J's Term 2 Update

In all honesty, term 2 has been bittersweet. On one hand, I'm not running around as much with labs, small groups and DES sessions (peer tutoring on campus). However I'm spending a lot more time at a desk learning one concept after another. Although it's good on one hand because I'm able to learn quickly and move on to the next topic, it's a lot more secluded and independent even if you schedule time to work in groups with other students.

Physiology is really a fun class. We go into detail about some not-so-obvious questions about the body. I took a physio class during my masters degree, but I've noticed that it's completely different here at SGU. It's not enough to know the concepts, you've got to completely master them, be able to answer questions directed from many different angles, and to top it off you've got to learn drugs and therapies that treat disease. It's heavy, but like I said if you are curious about the body, this class will be satisfying. In addition, Dr. Clunes is an awesome lecturer.

Neuroscience is another awesome class. The diseases we learn about in neuroscience are either incredibly odd or incredibly severe. Either way, this class will leave you interested. The content itself is not difficult to grasp, however the exams can be worded in tricky ways, so remember to have good test taking technique.

Like we mentioned elsewhere on the blog, Genetics and Immunology are taught in one class called MIMG (medical immunology and medical genetics). So far, this class has been super boring for me. Basically, genetics is like a continuation of biochemistry from first term. You just have to "know" the content on the slides and be able to apply a few key concepts (like what genetic test to order, and what probabilities of inheritance are). I really dislike this class for this reason - I feel like the faculty know that everything we need to know is basically on the slides, so they (with the exception of Dr. Upadhaya) aren't as effective as the other professors at delivering memorable lectures that stick with you. However I'm trying extra hard to do well in genetics because it's becoming more important for US board exams.

More updates to come. Have a good weekend! -J

Time Management in Medical School

Every student that enters medical school has a general idea of how they are going to structure their day, study for classes efficiently, and make time to "live a life". As much as I support such a plan, some weeks, it is very difficult to stick to a plan and very often students find themselves falling behind. While I was going through term 1, I realized that I had to manage my time better because I simply was not getting enough sleep. I would stay up late, wake up early, drink coffee, and still be behind. It was about this time last term that I re-strategized my study plans and found ways to be more efficient. Here are a few methods that I used to become more efficient.

1) If you have read our previous posts, you can probably tell I am an advocate of meal prep. Does it actually save time? Yes, it does. Instead of venturing out to eat or cooking every night, if I cook once a week, I find my week a lot more productive. Typically by Sunday nights, I have finished grocery shopping and cooking. Then I know that my meals for the week are relatively planned out. For example, this week, I wanted both a family favorite dish (an okra dish eaten with flatbread/tortilla/naan) and some pasta. So, I made both. I made one dish on Sunday night and one on Monday night. Did it take a lot of time from studying? No, I devoted about 1 hour per night to make each dish. Now, I have more than enough food for the rest of the week. If I hadn't cooked earlier this week, I probably would have spent about an hour cooking or picking up food from a local restaurant per night. So, it would have taken more time away from studying. 

Don't know what I do differently, but my mom's version of this dish tastes so much better! 

Delicious! 

2) Don't dedicate too much time to one lecture. I try to stick to a 2-3 hour maximum for reviewing each lecture. Some of my friends set an alarm. When the alarm goes off, they must move on to reviewing another lecture. This also motivates students to focus on the material for a set period of time and try to beat the alarm. If I see myself not understanding the concept and just wasting time, I simply skip the slide and make sure I return to it over my weekend review. That way, I can move on to the other lectures/labs that I need to review for the day. 

3) Remember to sleep. There are several studies that have found that sleep is associated with memory and focused attention. With minimal sleep, sitting in lecture may turn into a perpetual nap session, which is simply unproductive. 

4) If you don't finish reviewing all the lectures of the day, it is ok. At the beginning of the term, I struggled with this concept. I would try to review every lecture as soon as it was taught. That is an ideal situation and what students should strive for, but may not happen over every weekday. Just make sure that the lecture is reviewed and understood over the following weekend. 

5) Schedule breaks during the week. Whether it is having dinner with a friend or talking to family or taking a walk, these breaks help me clear my mind before I get back to studying. Typically, I am a lot more productive after these breaks compared to if I study for several hours in a row. Plus, Grenada has some of the most picturesque beaches and waterfalls in the world. So, definitely take advantage and explore the island that you call home for about two years. I understand that doing well in school is important, but spending an hour at the beach/waterfall over a weekend is not a crime. 

Grand Anse Beach 2015

Annandale Waterfall 2015

6) Try to finish labs and small group discussion preparation work over the weekend and leave reviewing lectures for the weekdays. Especially during Term 1, I used to finish histology lab preparations and most of my anatomy lab preparation while I was reviewing the associated lectures over the weekends. It made my life a little easier during the week. 

I am no expert in time management, but these tricks helped me during medical school and hope it helps you too! 

Floods, Fire alarms, and oh yea Unifieds

This week has been one of a kind. On top of studying for unifieds, the fire alarm went off in my apartment building at 4 am last week. This has happened before, but it usually was in the day time. So, students were either in class and not sleeping. Hopefully the 4 am building fire alarm doesn't happen again! On top of that, we had a leak that started a few weeks ago and progressively got worse and worse in the suite. The weekend before unifieds, my roommates and I had to deal with the problem to prevent complete flooding of our apartment. Thank you to the housekeeping team who mopped our floor multiple times and the maintenance department who FINALLY fixed the problem!

Ok, enough of that "negative nancy" talk. Let's talk about unifieds. We had unifieds last Monday for Genetics, Neuroscience, and Physiology. For term 2, unifieds are 20 questions each and 30 minutes per exam. For neuroscience and physiology, unifieds are worth 10 points. So, essentially each question on those exams are worth 0.5 of a point. For genetics, the score on unifieds is worth 20 points. So, each question is worth 1 point. As stressful as they are, unifieds are a nice way for students to determine whether their method of studying is working out well for them. If not, students have time to go see advisors/professors and revise their study strategy. Personally, unifieds went well. Better than expected, but I definitely have areas that I want to improve upon before midterms.

Last weekend was a complete study weekend before exams. So, I did not have enough time to cook for the week, but I did finish grocery shopping. After my exam on Monday, I was sleep-deprived, tried, and hungry. So, making stir fry was the first thing that popped into my head. I made a large batch of stir fry with beans, baby corn, green pepper, and onion. Delicious!

I'm so glad it is Friday! Aren't you? Happy Friday! :)

Unifieds, La Boulangerie, and Meal Prep

Last weekend was just a blur. On Friday, I made a list of things that I wanted to get done before Monday morning. Although I studied majority of the weekend (because we have unifieds coming up in less than a week (ekkk!!)), I felt like Sunday night just popped up suddenly. I like to do my second if not third review over the weekend following the lecture. Last week, there was a lot of pharacodynamics and pharacokinetics material that was covered in Physiology. Integrating concepts and analyzing the material took majority of the time. Although tired, this week is going well so far. We have a few more days of lectures before unifieds. So, my peers and I are trying to manage the material.

La Boulangerie

Despite have a study weekend, I did manage to take a study break on Friday to try out an Italian restaurant called La Boulangerie. To my friends who recommended this restaurant, thank you! The food was delicious and it was just what I needed after a long week! The restaurant is known for their pasta dishes. The service compared to other restaurants in Grenada was fast and the quality of food was good. We will definitely be eating at La Boulangerie again!

Meal Prep

On Saturday, we finished grocery shopping and I cooked on Sunday evening. I made an Indian dish called Chole for dinners this week. I am planning on eating it with flatbread similar to pita bread called naan. In addition, I am planning on making a second dish late in the week so that I don't have to worry about cooking right before unifieds. 

Hope everyone is having a great week! 

Neurogeneticophysiology and Meal Prep

Yes, I am aware that I made up the word, but neurogeneticophysiology basically describes my week. Last week, we began the three core classes for term 2: Neuroscience, Genetics, and Physiology. I think all three classes are really interesting, so I am looking forward to the classes. Last week we had our regular 4 hours of lectures per day and then a 3 hour clicker/practice question session on Friday. This week, we have the same schedule in addition to 2 small group discussions. So, the work load is definitely building up! 

In terms of the 3 hour clicker/practice question session, I have heard mixed reviews about it. Some argue that it is a waste of time especially after 4 hours of of lecture on Fridays. Others say that it is beneficial to evaluate yourself at the end of the week to identify what to focus on during the weekend study. Personally, I think I fall somewhere in between the two extremes. I appreciate the fact that the school has implemented these sessions to provide us with more practice/USMLE-styled questions. However, I think it would be helpful if the instructors either provide more questions or explain the correct answer choice thoroughly during the sessions. I have to say, though, I did tailor my weekend reviews based on concepts that I missed during the clicker session. The clicker sessions are also motivating me to study harder during the week and attend the sessions prepared. 

Besides trying to keep up with the course material, I also meal prepped last weekend. I made an awesome Mexican rice dish with black beans, corn, onion, tomato, and green bell pepper. I cooked the veggies with spices on Saturday night and stored them in containers. Then, every night for dinner, I quickly mix together some rice and veggies, add some spices to make it spicy (as you can probably tell, spicy food and I go well together), and warm it up! I knew this week would be busy, so I made enough for the week.

Now I am off to study some pharmacodynamics for physiology! Happy first week of September! :)