Day7: Second Year Medical Student (Ms2)

I  LOVE Pharmacology!!!!!  It is the COOLEST CLASS in the world. Why can’t DePauw chemistry teachers teach this class?!

In a way they do. For those pre-med students who either wonder how Chem 260 and Chem 240 are relevant to medicine or the students struggling in those classes: HOLD ON. It will all be worth it in the end. Pharmacology incorporates K- equilibriums, the Michaelis-Menten  equation and all that other stuff taught by our professors (yeah DePauw Chem. Professors!). Adrienne Cobb even told me that Prof. Sharon Crary’s Chem 440 class, Biophysical Chemistry, goes over these concepts again (and again, and again) so another reason for you pre-meds to go biochem (I’m done advertising for the Chemistry-Biochemistry department now J).

Why I love this class is that I finally see the medical application to all the material taught in these Chem classes and for this MD wannabe, it’s great because medicine is what I am passionate about. It was also a relief for me that not only did I learn the material in the classes, I UNDERSTAND it all and was able to follow what the professor was saying with no problems. It comforts me personally to know that all the hard work and stress I  put into mastering these Chemistry topics was not in vain even though the Chemistry Professors create tough exams (if you don’t believe me take a Chem course with any one of them, I dare you).

The only downside is that this class is TWO HOURS  long and there is another hour long class on top of it before lunch. It’s a bit overwhelming. Oh well, as we learn in biology, organisms learn to adapt so I guess that’s one thing I know I’ll have to adapt to long lectures.

After lunch, Kyle along with Mike Stump, and two other students walked (well Mike rode his bike) from the IUSOM campus to the Roudebush VA Medical Center. FYI: this was a 0.6 mile walk out in the cold and snow. Medical school is  definitely not for the weak.  In a conference room we met pulmonologist Dr. David Miller , their overseer. Interestingly, this doctor went to DePauw as an undergrad before transferring to Purdue to finish his degree. He was really cool and we were even talked about Marvins.

 The first tasks for these MS2s was to give their oral report on the complete medical report of patients they had met the previous class. Mike Stump went first and WOW he was a BEAST. Cool, confident, sounded like he knew what he was talking about, I did not hear a student but someone how actually sounded like a doctor. I wish I could have recorded him but since patient information was being discussed I didn’t think it would be appropriate (darn medical ethics!). DePauw, I’m just saying, you would have been proud of him. He wasn’t the only one who I was impressed with, actually all of the MS2 students gave very impressive medical reports and they all sounded like real doctors to me, I’m just DPU bias J. Afterwards we went on rounds to visit some patients.  After the rounds, class was over and I’m now here writing you my experience. 

Tomorrow is my last day (sob) hopefully it ends as well as it has started out.

Medical Vocab:

ischemia--adnormal blood flow

Myocardial infarction--interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die aka heart attack

Not all ischemias cause myocardial infarctions, but most myocardial infarctions are caused by ischemias.

Get it?

I would have wrote "all" for the second half of the statement, but in medicine the word "all" and "never"are not in a good Physician's dictionary,lol.

DePauw Alumni Love--Jennifer McPeak-Bailey ('09)

--As a DePauw alummus, how has your education from DePauw helped you in medical school? Did it adequately prepare you for the challenges of med school courses?

I definitely know that my DePauw education helped me immensely for my medical school career. Having taken anatomy and physiology at DePauw, I was already familiar with many of the terms used by professors during class.  DePauw instilled a strong work ethic and commitment to academics that has continued for me in medical school.

--If you could go back to DePauw, what would you say to pre-med students?

I would encourage them to keep studying hard and taking the classes they need for medical school. Also enjoy DePauw and the unique community found there. The dynamic in med school is good, but very different. There is less time to bond with peers outside the classroom. Take advantage of the clubs and intramural opportunities while you have more time!

DePauw, what improvements/changes do you think are needed in DePauw’s pre-med “program” and how can faculty  and students help to start making these changes? Are there changes even necessary?

I think the pre-med curriculum worked great for me. Maybe there could be a web page, if there already is not, discussing the courses necessary for medical school and application timelines spelled out simply. But this might already be in place…

--You went straight from college into medical school, do you believe this was a good decision or do you wish that you could have taken a year off?

This was a great decision for me. It allowed me to keep my academic momentum going strong! But I know several people who did other things in between, and they are doing great, as well.

--What has been the biggest social and/or academic change from DePauw to IUSM for you so far?

I would say there are less opportunities and less time to bond with classmates outside of the classroom. At DePauw, there always seemed to be an event or club or fellowship time to interact with peers. Med school is more solitary once you leave the classroom. Much time is spent with the books. But if you manage your time wisely, there is room for friends and family. You just have to be smart about it.

--Was  all of the effort you put into getting into IUSM worth it? Was it all you imagined it to be? Any surprises?

So far, it has been a positive experience. It is a lot of work, but I know it will be worth it in the end when I can help patients. I can’t wait!

Day 6: Second Year Medical Student (MS2)



For those interested in IUSOM, all the two-years' worth of knowledge you'll learn in med school will be taught in this one building!

The day started out comical--the type that's made for TV.  As I enter the Vays Nuys Medical Science building,  I saw two young men sitting on one bench as I sat on another bench further away waiting for my MS2 ambassador.  Ten minutes before class started I decided to call him since I hadn't seen him. He doesn't pick up his phone.  Then he calls me  back and behold,  my MS2 ambassador was one of the guys sitting in the chair.  Also  the guy sitting with him is DePauw alum Mike Stump (more on him later).

In Introduction to Clinical Medicine 2 (my first class as a "MS2 student") or ICM, we learned about ischemia and the use of EKGs  in order to detect this and other cardio-related conditions. What I like about IUSOM is that they curtail classes so that they have an " organ system theme". For instance last week in MS1, the "organ system theme" was neurobiology. In MS2, they continued this by having all the classes (Pharmacology, Introduction to Clinicals, Pathology) related to cardiology.
Also in this class were two DePauw alumni: Adrienne Cobb (class 2009) and Jennifer McPeak-Bailey(class 2009). Wow has time gone by! In three years I'll be where they are now (hopefully). Both girls and Mike were cool enough to answer some of my questions on medical school and their pre-med experience at DePauw. Their answers to my questions ( each alumnus received some same and some different questions) will be in this blog under the post title "DePauw Alumni Love". So keep following!

After ICM and pathology, Jennifer McPeak Bailey walked with Kyle and I to lunch and we talked about DePauw and about some of the organizations on campus such as DePauw Christian Fellowships and Intervarsity and she also listed some of the student organizations that were also on IUSM’s campus.The lunch cost $0.00, however the true cost of the meal was intangible.

Let me explain. At IUSOM (and probably other med schools) you have two options for food: 1) buy it yourself. Pro is that you know what you’re going to eat and the possibility to eat and socialize with friends is there. The con of this option is that you spending money  which, for  a student already in thousands of dollars in debt, can easily add up ($5 a day for lunch is roughly $25 a week, multiply that by fourteen weeks and you’ve spent $350, enough money for a new laptop). 2) The second option is to go to lunch lectures. Lunch lectures are when a department (i.e. Emergency, pediatrics, MD/MBA association, etc.) sponsors a lecturer to speak during lunchtime and provide food as a courtesy for whoever shows up. As you probably guessed, this a popular option  but outside the savings in money there are pros for this option. For instance, lunch lectures allow you to learn about different areas of medicine while you eat (if only all college classes were like this). Also, some of these lecturers are also a part of important boards like boards for a particular residency program. So, for those who are good at social networking, lunch lectures are a social networker’s heaven for interacting with faculty. However the con of this option is that for one hour you are exposed to some grotesque imagery. For instance, I now know what a penis  and vagina looks like with syphilis sores  (yah me).  And in case you’re wondering, these lunch lectures do not end at medical school but continue on into residency.  After a while you get desensitized to it,  but it’s not as if lectures are rated G, PG, or R so you never know what you're getting yourself into before you go to one.

To be honest, some of the lectures are not that bad. For instance, I recorded a section( approx. 1min and 19 sec) of another lunch lecture I attended by radiologist Dr. Ricard Gunderman 's  lunch lecture on the The 21st century Doctor. It’s really good I think you MD wannabees should listen to it.

So the ending message is that you never know what your free lunch really costs, it may actually cost you your lunch (lol. I know, corny joke).  Another con to this option is that you don’t get to choose what you eat and they may run out of food, but I figured that these may be minor to the previous con.

After lunch I got to participate in (what I believe) is the BEST LAB IN THE WORLD!!! Pathology lab. This lab’s theme was autopsy. In groups of four, we had to use the medical history of the (now dead) patient along with her X-ray scans, organs retrived from the patient, and microscopic observations to figure out the patient's cause of death.  Kyle and I worked on the gross anatomy of the patient which was SO COOL. I got to touch a human heart and lungs as well as intestines etc. I did not want to leave the lab! There were some fourth year medical students (MS4s) who were “TAs” for the class and were very helpful.  One of them was a friend of mine I met three years ago during a summer internship. He plans to be a cardiothoracic surgeon and is currently applying for residencies. More on residencies later. The next class, we(really the MS2s since I'm technically not a MS2[yet]) are going to presentations of the findings. Maybe I’ll be able to present with them!!!

LAB PICS!!!


The first picture is of one of the group members looking at the patient's tissue samples to detect any tissue adnormalities

 

The professor demonstrating how to "read" an X-ray scan. The guy to the right is Mike Stump(at least the back of him).

 

This picture is me getting hold of the patient's lungs. Too cool!



 

This picture is of the complete (or at least) the majority of the organs from the patient. I was dissapointed they didn't include her brain.



This last picture is of my IUSOM "ambassador" (yellow shirt), a group member (in black) and the MS4 TA(in blue) I was tellin you about.  

 I did not intentionally set these pictures up like this, but this crazy blog won't let me shrink the pictures or at least place them side to side without it causing problems.  Anyway enjoy!

So far, I love MS2 more than MS1. Maybe I can asks admissions to allow me to skip a year. However something is telling me that that conversation will probably not go well. We’ll see if I’m still in love with MS2 tomorrow!

Quote of the Day:  “If they want to buy all faculty Rosetta-Stones that would be great”—response from St. Vincent Family Practice physician after hearing about a lunch lecture that dealt with culture clash between patients and doctors.

Day 5: Back with Dr. Bryant

Fridays for MS1 students aren't that interesting. They have a mentor meetings where 2 MS1 students, 2 MS2 students, some MS3-4 (in honestly don't remember the number of MS 3&4 students) along with two overseeing doctors meet and discuss the joys and pains of medical school. The point of group is form support groups for each medical students no matter what year they are. Afterward they have Microbiology and Physiology lectures and classes end for them at 2pm.

 So, I did some shadowing with Dr. Bryant and Dr. Joyce. Dr. Bryant includes obstertrics in her practice so I met her at St. Vincent's Women's Hospital as she made her rounds.  One mother was concerned about her baby spitting the up blood constantly. Dr. Bryant reassured the mother that this was normal for babies who had gone through vaginal birth with vacuum assistance. 



If you look closely, you can see the umbilical cord!

 After rounds, I got to shadow Family Physician Dr. Joyce until lunch. Afterward I shadowed some Family Practice residence. However, since I don't offically shadow residencies until next week. I'll give you more information on my shadowings next week. Keep following!!!

Quote of the day: " I liked doing everything....I have colleageus who ask me questions related to primary care such as pediatrics because their speciality doesn't require them to know it. As a Family Physician I know a little of everything"--From Dr. Joyce on why she became a Family Practice Physician

The rest of my interview with Dr. Cathy Bryant

*Warning, interview done on my phone so the images are grainy but the sound is great!*

Question #4: In your opinion, has  what  it means to be a doctor in the 21st century changed?
Question#5: What misconceptions do you think medical students have of medicine and being doctors?
Question #6: Looking back, was  it worth it? Are there any surprises? part1/part2

Days 3&4: First Year Medical student (MS1) @ IUSM

The second two days of medical school weren't that eventful. I mean I sat in on lectures and everything, but unless you want me to go in depth with what the classes were about, I figured it be best to just combine the two days together.

On Day 4 I sat in on a Microbiology lecture as well as another Physiology lesson (this time I understood 1/2 of what the professor said. Yay improvement).  Which was followed by Histology which led to Histology lab where I got to watch Jasmine look at slides of neuron cells for an hour. Not a bad experience, but I could have waited until I actually get into medical school to experience it.  However, I did get to see a slide with a interneuron in it (she showed me more but that's the only one that I remember probably because that was the last slide--primarcy-recency theory strikes again, lol.). In case you don't know, an interneuron, is a neuron that connects the afferent and efferent neurons together. In the centeral nervous system, these neurons are small and responsible for inhibition through the use of GABA and glycine neurotransmitters.

These are not picture that I took from the lab. The teardrop shaped neurons are interneurons.

On Day 5, I got to miss taking a Physiology quiz at 8am in the morning. You read right, 8AM. I actually wanted to take the quiz, but 1) I don't have my own car (yes my mom still drive me around, but, hey that's life) but more importantly 2) I didn't attend Monday's class with them  (I was with Dr. Bryant) and the quiz was over Monday and Tuesday's lectures. So at 9am I met Jasmine again in her Clinical Problem Solving Class. In this class we did not solve another case but reviewed the learning objectives from Tuesday. On Tuesday one of the things they had to write up were questions or learning objectives that they had with each piece of the case given. Then the class divided the objectives up and today are presenting them. This made me like the class even more. Because no matter if one student was able to know instantly the disease and/or treatment for the patient, in the end the class as a whole learns more about the disease, tests, and treatment that the patient should have received, everyone learns and everyone benefits from the information shared. The small and non-competitve nature of the class really helps harbor that feeling and atmosphere of the class.

After Physiology (again), the last class we had was called Health Policy and Economics class. This class, is a relatively new class offered at IUSM where in short, international politics and healthcare combine. The class (of roughly 100-150) was divided into groups of 8 representing 7 countries: Canda, Singapore, UK, Germany, France, Japan, and Switzerland.The professor of this class was a MD/MPH whose MPH study focused primarily on healthcare access in America (2-3 groups representing the same country). The main focus of this class was the fact that healthcare in general is comprised of three components:

--Access
--Cost
--Availability

and that each of the 8 countries had a healthcare system that tries balance all three components. However, he stressed the inevitable fact that no healthcare system is able to sucessfully balance to the fullest all three components, in "real life" one of the components is comprised. For instance, in America's healthcare system, everyone has access to insurance as well as availability to one (one just has to go to an insurance company), however, the cost of insurance that has roughly 5 million Americans uninsured, is what is making insurance inaccessible and unavailable. I really liked the class because it focused on world issues, issued that affected the people because at the end of the day, it's the people that we as future doctors are desiring to help.


Summary of MS1 

First-year medical school was eye opening. The classes were interesting and for once, I could actually see the importance of the class to my career as a doctor. For me the difference between college and first year medical school was just the bulk of information given. However, this is just like the transition between high school and college. I think I will suvive it once I get there. Concerning dress code, it is still very causal except on clinical days ( usually once or twice a month) when bussiness causal attire and the "all important short white coat" is required. So people like me who like dressing like a bum to class, med school will not ruin your fashion (or lack of) fashion sense, at least your freshman year.

However, one of the most interesting finding for me was the similarity between college and medical school first year students. Just like in college, in MS1 you have the quiet intelligent person, the slacker, the show off, the brown noser who asks irrelevant questions just to hear his own voice, the jokester. It's funny because while attending the classes, I kept on forgeting that I am not "one of them" (a medical student) yet. In Anthropologic terms, I struggled with my -emic and -etic perspectives on medical school (finally Anthro 151 became useful). I guess it makes sense since they are only 2 years ahead of me in education. Still, for me, I hear about the white coat ceremony that occurs before classes start (during orientation) and I guess I think there's a sudden change that occurs.  As if putting on the white coat transforms you from a college graduate to a doctor equipt with all the fancy lingo, stethoscope, and knowledge of all the diseases known to man. LOL.

The 3-day shadowing made realize that at the end of the day, first year students are just that, students with fancy short white coats. The experience reassured me that the transition from student to doctor is not going to be all of a sudden, or that medical school would be "survival of the fittest" and if I wasn't fit enough I'd be left behind. I'm not saying that medical school is going to be a breeze but, at least at IUSOM, it seems like it's  not going to be cut throat either.  This may be another "duh" statement for some of you, but it this helps me realize that yes, medical school is going to be difficult, but these students that I can relate to made it, maybe I will too.

  Okay you got me, the white coats aren't all that fancy :).


Medial vocab:
COPD-- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. This is a diagnosis is given to a patient that has upper respiratory destruction usually caused by smoking. Obviously that's not the only way to cause COPD but that's the most common. This usually causes medical conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Notice the empy seat? One of the perks of IUSOM in Indy is that all classes are video-taped then loaded online. So coming to class is voluntary.

Question and Answers with my IUSM MS1 Ambassador Jasmine Johnson

What college did you go to and what was your major and/or minor in College?

I graduated from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2009, and majored in Brain, Behavior, & Cognitive Science. Go Blue!

Why did you choose IUSM? What set it a part from other medical schools?

I was accepted to Indiana University School of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. I loved both schools for different reasons because they were both very different in student body size, hospital exposure, and location, but IUSM offered me a four-year full tuition scholarship, so that sweetened and sealed the deal

You are married and currently have a child, how have you been able to balance being a wife, mother and medical student? What you advise other pre-med students and medical students who are in the same situation?

I think that in order to balance you have to be VERY organized, be willing to ask for help, accept the fact that you can’t do everything, and have strict priorities. For example, family will always come before school for me. When my son is sick and needs me, I will be there for him. I am also very blessed to have a supportive husband and my mom and his mom always there to lend a hand – especially during exam blocks.  I consider myself a very independent person, so at first it was hard for me to not be able to do everything – such as cook dinner more or always be there to tuck in my son, but I have realized that the quality of time that I spend with him is more important than the quantity of time, so I try and make my free time memorable and meaningful – instead of just sitting around watching TV or something.

For those women who are in the same situation, I would advise you to never stop. If this is something that you really feel you are called to do, then go for it, and God will find a way. Don’t let anyone tell you that what you are doing is impossible or cannot be done. There are women doing this and way more, so keep pushing. It has its difficult days, but I wouldn’t trade it for anyone else’s situation.

What would you say has been the biggest challenge for you so far in medical school? Biggest accomplishment?

The biggest challenge would be studying so much and realizing that school has taken over my life in first semester. I would eat, breathe, sleep, and even dream about studying and the information we were required to know. It was so intense and draining. I think having my family to come home to is very therapeutic and grounding for me because it helps me to remember that there is a life outside of the craziness of school. So far my biggest accomplishment has been my semester one final grades, AND being able to get those grades without sacrificing my family/motherhood duties like everyone thought I would.

Your father is also a doctor.  Do you think that what being a medical student and doctor has changed from when he attended medical school? How?

My dad went to Wayne State University School of Medicine and graduated in 1989. He is a urologist. I would say that both medical school and the medical field have changed a ton since he was in school. Today, the Internet makes getting information for our curriculum such as lecture recordings and clinical information so much easier and faster. He may have had to spend hours in the library because that’s where all his study materials, guides, etc. were, but now, some students don’t even physically attend class because it is streamed over the internet so you can watch it wherever and whenever you want to. We still spend lots of time in the library, but it’s usually more for the environment and not because we have no choice. Second, the environment of medical school has changed. Our class is probably about 10% students of color, and the school places a HUGE importance on issues of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity with regards to treatment – which is reflective of our rapidly changing population of patients. Also, technology is continuously getting better and more amazing. For example, my dad was recently certified in DiVinici – a robotic surgical procedure that minimizes incision size and recovery time. The thing about medicine is, no matter how old you are or have been practicing, you are always learning so that you can keep up with the latest and best treatment information for your patients.

You went through the MSMS program at IUSM. What were some of the pros and cons of going through this program?

The Masters of Science in Medical Science program is a two-year Masters program that was developed to help students of underserved ethnic groups get into medical school. The curriculum consists of one that mimics the first and second year of medical school here at IUSM. In addition, there is a 10-week MCAT prep to help you increase your score so that your application is more competitive. Some students apply straight to the program and other students are recommended for the program because they are not accepted into the medical school. Students can either complete the two years of the program for their Masters or they can leave the program after the first year and enter medical school if they are accepted (and students have gotten into school all over the country, not just IUSM). I applied to 15 schools the first time around and got 15 rejections with a recommendation for the MSMS program. I have nothing but positive things to say about the program because not only was is instrument to me getting into medical school and brought my MCAT score up 5 points, but also in my great success once medical school started. The year I spent in the program showed me that I was not ready for the rigor of medical school the first time around. Also, having a 5 month old at the time, it was a great trial run of how I would be able to handle a medical school curriculum with my son.

If you could go back, would you still have completed the MSMS program, or attempted to do a 1 or 2 year Masters degree?

Yes, I would definitely do the MSMS program again! I think the curriculum benefitted me the more than a Masters program in a particular subject because it was so similar to how medical school was going to be in the fall. Plus I made a lot of great friends who went on to other medical schools and are in my medical school class now.

Was all the work and effort you put into getting into medical school worth it? Was it all you imagined it to be? Any surprises?

YES!, BETTER!, and YES! I think that this is a very subjective question because EVERYONE has a different story. But for me, when I got my acceptance letters I was so happy and joyful.  And when I put my white coat on for the first time this past August, WOW! It was better than I expected it to be. The biggest surprise has been the workload. It’s a lot better than how hard I expected it to be, and everyone says it will be, which has been great. Everyone makes it seem like when you get into medical school you are going to be under a rock for the next four years. Many of my classmates still indulge in their social life and extracurricular activities, and I am still able to be the mom I want to be. It’s just a matter of maintaining balance and doing what works best for you.

Admissions Advice

Meeting with Johnathan O'Neal, Associate Director of Admissions

      

Taiwo Ajumobi: What types of activities are highly looked upon? Is it better to work in a lab or volunteer in a hospital?

--what if no access to hospital

Johnathan O’Neal: Hospital shadowings, interviewing medical doctors, doing anything medically related is looked up. If there isn’t a nearby hospital or it is hard to have shadow, any extracurricular activity related towards medicine (i.e. Timmy Foundation,

American Blood Drive

) is looked highly upon

TA:Is it better to continuously volunteer in one hospital or switch hospitals often?

JO:  There is no preference for variability or consistency concerning hospitals volunteered and/or worked at

TA: Would you consider IUSM to be more research or clinical oriented or balanced? How?

JO:IUSM is more of a clinical based medical school. However recently they have tried to incorporate more research into the school. They recently have a nationally recognized MD/PhD program.

TA:If the GPA is lower than a 3.5 what can someone  do to make it up?

JO: Score well on the MCAT as well as have a lot of extracurricular activities. Basically show them that you have a passion for what you want to do. Also, doing well in the interview and providing good knowledgeable answers to their questions is also very beneficial.

TA: Is applying early advantageous or does the time not matter as long as it is turned in before the deadline

JO: Yes and no. Yes because you are able to get your interview done early and your package complete early. Also, there is a possibility that you can find out your results out by October, which is when the first round of acceptance letters go out. However, the waiting period is longer if you don’t get any notice in October and that doesn’t mean that you didn’t get accepted.

TA: What perks do students that are applying that are from Indiana get in the admission process?

JO: If a student has a 3.2 cGPA and sGPA as well as a 25 on the MCAT with no score lower than a 7, then they are guaranteed an interview.

TA: What types of scholarships are available for students upon acceptance into program ( let’s assume student has high GPA and/or MCAT score; any full rides?)

JO: There are full ride scholarships available for students. The med school does give scholarships based primarily on merit. Again the financial aid office would be the best assistance for this. Some organizations also give scholarships based on a student’s interest for instance, a student who knows that are interested in practicing medicine in a rural area could get a scholarship from a national organization. However, if that student later on doesn’t in the end practice in a rural area, then he/she has to pay the organization back WITH INTEREST.

TA: If a student is interested in a dual degrees  (MD/jD, MD/MPH, etc.) what opportunities/ programs do you have to accommodate that student’s desire

JO: IUSM have 3 dual degree programs: MD/PhD, MD/MBA, and MD/MPH. The MD/PhD is the only dual degree that works with the medical school. The other two degrees, one would have to fill out separate applications into the programs.

TA:  Which is better, to have a high GPA (3.9) but not so high MCAT (22) or to have a not so high GPA ( 3.5) but a high MCAT (42)?

JO: Stability is keep. The fluctuation of grades and/or MCAT doesn’t speak too well of a student. In general the GPA is looked at a little bit higher than the MCAT (like 1% difference), because it’s a record of your academic ability whereas the MCAT is just a standardized test that dictates how well prepared you are for medical school compared to students across the nation.

TA: What do you like to see in a personal statement? What are your turn ons and turn offs concerning “the essay”?

JO:A good personal essay has four parts to it. 1. Introduction: why do you want to be a doctor.  2. What are your strengths? 3. What are your weaknesses? 4. How did/do you plan to turn you weaknesses into strengths?

TA: Do you do deferred acceptance? What is it? Who is qualified for it? Pros/Cons?

JO: Yes. Deferred Acceptance is when an applicant that is already accepted into medical school  is allowed to not matriculate with his class but defer  his admission for 1 or 2 years. This is very rare to get and tends to be given to students doing big community based activities such as Teach for America, Fulbright, etc. An applicant can not ask for deferred acceptance until after accepted into the med school.

TA: Do you do Early Acceptance applications? Who is qualified for it? Pros/Cons? Would you advise in-state students to apply to IUSM under this application program?

JO: Yes. Students that have a cGPA and sGPA of 3.61 and above as well as a MCAT score of a 30 with no individual score lower than an 8, is allowed to apply whether in-state or out-of-state.  The advantage of this program, is that 1) application is complete and results are given by September. 2) You are given first choice to which of the 9 campuses you desire to live on whereas other residents will have to “cross their fingers” when selecting their top choices

TA: Can you name some pet peeves and  “pet hurrahs” that you tend to see med school applicants write in their applications, say, or do?

JO:Don’t

-lack of honesty on application (trouble with the law and didn’t say it)

--lack of openess (say got a little bit in trouble with the law but background check says otherwise)

--lack or remorse for wrong actions

--if you get published, sending  them a thick package with your publications in them instead of a simple notice

come into an interview overly nervous/under prepared

--send more than 1 page personal statement and/or resume

--send 15 recommendation letters when you only need max 5 (min of 3)

Do

--have strong GPA and MCAT (consistency is key)

--be active, do something during your breaks (fall, spring, thanksgiving, winter, AND summer) as well as during the school year

--interview/shadow a variety of doctors

Think before you do something (especially if it’s illegal). It may come back to haunt you during the applications and make you ineligible for med school. Certain misdemeanors cannot be overlooked by med schools for X-number of years making an applicant illegible for acceptance. Felonies are never overlooked

--send updates of what is going on in your life after the interview (particularly an accomplishment, or activity) to the admissions board even after the interview this

1) keeps you in their minds and helps pull out your file for them to consider for acceptance

2) shows that you are trying to meet their expectations and requirements for the med school

 3) you are genuinely interested in their medical school

Day 2: First Year med student (MS1) @ IUSM

Excited!!! That was the first emotion that I had when I arrived at Indiana University School of Medicine at 9am this morning to attend my first class as a medical student (unofficially). I met my "First Year medical student ambassador" (I'm making up the title)Jasmine Johnson in her Clinical Problem Solving class in the Medical Science building.  Here was this week's case we (really they) were figuring out:

Mr. Smith, a 45 year old male presents with nausea and vomiting after a vacation to south Florida for an Acrhitectural conference. After the conference he boarded the SS Staatenmdam for a cruise to St. Marten, and upon his return to Miami visted a famous seafood restaurant.  Upon landing in Indianapolis, patient felt nauseas and proceeded to vomit twice upon spending the night at home. Patient has a history of peptic ulcers, which have been well controlled by the use of medication and a mild diet. Patient claims to continue the medication and does not recall excessive drinking or eating any spicy foods. After initial meeting, patient returns complaining of muscle weakness, ice feeling hot to the touch, and loss of touch sensation of foot.

It turns out, that this patient had contacted ciguatera, a foodborne illness found in fish common in subtropical and tropical climates (such as Florida and St. Marten). What probably happened is that Mr. Smith ate a fish that had eaten toxic harmful dinoflagella such as Gambierdiscus toxicus which excretes a toxin called ciguatoxin. Below is a flow chart of the process. The caption contains links to give you more information about this disease. Who knows, this may be useful  in med school!



From top to bottom, snapper fish eats dinoflaggella that contains the toxin cinguatoxin. For more on the Ciguatera. On the microbe:Gaambierdiscus toxicus.  Don't eat the fish in Florida! :) I always love playing the detective so I loved this class. How the professor conducted this class is that he would give us one bit of information, such as the fact that Mr. Smith went on a cruise to St. Marten and ate fish at a restaurant in Miami. From this information, it was the class job to figure out as a group based on that information, what could have caused Mr. Smith's illness. Once we got on the right track, the professor gave us another fact until we could put the pieces together and get a good picture of what caused Mr. Smith's illness.  I also liked the class because it reinforces the idea that treating people is a process, not a one-time "miracle worker" thing.Although this a "duh" statement, I like that this class is a weekly reminder of it. It also emphasizes collaboration which is obviously important in the field. Not one student knew the answer and it took bits and pieces of everyone's knowledge to come up with the answer. If I come to IUSM, I know it's going to be one of my favorite classes! After this class was Physiology. In this class we learned about action potential within neurons. The class was interesting not because of the lecture but because it took an hour to understand the professor's thick Russian (or East. European, don't want to stereotype) accent.  I'm a neuro nerd and I couldn't enjoy the lecture much because it was too hard to understand. On a positive note, his notes were easy to understand so for visual learners such as myself, studying what he writes and not what he says would be our mode of survival. For you auditory learners, make friends with a Russian (or citizens from whatever E. European country he is from).  The last class of the day was called Introduction to Clinial Medicine. From what I could get from the class, the idea behind it was to dicuss medicine and a career in medicine in more social atmosphere. This was another small class (Clinical Problem Solving was also small, 8 people) that had two overseers, one was a doctor and the other was a PhD researcher. The class started out nicely. The doctor asked how everyone's break and commented on some of the essays written by the students. One student wrote about doctors being portrayed as "bags of douche" by the movies they watched and another commented on the attractiveness of the actress in the movie.  So as you probably figured, the class was lively until the doctor received a text from the PhD (who wasn't in class at the time) telling the doctor that "he would be late to class and if they had class". If you are confused about that statement, you should be. Anyway, this professor comes into class 30 minutes late asks and makes the same comments the doctor made on the essays then starts the main focus of the class with this statement: " I bet $5 that in 15 year half of you would be married, divorced and remarried." By the way, my ambassador Jasmine is married and the majority of the students in the class were either married, engaged or had girlfriends/boyfriends. Jasmine and another student in the class warned me of their PhD professor but DANG I was not ready for that. Now to his credit he did use statistics back up his claim, but the lack of subtlety that was apparent with everything he said even after this prediction, left me with a lasting impression to say the least. In the end I did enjoy the oddness yet comfortable feel of the class. Quote of the day: You understood the first half of the lecture, and I understood the last half, so let's put our halfs together and pass this class. -- quote from one MS1 after the Physiology lecture to another student