What I Really Learned in Med School

I received my RLRA topic this week! It is: Behavioural and screening tools in adolescents. I was assigned to Dr. P as my mentor which I am actually thrilled about because she has been one of my favourite profs since second semester. I look forward to working with her to develop this topic. If you keep up with the blog then you know that I just returned from St. Maarten/Anguilla so this  post-exam blog is a tad delayed but here is the update... We just wrote block 3 which was very bittersweet. I felt so confident writing path and physical diagnosis, but pharm was so frustrating. Apparently it wasn’t just me who struggled with pharm because they ended up curving our marks by 10 points. I don’t know the details but you know something went seriously wrong when they do that. After exams, we went out for a hike on the Spring Bay trail with a few beer along the way. (Side note: don’t try hiking a mountain while tipsy and dehydrated in 30 degree weather – you will str...

We went beach-bagging (instead of back-packing) through the Euro-Caribbean this weekend. Saba (Netherlands) —> St Maarten (Netherlands) —> St Martin (France) —> Anguilla (UK) We flew into St Maarten on Friday morning and headed into Phillipsburg for the day.  It is a charming little town with shops that line the narrow streets and restaurants/bars that are a few steps from the beach. We went to Hard Rock Cafe to grab a burger and drink. I got a hurricane (with the Jimmy Buffet song in mind) and I picked up a pair of sunglasses. We couldn't get away from Saba (see background)... The beach in Phillipburg is busy and bustling this time of year from the cruise ships that come in. Every time you turn your head there is someone asking if you want to rent beach chairs or segways or jet skis. There were ladies trying to sell dresses and jewellery and massages.  We tried to convince Sara to get her hair braided but she wasn't goin...

"Medical School provides perhaps the best substantiation for Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. For here we see in its cruelest form of the  survival of the fittest . Not the smartest, as one should expect. But the fittest to cope with the inhuman pressures, the demands made not only on the brain but on the psyche...” — Doctors  by Erich Segal, 1989 I believe this quote was posted by one of my pharm profs. I thought it was so true because we always say that this program has been a “mental game” more than anything else. Most people have failed an exam here at some point (often for the first time in their lives) but it is the ability to get over it fast enough that can set people apart.  When I don’t do as well as I wanted, I often get a text from my Dad saying something like “Put it behind you and move on. I’m proud of you.” and that is exactly what I try to do. My biggest challenge recently though is finding motivation - so I look for it whereve...