A.P. Exams and College

     Something that I wish I would've known a little more about before I started college was how my advanced placement credits (A.P. credits) would work towards college credits. I know the logistics of college credit really depend on the school, but as it worked out for my benefit, I wanted to share my experience. 

     My junior and senior years of high school, my schedule was loaded up with as many A.P. Classes as possible. If it could be taken A.P., I was most likely taking it A.P. And if it wasn't A.P., I was taking honors (I even took choir as an honors class!). So, it's safe to say that I had a pretty hectic schedule, but looking back on it, I really appreciate that I did. Having such a heavy course load allowed me to work on the organization and perseverance necessary to make it through difficult academic circumstances. Now, I'm not going to lie. Some days when there was an assignment due in every class, I questioned whether or not I had put too much on my plate. But even if I had, it was too late, and all I could do was push through. This allowed me to gain the mentality that I needed to succeed and also the mentality that I assume I will need in medical school. 

     I also believe that my A.P. Courses better prepared me for college. Now, the thing about college classes is that they typically work on a level system ( i.e. level 100, level 200, and level 300) with the courses increasing in difficulty by level. By senior year, your major classes will most likely be in the 300 levels. A.P. classes are most comparable to 100 level classes, which is totally fine because these are the classes you'd be starting out with freshman year anyway. Also, many of the "core" classes you take are 100 level, so if you get A.P. credit for a class, you might not have to take one of your core classes ( I got lucky and my A.P. U.S. History credit got me out of two history core classes!). Aside from the credit, I think the best thing you get out of your A.P. courses is the familiarity with the structure of a college class. Like college classes, A.P. courses have the typical test, quiz, homework, project components with comparable difficulty. The difficulty of a college class will really depend on your professor as they are the ones that generally set the grading scale and expectations for the course. But difficulty aside, A.P. courses will allow you to better navigate through freshman year (and the other years if you come in with a lot of A.P. credits).

     A.P. Credits and College Credits

     I'm not quite sure how this works out for each school, so I'm just going to speak to how it worked at my university. For my school, courses were typically worth around 3.0 credit hours. If they were worth more, it was because they had another component to the class (i.e. an associated lab). For A.P. credit, you typically have to score a 3 or higher in order to get college credit, and I believe that what you get depends on how you scored. Some of my A.P. courses I did craptastic on ( *ahem* calculus) and didn't receive credit, but the ones I did well on, I got a decent amount. So, I will share those with you.  

        My A.P. Classes and Credits

1.) A.P. Literature and Composition ( score 5)- I didn't have to take my freshman writing seminar (worth 3.0 credit hours).

2.) A.P. U.S. History (score 4)- I didn't have to take my two required history core classes (worth 6.0 credit hours).

3.) A.P. Literature and Language (score 4)- I got credit towards one of my literature cores (worth 3.0 credit hours). 

4.) A.P. Psychology ( Score 4)- I got out of taking psych 101 which went towards my minor (worth 3.0 credit hours). 

5.) A.P. Biology ( Score 4)- I got out of Freshman year bio in its entirety. That means, Biology 101, Biology 102, and the two labs (worth 8.0 credit hours!).

     After adding up the credits, I received about 23.0 credit hours from my A.P. exams. An average college semester is usually around 15.0 credit hours, so I got a whole semester (plus a little more) out of the way. This worked out really well for me as I had the ability to take less than 15.0 credits (if necessary) each semester and could still meet the credit requirement for graduation ( for me that was 120 credits and I actually graduated with more than that). Not having to take as many credits was  super useful junior year when I was studying for the MCAT because I had the ability to have a "lighter" semester so I could fit in MCAT prep. 

     So, if the above information didn't make it apparent, my whole point was to emphasize how beneficial A.P. courses can be. Along with the class, I highly suggest that you take the exam. I know they are a bit pricey (especially if you have to take several like I did), but they are totally worth it if you score well. Even if you don't, the worst part is just losing the money you paid for it, because you'll still gain the experience. 

   I  hope you had a great week and that you have an awesome weekend. I'll talk to you soon!

                      ~ Genesis<3

Naturopathic Medicine

     Over the summer, while taking a medical assisting course, the class was learning about non-traditional medicine when our instructor brought up the topic of Naturopathic medicine, specifically, her experience with a naturopathic doctor. She said that she had gone to visit this doctor out of sheer curiosity about what the heck a naturopathic doctor was and what the experience would be like, and found herself pleasantly surprised at the results. My instructor explained that she had gone in because she had been dealing with high blood pressure for a while and wanted to see what a naturopath would suggest. She said that the doctor assessed her and put her on a course of natural treatments to follow, including what she couldn't eat and what supplements to start taking. Although skeptical of its ability to treat her high blood pressure, she followed the treatment anyway, as she really had nothing to lose. To her surprise, after a few weeks, she could notice the effects. She had lost some weight in her face due to the removal of excess fluid retention and when the doctor checked her blood pressure, it was within normal range. She was shocked. How could this have been possible without the use of medication? Obviously, she wasn't quite sure, but she was impressed that it had worked. I don't quite remember why my instructor stopped visiting the naturopath, but her experience definitely piqued my interest.
     As someone who grew up in a Hispanic family, finding natural remedies to cure your illness has been pretty standard to my upbringing, and to discover that there are doctors that actually practice this way, was rather intriguing. In hopes of educating you on something that I found very interesting or also something that you might want to pursue, I wanted to write this post to give you more information. Of course, I am not an expert on the topic, but from what I've gleaned from the sources at my disposal, I want to share the bit of knowledge that I have acquired.

What is Naturopathic Medicine?

     By the definition of the American Association of Naturopathic Medicine, Naturopathic medicine is a distinct primary health care profession, emphasizing prevention, treatment, and optimal health through the use of therapeutic methods and substances that encourage individuals' inherent self-healing process (1). What their practice includes is clinical and laboratory diagnostic testing, nutritional medicine, botanical medicine, naturopathic physical medicine, public health measures, hygiene, counseling, minor surgery, homeopathy, acupuncture, prescription medication (NB: This depends on the state of practice), intravenous and injection therapy, and naturopathic obstetrics ( this is natural childbirth for my non-science peeps). Overall, what naturopathic medicine emphasizes is using the most natural methods to promote healing in the human body with the mentality that your body has the ability to heal itself. 

How Does One Become a Naturopathic Doctor?

     Similar to someone pursuing an MD, to become a Naturopathic Doctor ( or ND) one must attend an accredited naturopathic medical college. This is a different type of medical school from where you go to pursue an MD, but from what I learned from the information put out by the Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges(2), the two types of programs share similarities. Both programs heavily emphasize a strong core in the basic sciences in the first two years of schooling. So, like MDs, NDs have to review biomedical sciences, such as biochemistry and anatomy. NDs also learn to diagnose illnesses. So they are also taught the diagnostic sciences. Where the programs differ is in years three and four. For MD programs, years three and four are spent doing clerkships ( rotations through the different medical specialties). These are typically observational, so you are mostly just shadowing at this time. For NDs, years three and four are typically more hands-on. From what I understand, they spend those years practicing the skills that they will be utilizing during their practice and this helps prepare them to begin practicing once they graduate. Also, like MDs, Upon graduation, NDs have to pass a postdoctoral board examination ( their version is the NPLEX) in order to receive a license.

Differences Between MDs and NDs?

     One of the initial differences between the two programs, is the availability of medical colleges. For MDs, there are a myriad of colleges across the country. I know that just in Illinois alone, we have seven medical schools. For NDs, The AANMC states that they only offer seven accredited programs at eight campuses in North America (3). Two of these campuses are in Canada, so if you are aiming to stay in the U.S. you'd only have about six schools to choose from.

     Another difference is licensure. While MDs I'm pretty sure, are accredited in every state, there are only seventeen states ( along with D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) that have licensing laws and a specific scope of practice for NDs (4). Oddly enough, one of the states that isn't included in this list is Illinois, although one of the AANMC's listed naturopathic medical programs is in Chicago. 

     The scope of practice also differs in each state. I'm not sure how this all works in Illinois ( I know some NDs practice here even though it isn't a licensing state), but I know that some states allow NDs to prescribe medication, while some do not.

     One of the main differences between the two types of doctors would be the focus of practice. For NDs, their practice of medicine is typically primary care. So, they'll mainly focus on family medicine. For MDs, there are all sorts of specialties out there. This is one of the main reasons that MDs have to do residencies. While in medical school, MDs survey the different specialties and during their fourth year, apply to residency programs in their specialty of interest. They will then spend an additional 3-7+ years ( This all depends on which specialty is chosen) training to become that type of doctor. So, if you have always dreamed of becoming a pediatric hematologist, ND wouldn't be your desired route.

My Thoughts on Naturopathic Medicine as a Future MD Student?

     Regardless of the differences, I think that what naturopathic medicine has to offer is pretty cool. They tend to focus on a more holistic style of treatment ( assessing the person as whole) and I think that is definitely something that could be ( and I believe is more so heading towards being) integrated into allopathic medicine. I also like the idea of using more natural methods of healing. Many of the treatments that NDs utilize have been around for ages (i.e. acupuncture) and I'm pretty sure there's a reason they are still around. The earth is teeming with natural substances for medical usage, but of course, we don't know what every little thing does and when we do discover the possibility of something being used as a cure, it needs to be heavily researched. I am obviously very Pro-MD (after all, I am pursuing one), but I think that NDs would be an excellent addition to the health care team and could serve to educate allopathic medicine on alternative ways to cure illnesses.

     I hope this post gave you a better Idea concerning Naturopathic Doctors and possibly sparked your curiosity. As always, I enjoyed sharing this with you and I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Talk to you soon!

~Genesis<3

Links and Resources

1.&3.-American Association of Naturopathic Medicine: http://www.naturopathic.org/medicine

2. &4.-Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges: http://aanmc.org/

How to Make the Most of Your Semester

     Spring semester should definitely be in full swing for those of you still in school (yeah, that'll be me too next year). So, I thought I'd share some of my tips to make sure that you get the most out of the semester and close out the year with a bang.

     For me, I'd say Senior year was the year that I had the whole college thing figured out ( It only took me three years, but whatever...), and I found myself feeling pretty balanced with what I needed to do, which was a lot. But, I'll definitely be the first to admit that by Spring Semester, senioritis was starting to kick in, so I needed to keep myself focused in order to make sure that I finished my college career kicking butt and taking names. Below are a few tips that helped me.

Become BFFs with your syllabus

     Not even going to lie, Syllabus week was one of my favorite weeks of college. Not only because we had a couple of classes where all the professor did was talk about the course, but because we got the schedule for what was happening in the semester. This meant that I could promptly head back to my apartment, whip out my planner, and write in all the important dates ASAP. Although you might not be a planner nerd like myself, I highly recommend doing this. It is really great to be able to know what your overall semester will look like and what the workload will be. It will also allow you to see what weeks will be the busiest and which ones you can have some fun. Mainly, I'd recommend putting in due dates, test dates, quizzes, and projects. If you want to write in what will be covered in your classes each week, that could be helpful too, but I never really did that as professors don't always stay on track with the scheduled topic.

Schedule in your activities

     Of course, this mainly means your extracurriculars but for me, it also meant my gym time. From my previous post, you know that I used to fit three runs in per week. So, what I would do at the beginning of the semester was figure out where in my schedule I could fit in the time I would need to run and make that my designated run time so that it was easier to stick to. Another thing that would be beneficial would be to block out your study times. I worked my last two semesters of college, so this meant that my weekly schedule could vary. But, at the beginning of each week, I would see what my week was going to look like, and I would designate where I could fit in the bulk of my studying.

Prioritize

     One of the most important parts of being productive is definitely learning to be strict with yourself. I know there were weekends when the last thing I wanted to do was spend quality time with my biochem book, but if it needed to be done, it needed to be done. This also goes back to my first point. You'll know which weeks this will be particularly important, so try to not schedule anything unnecessary into these weeks.

Plan Ahead

     If you know next week is going to be a hell week, try to get as much done before then. This will relieve a tremendous amount of stress for the weeks that you have two papers, a quiz, and an exam all in the course of a couple days. Even if you can only get the foundation work done, you'll be greatly thanking yourself.

Be Flexible

     I'm sure that you are well aware that life happens. Sometimes you have to make the time to go see a professor, or to help a friend, and you definitely didn't plan on it. That is perfectly okay. The most important part of organizing yourself is realizing that it is all just a framework and that you should use it as a guide, but also go with the flow adjusting yourself as necessary.

Remember to Have Fun

     I know that if you are anything like me, you will want to be able to do it all. But in the process of being awesome, know that it's perfectly okay to have fun. College is one of the best times of your life, so enjoy it all that you can! I know that now that I'm out of school, I am so happy that I took out the time for all the impromptu meet ups with my friends, or just occasionally breaking from my schedule to do something fun. It will help you feel rejuvenated and also more likely to stick with your plan overall. So, don't be afraid to have your occasional Netflix day. Grey's Anatomy on, my friend.

     I hope these tips were helpful for you! I know these are pretty standard, but it was what I used and it worked out pretty well. I hope you've been having a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

~Genesis<3