content on boards IS medicine. It is again, B.S, when people say its irrelevant or its unnecessary information. Now, USMLE is more guilty of random useless detail than COMLEX, but the truth is at the end of the day, MOST of what you will see is normal medical questions. The detailed questions are there because everyone knows the basics, that is for you to show that you are above average because you have worked so hard to get to this point. 

Okay that aside, lets address the MCAT thingy. So there is this AAMC stat that gets tossed around all the time about MCAT score correlating to boards exams. The truth is, if you had life figured out and were a great student when you took the MCAT, then I’m sure that stat holds up. That said, I was not, and as you may recall, I had a 26 on my MCAT... This should have been roughly a low 200 on USMLE... I can confirm that I was no where near this. Don't let statistics define you, each time you take a test like this, it is a new experience and you define your future. Remember there are always statistical outliers... be that outlier!

3. Work Hard. Sounds silly right? Just don't forget what you are there to do. This is a long and grueling road, and you can easily lose focus for numerous reasons. Just remind yourself why you are in med school and what this means to you. That will be different for everyone but hopefully that will help you to dig deep and find what you need to push on. 

Alright, I think that should be sufficient to start you all off in the right mindset for your 2nd year. This applies to a good mindset for first year as well! Look out for the YouTube, I am planning videos talking about how best to utilize Step 1 with your coursework as well as how to get the most out of UWorld. 

Until next time,

thepre-medlife

Twitter: thepre_medlife

So many times during our orientation and I would even say throughout this year, we were warned about taking care of our selves so that we do not fall into depression because a huge majority of medical students are depressed. Now I knew when we started this journey that it would be tough, and I would be lying if I said that there weren’t days where I felt lonely, unintelligent, incapable, weak, disillusioned, sad, frustrated or just plain unmotivated. This roller coaster I thought would be one of information, but I did not think it would be this emotional. The school work itself is a challenge, but what tends to be more of a challenge for me is balancing that school work with normal human issues. Family problems come up... elections happen... life happens. This school life balance is difficult but it is achievable. But for me, it seems as though whenever I am the cusp of balance, a curve ball is thrown at me. 

This week (mind you it’s only Tuesday-well the wee hours of Wednesday morning) I have already had family drama that has spilled into my school life, social issues as I struggled with being left out of class get togethers, continue to go through other dilemmas with some of my best friends, and to put the cream cheese frosting on my reed velvet, I had academic issues because I failed a class (yes that does happen in medical school- no it’s not because I’m stupid, although that was definitely a thought that had crossed my mind multiple times as I struggled with pulmonary physiology and yes I am still going to be an awesome doctor because no one can truly know success without tasting the bitter flavor of failure). So my little imaginary box that I usually stick all my problems into to deal with later has literally overflown. So now I have to start dealing with these issues while still having crazy amounts of lectures and human issues like the dwindling supply of food in my refrigerator due to my lack of impetus to go to the grocery store, while still dealing with the biggest problem of them all- my family. 

I am a private person, and as I mentioned before, my private family life is spilling into school- actually to be more accurate, the majority is going to spill tomorrow. I am a private person. I do not tell people my business, sorta. I say sorta because although I am private, I am also pretty open, which are contradictory statements but they make sense. I am open with things that I feel will not hurt me, or come back to haunt me, but I keep my intimate details on lock down. My relationship with my BF-perfect example. No one needs to know the details of our relationship and I don’t feel the need to post every moment we share together. So there are a few things in my life that I like to keep to myself. Well with regard to the one that is spilling tomorrow...My whole class including some administration and faculty are about to be invited to see a private portion of my life and although I hate it, I know it is for the best for my sanity, and quite frankly for my safety. 

This problem is and has been an ongoing problem for over a decade now and I do not see it subsiding anytime soon. When I was younger it sent me into a therapist chair because I was depressed, having emotional breakdowns, lashing out, and I wasn’t sleeping. I battled the emotional issues and the depression consistently for years. I know what my signs are for when I may be falling into a depression which is why I am always looking out for them; I will stay in denial that I am handling everything when I’m not so those signs save me every time. Today was the first time in a long time that I caught at least 2 signs. And it scares the shit out of me. 

I can’t afford to go into the big D... I can barely afford to fight it. I feel like I can’t even talk about it. I don’t want to scare anyone more than I probably already will be scaring them tomorrow. How do I deal with life and medicine? I’m beginning to realize that this balance isn’t just school- this is what life is like for Doctors. Your mother could have just lost her life but you have to go save someone else’s. You just had a miscarriage, but you have to deliver a baby. 

I know what I need, but I don’t have the time for what I need while in school. How do I reconcile what I need for my mental health and what I need for my academic success... Can one take a hit and just wait until Spring Break where I can recoup? Do I deal with the Big D or do I go catch up on lectures... What do I even do for the Big D this time? 

This is all the makeup I got on a shopping trip with my friend on Saturday… the best part is that all this only cost $20 thanks to coupons and free birthday gifts! But anyway here’s a fun spring break topic:

Makeup and professionalism!

Near the end of my senior year of college, I read a research paper that outlined how women are viewed as professionals as related to the makeup they wear. What the study found was that if a woman wore any makeup at all, they were thought of as much more professional than women acting the same exact way not wearing makeup. I believe it didn’t matter how much makeup they wore, they were still thought of as more professional by both men and women.

Now, I’m a girl who has always worked to be where she is. I’ve never relied on mommy or daddy or a pretty face to get me anywhere, I’ve always gotten places by working hard. So of course I never wore makeup. Maybe once in a while going out on the weekend I would wear a bit of mascara and lipstick, but that was it. Certainly nothing to class at 8am when my hair is in a bun and I’m in sweats.

But after seeing that article, I realized that as a woman going into a very historically male dominated field, I needed every leg up I can get. So I got my friend to show me how to do a full face of makeup (you can see my post about it and the results of my first try here https://doctorjustine.tumblr.com/post/158379651214/since-my-birthday-was-last-week-i-splurged-just-a), and it was a lot at first, but I’ve actually grown to like it.

I still don’t do a full face of makeup every day, but I’ve started wearing at least a little bit each day, usually eyebrows and mascara and maybe a bit of foundation. And I really like how I feel! I feel more confident in my appearance which definitely helps me be more confident elsewhere.

Obviously if you hate makeup, you don’t have to wear it, it’s not going to outrightly hurt you to not wear it, but I’ve definitely found that it’s worth it for me.

So if anyone is like wow, I should start doing that but I don’t have a personal makeup Sherpa, fear not. I gotchu. Here’s a list of what I’ve found is essential and what I like to have.

Med school makeup essentials: 1) Foundation (you’re gonna get acne. Sorry to break it to you, but stress + formaldehyde are basically as potent as puberty. Everyone breaks out) 2) Concealer (see above, also to hide those dark circles do an upside down triangle under your eyes) 3) Brow pencil (honestly this one is kinda a fad cause everyone loves brows rn) 4) Eyeliner (I usually save this one for when we wear white coats rather than every day use) 5) Mascara (my new bare minimum) 6) Eye shadow (I’ve recently learned that no, $2 eye shadow isn’t the same as $20 eye shadow. Treat yo self. I like just a little gold shimmer on white coat days)

Other makeup items I enjoy: 1) Beauty blender (to blot out the foundation and concealer, definitely makes it much easier. I like mine kinda chunky for fast application) 2) Finishing powder & big brush (put it over any liquid you put on your face) 3) Other eye shadow colors (with white you can highlight your brows and your inner eye, darker colors can go on the outside, I’m still working on perfecting the smoky eye for a night on the town) 4) Highlighter (honestly real highlighters are expensive af so if I wanna highlight I use my shiny gold eye shadow which works surprisingly well) 5) Bronzer (if you wanna contour) 6) Blush (more contouring, I don’t use it as much cause I blush too much as is) 7) Lipstick (LOVE matte nude lipstick, I didn’t understand nude lipstick until I tried it and it does bring your look to the next level. The sephora birthday gift is usually nude lipstick)

Other suggestions I have for makeup in med school: 1) Join both the Sephora and Ulta rewards clubs. They’re free and not only give you sweet coupons to make makeup somewhat affordable, but also give you (really) free birthday gifts during your birthday month every year, which is an awesome way to build your makeup collection and try new things! 2) Tarte and urban decay also both have rewards clubs if you’re into name brands, but I haven’t found them as helpful as the sephora & Ulta clubs.

So today I precepted with a physician who is an OMM specialist. I was excited about it but I was not prepared to have my mind blown with awesomeness.

This man loves his job. And even after 17 years of owning and operating his own practice, he had absolutely nothing negative to say all day. This is so much different from a lot of the other doctors I've talked to. Sure, they love medicine, but they always say "I love my job/medicine/what I do, but..." There was no but here.

He gets a full half hour with each of his patients, and an hour with new patients. He knows who they are, what they do, their kids names, everything about them. And they know his kids too, talk about rapport! His patients trust him so much it's crazy. And it's because he thinks out loud in terms that they can understand, and really teaches them what's wrong with them. He has a book (Travell & Simmons) that shows each muscle and a body with dots where the muscle can refer the pain to. Every patient just kind of nodded but looked a tad confused when he explained to them what was going on, but when they saw the picture, you could see the lightbulb go off and they would be like "oh, that's what I have!"

He also makes it a point to give them a diagnosis. A lot of his patients come to him as a last resort after bouncing around from doctor to doctor, never getting a diagnosis, and this is key with them. The relief and gratitude for that was palpable.

Also, if his patients are in pain, he gives them medication to work with his treatments. I didn't realize how well drugs could work with OMM, but taking a muscle relaxer at night can prevent the body from reversing some of the treatment. He also knows that he can't take all of their pain away, and prescribes painkillers for the pain he can't or hasn't taken away. He also uses trigger point injections to keep the muscles in their position of ease longer, making the work he does last about half a year rather than a few weeks.

AND!!! He had one new patient come in, and after we listened to her history (shoulder pain with decreased range of motion), he asked me what I thought it was, so I said supraspinatus tear, to which he said "yeah, it could be that but I think it's more likely frozen shoulder or trapezius" but then when he did his exam it was a supraspinatus tear (most likely; we can't be 100% sure without an MRI).

He looked really impressed and told me good job and I was much too excited to get my first real patient diagnosis correct. I need to work on being less outwardly next time because even though I did a really cool thing that I've literally wanted to do my whole life, it's still not good news for the patient.

He was also super impressed with my knowledge of anatomy, which made me feel awesome too. Today just got me so excited to be in the medical field becoming a doctor. I've been focusing so much on school that I forget why I'm there. This was so amazing.