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

The End Of M1 Year

As always, I feel that I'm constantly apologizing for being absent on the blog, but hey, I'm a medical student. I'm not perfect and I'm trying to balance everything on my plate as best as I can. So despite not being the most consistent, I certainly love to check in every now and then. Like now:)

Let me just say that the first year of medical school feels like a blur. Fall semester seemed to trudge along, but then it picked up in full-force spring semester, and in the blink of an eye, I was in the midst of finals. It's actually a tad frightening because it makes me realize that before I know it, I'll be graduating and going into the world to actually take care of patients, which at this point in my training, seems crazy. But yet, somehow it'll happen. 

Looking back on M1 year, I can say it wasn't exactly what I had expected. When I imagined medical school, I envisioned being constantly miserable, overwhelmed, and possibly having regret over making this decision. I'll admit there were some trying moments, but for the most part my experience was positive. I do believe it has a lot to do with my approach to school. You see, our curriculum is pass/fail. So, at the end of the day I always told myself that as long as I passed, I was okay. I would always set my standards as high as I could, but if it didn't go as planned, I wouldn't beat myself up over it. We all have our off days and medical school isn't easy. So, if you don't get an amazing score every time, it's okay. I'm incredibly thankful to say that I passed all of my exams this past year. Sometimes I did incredibly well and some exams got the best of me. Regardless of the outcome, every exam was a step closer in my journey. Another tally I could etch onto my sheet of accomplishments. And having successfully come out on the other side of the year, I know that I have it in me to keep going. 

Now that I have the chance to look back, I'm pretty content with the year. Of course, there are some situations I wish I could've approached differently, but I think overall I did a decent job balancing what I could, especially second semester. I always tried to make time for myself, squeezed in time for my friends and family when I got the chance, and I made it a priority to keep myself healthy. I'm not going to say doing all of the above was easy, because it wasn't. There were many times that I would rather have spent with my friends at our Sunday dinners or at home enjoying time with my family. But, I know that the profession that I have chosen will come with a lot of sacrifices, yet will yield many rewards. So, I held on to that notion and kept pushing through. And somehow, it has worked out. 

Getting to the end of the year felt amazing and you better believe we celebrated accordingly. Our class rented a boat for us to cruise around Lake Michigan, and let's just say that mixing an open bar and medical students can lead to very interesting times. But spending time with my classmates and some of my closest friends celebrating the end of the struggle was a great way to close out the year and get ourselves set for our last summer break.

Looking forward, I know that M2 year is going to have it's own challenges (ahem, Step 1), but I'm excited to see what the next phase of my medical training will bring. From what the upperclassmen have told me, it'l be way more clinically focused. We will be learning all of the skills that will be put into use during our clinical rotations come M3 year and we will also be tested on how to perform a physical exam, diagnose patients, write prescriptions...you get the idea. It'll be scary because doing things for the first time can be nerve wracking, but exciting because this is exactly what I signed up for. Hopefully, by the time I finish step I will feel more like a doctor-in-training and not just a student, but I still have plenty of time before that time comes around. 

So, if you like following me on this crazy journey, stay tuned. It's about to get way more exciting. 

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

Practicing What You Preach

     I don't know about you but for me, my bed always seems to be exceptionally comfortable between the hours of 6 and 11 A.M. I am not quite sure what it is, but it is like a force is pulling me into the sheets and despite my best efforts, I am always sucked into the snooze cycle before I quickly need to drag my butt out of bed. I unfortunately fall victim to this more often than I would like to admit, but I am amazed to say that these first two weeks back at school, I've been pretty successful at getting up early. And today, as I grudgingly silenced my 7:30 alarm, I thought to myself, "Practice what you preach."

     I am on this journey to become someone that spends their entire life telling other people how to take care of their bodies and what they need to do in order to keep them healthy. So shouldn't I also be held accountable for this as well? How many times have we heard our doctors talk about regular exercise and about eating healthy? We respectfully listen, but often times it is in one ear and out the other because who has time for that? I agree completely. Who has time for it? With last semester being ridiculously busy, I definitely fell into not having time for the gym, even though I really enjoy working out ( I know it sounds crazy, but stay with me here). But this semester, I told myself that I needed to practice what I preach, and most importantly what I will be preaching. How can I expect my future patients to carve time out of their day to fit in exercise if I can't fit it into mine? So, with that mentality, I've been lacing up my Nikes and telling myself, "Yea, you're obviously doing this because you feel great once you've run that mile, but you are also doing this because one day when you are asking your patients to do this, you will know it is possible." I do understand that in some cases this is not always possible, but for me it was a matter of poor planning. 

     I have plenty of medical school friends that made it a part of their routine and I'm pretty sure that we all have the same amount of time in our days. These past two weeks, I've made going to the gym a priority and I'm proud to say that I've kept up with it. How did I do this? I built it into my schedule. This is something that I used to do in undergrad. I would pick a class or a time slot and I would designate it as my "gym time." I would treat this like any of my other priorities and I'd stick with it even if it was tempting to take that time to go back to my apartment and nap. It was difficult at times, but as I've read it somewhere, you never regret a work out. How my body feels when I've been consistently working out is incomparable to any nap. And actually, I need less naps when I've been following a regular workout schedule. I feel more energetic through out the day and it's even easier for me to fall asleep. But, something to keep in mind is that you don't have to be perfect about it. Of course, I'd love to be able to fit into my schedule every single day, but if I can only make it to the gym three days out of the week (heck, even if I can only make it one day), that's still better than not going at all. Health is not an all or nothing situation and nothing works out perfectly every time. So, my goal is to keep that in mind as I try to plan my time and make the most of it, even as my days get impossibly busy.

     I know everyone has different reasons why they wish to live a healthy lifestyle, but I hope I have inspired some of you to think about why you'd like to implement healthy choices and how you can get fit it into your day. 

     I hope you guys are having a wonderful week and I will talk to you soon!

- Genesis<3

December Monthly Recap 2016

     I apologize for getting this up a bit late but as you can imagine, the end of the year quickly transitioned into the beginning of the new semester and that has kept me preoccupied for the first week of the year. As I mentioned in last month's recap, December was supposed to be pretty tame. The end of our semester consisted of only two exams and then we finally got three (well deserved) weeks of break. I spent most of the month catching up with the people I hadn't had a chance to spend time with as well as doing things that I had put to the side during the semester. Overall, I felt the month provided the R&R that I will be needing in order to make it through the beast that is second semester (We'll touch more on that later) and provided all the fun and excitement that is expected of the holiday season.

Some of My Favorite Moments

    

 Literally, one of the very first things that I did once I had hit submit on that last exam was meet up with my best friend Elida for some girl time. We spent the day catching up and visiting our alma mater and I cannot begin to tell you how amazing that was. I hadn't been back where I went to undergrad since I had last gone to visit G right before she graduated. Walking around the places that shaped me into the med student that I currently am felt all sorts of amazing and being able to experience that with my best friend just made it even more special.

    

Our favorite burger place was all decked out for Christmas, so I obviously had to get a pic:)

     Later the same night, We celebrated one of our med school friend's birthday and the beginning of winter break. My med school crew went out for a classic girls night of dancing and of course, that is always a blast. I'm very content with our little friend group and I was so happy that we had a chance to celebrate how hard we worked this semester before everyone went off to start their own winter breaks.

My "doctorbread" cookies <3

     As I had a surplus of time, I spent some of it making Christmas cookies. I made three different recipes, but I was super excited about these gingerbread cookies. I had been wanting to make homemade gingerbread cookies for a while now, and the recipe that I found was amazing. From the picture above, I'm sure you can tell that I am obviously very artistic (lol) Not really, but when you're a med student you turn everything medical so I couldn't help giving the cookies a little stethoscope! I made a bunch of cookies and gave them out to friends and obviously ate quite a few myself, hence why January will be filled with many visits to the gym.

Chicago Squad Friendsmas Outing 2016

Maybe one day I'll be tall enough to be the princess</3

     One of my favorite Chicago traditions is the Christkindlmarket that is put up every year in the Daley plaza. Growing up we used to come to look at the cute shops and lights but now as adults, everyone makes sure to come for the Gluhwein (German mulled wine). Every year, people line up for a mug and every year they change the style of the mug which I think is a super cute detail. The market has tons of little shops selling treats and homemade goods. It's always fun to go and have a look around.  This year, I happened to go with two different friend groups this year. For the Chicago Squad, it was only a part of our Holiday celebration. The other half was hanging out at Meg's for wine and gingerbread house decorating as well as a trip to Macy's (R.I.P Marshall Field's) to check out the holiday window displays. 

Our annual Pj Pic

My uncle plays the role of Santa and announces presents

     Christmas came up really quick, but I was really glad that I had time to celebrate it with my family. I was raised in a Nicaraguan household, so we actually celebrate on the 24th. We gather with family, have a nice dinner, open gifts at midnight, and just enjoy each other's company. I feel really blessed that I have the chance to spend Christmas with people that I love so that in itself was an amazing gift.

   

  Finally, I got to celebrate the end of the month by closing out the year with my girls. We had such a great time singing and dancing our hearts out at one of our favorite dueling pianos bar, and I don't think I could've picked a better way to spend it New Year's Eve than with this wonderful group of ladies.  We started the evening collecting our NYE squad at Meg's place (We had a couple different friend groups join in) and then headed out. The four of us also met the next day for our Sunday Family Dinner. Recapping the previous night's events was all sorts of hilarious, but what I loved most was spending the first day of the year with these amazing group of girls. This past year has really built up our friendship in so many ways and knowing that I have such a solid crew makes medical school all the more bearable. So, if you guys are reading this (which I know you are lol), I just want to say thank you for making the past year so amazing and that I love you guys very much <3

Looking Forward

     Not going to lie, the end of the Holiday season was definitely bittersweet as I knew that soon enough after coming back to school, we'll be in full force. I know this semester will be rather busy, but I am excited to continue learning. Sometimes I'm still in awe at the fact that I even get to do any of this, and I think I should spend more time recognizing how lucky I am. I've also made it a goal to change my mindset from thinking about the things that I "have to do" to recognizing them as things that I "get to do." I heard that from one of my favorite bloggers Laura Lacquer and I thought it was brilliant. Not everyone gets the opportunity to become a doctor, so I shall keep that in my mind as I trudge through the class work I have to do this week.

    

     I hope you guys had a wonderful holiday season and I can't wait to show you guys what goes on this next month!

~ Genesis<3

Word for 2017!

     

     One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of each year is to think about what my goals are for the year ahead. As part of that, something that I did at the start of last year was to pick a word that would be my theme for the year. I had seen it over social media and the concept of having a theme as a guiding force seemed like a cool idea. Last year, I picked the word inspire. As I was just starting out my blog and on the verge of beginning my career in medicine, I wanted to personally keep the inspiration going as well as inspire anyone else that happened to stumble upon my blog. I think I did fairly well for the most part, but I will surely admit that my first semester definitely took a toll on my blog presence, but I will definitely forgive myself for that as I was working towards other goals.

     This year, I have chosen the word awareness as my word of the year. Something that really inspired me last year was reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (I even wrote a blog post about it!) and one of the major themes was about listening to what the universe was telling you to do. Something that I've noted as I've been going through life is how everything mysteriously seems to fall into place and things are working in ways that we wouldn't even expect. A story that comes to mind when I think of this is how I met my roommate. Back when I had my first interview for medical school, my roommate and I actually interviewed on the same day. Obviously back then I had no idea that we would end up at the same school, and to be honest we didn't keep in contact. Several months after I got into my current medical school, the school had a mixer for the accepted students and that is where I met my current roommate again. I walked up to her and told her that I remembered her from interviewing at this school together. She admitted that she didn't remember, but that was because it was the first school that I had interviewed at. Regardless, we ended up getting in contact about rooming together before school started and it's been working out rather well ever since. It's crazy that out of the thousands of interviewees that could've been there on the same day as me, we ended up in the same place at the same time on both occasions. I don't know if we can exactly call it divine intervention, but it is certainly a crazy coincidence. This year, I would like to be more aware of what the universe has in the works around me as well as be aware of the things going on in my life. I'm hoping that it'll continue to show me how fortunate I am, but also guide me in my journey this year.

~Genesis<3