My House

So here are some pics of my place.  I know its taken me a while to post these, but I had been waiting to finish decorating my room, and let's just say who knows when that will be finished?!

There is my room.  I will add other pics later.

My first time volunteering at a student run clinic

Today was my first real clinical experience at one of the famous UCD student run clinics.  I was definitely a little nervous going into it, because I really don't have much experience at all, and we haven't learned physical exams or patient histories in Doctoring yet.  It was an awesome day though!  Everyone made me feel so comfortable, and I was even pushed a little out of my comfort zone, but in a good way.  The preceptor (doctor in charge) had me and another MS1 take on our own patient, even though we had absolutely no idea what we were doing.  We came up with a plan of how to interview him, asked him all our questions, and then presented to the preceptor.  While waiting to present, the other MS1 and I were really nervous because we figured we did a terrible job, but she said we did a really good job, and I'm glad she challenged us!

I really enjoyed getting to interact with real patients and watching the preceptor and MS2s do their thing.  Something I really enjoyed was how pleasant and appreciative the patients were.  They seemed to be very appreciative and patient (since we are learning, we are really slow).  It was great working with them!

The only bad part of my day at clinic was a little embarrassing moment... We were watching an MS2 draw blood on a patient.  The patient was very scared, nervous, and was basically on the verge of tears.  To make things worse, she barely spoke English (so it was hard to comfort her) and she had very small veins, so the MS2 had to poke her twice.  Also, on the second poke, the MS2 had to wiggle the needle around a bit, and said out loud, "oh, there's a bubble... that's not good!"  I think seeing the patient in distress just really got to me and I started to see stars a bit.  I realized what was happening, so I tried to talk myself out of it.  Then, by the time I realized I wasn't going to be able to control it, all I managed to utter out was, "I think I need some orange juice".  Next thing I know, I am half-conscious, being held up by my fellow MS1 (who caught me thankfully).  I remember them escorting me out of the room and to lay down next door, but it was very hazy and I was very confused.  Once I was laying down, I was fine, but covered in sweat and extremely embarrassed!  What kind of med student passes out during a boring old blood draw?!  I think the reason it bothered me so much, is that stuff like that usually doesn't bother me.  I was really embarrassed by it all day, but after talking to fellow med students, it happens to a lot of people, and you definitely get over it eventually.

At least I will always remember my first day at clinic!!!!

Great Day

I was having a little trouble earlier this week, but things have been really looking up in the last couple of days.  Today was an absolutely fabulous day!  Even though we had a long day of class and lab, lectures weren't too bad and lab was pretty fun today.  Our instructor even told us we had a "beautiful dissection" of the axilla!  Then, after class I went to the Ob/Gyn student interest group potluck.  I brought stuffed bell peppers, which actually turned out quite good, even though I totally improvised on the recipe.  I had a really good time, and met some more new people that I really like!

I saved the best for last... my mom called saying that she had landed safely in the US!  She won't be back home for another couple of weeks, but I am so glad to at least have her back safe.  I can't wait to see her.

After such great news, and a very long, but good day... I decided to take the rest of the night off :)  We all need a break sometime, don't we?  Looking forward to this weekend despite the fact that I am going to spend most of it studying.  I'm still going to try to be social by studying with friends and eating with friends on breaks.  I am actually feeling a lot less stressed about Monday's quiz.  It's so weird... just a few days ago I was having a mini-breakdown.  Well, I guess I am still getting used to med school haha.  

Minor Adjustments...

Today I started drinking a double shot of espresso in the morning (rather than just a single) in attempt to step up my game...

it's the little things in life people

Med School Is Hard. Imagine That!

I just started my third week of medical school, and I am definitely feeling overwhelmed at this point.  I am just not used to the pace yet.  Basically, it's like we have a midterm every other week, and I am studying like I did during finals week at UCLA every day.  Haha.  I know, I know... I got myself into this.  I am well aware.  I am not complaining, I am merely describing my current emotional state!  I am busting my butt studying for the 2nd quiz coming up because I do not want to fail any subjects.

It's also overwhelming because there are so many things going on outside of the classroom: a ton of student interest groups, volunteering at clinics, etc...  It really irritates me when certain classmates have been asking me OVER and OVER "so, you volunteering at clinic this weekend?  Oh, I am!" since before the first week.  For the millionth time "I AM NOT READY YET!" Some of us need a little time to acclimate ourselves to something so new before jumping in to a million commitments.  I would love to volunteer at one of the student run clinics, but I would like to feel comfortable with school first, thank you very much.

But don't get the wrong idea... I love it!  I love med school, I love UCD!  I am just in that awko phase where I am trying to get into a routine and feel comfortable in my new environment.  So far, I love going to yoga at school, taking care of and eating from my garden, and studying or hanging out with my friends.

And here is a little fun story:  like I said, I was feeling overwhelmed and a little down last night and earlier today, but then in anatomy lab, one of the orthopedic surgeons walking around saw me dissecting and said "You should be an eye surgeon!"  I know he probably wasn't serious, but it made my day!  It was nice to hear some sort of encouragement after losing some self-confidence in the last week or so.

Quiz 2, here I come!

I survived my first med school test! (kinda)

So yesterday we had our first quiz (more like an undergrad midterm).  It wasn't TOO bad, and I passed all subjects except one (oops)!  It's okay though, I have plenty more opportunities to make up for the few questions I got wrong.  I definitely feel like I studied enough, but the questions I got wrong were just really tricky and threw me off.

Moral of the story: I survived!

Other than that, everything else is pretty much the same.  Loving life!

Oh yeah, I had a GREAT birthday this year.  Went to dinner with my family, got a very nice surprise from Omar in the mail, and my friends threw me a mini surprise party/study break!!!  It was so awesome and I was legitimately surprised!  No one has ever surprised me before so it was really cool.  I can tell I have made some really good friends here :)

:)

Gamma Phi Davis

We even have our own composite! Love it!!!! :P