About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article on my thoughts about what to keep in mind when applying to university, using my personal experience as an example.
In that article, I focused mostly on figuring out which university fits you best based on program, location, opportunities, etc. However, there is one more important question you need to ask yourself when thinking about your education that I completely failed to mention.
In short, that question is: what do I want out of my education?
If you applied to medical school this past year, you probably know where you’ll be this fall by now. Some of you may have been accepted into medical school and are excited for the journey that lies ahead. If so, congratulations, and best of luck as you start a brand new chapter in your life! Getting into medical school is an amazing accomplishment, but a lot of hard work and challenges still lie ahead. I’d suggest enjoying your summer as much as you can before the work really piles on =).
Others, however, may have fallen a bit short in the process and are now wondering what your next steps should be. If that’s you, then this article is for you. Before we go any further, you need to do something first.
It has been a month since I last blogged. To be honest, blogging has not at all been on my mind up until this past week when my “summer break” finally started (I use that term loosely because I am, like many of you guys, working this summer, but it’s a break from school nonetheless).
The last month of medical school at UofT was the most hectic! May started off with our Brain and Behaviour final exam (passed!), followed by our Clinical Skills final exam (a practical exam known as an OSCE – probably the most fun exam of the year), then our Determinants of Community Health final, and finally, our Pharmacology exam (good thing this exam was only covering the last two weeks of school!). Without a doubt, we had more exams in our final month than any other month during the year – but I guess that made finishing all the more sweet.
Medical school was a brand new educational experience for me. While it is similar in many ways to undergrad, there are of course many huge differences. I definitely had to make adjustments, and when I couldn’t, had to deal with heavy lessons (that hopefully I better take into account during my 2nd year of medical school). The following are a few things I wish I could’ve told myself before starting the year.
It's that time of the year again when medical students are examined on their clinical skills. This exam is what's known as the OSCE (Objective structured clinical examination). This exam has the exact structure as MMI (multiple mini interviews). In fact I believe MMI was created based on the structure of OSCEs. Basically, there are 10 stations. Each station has a stem about a patient. Based on the information provided by the stem, you'd have to either take a history or perform physical exams, if not both. Although UofT curriculum includes a weekly clinical course (ASCM - Art and Sciences of Clinical Medicine), we really don't get much practice for many of the clinical exams. This makes preparing for OSCE that much more challenging.
As some of you may know, admission offers just went out today. A HUGE CONGRATS to those who've made it! For those who are less fortunate - never give up. Many people gained admission to medical school after many tries, so the dream ends only when you stop trying. I've just started two threads in the forum - one for people who've received admission offers to share their achievement and to discuss what had made them successful. Another thread was created for those who've either gotten wait-listed or was declined of admission to discuss areas that may have went wrong as well as how they can improve.
Last Friday I went out with my close high school friends to watch Iron Man 2. I’ve never actually seen Iron Man 1 – I heard it was pretty good though, so I was excited to see this nonetheless (on a side note, I’ve seen Dark Knight but not Batman Begins – movie catch up this summer?). Don’t want to give much away, except that I thought that I loved the Tony Stark character (Iron Man’s real name for those who don’t know. I guess I just find the cocky, funny, sarcastic character-type entertaining) and the first half or so of the movie was very entertaining. Unfortunately, I thought that the ending was pretty bad.
While the undergrads are already out celebrating their freedom, medical students are still cooped up in lecture halls, grinding out the last month of the school year. The interesting journey of 2nd year medicine is near its end and I can’t wait to cross the finish line.
I look back at this school year with ambivalent feelings. I started the year with some major goals:
Making MedChatter the biggest premed website in Canada
Last night I was at dinner with a couple of friends. A good friend of mine from class was sitting across from me, and at one point, the topic of generosity came up. The discussion helped elucidate a concept that I’ve always believed, but never really put onto paper, so I guess now is a good enough time than ever.
I have always been really big on kindness. I like kind and courteous people. A lot.
So we are currently in the middle of our Brain and Behaviour course. Last week, we had a PBL session focussing on multiple sclerosis. Our discussions of the disease naturally included a consideration of the Liberation Treatment which was developed by Dr. Paolo Zamboni in Italy. Dr. Zamboni believes that many cases of multiple sclerosis are due to a condition called ‘Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency’ that can be treated with endovascular therapy. Dr. Zamboni’s work was featured in a segment by W5 on CTV on November 21, 2009 (See http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091120/W5_liberation_091121/20091121?s_name=W5). After this news segment aired, there was a media frenzy surrounding the Liberation Treatment and patients all over the world started to demand the treatment from their doctors. The problem was that many physicians felt that the evidence supporting the treatment was anecdotal, at best, and refused to endorse the treatment. The fact remains that endovascular therapy has risks associated with it like any surgical procedure and should not be prescribed unless proper evidence has been assembled. In the era of evidence-based medicine, it is important to conduct more studies to meet the same scientific standards to which we hold other medical procedures accountable. What really surprised me was how a simple news program was able to spark what has been dubbed a “Liberation War” pitting patients against their doctors. What do you think about the role of media in the medical world? What are your thoughts on this situation? Has CTV overstepped? Let me know your thoughts on the subject.
So I'm happy to say that I passed my Brain and Behaviour midterm - barely, with a 70.96 (a 70 is a clear pass). It was a pretty difficult midterm, with a bell ringer for neuroanatomy in the morning and then a written exam in the afternoon.
It's funny how easily I went from not only wanting and getting 80's and 90's in undergrad to hoping I get a 70 in medical school. For the most part, I don't think the material is any harder, and often times it's actually easier. As I've stressed before, there's just a lot more material.
I was talking to one of my best friend's tonight (who is also in first year of medical school, but at McMaster). I was telling him about how I couldn't remember details on the multiple choice exams here, and he said he was surprised because he remembered me knowing all these random details during undergrad and doing well on multiple choice exams.
