Gettin' My Sing On

This year, for the annual UC Davis Wine Auction (a benefit for the non-profit student-run clinics), my friend Y and I decided to perform a little set together.  In case you don't know Y, he is one of my favorite study buddies, and he is a genius on the keys.  The two of us practiced every day at lunch for the couple of weeks leading up to the event, and our performance turned out okay, I think!

Practice (Notice the weird-ass sculpture hanging in front of our school in the background)

Funny story about the performances... There were several group performances by med students, and the week before the event, we realized that three different groups were all performing "Someone Like You" - Adele, including us!  It actually happened to be the first song we started practicing, so by the time we heard everyone else was performing it too, we were getting a little sick of it, so we abandoned it for a different song.  We did:

• "Ordinary People" - John Legend
• "Nearness of You" Norah Jones
• "Yellow" - Coldplay
• "At Last" - Etta James

It was so much fun working together.  Also, I just love singing, so I had a blast with the whole thing.  Here are our songs on youtube!

Ordinary People

Nearness of You

Yellow

At Last (the still image for this one is kinda funny...)

My first REAL patient

I spent my morning volunteering at one of the student run clinics, and I finally felt ready to take on my own patient all by myself.  Now, a lot of my classmates have been doing this for over 6 months, but I, on the other hand, have been petrified of screwing up/making a fool of myself and I felt like I should get a little more knowledge under my belt first, so I had been putting it off.  If any of my classmates are reading this, they probably think I am a pathetic excuse for a med student, but hey - I wanted to wait until I was comfortable, and I'm glad I did.

Anyway, I just felt ready today for some reason.  So the undergrad co-director handed me the chart, and when I saw "seizures" as the primary complaint, I definitely panicked for a minute! Haha!  But I just went in and did my thing.  It's funny because I wasn't nervous AT ALL!  I felt really at ease with my patient, and I think she felt really comfortable with me too.  It might have helped that she was young (I can to be intimidated by older adults sometimes).  My interview with her went great, and after all was said and done, when we decided that she needed to come in again next weekend, she asked eagerly, "Are you going to be my doctor next week too?" I was so touched that she liked me enough to request having me again!  Even after I stuck her for a blood draw and didn't do it right...

I wasn't planning on going to clinic next weekend (I have a ton of studying to do), but for a moment I actually considered coming in just for her.  (Too bad I am selfish and am going to study instead :/)... But anyway, I had a realization of what makes a lot of doctors work so hard and put in so much time.  Its the patients!  They really need us!

It finally hit me - today was the first time I felt like a REAL doctor in training.

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!!!!

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!