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-

Spring Break!!!

For Laura's spring break back in March we decided we needed to go somewhere warm, so we headed to Puerto Rico where we met up with some of our friends from St Louis to take a cruise on the Carnival Victory.

Fountain near the bay on the way to El Morro

First we decided to check out San Juan.  We got up at 3am that morning and arrived in Puerto Rico about 11am, 9 hours before our ship sailed.  So after checking in at the ship we had time to walk through parts of the city and to check out El Morro, the 400 year old fort defending the bay.

 When you approach the fort, there is a large grassy field leading up to the gates.  A lot of people come here to fly kites and picnic.  We decided we would have to find a place to get a kite and come back.

 Inside the fort we found that it is much bigger than it appears from outside approaching up the field.  There are multiple levels all built during different time periods and designed to accommodate different types of guns.  At the lowest level is an early tower that had just a few guns, in the middle is rotating and elevating guns from American Civil War era, and at key points at the top levels are big circular platforms for WWII era AA guns.

 From the walls overlooking the field you can see the ocean on the left and the bay on the right. All those people are flying kites! We had to join in on the fun...

We found a kite at the gift shop in the fort, and went back out onto the field for a while to fly.

We got a little tired after all that climbing up and down the hills, city walls, and fort, so we headed back to the ship.  As we were re-boarding the ship we ran into our traveling companions - the Vondersaars!  After dinner and muster we went up top to watch as we left San Juan.

Lighthouse on the fort

Old city walls

The next morning we were in St Thomas, and took a taxi to Magen's Bay.  This was a really large and very nice beach.  The view was incredible with mountains on either side.  We found a really nice spot with a very low hanging tree next to us where we could hang our bags and keep them in the shade and out of the sand.

Maybe a tenth of a second before impact

One of the neatest parts of the beach was the fishing birds.  All around us pelicans and other large birds would cruise along about 30 feet up, and then suddenly drop and dive into the water.  Several times we were out in the water and got spooked by a large splash behind us, and turned around to find a pelican only 5 feet away enjoying a snack.  They were not shy!

Nice view on the way back

One excursion we really enjoyed was zip-lining in the jungle at St Lucia.  I banged my knee on one of the platforms pretty good, but for the most part it was quite safe.

No hands!

Besides zip lines, they also had a 3-4 story rappel line and a Tarzan style rope swing over a pit.  On the rappel line they had a person at the top to release and a person at the bottom to stop you, so it was extra scary since you weren't in control.  The initial drop was just a free-fall, and you could really feel it in your stomach!

Tiny crab! Click to enlarge...

We also spent some time at a beautiful beach in St. Kitts. There were umbrellas and plenty of chairs for laying out. The water was a little chilly but very refreshing. Alex even took a little time to examine the local wildlife...CRABS!

In St. Maarten we went on a snorkel adventure at a floating tiki hut. There was a helicopter and a canon submerged in the cove with all sorts of fish & coral. Plus we saw a humungous barracuda swimming in the rocks near the shore. We also sampled some local liquor - Guavaberry Rum. On it's own it tastes like cough syrup, but mixed into a mango daquiri it's....a little better. We had a great time!

 On the way back to our cruise ship (s/p snorkel), we happened upon a pod of dolphins! We got some great pics and videos of them swimming around.

An essential part of any cruise is formal night, so here are a couple pics of us all spruced up for Surf n' Turf.












We also had a lot of fun on-board the ship playing in the casino, watching karaoke, and kicking butt at trivia!

We had a really great time cruising with Val & Ken. Hopefully we can go on another next spring break!

Christmas Time in The City

Laura:

Hello Loyal Blog-Followers! We're back in action today to bring you some new posts (Finally!!!... I know). First we've gotta wrap up one last Christmas-time adventure, and then I promise we will move on to more recent events. Cross my heart!!!

Ok...so...before we flew home to the STL for Christmas break, we spent a few days in NYC. THE CITY! Alex and I had never been to New York City, so we decided to spend most of our time walking around and seeing some touristy things. And by walking, I mean serious walking, everywhere we went! It was really fun but so exhausting that we would get back to our hotel by dinner time, pass out, and then wake up wondering whether we should attempt to find "dinner" in the middle of the night (No...we'll just go back to sleep). Next time we'll have to be more judicious with our energy usage!

Lorax in the Limo!!!

Our journey began by driving to NYC from Rochester in a rental car and then we planned to fly home to STL from NYC. Great plan! The drive down to the city was really pretty with rolling hills and woods. We dropped the car off at La Guardia Airport in NYC and then were driven to our hotel in a limo. Yes, a limo! We asked for a car to take us to our hotel and they said the only thing available was a limo, but that they would only charge us the town car price (which was more convenient & cheaper then getting a cab). So we took the limo! Such a classy way to start our trip to NYC. We stayed in a pretty nice hotel, The Affinia - Manhattan. It's at 7th Avenue & 31st, right across from Madison Square Garden, which was an excellent centralized location in Manhattan. Not too far uptown and not too far downtown. Just right!



First thing we did after dumping our bags in our hotel room was mosey up to Time Square. Despite the drizzle and chilly wind, it was still packed with people and all the billboards were shining bright.

The next day we started by getting breakfast and renting a wide-angle lens + camera to enhance our city photo-taking experience (it's hard to capture all the skyscrapers and city streets with a normal lens. Can't fit it all in the shot!). After successfully acquiring the lens & mega camera bag (see picture), we braved the subway and made our way downtown. The subway in NYC is actually very easy to navigate and pretty cheap, so if you go there I would highly recommend using it. [Alex: Although a little sketchy looking. Awful dark down there!]

Lorax in the Subway Tunnel

First item on our agenda while downtown was to take the Staten Island Ferry (fo free!) to get some pics of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the island of Manhattan itself. The trip was pretty quick, the tickets were free, and we got some really neat pics. Did I mention it was free?!? How great! (Click on pics to make them bigger!)

Coming Back to Manhattan

Ellis Island

Once we made the round trip back to downtown Manhattan, we started to explore and make our way uptown on foot. We swung through Wall Street...

...China Town...

 ...and Little Italy!

We also walked past Ground Zero to see what progress had been made with the 9/11 Memorial. We didn't go inside because you have to order tickets at least a day in advance, but we did walk around the perimeter for a bit. There are a number of murals and sculptures around the Memorial and you can sneak peeks of the actual Memorial through certain places in the fence. I think we'll definitely have to go back sometime to pay proper respect to the men & women who died that day.

The next day we headed back downtown to see "The Bodies Exhibit". It was a really neat experience, especially since I had just completed 14 weeks of anatomical dissections for medical school. The exhibit has some really incredibly preserved specimens that help you visualize how everything fits together and how many layers of tissue and organs there really are in the human body. Something I never really appreciated until going through a cadaver dissection.

After "Bodies", we decided to walk around some more to more get shots of the city ( I won't bore you with random pics of buildings. Come to Rochester if you want to see them all!). We also stopped in Little Italy for lunch. Delizioso!

That evening we headed uptown beyond Time Square to visit The Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Plaza. It was awesome! The skating rink was smaller than expected, but the tree was humongous and beautiful! We spent a lot of time taking pictures.

Then we headed back to Time Square, took some more pictures. 

Foof on the High Line

 Our Final destination for the evening was "The High Line". It is an old, elevated train track that was built in the 1930's and has since been converted into a garden walking path. We went at night, and I thought it was really neat to be above the hustle and bustle of the city and a little closer to the sky scrapers. Taking a walk along the High Line definitely gives you a unique perspective of the city.







During our third and final evening in NYC, we went really uptown! All the way up to Central Park! We took a little time to meander through Central Park and strolled past the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

By the time we got to the Metropolitan Museum of Art it was closing time, but Alex promised we could come back in the morning for a quick run through before our flight to STL left in the afternoon.





We woke up extra early so we could make it to the Met before our flight. We were probably there for a couple hours and really only had time to rush through the first floor of the museum. We'll definitely have to go back sometime and take a more leisurely and detailed tour. I love art and art history!

Alex: 

The food we ate during this trip was pretty tasty. We had Indian food at a swanky restaurant near Rockefeller Plaza with Coconut Mojito & Mango Cosmopolitan to drink. We ate "Halal Food" from a street vendor near our hotel. YUM! We also snagged a couple slices of authentic NY Style Pizza while out exploring the city. The food in Little Italy was good, but not as good as Bacco's back here in Rochester!

 

That pretty much covers our adventure to The Big City! We had a really good time and will have to go back again soon. Maybe when it's a little warmer and less rainy.