by Angelica | Oct 14, 2014
Hello from the first week of cardio!
We wrapped up Cells & Tissues two weeks ago with a pair of exams and an anatomy practical. Of course we had to celebrate a little bit, and what better way than with Emergency Medicine Day? EM Day was basically a way to learn about Emergency Med while also learning some really cool doctor skills like intubation and how to put in IVs. I was able to intubate the sim dummy on the first try (without breaking any teeth!), so I was super excited about that. Also super exciting was heading out to the helipads outside of the ER to see the Survival Flight helicopters. We got to learn about the program and climb inside the helicopter (so cool!). Another highlight of the day was when we practiced placing IVs on each other. No one bled out, so I figure it was a good day. Just kidding–the nurses who were teaching us coached us the whole way. It was overall a really great experience, and I would highly recommend it.
Checking out the Survival Flight helicopters. Photo credit to Victoria.
On the evening before the start of Clinical Foundations of Medicine (CFM) week, my roommate and I hosted a potluck to celebrate the end of Cells & Tissues with some of our classmates. We ate delicious food (turns out that med students have delightful hidden talents like cooking and baking) and then played games. It was good to relax and just hang out with each other without having to worry about studying.
Marina showing off her selfie skills.
Serious game faces from Victoria, Uchenna, Jasmyne, and Lynette.
Bill and Marina show that we're not as serious as we think we are.
Last week was our CFM week. During CFM, we had lectures about aspects of health care that we may not normally talk about in lecture, and we went on a variety of site visits. We had lectures about health disparities, complementary and alternative medicine, and the ethical issues of the Tuskeegee studies, among others. Our site visits were also really interesting. I went to a substance abuse rehab center, shadowed in a hematology/oncology clinic, and attended an appointment with a naturopathic practitioner. All of these experiences were really different from each other, but all addressed different issues that we’ll be facing in the future as doctors. Another perk of CFM week was that we were able to take our quiz from anywhere, so I, along with many of my classmates, headed out of town for the weekend.
This week, we started our cardiovascular/respiratory sequence. It’s been pretty amazing so far. I say this because today in anatomy lab, I touched a heart and lungs. Today was one of the parts of med school where I took a moment to step back and realize how lucky we actually are as med students to be given these privileges in the name of our education. I touched a heart and lungs, marveled at their intricacies, and felt how bouncy an aorta actually is. How many people can say that?
Tomorrow, I’m headed to Mott Children’s Hospital for some shadowing, so for now it’s back to studying. Thanks for reading!
But most of all, congratulations to all of the new M0s who will be learning of their acceptance to Michigan Med in a few hours! It has been a pleasure to meet some of you over the past few weeks. Welcome to the family!
Angelica is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. When she’s not on the wards, you can find her on a run around Ann Arbor or passionately discussing medicine and public health over tea.
by Angelica | Sep 7, 2014
We just finished our 5th week of school, and according to some classmates’ running tally, this means that we’ve completed approximately 2.5% of medical school. Those five weeks have included a lot of studying but also a lot of fun.
Last week, we finished our first block, Patients and Populations, and had our first set of exams. We had the option of taking the exams any time between Thursday afternoon and Monday evening. I chose to finish my exams by Friday evening so I could go away for the holiday weekend, as did many of my classmates. Finishing the first block felt so great, but having an entire weekend with no studying was even better.
A delicious post-block celebration at one of my favorite A2 restaurants.
After I finished exams, I went to the first football game of the season with several of my classmates. It was great to return to the Big House, but it was even better to see the look on the first-timers’ faces. Game Day at Michigan is kind of a big deal and what better way to watch football than with over 100,000 of your closest friends, as the joke goes. However, the atmosphere is always amazing, and seeing so many people excited and dressed in maize is pretty spectacular. Michigan football is all about The Team, The Team, The Team (Bo Schembechler reference, sorry), and in case you’ve never seen this clip, here’s Michigan football in a nutshell.
On Monday, I came back to Ann Arbor early to go on a shopping trip with some of my classmates. Many of my classmates are from much warmer places and had no idea how to dress for winter, so several of us Michigan natives helped them out a bit (and got some shopping in ourselves). We got stuck in a torrential downpour, but beyond that, we had a really great time.
Stefanie, Angelica, and Marina showing off their very first winter coats.
Our new block, Cells and Tissues, started this week. This block involves quite a bit of biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology, as well as our first experience with anatomy and histology labs. We had our introduction to anatomy, as well as the first dissection. I was a little nervous about anatomy because it was something that I had never experienced before, but our professors did a really great job of introducing us to our donors. They told us that it was okay to feel uncomfortable initially because this is something that we were unfamiliar with and something that is considered taboo in our society, but they also encouraged us to learn as much as we possibly could from our donors, and that would be our greatest way to thank them. I realized the wonderful gift that our donors have given us: the ability to see the muscles, bones, tendons, nerves, vasculature, and organs that we learn about in class in a very real and tangible way, and with that, the nerves went away and the learning began.
Also, this week, I was able to meet my Family Centered Experience (FCE) family. For more info about the program, check out this link. The basic premise is that to be efficient doctors, we have to learn about medicine from the patient’s perspective as well as the medical perspective, and one of the ways that we do that is through the FCE. We are paired up with a classmate, and we will make several visits to the family over the next two years. I loved meeting my family and hearing their stories, and I really look forward to our next meeting.
With that, I’m off to prepare for the next week of classes and to try to forget about that game last night… Thanks for reading!
Angelica is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. When she’s not on the wards, you can find her on a run around Ann Arbor or passionately discussing medicine and public health over tea.
by Angelica | Aug 18, 2014
Hi everyone!
The last two weeks since the White Coat Ceremony have been a whirlwind but in a good way. So much has happened, but I should probably introduce myself before I get started. I am a Michigander through and through. I grew up in Lansing, MI, went to undergrad at Hope College, and have a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. I just finished my Masters in May, spent the summer relaxing and traveling, and returned to Ann Arbor very excited for the start of medical school (IT’S FINALLY REAL!).
The med school adventure began with the White Coat Ceremony, where we heard some inspiring speeches and had our coats placed over our shoulders, signifying that we are finally members of the UMMS community and future doctors in training after years of preparation. My favorite part of the ceremony was seeing my family members and friends cheering in the audience. They have watched me experience pretty much the entire spectrum of human emotion as I navigated the application process over the past year, and it was so special that they could share in the start of this part of my journey.
The day after, we woke up bright and early to start orientation. It was so great to finally meet our class (Class 168!). My classmates are an amazingly talented group of people both in and out of the classroom, and so many of them have experienced some really cool things. We spent the next few days learning about the history of the med school, what we would be learning over the course of the year, and a whole lot more. On Leadership Day, we went to Zingerman Farms and learned about the importance of having a vision, participated in some really fun teambuilding activities, and ate lots of really delicious food.
The day after Leadership Day, classes started bright and early. We had our first patient presentation and got to wear our white coats for the first time. That was definitely an experience. It finally felt as if everything was real.
My classmates decided to wrap up the first week with a tubing trip down the Huron River. It was so nice to spend the day getting to know each other better and enjoying the sun. We created a massive roadblock in the river, though (sorry kayakers and canoers…). It was also one of the few quiz-free weekends we will have over the course of the semester, so we made sure to relax and meet as many people as we could.
Since then, we’ve had another week of classes and our first quiz. Over the weekend, I also volunteered with some other medical students at a health tent at the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival. The more experienced med students were taking blood pressure and doing other screening while the M1s helped direct visitors. It was a nice change of pace to do some community outreach, and it was great to meet some of the med students in different classes.
That’s all for now. I can’t wait to see what this year has in store!
M1s at the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival Health Tent
Angelica is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. When she’s not on the wards, you can find her on a run around Ann Arbor or passionately discussing medicine and public health over tea.
