Thinking About Med School . . . . A Lot!

This has been on my mind so much lately. I have been stalking the pre-med forums at Studentdoctor.net and thinking about different options, different med schools to apply to, and where I would like to move in 2 years.

Its getting nerve wracking! I know that all I can do is keep taking those classes and keep acing them, and preparing for the MCAT! I am excited!

Halfway Done!

With summer semester that is! :)

This week I am taking my midterms and writing my paper for my New Testament class. I am excited about this - week 4 of my 4 8-week classes. So far I have STRONG As in all 4 classes - of course every test so far has been open book and I have been on top of completing every assignment because I am crazy like that! HAHA. Very excited about these classes coming to a close.

There is some talk of my mom coming for 4th of July weekend, and then my classes will end July 25. My girlies go back to school August 9 so we have been discussing a beach trip after my classes finish in July. Then MC starts August 25. . . :) I have 3 weeks off! WOO HOO!! :)

Anyway, that's the news with my pre-med journey - just working my tail off on these summer classes, and taking time to go to the pool with my girls. Hoping to take them to the library this week as well. Should be a busy week - I have 3 proctored exams to take on 3 different days! :)

A New Semester

Monday I started a new semester - summer school. I am taking 4 classes this summer. So far everything I have turned in has gotten an A - but 4 summer classes is a LOT of work. There have been moments where I have been completely overwhelmed. And then I remind myself that when I get in med school I will REALLY be overwhelmed and I need to just tough it out.

I am taking New Testament, Old Testament and sociology which are all required coursework for Mississippi college. I am also taking Medical Terminology which is not a required class but will count as an elective and is a good thing - will help me in later classes.

Thursday I went to Mississippi College for orientation. Parts of orientation were incredibly boring. They fed us a nice lunch - baked fish and vegetables, and salad and bread and chicken cordon bleu and cheesecake for dessert. There were speeches by the President of the school and then they split us into small groups and did "group building" activities with us. The good thing about the small groups is that they take you to another building so the walking around helps you get your bearings about the layout of the campus. Then more speeches and FINALLY they let us register for our fall classes.

I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to take. The group I was with was all pre-med students and we went to a computer lab in the science building (again, good for those of us who need that extra practice figuring out where everything is on this campus! :)) The advisors were all professors who teach the upper sciences - all of them have their doctorate. My particular advisor is Dr. Graves but the person who helped me the most during registration was Dr. Dunagan. My intention was to take Organic Chem, Physics 1, Trig and PE and then whatever science I could get in there. Well Organic Chem and Physics are offered at overlapping times and when I told Dr. Dunagan that I was frustrated with the registration process she advised me not to take Organic and Physics at the same time. She asked me what my grades were like and then enrolled me in her Human Embryology class! :)

SO - this fall I am taking Organic Chem 1, Human Embryology, Trigonometry, Genetics, and PE. And chapel - I have to have 2 semesters of Chapel. It is a total of 15 hours and is 3 sciences and a math! :) Gonna be a busy girl for sure!

One downfall to this schedule is that I will have to quit my job - it just happens that the 8 hours I work taking care of babies falls into the time slot that I will be taking Organic Chemistry.

So there it is - my life for the next 6 months all planned out. Finish the 4 classes I am taking now, have a MONTH break! WOO HOO! and then start at MC and ace the 5 classes I will be taking there! Very excited about starting this new chapter in my journey.

Blog Reader . . .

I read many medical blogs at this point. I feel like the more I get to know about the medical field - what it is really like for those who are really in the trenches - the more prepared I will be when I finally get there myself.

One of my good friends is married to a resident, and I enjoy hearing her stories about being the wife of a resident, even though hearing about the long hours SCARE me. I am glad that when I make it there my kids will be quite a bit older and I will be quite a bit wiser! I just want all of the info as I go along so nothing will come as a shock.

Tomorrow my family and I are leaving for our Disney World vacation. When I come home I will be jumping right into the 4 summer classes I am taking. So this is my only break! Looking forward to starting the next batch of classes though!

Thinking Ahead.

Right now I am reading a book called "Match Day: One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors" by Brian Eule. It is about Match Day - when Medical School graduates are placed with the hospital where they will do their residencies. I am in the part of the book that talks about that 'Dramatic Year' - the internship year. I read about these brand new doctors visiting their patients, making decisions that will either help a patient or hurt them, and I feel a little bit jealous - because that is what I want to be doing - and a little bit scared. Okay scared isn't a big enough word - maybe terrified is more like it! What am I getting myself into?

When I read that laws have been put in place recently to limit a residents' workweek to 80 hours and guarantee them 4 days off a month it is a little disconcerting. And when I read that they are one of the most underpaid jobs, because when you divide what they make by the hours that residents work . . . .well it makes me wonder why I am doing this.

Then I remember that this is my dream. This is what I have been working for. Someday I will be one of those residents, just trying to survive on no sleep and save some lives, and reduce people's pain and it will be worth it in the end.

Nerdy Science Girl

Today was a "me" day. For Mother's Day I got a gift card to the day spa. I had a pedicure, facial and massage. YAY! Super relaxing and wonderful.

Afterwards I was walking around Anthropologie and I found BEAKERS!! They look like real glass beakers! So of course I bought 2 and put them in my bathroom. I haven't decided if I want to use them as flower vases or as a storage item for cotton balls and q-tips. . . . hmm. . . how should a science nerd use decorative beakers?

Obsessed.

I have been buying books on becoming a doctor. This has become somewhat of an obsession for me. Right now on my bookshelf there are 3 books on taking the MCAT (which is a year away for me), a pack of anatomy flashcards and a pack of medical terminology flashcards, a dictionary of medical terms, "Match Day" by Brian Eule, "The Best American Medical Writing" by various authors, "Hot Lights, Cold Steel" by Michael J. Collins, MD, and "Just here trying to save a few lives" by Pamela Grim.

These are all recent purchases. I have other books from previous trips to Borders and Barnes and Noble. I have books on my Kindle, such as Body of Work, which I LOVED.

This is my obsession. I may even be addicted. :) I think this is a good problem to have.

Another note on books - all of my textbooks for my summer classes have arrived! :)