What I'm up to now: the Common Rounds

It's been a while since I last sent my last post.
At this point in time I'm now a second year medical student. At the end of this year I'll be half way through my degree. How exciting.

Something new:
Some friends and I have worked on creating a podcast show for medical students. We provide medical educational podcast content covering different organ systems. Eventually we'll expand into having interviews with doctors talking about their training program. We'll also look into the possibility of accommodating to premed students who want to get into the course.

So if you have 30mins to spare, come listen to us and join us at the Common Rounds

Med Revue

Ever since orientation, I made up my mind that I wanted to be in the MedRevue. I wanted an acting role, and singing too! I wanted to shine like a star and be under the spot light. But when the time came for the audition, I was terrified.

The weeks leading up to the audition were oscillating feeling between confidence and regret, regretting that I put my name down to audition! I prepared an excerpt from How I met your Mother (Marshal Erikson’s burger speech), and the song Hallelujah. I sang and rehearsed in every night in the shower, until the big day came.

That Thursday afternoon, I sat in the auditorium with 20 other students ready to audition. I listed to audition after audition and I was deeply impressed with each student. They were all so talented! I heard my name being called and I walked to the front. I took a deep breath and let my practice do the rest of the work.

Passed my first med school exam

The end of first semester exam happened a few weeks ago over the span of two day on June 19 and 20th. We had 6 days off before the exam to learn 17 weeks of content. I was not used to such a tight schedule as in undergrad, we had at least 7 days at least PLUS any additional days before your scheduled exam time. To make matters worse, at ANU they only teach you one subject, so all the clinical content, med science content, population health content etc are crammed into one exam.

Due to this structure, some of my previous exam preparation strategies were not applicable, and the stress levels were high. By day 3, I could not stand studying anymore. Every slide I read just showed me information I didn't know. It wasn't until I compromised to just understand as much as I could, did I then find the motivation to sit back at the desk. By then, it was day 5...

When the exam came, I was apathetic and just went in to get it over and done with. I sat down at my table, got my pen ready, and started scribbling away once the clock struck 9:00am.

****

Today I got my results back. I heard rumors that they could be released tomorrow, but unexpectedly I got them in an email today. I wouldn't say I was dreading my results, but I was certain that the scores would be average at best.

When I read the email, I was surprised. Surely they got my exam mixed up with another person, because I did pretty well. With a class average of 68, I got 81. Huh... I was just 1 mark short of getting a high level pass.

I'm over the moon, but also feel that I don't deserve the score. Don't get me wrong, I'm deeply grateful for the marks, but how on earth did I get such a score when I just felt like I winged the exam? Maybe it's because I feel that my score doesn't reflect the amount of hard work I placed into it. Either way, I'm going to work even harder this semester to get a score I can proudly say that I earnt.

Note:

I realise this article may sound like a silent brag, and maybe it is :D

Good day!

Examining my grandfather

I was raised by my grandfather since I was a young child. He fed me, played with me and even changed my diapers. I was his joy and we were inseparable. Lately since highschool I’ve been studying in Australia, and he lived in Taiwan. We hardly get a chance to see each other. During the 2014 mid semester break in July, I’ve decided to fly back to Taiwan for the week and spend some time with my beloved grandfather.

The time I forgot I was a med student.

Since med school began in February, I have settled myself into a daily routine. I would wake up, go to class, come home, eat and study. Everyday I would see the same group of people, every hour of class would be packed full of new information, and every night I would try to decode the information and integrate it into my brain.

As you can tell dear reader, as a med student you are immersed in the culture of medicine and at times it can feels like it's become your life.

"Attention passengers, we need a doctor on board."

During my one week break from uni, I was on my way to a family reunion overseas. While flying from Sydney to Hong Kong, I heard the PA announce that a doctor or nurse was needed to help with a situation. Immediately I wanted to go up and help, but I also doubted my own abilities as I'm just a first year medical student that hardly learnt any pathologies/treatments.  I recalled the PBL session regarding medical attention on the plane and recalled a 'fact' that there is statistically a doctor on every plane and I thought I'd better leave it up to the doctor.

While I was battling between my urges, two pages have gone by. After the third page, I summed up the courage and told the staff that I am a medical student/pharmacist and I would like to help. I made sure I clarified that I was a first year medical student and was not capable of diagnosis or prescribing treatment.

Enjoying my holiday!

I went into med school expecting to be overloaded with school work and things to learn. However I was still surprised to see only 3 one week holiday breaks scheduled on our timetable for the entire year.

No more one and a half month July holidays. Now each week is more precious than ever!

Quick! Rest and play as much as you can. School is starting again next week.