Milestones

Last quarter was really hard on me. I started out with great grades and felt like I almost ruined them in the last week (still waiting on Gross, Histo & Biochem results). It seems crazy to get pushed this hard when we are supposed to be learning this information, not "binging and purging" it as the joke goes. They really need to look at using the free summer between MS-1 and MS-2 for classes or going five years IMHO.

At least I can say that I'm 1/3 done with didactics. I think I can make it four more quarters without going postal. Boy did I chew up some Profs on reviews though. Bad lectures and bad tests are extremely frustrating with this much effort and investment on the line.

So I'm still leaning towards radiation oncology, but I don't know if I have a shot as such a competitive specialty. This week I'll be doing a little research on it and my summer project. Hopefully I can get in some summer job shadowing to really check out radiology.

In the meantime, I'm reviewing Biochem and Anatomy. Knowing how my brain works I can't wait until even this summer to start reviewing. This quarter was a good reminder that I can be a good student given enough time to cover the material 2-3 times in depth, but I'm no genius that can pick it up in one quick review after lectures. I'm really beginning to question whether going to lecture is effective for me at all. Since I'm starting Immunology and Neuroanatomy I begin the quarter going to classes and see how it goes from there.

I hope it doesn't get any tougher than this quarter. I can't remember ever having felt so much stress. I'm still in recovery after gourging on sympathetics. My nails are nubs, I haven't exercised in weeks and I feel like sludge. To correct the latter two I'm getting my bike ready (riding to school is only 2 miles, but better than nothing) for commuting. For the former I'm not sure what to do. If med school gives you 8 lectures to assimilate in 24 hours between tests, you're looking at very little sleep and a lot of stress. There's not much you can do.

For all its negatives, I can't imagine being anywhere else than in medical school at this moment. So I guess I'm still in the right place. And I'm going to be very proud of getting through this and the effort I put into it. I've probably done more than most of my classmates and most Americans for that matter (boot camp/NROTC, MBA, Dot Coms, starting a company, kids, living in 7 states, married 13 years), but this is very likely the hardest thing I've done yet.

I'll upload some pics from the last few days shortly, but now I'm off to enjoy my kids and vacation a bit.