I don’t know what it was about last week…but it just ended up being a lot. I signed up for some extracurriculars, and I had my third FOSCE!

Monday 

On Monday, I was able to get through my lectures. I went to the gym around 11am, and it was not as relaxing as I had hoped because I needed to relay a message to my entire about our FOSCEs. This small interaction resulted in multiple messages and the conclusion that there was som major miscommunication happening with the leadership board, the preceptors, the standardized patients, and the students. 

I tend to drop off my clothes at the laundromat on my way to the gym, but while I was there my landlord asked if he could stop by because we had a leak in the basement that might have started somewhere in my apartment. 

This stressed me out because I had to shower before he got there around 2:15,  so I chose to leave my clothes at the laundromat to dry. I was also stressed because I had to leave my apartment by at least 3pm in order to be on time for a volunteering session. 

I was mostly worried that I was not going to be able to pick up my clothes, and that I would be charged for leaving them there. In the end, I was able to be on time for everything and I had no issues with my clothes. 

The volunteer session itself was pretty fun! The school was very different from my public school so it was strange to walk around. We prepped some broccoli, yellow squash, bell peppers, onions and carrots for the students to wash and cut up. One of the M2s taught them about the vegetables while some of us prepped other ingredients like the oil, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. The goal was to show them that roasted vegetables are a great way to incorporate vegetables into one’s diet. 

Driving to this session felt like I was back in college because I used to drive to the same street for my community service based work study job. 

Tuesday

This Tuesday felt very different because I did not have any CAS that afternoon! I honestly can’t remember much from Tuesday. 

I believe I went to campus because there was one lecture that was not recorded. I ended up staying on campus because my landlord was fixing the plumbing situation. I think I spent most of the time making Anki cards and then reviewing Anki cards for about an hour that day. 

I know I left for home and my roommate was surprised I managed to time it just as our landlord was leaving. I honestly had no idea that the entire plumbing situation took the whole day. The rest of Tuesday went to practicing for my FOSCE. My roommate and I practiced vitals and the core physical exam on each other. 

Wednesday

I believe this Wednesday I did not do lectures because I was ahead of schedule, and I was just focused on my FOSCE. I spent the entire morning talking to myself and practicing for this session. I was fairly confident I would remember everything, and I hoped that I would be able to time everything well.

Those hopes were wrong. 

For this FOSCE, we had two patients. We were only given 20 minutes with each patient, and we got a 5 minute warning for each. We would then leave the room for 5 minutes, and then go back in for another 5 minutes of feedback.

For this session, one patient was for taking vitals and the other patient was for the core physical exam. 

For both of these patients, I was still at the social history portion of the interview when the 5 minute warning went off. For the first patient, I had to perform a core physical exam so I stopped social history and asked my SP to sit on the table so I could perform the core physical exam. After that, I was able to ask some social history questions but not all of them. The final warning went off and I was unable to close properly and I forgot to sanitize on the way out.

Thankfully, my SP thought I made a great choice to just stop the social history because he was able to give me all the points for the core physical exam. 

Unfortunately, I was not going as fast as I had hoped during my second encounter because I was still starting social history when the 5 minute warning went off for my second patient. For this patient, I was in the middle of the blood pressure on her second arm when I ran out of time. I couldn’t get a temperature, get any social history information, or close properly. Needless to say, I did not score well on this patient but I know where to improve.

After this session, I ran downstairs with another classmate for N95 fitting. This part was pretty quick. I stayed on campus and tried to write my note for my assigned patient while I waited for an activity I signed up for. I struggled with writing the note, but I did my best to get as much done before 6pm.

At 6pm, I was attending a MVA/IUD session. MVA stands for Manual Vacuum Aspiration. This technique is used to remove tissue from a uterus during an unwanted pregnancy. The OB-GYN also explained that she used that technique for other purposes that involved removing tissue, but I cannot remember what that was at this moment. In this session, we assembled the MVA and practiced suctioning with gelatin as the image below shows you. Let me tell you, that is not a pleasant sound. 

Here is an image of the MVA materials and me after I attempted it:

After this 30 minute session, there was the IUD insertion session. This session was using the simple plastic uterus, but it was still a bit difficult moving through the plastic and opening up the IUD. 

Here are some of the IUD session images: 

For both these sessions, I was very grateful to have been able to do the pelvic exam with the speculum the week before because it really put everything into perspective for me on how these procedures were done. 

After this session, I cooked some food for my lunch for the next two days. I also watched half my FOSCE session, and only half because it is so hard to watch myself. The videos’ audio was really good, like I was shocked that I could literally everything including soft sounds I made. I really didn’t realize how bugged those rooms were until I watched those videos. 

For my actual note that night, I did my best. I didn’t know how my oral presentation was going to go the next day so I was stressed, but I also did my best. 

Thursday

This CAS session was very relaxed compared to how I thought oral presentations were going to go. I felt pretty good, and it was nice hearing my classmates also struggled with their FOSCEs.

I think this day ended early so I don’t have much else. I know I went home and did some work. I know I didn’t do the asynchronous assignments until Saturday which was good because it helped me immensely while I took my formative exam on Sunday. 

Friday

This Friday was very long, but it was also very important. 

For this morning, there were two Active Learning Classrooms activities. I had no idea what was going on in the second activity. It was on a lecture I did not understand because the professor was unclear, but I got the main gist of it.

Then, there was the weekly case. This session was, again, all about the topic I did not understand. However, I have some personal experience with iron and B12 based anemias so it was actually quite interesting. 

I had lunch with some classmates which was very nice because in previous weeks, I sat by myself. I have been making friends, and I am very happy with that!

After lunch, we had our anatomy lab orientation. This orientation session was very good because our professors explained the course a little bit. One of my professors gave us a history of dissection. In this session, she included some non-white origins of dissection like from India and Egypt. 

In addition, she explained that in the past, students were required to bring their own cadavers…yeah. I am very glad I am not in medical school during the 1700s and 1800s. 

We also went over terminology. We use the term “donors”. As well as, this is my personal favorite term, “silent mentor” to describe the people who were generous enough to help us learn about the human body.

After this information session, we broke off into two groups. I was in the second group to meet our donors so my first session was talking to a M2 who gave us some useful information.

Now, when the time finally came, I got to meet my donor. It was quite an interesting experience. I was worried I would have an emotional response to meeting her. I am not sure if it’s because I am ready or if I have not fully processed what happened. Either way, I think my school played a strong role in mentally preparing me for this meeting. Here is an image of me after the orientation:

After that, I went to the gym and went about my day. I think I spent most of the evening studying because I was worried I was behind.

Overall

This week was much better for me in terms of exercise. However, I have so much to improve on for my next FOSCE which will be in December.

Regardless of how tough this week was with the FOSCE and formative take home exam, I was very grateful to have time to volunteer and learn at the MVA/IUD session, and also meet my donor.