On My Differential

Hello! Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's been so long since I've taken the chance to make a blog post, but I'm sure we all know what the usual culprit is. I am about a month away from reaching the half-way mark of M2 year and it's crazy to think that 7 months from now I will be half-way done with medical school and on to the wards! This past week has been a bit crazy as I took a lot of time off to celebrate my birthday. But thankfully, I'm not terribly behind schedule and this current week will have plenty of downtime for me to catch up.

1. M2 Year

     I seriously can't believe how fast this semester is going. Like I mentioned above, we are about to enter our final stretch of the semester and I feel like the past couple months have just been me getting used to the new course material and incorporating more of the doctoring part of medicine. As we approach January, Step 1 is going to be very present as it'll be time to get down to business. Thus far, I mustered up the courage to select my test date and now I'll just have to get my schedule ready to start the Step grind. Overall, I feel like I've enjoyed M2 year more than M1. I would say mostly because we've had way more downtime than we did last year and also I feel like I know what I'm doing more so than last year. 

2. Thinking about specialties

     I know it's rediculously early for this, but this semester I've been thinking a lot about what I want path I would like to pursue. I've had the pleasure of working with a neonatologist in the NICU and I've really enjoyed it. I feel like my heart is still pretty set on peds, but I want to keep my options open until I go through my clerkships next year. So far, I feel like the pediatric environment just fits who I am and I'm excited to see more of it next year.

3. Turning 25

     So, I swear I've been on the mindset that I was 25 since January, but last week I officially turned 25. Talking to my friends about it, it feels like a good age. I am still young enough to feel like I still have my whole life ahead of me, but old enough to feel wise about the places I'm going. There's definitely a lot of learning still going on, but I feel I've become more confident in doing the things that I need to do for myself, so that has been really nice. 

4. Gratitude

In my last "On My Differential" post, I addressed mindfulness and that is something that I've been working on. One of the main things that comes up with mindfulness is gratitude and with the thanksgiving holiday coming up, I feel this has been on my mind. I am very thankful for the place that I am in my life and even on the crappy days I try to remember that I am exactly where I need to be. That and I am defintely feeling very blessed for all the great people I have in my life and the opportunities I have been given. So, I just want to carry that with me as I continue on in to the trickier parts of this school year.

I know this was a short post, but I feel like I will want to do separate posts about some of the topics above as well as other things that have come up as I've been going through this academic year. I am still working on what I would like to have on this blog, and I'm hoping I can be a bit better about posting!

Take care,

Genesis<3

On My Differential

     One of my favorite bloggers, The College Prepster, does a series on her blog every so often that she titles, "On My Radar." It's usually more of a laid back post where she details what's been on her mind or what she's really been into recently. I really loved the idea, so I've been wracking my brain to think of what I could title my own version of this series, and magically when I started typing this post, it came to me-"On My Differential." For my med followers, I'm sure you got a giggle out of that one, but for my non-medical followers, I'll give a brief explanation. The term differential is shorthand for "differential diagnosis" which is the list of diseases, conditions, etc. that physicians have running in their heads as they are listening to their patient's symptoms and history trying to pinpoint what the diagnosis for this particular patient may be. My friend and I have been using this term in a bit more of a casual manner, such as when we are trying to figure out where we want to go for dinner. He'll ask me, "What's at the top of your differential?" Meaning, "What's at the top of your list of ideas?" So, for my series I will be giving you what's been on my mind for things in life.

1.  MS2

     With M2 orientation starting this upcoming Monday, it's hard not to think about the impending school year. I've been out of school since May 4th, so at times I forget that I'm even a medical student. But, with the days creeping closer and closer to the beginning of the school year, I've been thinking a lot about what is coming up this year, and how to tackle it. I've been slowly trying to get myself back on a good schedule and also doing some prep work so that I can start the school year with a bang. The first semester should be a bit more laid back than what I was typically accustomed to, but from what the previous class has told us, spring semester comes back with a vengeance as we will all be preping for our USMLE Step one exam. So, for now, I'm trying not to freak out, and to just enjoy the calm before the storm. 

2. Goals

     While I was working with my last summer program, we were doing an exercise with the kids where we gave them M&Ms and for each color they had to answer a question associated with that color. For one of the colors, they had to tell us one of their goals and that really got me thinking. What are my goals? In general, I have the same couple goals floating around in the back of my head (live a healthy lifestyle, succeed in medical school, etc.), but what are the goals that go beyond my day to day? Well, one of them (also, inspired by the same summer program) is to share my experience with others. The whole purpose of the program was to expose kids to the medical field, and when I started this blog, I had a similar idea in mind. I wanted to share my experience, so that other people could see what it's like to be a medical student and possibly be inspired to pursue medicine. And although it can be challenging at times, I want to make more of an effort to keep up with this.

3. YouTube

     Going with my goals, something that has been on my mind has been my YouTube channel. It has seriously been a minute since I've posted anything, but somehow I keep getting subscribers. Lately, I've come across quite a few medical vlog channels and for me, it's really cool to see their medical school experience, and it makes me want to share mine. For the longest time, I've been putting off making videos because I don't have my nice camera here at school with me, and I keep thinking that my life isn't interesting enough to film. But, these other medical students are just recording their day-to-day activities and that's surprisingly entertaining for me to watch. It allows me to relate to what they're going through as we are all in the same boat.

4. Mindfulness

     As someone who is borderline type A and needs to know exactly what is coming next, I really struggle with staying in the present. And I'm even worse with meditation. But, recently I've been trying to make more of an effort to take a step back and just be still. Sometimes, it's so much easier said than done, but that's why they call it a practice. I've been testing out some guided meditations and other ways to be present and I think it has helped a bit. But, I'll keep you posted. 

     I have a ton of other things floating around in my head, but in the interest of time, and possible future blog posts, I will end the list here. I hope you enjoyed getting a peek into what's been on my brain recently, and I can't wait for future "On My Differential" posts. 

Take Care,

- Genesis<3