Week of October 25

The last week of October was exam week!

Monday

On Monday, there were some more required events that helped us go over the immune system. I did not find them very useful, and wished they were optional because I would have been better off studying on my own.

After these sessions, I spent most of the day doing Anki and practice questions.

Tuesday

This day was not great for me.

It started off excellent. I woke up at 5:30am and made myself a pizza for dinner as well as some eggs for breakfast. I can’t remember what I made for lunch, but I made sure I was not buying food that day because I had spent too much money on food at school by this point.

The day went by slowly. There was a very useful review of the entire immune system that the professors hosted. Afterwards, I studied on my own.

For this day, I had planned a study session with another classmate. She invited some other classmates…and it went horribly.

I am not going to discuss what happened here in detail because this is a public space. However, I have been struggling to process this event since it happened.

In essence, I was disrespected by a fellow classmate. This classmate also disrespected an important part of my identity. This classmate also made a comment about the country our families are both from that left me very concerned about how they portray the country.

I left very angry and upset. I was unable to sleep for the following nights which was unfortunate because my exam was on Friday.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, I stayed home. I tried my best to study, but it was difficult. I found myself struggling to focus. I also found myself feeling very disorganized about how I prepared for this block. I felt like I was scrambling to make some study materials when I should’ve been reviewing.

However, I also had some amazing classmates who made some materials. For instance, my roommate made a histology worksheet. Another classmate made a 96-question practice exam for the entire block’s material.

I spent most of the day getting through that material, and doing my best to stay focused.

Thursday

For CAS, there were individual meetings scheduled with our preceptors.

I went into school on Thursday because I had a meeting with my professor. During this meeting, I told the professor about what happened on Tuesday night. We spent about 40 minutes discussing the event, I cried, and he told me he would support me in whatever decision I make.

Prior to even seeing him, I knew I wanted to create an educational event or module because I am just tired of the misinformation and want to be productive. (I am still trying to figure out how I would like to proceed with the specific project). Now I know I have his support (as well as another faculty member when I discussed it with her the following week).

After that, I was in his office for another hour or so because he went over Glucose-6-Phosphatase Disorder because I did not understand that at all. It’s a monster of a disease for medical students to learn because it incorporates almost all the biochemical pathways.

This session was super helpful, but I do regret waiting until the last day to go in for help. From this entire situation, please get help as soon as possible.

Friday

The block exam was at 8am on this day. As usual, I woke up at 5:30am, got showered and dressed, and went to Dunkin Donuts for my pre-exam breakfast.

The exam itself felt interesting. I recognized everything on the exam, but I was not confident in many answers. I found myself very unsure during the NBME section.

My main takeaways from this block were that I did not devote my time to the right information. I spent too much time reviewing all the biochemical pathways instead of focusing on the emphasize material and the specific diseases.

I also did not go in for help early enough. I wish I went in during the second and third week for biochemical pathway help.

In addition, I wish I spent more time on Anki and that I made my “disease table” earlier.

Regardless, I was able to have some fun this Halloween. For the Friday night shenanigans, I went as Minnie Mouse. The second night, there was a medical school Halloween party hosted by our social events chairs. I dressed up as a witch. I also carved a free pumpkin this weekend!