by Sara | Jul 11, 2016
Yesterday was the annual Dean’s Cup golf outing generously sponsored by the medical school, and it was so much fun! The weather was beautiful, and the company even better! The scramble format and foursomes consisting of a faculty member and three students make the tournament accessible to golfers of all abilities, but the best part is definitely spending several hours in the company of your fellow students and faculty outside of the sometimes-hierarchical hospital setting.
Plus, it’s a time to break out these snazzy pants 🙂 When the faculty member I played with asked why I chose to wear them, I asked if I should instead wear them as an M3 on the wards. His response: laughter. I agreed completely…
After yesterday’s interlude away, I was back to the hospital today starting on the Neurology clerkship. Since all M3 clerkship lengths have been cut by 25% starting this year, Neuro lasts three weeks, and I rotate to a different service at the end of each week. For now, I’m on Inpatient Team B and, along with my two med student compatriots, will be working for the most part directly with an attending physician. Although it’s early, I suspect this week will be enjoyable and informative – the attending clearly enjoys teaching us and I now understand the myriad MRI scan types better than ever before. I am absolutely looking forward to what lies in store for me!
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 | Jul 22, 2015
Despite Surgery being over for me for a few weeks now, I still can’t quite believe it. I enjoyed the experience greatly, but it was all a bit surreal. I wake up now at 6am (which is fairly early when you realize that clinic starts at 8am), and I’m still shocked when it’s light outside. But also quite happy about that fact, as you might imagine.
Now I’m partway through my Family Medicine rotation at Domino’s Farms, and I’m really enjoying it too. All of a sudden, I went from discussing one very specific aspect of a person’s health to taking all-comers. I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to complete these clinical rotations before haring off to the lab – it provides the context and a reminder of why I wanted to do this in the first place. It’s the reason why you study so hard during the first two years of medical school: because that knowledge helps you make an actual difference in the quality of people’s lives.
And as I’m realizing this, my time in Family Medicine is more than halfway over, and it will soon be time to rejoin my lab and begin my PhD in Bioinformatics. I’m looking forward having schedule flexibility again and I’m excited to start coding again (although less so for the inevitable debugging). But I’m also sad to be leaving behind the patient interactions and to be left behind by my classmates. Well, at least I’ll be getting more sleep in the near future 🙂
Last Sunday marked the 11th Annual Dean’s Cup golf outing, and it was a blast. The forecast scared me all week (“Afternoon thunderstorms. Some may be severe.”), but the weather turned out great. It was definitely hot but there was a breeze, so it was lovely. I already can’t wait for next year!
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.
