Grenada Bound with a Few Hiccups Along the Way...

This is my fourth and hopefully my final trip back to Grenada to complete 5th term. After 1 canceled flight, 2 delayed flights, and 3 baggage ticket confirmation tags for 1 checked bag (yes, 3 tags), I am currently sitting in Miami International Airport about to board my flight to Grenada and praying that my checked bag follows my footsteps. The last 15 hours have been somewhat of a whirlwind of events.

Let me just start by saying that I know I have been pretty lucky. This is my fourth trip to Grenada since January 2015 and I have never had any issues with baggage or delayed flights on my way to Grenada until now. This time, the hiccup in my travel experience began when my direct flight to Miami was canceled for unknown reasons. I knew that I had to get myself to Miami to catch the Miami-Grenada flight. Otherwise, the next available seat on a plane to Grenada is 10 days from now. The entire school returns back to the island around the same weekend in January and August. So, it is difficult to find a last minute seat on a flight to Grenada at that time. After much persistence with the airline company, I was finally put on a flight to Miami with 1 stop in Atlanta. I am so thankful that all the flights today have not been delayed by more than an hour. So, I have been able to catch all connecting flights smoothly.

For any future students, majority of the time, students have no problem flying into Grenada. However, if you are stuck with canceled flights/delayed flights, do everything in your power to catch the flight to Grenada to avoid additional chaos. That is typically the trickiest flight to re-book. Also, I would highly recommend packing a few pairs of clothes and basic necessities in carry-on bags in case the checked bag(s) does not make it to Grenada right away.

Update 1: I safely landed in Grenada. However, my checked bag is either taking a mini-vacation at the beach in Miami or was accidentally put on a wrong flight and sent to see the Statue of Liberty in New York. I am just hoping that it arrives in Grenada within the next few days!

Update 2: Day 4: My bag finally found its way to Grenada with 4 tags! I'm just glad that everything is still intact! :)

Now, let's start Term 5! Hope you are having a great week!

~N

Term 4 Daily Schedule

During my first two terms at SGU, I was lucky to have some amazing upper-term roommates. When I was working my way through term 1, they were meandering their way through term 3/4. Before the term started, my roommates made a tentative schedule of how they were going to manage the material. So, I thought I would be pro-active and do the same before term 4 started. Although their schedule worked for them, the study schedule I made went straight into the trash as soon as the term started. I had planned weeks in advance and I soon realized that it was simply unrealistic.

So, during term 4, I made schedules one week at a time. For each day of the week, I wrote down what I wanted to accomplish. If there were 100 microbiology slides to get through. I would split it up into 3 days to make it more manageable. If there were large units in pathology to review, I would split it up into 2-3 days. During my nightly review of the material, I would try to condense the material to one page of notes. The following is a sample of how scheduled my studying: 

7 am -  wake up! (ok, it was almost never 7 am, but I would try to wake up at 7am. I had the hardest time waking up in the morning)

8 am - 12 pm - lecture - usually 2 hours of micro followed by 2 hours of path

12 pm - 1 pm  - lunch and review pathology lab slide and/or watch CPD video to get a general idea of what to expect in lab. 

1-3 pm  - pathology lab about 3-4 times a week OR micro lab (on Fridays post-midterm)

3-5 pm - CPD lab only 2 days a week

5-5:30 pm  - possible nap, snack, shower, facebook, catching up with news, etc

5:30-8:30 pm - try my very best to finish reviewing micro that was taught in lecture

8:30 pm-9:00 pm - dinner and talk to my family. On many nights, my family would eat dinner at the same time as me and we would all facetime during this time. Meal prep was so important this term. Feel free to read more about my meal prep ideas here.
9:00pm-12:30 am - finish as much path as possible.
12:30 am-1:30am - finish pathology slide for next day and finish an initial pre-view of pathology for the following day. (I almost never did any pre-view of the material for microbiology)
~1:45am - sleep!! :)

Of course there were days that I was up much later than 1:30am to prepare for the next day. Irrespective of what happened during the week, I made sure that I finished reviewing the material over the following weekend. For this reason, I organized schedules one week at a time. This is a schedule that worked for me. However, there were many that woke up extremely early and studied and those that slept periodically during the day.

There is no correct or wrong method of handling the material in term 4. I found this pattern to work for me and I stuck with it. As I mentioned here, the only big study schedule change that I made during term 4 was when and how I used pathoma.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions/comments.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

~N

Writing vs. Typing

Let's take a break from all the posts about term 4! As a medical student, I have contemplated the benefits of writing notes vs. typing notes. When trying to figure out what method worked best for me, I asked myself, how much am I retaining if I write notes vs. type notes? I completely understand that many students are able to learn from electronic devices and typed notes. As technology progresses, classrooms are filled with apple devices and various apps to organize notes.

If you have read any of my previous posts, you can clearly tell that I write majority of my notes, make multiple charts to understand material, and "decorate" the walls of my bedroom with notes that I have organized. Since my master's program, I have learned that even though I type much faster than I write, I learn material much better if I write.

I found this interesting article published by NPR about writing vs. typing. So, I thought I would share. Below is the link to the article. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away

Have a wonderful day! :)

~N

Doubek, J. (2016, April 17). Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put-your-laptops-away.

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! 

Term 1 Student Daily Schedule

A typical daily schedule for Term 1 students:

6:45 am: wake up.... who am I kidding? This was probably when I starting snoozing the alarm and hopefully woke up around 7. Mom, thanks for calling me to confirm I was awake on those early lab days!!!

7-7:45 am: look over lab material before quiz and breakfast

8-10 am:  Histology Lab followed by lab quiz

10 am-12 pm:  Break from class/studying/meal prep for the week/catch up on sleep (15 minute power naps are the best!!!)

12 pm-1pm: lunch and pre-read for lecture

1-5 pm: Lecture (typically it is 4 lectures with 10 minute breaks every 50 minutes). Many students prefer to sonic (watch the lectures online), but I understand the material better if I attend lectures.

5-6 pm: workout/shower

6-8 pm: review lectures

8-8:30 pm: dinner (usually already cooked. Check out our other post about meal-prep here)

8:30 pm-1:30 am: look over next day's lab and continue reviewing lectures/bedtime

Hope everyone has a nice week! :)

Meal Prep in Med School

Hi Everyone! Today, I thought I would do a post about meal prep. As a medical student, meal prep not only helps me eat healthy, but it also saves me time during the week. During the first few weeks of Term 1, I found myself cooking on a regular basis or eating out and it was taking time away from studying. So, I had to manage my time better and start preparing meals ahead of time.

We previously talked about how IGA typically gets a shipment on Thursdays. You can read our grocery store experience here. So, we tend to finish our grocery shopping either Friday or Saturday. That allows us to meal prep on Sunday.

I usually plan what I am going to eat for the week before going to the store. There are many people who meal prep everything they are going to eat for the week. Props to them! For now, I try to meal prep dinners and lunches. For breakfast, I almost always have milk and yogurt or cereal in my kitchen. For snacks, I try to stick to fruit, but I know I slack, especially if it is midterm week! I definitely have a sweet tooth for ice cream! More specifically, Mint Chocolate Chip! :) I'm not the most experienced chef, so before starting term 1, I put together a word document of enjoyable, healthy, easy meals that I know how to make with a list of ingredients. Usually, I make 1-2 large main dishes that I use for dinner during the week and sandwiches and salads for lunches.

Then, on Sundays, I make sure I set aside a few hours of my day to prepare my main dishes for dinner and cut up fruits/veggies that I am going to need for lunch.

During the week, it only takes me a couple of minutes to put together a great meal! :)