#omsii

“ Diastole. The silence between the dub and the lub. Over the past twelve months, I had learned to map and describe the various murmurs in that space. I had memorized the valve disorders associated with them. I had heard diastole, the time when the ventricles are filled with blood, on recordings, on a simulation dummy, and on myself. However, I had never appreciated it on a patient. That little space — which had always been overshadowed in my ear by the cacophony of my internal dialogue, along with a sprinkling of crepitus from my shaking fingers — now shined through with a brilliant clarity. Never in my life had a silence been so moving. “Ms. C, everything sounds completely normal. But is it alright with you if I listen just a little longer?” Ms. C smiled and nodded. “Of course,” she said. “You’re learning.”

So I don’t know how it happened but suddenly I’m a second year med student, about to start studying for “the b-word” as most of my faculty refer to it to use. Surprisingly, so far I’ve done a pretty good job of not freaking myself out too much yet. I don’t know how long that will last though, especially after my winter break ends and I really can’t procrastinate it any longer. 

I plan on using UWorld as my main question bank (with supplemental COMbank since I have the lovely pleasure of taking both the USMLE and COMLEX as a DO student) with pathoma and first aid. I’ve also liked using sketchy and some boards and beyond videos for concepts I’m not getting. Osmosis on youtube has really helped me out too as I’ve gone through systems in class. 

When You Were in College:

Now That Your Med School Half is Always Studying: