How to Survive Your Anatomy Course in Medical School

     Whenever I thought about medical school, one of the first things that popped into my mind was Gross Anatomy. I personally thought that it was the one class that set medical school apart from undergrad because it was so hands on and I actually felt like I was training to be a doctor. Now, many of you might've taken anatomy courses during undergrad, but this post is for those that are just about to delve into the cadaver lab life. So, I wanted to share my tips on how I made it through this course and how to make it a bit more enjoyable.

The Experience

     If you have never been in a cadaver lab before, the first time can be a little unsettling. The room is typically on the cooler side, right when you walk in you're greeted by the stench of formaldehyde, and oh...there are dead people everywhere. I remember my first time I was a little nervous, but I kept telling myself that I had to get comfortable with this because this would be a huge part of my education. So, as with many things that scare me, I just jumped right in. As my peer educator was explaining various structures, I made an effort to touch things and to follow along, so that this could feel like something completely normal. By the end of the lab session, I had pretty much gotten over my initial hesitation and was ready to take on future anatomy sessions.

     Preparation

     Although anatomy is an amazing class, it definitely takes plenty of preparation to make it through. If your lab sessions are anything like ours, you'll most likely be spending 2-3 hours (possibly more) hands-deep in a cadaver and let me tell you, that everyone will know that was the case when you walk past them. Eventually, you get used to the smell and you don't even notice it, but there were a couple things that I did to make it better.

1. Plan your showers around lab sessions.

     I know this seems a bit crazy, but trust me, the formaldehyde smell sticks to you. I would always aim to shower when I got back from lab and would plan my hair washing days for the days I would have to dissect. I also suggest putting your hair up so that it's as far away from the cadaver as possible. 

2. Get good lab wear

     You're not going to want to wear the clothes you wear to dissect again afterward, so getting a pair of scrubs (or old clothes) dedicated for lab is a must. You can find them on amazon for a pretty good price and in fun colors, so you don't have to give up being stylish to be a killing the medical school game. After dissecting for a while, the formaldehyde will start to seep through your gloves and then you'll be eating dinner with the stench of formaldehyde all over them. What I found worked pretty well was to wear two pairs of gloves and when possible, to change them out midway through the dissection. Also, the sleeves on my lab coat were pretty long, so I ended up rolling them up and just bought a longer pair of gloves (like these) for protection. Inevitably, there are going to be some dissection mishaps (Our lab professor accidentally got some tissue in my hair one time...), but in general, the only real casualty I suffered was walking out of lab smelling like a cadaver.

3. Know your limits

       

       Anatomy lab is a whole new beast for many of us and as such you should know that the fumes can do crazy things to your body, especially when you're sleep deprived. You'll notice that quite often you'll get hungry. No, you're not a cannibal. The fumes just tend to make you hungry. But, something to watch out for is that they might also make you light-headed. I remember one day during a particularly long dissection, this started to happen to me. I took a step back, told my dissection partner that I needed a second, and I stepped out to get some air. This happened well into the semester and was probably one of my last few dissections. But, regardless of how used to the fumes you may be, don't think you need to stay in these situations to prove anything. You're not benefiting anyone if you pass out in the middle of your lab session. So, I always say take care of yourself first. The professors will understand.

How to Study

    For anatomy, I think it's really important to not only know where things are but also to understand the relationship it has with surrounding structures.  What really worked for me, as a visual learner, was to draw things out whenever possible.  This worked wonders for tracing blood vessels from their origin to their target organ and also to help you get a clearer picture of how things are related. But, I would have to say that something else that really helped was to go into lab and touch things. Usually, before an exam, I would go in and point things out from memory. Being able to see how things were situated in the body allowed me to solidify my mental picture and also helped me recognize things come test time. Another suggestion is to buy yourself an atlas and study the pictures in there. The pictures in the atlas are going to be the pretty versions (Which, unfortunately, won't be what you'll see on test day),  but they'll allow you to form a good base to build off of. But as with any other subject, the key factor is going to be repetition. The more you review the material, the easier it'll be for you to remember. And the more time you spend with your cadaver, the easier it'll be to recognize the structures. When you're in lab, also try to check out a variety of bodies. Every body is going to be unique, so it'll help you to better understand where things can vary and how to recognize a structure when it isn't exactly where it should be.

     Otherwise, Just have fun! Anytime, that I was seriously stressing about the volume of material I had to learn, I reminded myself that I was one of a select group that got this opportunity. Many people will never get the chance to hold an actual heart in their hand, and that to me was incredible. So, approach it with positivity, and I promise you'll make it through. Good luck!

-Genesis

A letter to The Incoming M1s

     At our school, the incoming M1 students will be starting their first week of medical school next week. So, I wanted to write a few words of advice as they start their new journey.

    Hello, my new future colleagues!

     I know that it's a different way to start this letter, but know that you are now the newest members of a prestigious club, and that is such a great honor. I know that it has taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get to this point. So, congratulations to be standing at the gates of the beginning of your futures. Every day that you walk this journey, you will be faced with new experiences, new challenges, and new opportunities. I urge you to take every one of them and see how you can use them to help shape you into a better doctor and more importantly, a better human being. I can't promise that this journey will be smooth sailing, and more than likely it won't be, but know that you have it in you to make it through any storm you may need to face.

     You are now among some of the brightest and most accomplished people and in some cases that might make you feel inferior. But, don't compare what you have to bring to the table with those around you. You are a unique individual and what you have to offer is just as valuable as what anyone else has to give. The people around you are not your competition. You are all on this journey together, so my best advice is to try your hardest to support one another as you climb to the top. This journey is not one you can fully do alone, so never be afraid to ask for guidance. But with that in mind, medical school is also a very personal experience. Make sure to cater it to fit exactly what you need and don't worry if that looks completely different from what the person next to you is doing. Don't be afraid to change things up as you are figuring things out, because eventually you will find exactly what works for you.

    Savor every second. Good times, bad times, and all of the above. Because, before you know it, you'll be standing at the end of the journey wondering to yourself where the time has gone. This is a very special time in your life. The time that you are shaping yourself into who you need to be and that in itself is magic. And although this journey is challenging, I promise you that it is filled with so many beautiful moments. So, don't get too caught up in the chaos that you forget to appreciate the moment that you are in. And whatever it is that brought you to choose this path, don't lose it. Use your passion to help drive you to the finish line and you'll see that nothing will seem impossible.

     I wish you the best of luck as you start this journey, but know that you don't really need it. Everything you'll need to make it through is already inside of you, and don't ever forget that.

~Genesis

How to Spend Your Summer After M1 Year

    One thing that you'll realize shortly after starting medical school, is that it is a bit like undergrad all over again. Of course, you have already started in the profession of your choice (hopefully, your dreams), but the notion that at the end of your four years you'll be putting out your residency applications definitely hits hard. And of course, just like undergrad, your grades won't be the only thing that residency applications will be looking at.

     I don't want to scare you. In medical school, the need to have your C.V. filled to the brim with activities isn't really necessary, and a lot of what you have to do depends on what specialty you are thinking about going into. If you already have your heart set on being the next Cristina Yang, you might have to start thinking about how you can get yourself involved in research. But, if you know that your specialty of choice isn't as competitive, you have a bit more laxity in what you can do. 

A couple areas that I think are worth exploring over the summer are: 1.) Leadership 2.) Shadowing and 3.) Self-care.

Leadership

     

     As a physician, you are often going to be the head of a team, so being able to show residency programs that you are able to do that is really important. For me, I have quite a bit of leadership experience from this past school year (that will come in a separate post), but for this summer I am helping coordinate the summer program I participated in last summer. I can already tell you that come residency application time, I have plenty of examples for when they start asking me the, "Tell me about a time..." questions. But, just because my leadership opportunity is within the realm of medicine, doesn't mean that yours has to be. You can always seek leadership in other areas, such as your community. The most important goal is just to prove that you can take responsibility and how you handle your responsibility. Also, that you can work on a team. The medical field is very team-oriented and residency programs will want to know that you have the ability to be a team player, so being able to prove this works in your favor.

Shadowing

     If you have the free time, this is a great time to look into the things that you are interested. Have you always wanted to be an emergency medicine doctor? Go shadow one! The unfortunate part about your 3rd and 4th year rotations is that you only get a brief glimpse of things before you make a a decision about what you'd like to practice for the rest of your life, so if you have the chance to get exposure to your field of interest early on, that's great. You'll already have an idea of what to expect, but you'll also start building connections for the future. That and like medical schools, residency programs what to see that you know what you are getting yourself into. Being a doctor isn't easy and each specialty has it's own unique challenges. So, having the opportunity to get to know what your future job would be like can give you a bit more certainty about choosing a specialty and will allow you to confidently speak about why you are choosing it come interview time.

Self-care

    

     Medical school is hard and making it through a full academic year takes a lot out of you. So, if you want to take the summer to recuperate before prepping for M2 year, that's totally okay. I know that there's always pressure to do everything that you can to make yourself a competitive candidate, but at the end of the day, you won't be able to do your job well if you're burned out. One of my favorite quotes is, "You can't pour from an empty cup." And I feel like this is so true in the medical field. If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to effectively take care of others, so remember to make it a priority. If residency programs ask you what you did for your summer, all you have to say is that you took the summer to focus on self-care. I would say that anyone in this field will understand that this is completely necessary. So, don't be afraid to keep this as an option.

     Regardless of what you decide to do, remember to enjoy your summer. I know the pressure to add things to your C.V. will be there, but if you are going to spend your last "summer break" being miserable, is it really worth it? So, remember to keep that in mind when you are planning out your summer following M1 year. 

- Gen<3

Coming Up For Air

     Hello, Hello! I am sorry that it's been seriously a hot minute since I've posted anything, but school got a tad hectic. We just ended a 6-week exam stretch last week (we had an exam every monday for six weeks...), so I've been crazy busy. But I still wanted to check in.

     When I was thinking about how I would describe the past couple months of med school, the first thing that came to mind was swimming. You start off on the shore where the water seems inviting and you know you know how to swim, so you dive right in. You soon realize that the water is pretty deep and the waves are crashing pretty hard. Sometimes, they crash a little too hard leaving you gasping for air. And if you've been swimming for a while, your muscles start to ache with the weight of the water enveloping your body. The depth of the water below you making it even harder to stay afloat. But, you've been pushed away from the shore and you don't quite know how you're going to get back, and all you know is that you have to just have to keep swimming. So despite everything, you keep going. And when you finally make it back to shore, out of breath and knowing that you just conquered what you thought was impossible, the rush that comes over you is electric.

     The past couple months have been a combination of days where I felt that I didn't know how I would make it back to shore and many days where swimming felt comfortable and I was just happy to be in the water. And that's the crazy thing about medical school. There are days that you feel that you don't have what it takes and others that you know you are in the exact right place. What keeps you going is knowing that even on the bad days you are working towards what you love to do and telling yourself that you know how to swim, so why are you going to let the water scare you?

     When I started out the semester, I expected a challenge and although I had some trying moments, it wasn't as bad as I expected. The consectutive exams kept me busy, but I am pretty good about making time for myself, so I did have some fun thrown into the mix. But it's crazy to see how much I've changed since I first jumped in and now have made it back to shore. I'll probably talk about it a bit more when I do a recap for the end of M1 year (I can't believe that'll be in a couple weeks!), but for the most part I feel that this semester has shown me just how much I am capable of.

     Again, I'm sorry I've been absent for so long, but summer is upon us, so I'll have more time to write about some of the things that have been on my mind as I've been going through the year.  Overall, I'm very happy at the moment and just gearing up for the end of the semester. We're about to have a five-exam stretch to finish off the year, but knowing that summer is at the end of it, will make it all the more bearable. 

I hope you are having a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

-Genesis<3

Where Are My Boss Ladies At?

     I'm not sure if it has to do with my newfound awareness but lately, I've been incredibly inspired by the women around me. As a woman pursuing the medical field, I am fortunate to know many incredible ladies that are on this journey with me, but the strong ladies are not limited to the future doctors. I am also happy that I get to call some of the most incredible women my friends. 

     For those that aren't sure what exactly a boss lady (a.k.a girl boss) is, I believe the concept is best defined by Sophia Amoruso, author of the book #GIRLBOSS. She defines the term as, "someone who's in charge of her own life. She gets what she wants because she works for it. As a #GIRLBOSS, you take control and accept responsibility. You're a fighter --you know when to throw punches and when to roll with them, but always on your own terms. You know where you're going, but can't do it without having some fun along the way. You value honesty, over perfection. You ask questions. You take your life seriously, but you don't take yourself too seriously. You're going to take over the world, and change it in the process. You're a badass." When I read this, I was like, "Heck yeah, that's exactly what I am" and that is the attitude that I've been keeping these past couple weeks back. Every time I see the women around me succeed, it truly inspires me and gives me hope about all the change we can bring about. But, I firmly believe that the only way that we can do this is by supporting one another. Another quote that I read recently (Thanks, Megan) was, "Behind every successful woman is tribe of other successful women who have her back." I identify with this so much because my friends have been incredible at this, and I am also surrounded by so many incredible ladies in my class that make this true as well. Individually, we are a spark, but together we can set the place on fire. 

     So, these past couple weeks, I've been rockin' and rollin', trying to make the most of my time, and reminding myself that I don't need to be perfect. I just have to give it everything that I have. I am on my own path to being a badass, but I am also cheering on the ladies on the journey with me.

     I hope everyone is having a fabulous week, and I shall talk to you soon!

- Genesis<3

August Recap 2016

     Hello! The month of August has been a busy one for me. Moving to the city, starting medical school, and getting into the groove of my new life has definitely put plenty on my plate. Sadly, the moments that I did have the opportunity to sneak away, I didn't happen to snap a pic (I promise I will try to be better about that next month!). So, I'll just update you on what's been going on thus far.

    The beginning of August marked the beginning of my med school career. It was crazy to be able to finally start and when classes started, they kept us pretty busy. I just had my first exam this Monday, so the week leading up to that was pretty hectic. The main challenge of Medical school thus far has been trying to figure out what works best for me, so that I can set up my routine. It's the beginning of week three, and I feel like I'm still trying to sort that out, but hopefully as we go on, I'll be able to figure it all out. 

     Eventful Moments

     Following orientation week and White Coat, I had the opportunity to catch up with my girls. One of the best parts of being back in the city is being closer to them, and although my time is more limited than it was before, it's so nice to know that I am able to see them when I have the chance. My first Saturday in the city we went out and explored Lakeview a bit and of course that had to include delicious drinks and yummy food. 

They are too adorable:)

     The following week was our first week of class and that was a little hectic. We still had quite a few orientation sessions, so the days seemed to drag on. Thankfully, Sunday dinner at Meg's recharged me for the following week. G and I brought our roommates and we had our own little potluck dinner. It was a great way to break away from studying for a bit and to also have everyone meet. My roommate Mallory and I also went out for a bit on Saturday. The part of the city that we live in is called Little Italy and they were having their Festa Italiana festival. We just walked around for a bit with one our friends from school and tried out some of the local Italian food. I stuck with the Italian theme and had gnocchi and cannoli, so you better believe I left pretty happy and full.

     This past week/weekend had been dedicated to school. I did attend some extracurricular meetings, but as the weekend approached, the studying got intense. Mallory and I pretty much lived in our school's study rooms for the weekend, but Sunday I broke away for a bit to have dinner with my family. I felt it was a nice way to remove some of the stress and get myself in a good mindset to take the exam.

     As I posted about the beginning of the month already, this post looks a bit sad. The majority of August I honestly just spent getting myself acclimated to being a medical student and those moments aren't necessarily the most exciting, but I will try to include as much as I can.

     As we move forward, I will be trying to update you guys as much as I can, but unfortunately, I do get busy and I don't always get the opportunity to blog. I will be trying my best, though! 

I hope you had a fabulous month and I will be talking to you soon!

~Genesis<3

     

Starting M1 Year

      Hello! As you can already imagine, this past week has been a crazy one for me. The earlier part of last week, I spent moving into my new apartment and then was directly thrown into orientation less than 24 hours after. Orientation events ran Monday through Friday and by the weekend I was super glad to catch a break. It's been a great start to my M1 year (it's crazy to think that I am able to say that), so I'll share a little about what went on.

Orientation

     Our orientation week was broken down into four days:Tues-Fri (I had another orientation Monday as well, but that was for something separate) with our last day being the day of our white coat ceremony. 

Day one:

      We just came in to do housekeeping tasks (pick up our white coats, pick up our Step book, fill out forms, get fit tested for respirators, take our white coat pics, etc.). It was a pretty quick day, so we only spent about two hours max on campus. It was the first day that we got to start meeting some of our classmates and also some of the upperclassmen that were helping out, so that was pretty cool. 

Day two:

     We had orientation 9-4 most of it consisted of different presentations about our school (resources, statistics about our class, etc.) but we also received our team based learning groups (TBL). In medical school, we are divided into smaller groups (in our case it's groups of six) in order to promote team learning. In TBL, we'll be doing activities together but one of the main purposes of TBL is to provide us our lab groups. After orientation, the M2's organized a beach day for us to come and hang out with our classmates, so my roommate and I went to that. Then later that night, we all met up at a rooftop bar to do some more mingling. 

Day three:

     We had another 9-4 orientation and this one was more so focused on wellness and the resources that the school has to ensure our wellbeing. They do have a lot of great resources and it's pretty cool that they are trying to emphasize from the beginning that they acknowledge that this is difficult and that they don't want you to ever feel like you have to go about it alone. After the presentations, there was an activities fair for us to go and see what student groups we have on campus so that we could get involved in some extracurriculars. Apparently, everyone signs up for a bunch but realistically can only do a couple due to our demanding schedules. Later, we had a big sib-little sib dinner. We were assigned an M2 student to be our big sib, so this was the time that we got to meet them and ask questions about medical school and what their M1 experience was like. I had met with one of the M2s that I knew from SPP previously to get the low-down on medical school, but it was still a great opportunity to meet my peers and to also get to know other M2s. Afterwards, we had a group outing to an arcade bar in Chicago to get to know one another. By this time, we'd gotten a sense of who was who and what the class dynamic would be like. So far, it seems cliques aren't only limited to high school, but we shall see how things go as the year progresses. Hopefully, some of that changes. 

White Coat Day

     Our white coat ceremony wasn't until the afternoon, so I took the opportunity to sleep in a bit. I was exhausted from the past couple days which consisted of late nights and early mornings, so you can imagine it was taxing. The white coat ceremony was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It felt so amazing to finally be able to take the first step and feel like I was starting my career. I got really emotional and there were several points where I was trying to hold back tears. I don't know, but for me, it was just such an incredible moment because after all the hard work that I had to do, I had finally felt like I had made it. There was a point in the ceremony where they had us turn around and thank our family for supporting us and for me, that was where it was hardest to hold back the tears.  If you guys are hoping to pursue medicine, you'll see when you get to your white coat ceremony how it feels like you've officially made it and how incredible it feels. Later that night, the M2s planned out a trolley tour for us. We went around Chicago touring the different landmarks while enjoying drinks on the trolley. It was a pretty great time and the last stop of the night was a club, so we spent the rest of our night dancing away. I was definitely out pretty late (haha).

Taking pics with my support system<3

First Day Of Medical School

     Our first day of class was Monday and you better believe it felt weird to be sitting in the same auditorium that I had classes in for SPP, but now as an M1. They scheduled a pretty full day for us. We had our intro to medical school session for most of the morning then after lunch, we had our first two lectures. Having an 8-4 school day is always a bit rough (my life during SPP), but it did feel pretty cool to finally get started. Thankfully, our class days include a couple half-days during the week, so it shouldn't be too bad.

     I have my first exam coming up in a couple of weeks, so they are certainly not wasting any time. I will try to keep you guys as updated as I can, but if I do get busy (like last Thursday) know that I will try to get back A.S.A.P. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and I will talk to you soon!

~Genesis<3