First Year = Complete!

That's right folks! I finished my first year of medical school! Woohoo!!! I am now "officially" one-quarter MD. ;0)

But seriously...this year went by really quickly and there were so many great moments, so I would like to take a minute to share/explain what I did over the course of the past academic year.

First a brief overview of our curriculum:

First Semester (Aug - Dec):
Class # 1 = Mastering Medical Information (MMI); aka intro to statistics, clinical trials, research tactics, etc. It was a "starter class" to get us into the swing of things at school.
Class # 2 = Human Structure and Function (HSF); the mother of all classes! Anatomy, physiology (mechanics of the human body), embryology (how embryos develop), and histology (how cells/organs look under the microscope).
Class # 3 = Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM); our first "doctoring" course where we learned how to interview patients and perform a full physical exam

Second Semester (Jan - May):
Class # 4 = Molecules to Cells (MTC); huge, three-month course about genetics & biochemistry.
Class # 5 = Skills in Complete Patient Evaluation (SCOPE); putting the skills we learned in ICM to the test with real patients in adult medicine, pediatric, and geriatric clinical rotations.
Class # 6 = Host Defense; immunology (how the immune system works) plus learning about a ton of bacteria, viruses, and parasites. ICK!
Class # 7 = Primary Care Clerkship (PCC)

Looking at that list you might think....Psh! Med School's not so bad! 7 classes in 1 year. Please.....but I promise it was really, really, REALLY hard. The amount of information we "learned" in one year was probably at least 2 full years of undergraduate work. We covered everything I learned in two semester of biochemistry plus so much more in about 3 months in MTC. HSF was about a full academic year worth of classes rolled into 14 weeks! Plus, it wasn't just one class at a time. The clinical courses overlapped with the more academic courses, so most days we were in lecture in the morning and then clinical coursework in the afternoon. These classes were fast, intense, and overwhelming; and while I feel like I didn't learn everything, I know I've built a good foundation to keep building on as the years roll on. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are doctors.

Through out all these courses we spent a lot of time in lecture (especially during MTC and Host Defense), but they did try to mix things up by throwing in PBL and various hands-on labs. PBL's (aka Problem-based learning) are group-learning sessions where we work our way through a clinical case in teams of 8 or 9 over the course of a few days. Usually the case is written to emphasize certain topics we're learning in our lectures plus a little bit on how to be a good doctor. I really enjoy PBL because we get a chance to apply the things we're learning to real-ish situations.

We also spent a lot of time working in labs of various sorts - anatomy (dissecting a cadaver), histology (looking at slides on microscopes), microbiology (growing bacteria), and pathology (more slides). Now you may be wandering what anatomy lab is REALLY like, but I will not be sharing any of those details out of respect for the donors who make anatomy lab possible. I will say that anatomy lab was an essential part of my medical school education and I learned so much thanks to the gift our donors provided by donating his/her body to the medical school's Anatomical Gift Program. Which by the way, supplies cadavers for programs all over upstate New York and not just medical schools - nursing schools, PT schools, etc. It was a truly humbling and awe-inspiring experience.

Outside of class I did have a little extra time to do some volunteer work. I went to "Saturday School" a couple time to help tutor elementary school students at an inner-city school. I also helped organize volunteer sessions in the Children's Hospital where medical students work on art projects with pediatric patients (try to do something creative to take their minds off being in the hospital).

Finally, through out the year there are a number of lunch or dinner talks to attend where you can learn about the different medical specialties, engage in a medical ethics discussion, or learn about the more humanistic sides of medicine.

That is a basic overview of the things I have been doing - a lot of lecture, a lot of lab, a lot of PBL, a lot of studying, a lot of clinic time, a lot of a lot! But if I had to list my favorite experiences from the last year, I would include the following:

1) Getting to know my 103 incredible classmates! I don't know them all very well, but I can tell you each and every one is an incredibly smart and genuinely nice person. It's really neat to be surrounded by so many awesome, caring people everyday.

2) Anatomy lab was an incredible experience. Nuf said.

3) Starting to learn more about what it truly means and what it truly takes to be a doctor.

4) Shadowing the hospital chaplains for a few weeks as part of a Medical Humanities course. Exploring and appreciating a patient's spirituality really can make a difference in their health!

5) Taking baby steps towards being a doctor - learning to interview patients, examine patients, and how to write a medical note about a patient visit. All very simple yet essential skills.

The last year has been a great first step in my journey towards a career in medicine. Here's to taking a few more steps next year!

-Laura-