What I Really Learned in Med School

Block 2 is officially in the books. And it was another successful one. In fact, this is my best semester for marks so far. I feel like I am in a good place to get through the next 3 sets of exams. Such a relief.   My flights are booked home for December! I am 18 days in Nova Scotia, 4 nights in NYC, 2 nights in TO, then back to Saba. The Christmas break is always the longest so it works out perfect that it is after our toughest semester.   Some random pictures to compliment this happy blog post!   One of our bake sales - fundraising for Midway Class photo at the end of second semester A few girls after finishing exams NAME THAT FRUIT We picked these off the trees but we don't know what they are. Any ideas? Scenery pic Our car... it is pretty fancy... BBQ at our place   Sunrise View from our friends house and their pool  

I PASSED I PASSED I PASSED! There has been so much hype surrounding third semester that I made sure to give that extra push over the past 2 weeks... and it worked! I was certainly happy to see that passing mark pop up on my screen after micro, but I appreciated it even more when I heard so many people say that they failed. And then, even though micro is the hardest, several people sacrificed the other classes for it and then failed neuro or psyc. I found out later that I scored above average on all 3 exams. Of course I could have done better but I feel like I am off to a good start. I am now re-motivated for block 2. I know a few of you were surprised to get a snapchat from me of my now very obvious black eye. So I figured it would be easier to explain here. The short story is that we were playing around wrestling at the house and I got a knee in the face. I went to the doctor the next morning because I was feeling dizzy and I wasn't sure that it would pass in time for my exams...

Our schedule this semester is a little crazy. Normally we are in class from 8-5 which is pretty hard on my attention span. With so much of the day spent in the classroom (therefore decreased independent study time), every minute of learning from the profs counts. Then during lunch I will sit with the girls and eat while discussing the micro material. And if we get out of any class early, Craig and I go right to an area in the building called the “fishbowl” to study neuro.   Then I go home, eat supper, study, sleep, get up early to pre-read the day’s micro lecture and do it all over again. Block 1 exams are on Monday so I guess we will see if it is paying off. My new courses are Microbiology/Immunology, Neuroscience, Psychology, Medical Ethics, and Doctor-Patient Relationship III. I am excited to be doing some things I’ve done before (neuro/psyc), but also nervous about micro because it is supposed to be “the one to fail.” I am actually enjoying the psyc material, but I don’t ge...

Some pictures from my 2 weeks home in Nova Scotia!! Hard earned vacation.   Kayaking in Baddeck Hiking Uisge Ban Falls   Fortress of Louisbourg with Michelle and Dad  Dad talked our way in in French... everyone else has to stay behind... pretty pumped about it haha     Natalie MacMaster   Miner's Museum   Big Bang Theory dinner theatre Got pulled on stage haha   Cooking with Michelle in Antigonish!

I’m BAAACK. The notorious third semester has begun. As an update… my 2 week break was great. I spent time in different towns around the province and enjoyed lots of family time. We went boating, kayaking, and hiking. We went to the beach, shopping, and to a dinner theatre. I ate Mom’s home cooking, lobster with Dad, and food from my favourite restaurants. And Laura got engaged!! Big congrats to my bestie on that one. Some pictures of my vacay to follow in another post. We are back in our same house the 3 of us. The boys and the house are both still good. I write this because I often get asked how my roommates are. We are still doing some cooking together and they aren’t dirty like you might imagine boys to be! Many people moved around due to location/mold/roommate issues for this semester so I am pretty happy that my living situation is working out. Of course, I just celebrated a birthday this weekend! It started off with Thomas stopping by to bring fresh ba...

A few updates from my last couple weeks of second semester. It has been another crazy 4 months. I met many great people - including people from my own class that I just got to know this semester. There have definitely been some ups and down both personally and academically. The stresses run high around here so not everyone gets along all the time, but we're stuck together on this little island so it always gets worked out. Although my marks have fluctuated from block to block and subject to subject (I can think of one physio test that I still cringe over), I am very proud of the work that I have put in throughout this semester and I couldn't be happier to see it paying off. I will soon be one more stepping stone closer to doing what I've always wanted to do.   Our class has definitely become closer which is great because it feels like one big support system. We always joke around that in the lunch room, we will have 15 people crowded around each set of 3 tables instead...