by Shannon | Jul 2, 2013
I’m not quite sure how, but I am somehow left with five weeks in my research year off before returning to my fourth year of medical school! The last couple of months have been a blur of trying to finish my experiments and tying up other loose ends in the lab, and I was surprised to realize that I only have a little bit more than a month left.
Beautiful summer evening at Argo Pond
Since I last wrote, there have been a lot of changes. My former classmates graduated in mid-May, have moved to a variety of cities across the country (or at least across Ann Arbor for those who are staying but wanted an upgrade to their medical student housing) and have since begun their residencies! While I am definitely excited and ready to return to my fourth year and to clinical responsibilities, it is strange to think that this could have been me. I do find a little comfort in knowing that I have another fun-filled and exciting year of medical school, filled with residency interviews, the Match, and graduation, before I am tossed into the very new, very real world of an intern.
Yesterday morning I awoke to an email from the Electronic Residency Application Service, or ERAS, that my residency application was officially open. My new classmates and I have until mid-September to complete these before submitting them and then beginning the nerve-wracking experience of waiting to receive interviews. For any potential readers who are working on medical school applications, we are in a very similar situation of having the challenging task of trying to accurately and positively convey ourselves to program directors through a personal statement and other electronic questions. While this is always daunting, it is also a rewarding process to have to reflect on all of the different components and experiences that make for a successful application.
Outside of lab, I had a great month of June. In addition to celebrating my birthday on the 15th, I also got engaged, which was a wonderful birthday surprise! My fiancé had a surprise fireworks show that he set off over Argo pond, which was unbelievably beautiful and something I’ll never forget! I’ve already been thrown into the craziness of planning a wedding, even almost a whole year out from it. I have promised myself to not get too caught up in the little details, since nobody likes a bridezilla 🙂
I think that just about catches me up from my last post. I will check back in once more before I start my sub-internship in otolaryngology in early August. In the meantime, potential or current applicants feel free as always to email me with any questions you may have! flynns@umich.edu
by Shannon | May 1, 2013
Hello again, and happy spring!! At long last, the cold has left Ann Arbor, and it is a beautiful 70 degree afternoon as I write this. A lot has happened since my last post back in early March. First, the Smoker was a huge success and was definitely my favorite of the three I was in. It was sad to see it end, but that was just the beginning of what spring has had in store…Just a couple of weeks after the show, my (now former) classmates matched into their residency programs!
Match Day is a wonderful day at Michigan, and the administration really goes above and beyond to celebrate the accomplishments of the fourth year medical students. This is now the second Match Day I’ve attended, and the amount of nervous energy in the room before the noon witching hour (the moment at which students across the country are allowed to open their envelopes to find out where they’ll be attending residency) has amazed me both times. I was surprised how nervous I was, despite the fact that I will not be matching until next year! It was a truly memorable experience to watch all the anxiety turn into excitement and joy as everyone opened his or her envelopes. As usual, the majority of my class was incredibly pleased with their match results, and it is a true testament to this medical school and hospital that we consistently match our students to top programs in even the most competitive fields. I’m allowed to brag a little since I wasn’t the one matching, right?! 🙂
I started April off with a week-long Caribbean vacation, which was very relaxing and beautiful, especially in light of this colder-than-usual spring we’ve been having here in Ann Arbor. On my way back, I spent a few nights in Orlando for an otolaryngology conference, where I sat in on as many talks and panels as I could. It was great to hear the most up-to-date research in the field and to increase my exposure in general to the specialty. While some of the material was definitely over my head, this was a great experience overall.
Finally, I finished April with my first ever marathon. This is something I have wanted to do for a few years, and I finally felt that I had enough time to properly train for it. I ran the Lansing Marathon on April 21, just a week after the horrific events of the Boston Marathon. This certainly added significance to the race for me, and I had a whole new appreciation for the many spectators who come to the race to cheer on complete strangers, as well as for the many volunteers. The race went as well as I could have hoped, except for an unscheduled freight train that crossed the course and delayed us by about five minutes. It was amazing experience to cross the finish line, sore as I was, and I’m already planning my next one.
Despite how this blog may sound, I am still working in the lab too! My experiments on a potential new chemotherapeutic agent have really picked up, and I’m hoping to get some results in the next few weeks. I really cannot believe I’m down to three months left in the lab before entering back into clinical rotations and applying for residency. Exciting but also a little scary!
by Shannon | Mar 1, 2013
Hello! I write this from the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater as I watch the dress rehearsal of this year’s Smoker, “Oh Glaucoma!” I believe I’ve written about it before, but as a refresher…The Smoker is the annual medical school play that was started in 1918 as the “All-Medic Smoker,” and has continued throughout the years as a musical, hilariously raucous roast of the faculty. This year’s performance is a Western-style musical, and so far it’s promising to be the BEST Smoker ever!! (though I may be biased…) Anyway, it’s not too late too buy tickets for those who live nearby! www.galenssmoker.org
This past week was “tech week,” the five days in which we move into the theater and put the whole show together. The days of this week are very long, but this is undoubtedly one of the most fun weeks of the year. I am always truly amazed by how talented my classmates are, from the script writing, to set design, to the band, to the singing, acting, and dancing. While I by and large lack most of these talents, this year I am part of the Babe and Stud Dance, the rather modest name of the 4th-year dance. We’ve averaged 3-4 hours a week of practice over the last two months, and I think (hope!) we’re ready for tonight!
While preparation for the Smoker has occupied most of my time these past few weeks, I’m still busy in the lab and am just gearing up to start a couple of large experiments. I’m also training for the Lansing Marathon on April 21th, and face the weekly challenge of trying to increase my mileage. I’m currently up to 17 miles and hope I can get to 26.2 in the next 6 weeks!
It’s almost time for me to deliver my one line of the play, so I should stop writing and get ready to go on stage. I’ll check back in in a few weeks, at which time I can hopefully say that the show was a huge success, as was my classmates’ Match Day, which is exactly two weeks from today!!
by Shannon | Jan 7, 2013
Happy New Year! (and a very belated hello!) As always, I am amazed by how quickly this holiday season passed, and I am surprised every time I have to write the date on something and find myself having to cross out 2012 and write 2013. As I write this blog post, my research year in the otolaryngology department is almost halfway over, which is very hard for me to believe. Since my last post back in October, my research project has evolved quite a bit, and I definitely feel like I have a better understanding of how to function in a lab!
I will spare the (likely boring to anyone but me) details of my project, but as a very brief summary of my main project, I am studying head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumor growth and metastasis using a chick embryo model with the plan to test a new drug on the model to evaluate its anti-cancer effects. I’m currently completing a grant proposal to try to receive some funding for this project. I’ve never had to write a grant before, and I have a new-found respect for researchers who write many of these a year, because they are very complicated and time-consuming! It really is a useful skill to learn though, especially since I will likely pursue an academic career, which I keep reminding myself when I feel a little overwhelmed by the work still left to be done on it!
In addition to my time in the lab, I’ve had the opportunity to shadow one of the pediatric otolaryngologists a few times in his clinic and in the operating room. This has been a GREAT experience, because I’ve definitely missed the clinical and teaching aspects of medicine these past few months, and it was exciting to get to see patients and operations once again. While I’m not ready for my research year to be over quite yet, these clinical experiences have made me look forward to jumping back into my M4 year in August.
Snow-covered marina in my hometown of Guilford, CT
Outside of the lab and hospital, I’ve had plenty of time to relax and enjoy Ann Arbor and beyond. I made two fall trips to the Upper Peninsula to visit my aunts, uncles, and cousins, which were both a lot of fun (though cold!) For the holidays, I went home to Connecticut and enjoyed two great, albeit nonstop, weeks with my family and friends from high school and college, which included two trips to New York City and a drive down to Philadelphia to visit my sister. Now I’m back in snowy Ann Arbor and ready to get back into the grind of work.
Football season is sadly over (and even sadder, ended with a loss in our New Year’s Day bowl game), but the Michigan men’s basketball team is proving VERY fun to follow with their 15-0 start to the season and current ranking of #2 nationally! I’ve been able to go to one game so far, and am hoping to go to another this week to cheer on the Wolverines!
by Shannon | Oct 15, 2012
Last year, amidst the excitement and stress of my third year of medical school, I was not surprised when I would take a brief pause from my fast-paced, hospital-centered surroundings, only to realize how quickly time was passing. With a few exceptions, my sense of time revolved around four-week blocks: get through these four weeks of outpatient medicine, then it’s four weeks of VA wards, then—after a pesky little shelf exam—it’s onto pediatrics…and so on. Using these 1/13th of a year chunks of time as my framework, the year predictably passed in the blink of an eye.
I am, however, surprised by how quickly my research year is going. I was shocked to realize that last week marked the end of my second month in the lab, as it truly feels like I just began. My experience in the lab thus far has been very positive. There has certainly been a learning curve in acquiring a laboratory skill set (it has been five years since I was last in a lab and I was more than a little rusty!), but I feel like I am finally starting to hit somewhat of a stride and begin to start some real experiments.
Argo Park
Although there are certain similarities between clinical medicine and scientific research, I have realized that the two require fundamentally different ways of thinking. In the clinical realm, one is presented with a patient with certain symptoms or complaints and must piece together the puzzle to deduce the underlying cause. A researcher, on the other hand, starts with a blank canvas and must decide first what the puzzle should look like, and then how to create the various pieces to create it. Perhaps due to the nature of my med school training so far, I find the former way of thinking significantly easier, but I’m hoping this becomes a little more balanced as the year goes on.
Outside of the lab, I have had lots of time to enjoy this beautiful Ann Arbor fall. From many runs through some of the town’s more scenic parks—my favorite of which is in the picture!—to attending the first three home football games of the season (all wins!), I feel like I’ve already gotten to enjoy the outdoors more than during my entire third year! Last weekend was an especially fun one, as I went to Cedar Point, a huge amusement park just two hours away in Ohio. It was a pretty chilly day, which was great because there were no lines for even the biggest roller coasters, so we were able to ride about all of them multiple times. This past weekend, I also took advantage of Detroit Restaurant Week, a yearly even in which the city’s nicest restaurants serve three-course meals for a discounted price. We ate at Iridescence, which is on top of the Motor City Casino and has a beautiful view of the city. After three years, it was my first time really being in downtown Detroit, and I definitely hope to go back soon! Looking forward, I have a visit from my sister, a trip to the Upper Peninsula to visit my extended family, and the Michigan-Michigan State home football game coming up in the next week. Fall is definitely off to a fun start!
The Michigan Medical School interview season is already in full swing, and I wish all applicants good luck! As always, feel free to email me with questions regarding the application process or medical school in general! 🙂 flynns@umich.edu
