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.

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.

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 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.

Luck, variance, randomness - whatever you want to call it, it has an undeniable influence on the course of events.

Taking a simple case, you get lucky when your medical school interview is conducted by a physician who turns out to be life long buddies with one of your referees, or perhaps you get unlucky when you realize your interviewer and you are complete opposites.

...to get a referral.

I got the referral, but also left with a splint on my pinky finger and a form to get an X-ray done tomorrow morning.

I have a bump on the distal interphalangeal joint and the tip of the pinky remains bent downward.

I'm all about giving credit where credit is due, and I have to say that UofCalgary's medical school made the best interview weekend video I've ever seen this year.

Check it out:

I was reading about the courses in Harvard's Masters of Science in Health Care Management program and it just screamed awesome to me.

If you read my where do I see myself in 10 years reflection, you'd remember that solving problems in our health care system outside my own future clinical practice is something that I'm interested in.

The schedule is pretty sick too.  A few weeks each summer, several 4-day weekends per year, and then bam, you've learned a ton of cool, relevant stuff and are a Harvard alumni too!