by Sara | Mar 15, 2016
It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for the Step 1 study period again. As the M2s finish up their preclinical training, here’s some advice I gained from this period:
- As tempting as it seems to keep studying for one extra hour, just go to bed. You can’t learn things effectively if your brain is tired.
- Stay calm. (Yeah, right). Everything will work out fine, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.
- Do what works for you. It doesn’t matter if your study plan doesn’t look like anyone else’s, or really isn’t even a plan. If it’s what has been working for you, rock it.
- Do something you enjoy. It doesn’t matter if it’s exercise or lying in bed watching reality TV.
- Accept that you won’t always be happy. I loved making new connections in my knowledge base, but I also shed many tears. But it’s worth it.
- Don’t lose touch of your support network. Just like sleep, it may seem more efficient to study an extra hour than talk with your friends and family. Staying sane is most important.
- Checking Facebook (and other social media sites) during this period can be really depressing. Most of your M2 classmates aren’t posting, and looking at photos of M1 spring break is frankly painful.
- Don’t lose sight of the questions you answered correctly and confidently. After finishing Step 1, I went out to my car and cried because all I could remember were the questions I stared at with no clue how to begin. Over the next week, I started to remember the other questions that I answered and moved on without a second thought.
- Remember that you have already learned most of this information. You passed the sequences, so that knowledge is stored somewhere in your brain. The trick is familiarizing yourself with it in order to retrieve it faster and more effectively.
- Breathe! It will all be okay – in just over six weeks, you will have passed this milestone and focus on your reason for coming to medical school – caring for patients!
Sara is a fourth-year medical student at UMMS. When not in the hospital, she can usually be found on the golf course or at a Michigan sporting event cheering on the Wolverines.
by Sara | Feb 21, 2016
So, it’s Smoker time again! No, not the cigarette kind, the annual musical roast of the faculty as presented by medical students! This year’s show promises to be epic – after all, it’s called Lordosis of the Rings for a reason.
In recent years, we’ve featured Bruit and the Beast, Grand Roundhog Day, and Oh Glaucoma but this is definitely the one show to rule them all!
We started writing the script back in October, and rehearsals started in early January. And it’s finally almost here! Our two shows will be March 4 and March 5 at 7pm in Lydia Mendelssohn.
This upcoming week is our last week of rehearsal in the STAC, a UM theatre practice facility, before we move to Tech Week at Lydia Mendelssohn. Tech Week is a huge time commitment (5pm to almost midnight M-Sat) but is so much fun. The cast really starts to come together as we get to see scenes other than our own.
Monday and Tuesday are spent blocking the first and second acts respectively (fine-tuning lighting cues, microphone schemes, etc). On Wednesday, we run through the entire show in costume (but thankfully no hair/makeup). Thursday is the true dress rehearsal, paving the way for our Friday/Saturday shows.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m kind of excited.
But, to be fair, it’s kind of a big deal.
If you’re in Ann Arbor and want to come experience this extravaganza of Smoking, check out galenssmoker.org for tickets.
Hope to see you there!
Sara is a fourth-year medical student at UMMS. When not in the hospital, she can usually be found on the golf course or at a Michigan sporting event cheering on the Wolverines.
by Sara | Jan 19, 2016
Well, the weather finally decided it was time to act like January. After a remarkably warm December (seriously, coats weren’t necessary some days over the winter holidays), the new term has begun and the temperature has gotten a bit frosty.
But despite that, other things are definitely beginning to heat up. Smoker season has begun, with rehearsals starting last week as we gear up for our two performances on March 4 and 5. Now, the actual content of the Smoker is a closely guarded secret, replete with its own Smoker-HIPAA, but I can assure you that the actors, singers, and dancers are having a blast learning the new script. (That’s actually about as much as I can assure anyone at this point).
The MSTP held our annual winter party (and dessert competition) yesterday at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube. We had so much fun, even those who had never ice skated before. It was good to see everyone again; with my classmates all in different labs in different departments, I don’t see them nearly as often as I’d like.
Although the college football season is now over, many other Michigan sports are just beginning their season. I love watching Michigan basketball; the men picked off then-#3 Maryland last week in an electric game. The picture below was taken during the player intros. The women’s gymnastics team is also doing wonderful this year – last week they were tied for #1 in the country.
Time is starting to move along quickly; it seems like it was just the end of term, and now we’re already a couple of weeks in. Prelims are only a few weeks away (bites nails) but soon that too will be over. Fingers crossed!
Sara is a fourth-year medical student at UMMS. When not in the hospital, she can usually be found on the golf course or at a Michigan sporting event cheering on the Wolverines.
by Sara | Dec 16, 2015
Hi Everyone! It’s finals week for the non-medical school campus – I am currently in between my two final exams (just finished my Chinese exam) and will then be free for the holidays! I’m not going far, but I’m happy to have the chance to sleep in a bit more.
Sadly, my holidays won’t be quite as work-free as I had originally hoped (I have far too much that needs to be done on my prelims paper and for my research), but I’m looking forward to being able to work without rushing off to the next activity (and sneak in a Christmas cookie or two).
The weather lately has been quite nice – we’ve barely been below freezing since the 15-inch snowfall the week before Thanksgiving (don’t worry – Ann Arbor only got 8 inches and it soon melted). Galens Tag Days have come and gone – us med students definitely appreciated the slightly warmer temps. After all, the hand warmers stood a chance (my first year it was so cold the hand warmers wouldn’t activate)!
Most of all, the holiday season is a chance to reflect on the past year, look at how far we’ve come, and realize that, while there’s still a mountain of work yet to be done, there’s plenty of hope for a sunny future. Happy Holidays everyone!
Sara is a fourth-year medical student at UMMS. When not in the hospital, she can usually be found on the golf course or at a Michigan sporting event cheering on the Wolverines.
by Sara | Nov 15, 2015
Now that the holidays are approaching, I begin to look ahead to what the next term will bring. In addition to my classwork (which will consist of a bioinformatics programming class and second-semester Chinese) and the Smoker (yay!), the biggest hurdle for me will be taking the preliminary exam.
Also called a qualifying exam by some departments, prelims mark the transition from being a pre-candidate to a PhD candidate. At this point, the student is considered to have the knowledge necessary to successfully complete a PhD. Formats for this exam vary between departments, but the general impression among hopeful PhDs is that this is a slightly terrifying experience that might just be the hardest part of getting a PhD.
In the biological sciences, the preliminary exam is not an actual paper-based exam. Instead, the pre-candidate writes a grant proposal on their thesis topic or an unrelated topic (most departments require one or the other) and presents this to their prelims committee members. The role of the committee is to determine the extent of the candidate’s knowledge, probing for weak areas. At the end of this meeting, the candidate is given a pass, conditional pass, or fail. Thankfully, despite the skyrocketing stress levels, most people do manage to pass, at least conditionally.
The purpose of prelims is to prove that a student is capable of designing research and identifying potential problems without the assistance of others. For much of the PhD, one’s mentor is involved in discussing and analyzing the research. However, for prelims, assistance is limited to minor technical points; the main assistance can only come from other PhD students and post-docs in the lab.
I’m planning on taking the prelim exam at the end of January and have recently begun writing the actual proposal. I vacillate between thinking that this shouldn’t be too hard and freaking out that there’s no way I can read enough papers to garner the knowledge to pass. So, basically, it’s like being back in Step 1 mode. Sigh, I thought I left that behind.
Just like with Step 1, I just have to remind myself that pretty much everyone passes. So, chill.
Actually, don’t chill. Winter is coming in Michigan; it hailed a couple of times last week (although in Ann Arbor that was taken as a sign of Michigan’s victory yesterday) and winter coats are becoming a necessity. My flip flops have sadly been relegated to the back of the closet until next year. However, it will still be a while before this is the view from my window…
Sara is a fourth-year medical student at UMMS. When not in the hospital, she can usually be found on the golf course or at a Michigan sporting event cheering on the Wolverines.
