False Start

So,  I have been orientated. I am at my surgical site and new home for the next three months. But due to new SGU guidelines our 12 weeks of surgery now includes protected study time. Which is great, but guess what? I ended up getting my two weeks of study time upfront and my six weeks of general surgery at the very end until the day before exams. Yippee for me! (NOT.)

So no early morning rounding for me or scrubbing in to watch a case, or any of that. Just sitting in the assigned library or conference room from 8am-4pm. Of course I can take breaks and leave for lunch but it kind of feels just like studying for Step 1. Sure I get to walk around the hospital in my short white coat and attend all the resident and academic lectures but I just don't feel like a third year. I know, my time will come. Pretty soon I'll be wishing I was back in the library with the entire day to read (at least this is what I am telling myself.) I have entertained the idea of just walking into a patient's room and assuming her care like I belong there, no one will call if there are extra notes in her chart, right?  Fine, I suppose I will just stick to pre-reading for surgery. It has been a long day. In a quiet/boring kind of way.

Time for Fun Facts:
-A normal healthy person sighs 9-10 x per hour. This protects the lungs from atelectasis. (Patients undergoing and awakening from anasthesia do not sigh or cough and thus this is a possible complication. I'd never thought of sighing as protective, had you?)

-Licorice consumption can lead to renal potassium loss. (Okay, I think I knew this one, but it is still pretty cool, so be careful what you eat!)

There are more, but I don't want to bore you. I am 90 pages in to Lawrence's "Essentials of General Surgery" and I have to say, I wouldn't be if it were not for this protected study time, so yay!?!

13 days until my neurosurgery rotation, at least I have that to look forward to!

tick tock

I'm back in NY and staying at my mother-in-laws. Last night I could not sleep. Maybe it was the jetlag or sofa bed mattress but as I tried to count sheep I could only hear the tick tock of the wall clocks. I ended up taking them down and stuffing them into a closet but even the perfect silence couldn't lull me to sleep.

A few of my classmates have received their clinical placements but I am still waiting. I have few bad things to say about SGU (I am more than thankful for the opportunity and I do believe the school does a decent job educating us) but I guess the sheer number of students overwhelms the Clin Ed office plus when it come to communicating with us and administrative issue SGU leaves a bit to be desired. But it is what it is, I'm just going to whine about it.

So, in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep I started composing a few blog entries in my head. Why is it that it seems so easy to be eloquent at 2am in the morning. In the light of day the ideas are like dreams, the concept is remembered but the grandeur is missing.

Anyhow. I never finished my Confessions series and I need to do that before I completely forgot what it was like to be in Grenada and all that was 5th term. And I do want to post on my Step 1 strategy for those of you wondering. I promise I am working on them. Maybe I'll get around to posting both before I find out where and when I start third year. That seems reasonable/likely.

The Waiting Game

Disclaimer: Whiny post ahead. Since I have nothing of substance to blog about I'm whining. Feel free to skip this one and come back another time.

Waiting is so hard. The agony. I really thought that once I had my passing Step 1 score I would be assigned a clinical site. Previous correspondence from Clin Ed had been received to confirm that I could start in early May in California, which I would LOVE to do and I replied accordingly. Yet May is now less than a month away and it would be nice to know WHERE I am going so I can find an apt, buy a car, etc. Little things I know. Yet despite many emails and inquiries Clin Ed will only tell me that they have not yet begun placing students in California. No timeline, no promises. They are masters of being vague.

Me: "Is Arrowhead  (a hospital in Colton, CA) an option?"

Clin Ed: "We will note your preference to be placed in Arrowhead and if it is an option you will be considered for a spot there."

Great, thanks! For nothing. (Sigh.) Previous terms have been given a prelim placement spots but I guess it was problematic so they changed they system this year and we are not given a chance to appeal our placements.  We were able to request an area, at least in theory. They assign us, we go. I can live with that but I did think I'd know by now. On the bright side I leave for NYC in just three days. One final vacation before third year starts, whenever that may be...

Correspondence

To: Spice Island Queen/Student
From: Clin Ed/SGU_LN
Sent by: ABC/USL/SGU_LN
Date: 03/25/2011 12:29PM
Subject: USMLE Step I Results

Hi Spice Island Queen!

At this time we still have not received the results for the Step I exam.  Please email a PDF copy to clined@sgu.edu  as soon as possible.

Regards,
ABC
Clinical Placement Coordinator

Dear Clin Ed,

I don't have my Step 1 results either! I am expecting them any day and will forward a copy to you just as soon as I receive them.

Fingers crossed,
Spice Island Queen

P.S. A friend who took the step 4 days before I did said he received his score report exactly 3 weeks after his exam so if that schedule holds I should receive my report on Tuesday the 26th.
 

Life After Step 1

Step 1 is over!!!! 

Yep, I sat for it last Tuesday and life after Step 1 has been good. SO good that I just haven't sat down to blog or reflect. I've been too busy trying to cook/bake/read/walk/explore/spend time with Dr. Boyfriend/make travel plans/etc.  

I won't know until my score arrives if my study method worked but for all of those wondering about how I studied I'll try to put together an overview and post it at a later date (once scores are in hand).  In short I used all the normal stuff, First Aid, UWorld Q-bank and personalized schedule with some help via CramMasters iPhone App.

Right now, it is time to enjoy my vacation. I'll be back later. Match Day is Thursday, good luck to all of those matching!