What a fantastic day!
And to think that I was about to miss it in its entirety… That’s right. I have to quickly learn that I won’t be hand-held in medical school. See, back in the college days, administration made sure to send you reminder emails. Don’t forget about your ORIENTATION scheduled for this day of the week!
Oops.
Thank goodness for message boards that are created among students (most famously in facebook groups). I happend to see a post from another fellow student mentioning that she had UHP’s Orientation to attend today. Wait a second. UHP. That rings a bell…
Yeap. After typing “orientation” into the search function of my gmail, I found the information I needed burried deep in the midst of July emails.
Urban Health Program Orientation
Monday, August 17, 2008
8:30AM – 12:00PM
Levis Faculty Center
This is the part where, at 1:30AM, I giggled nervously and thought, “Oh, expletive.” So much for my keeping up with information right away! Therefore… note to self: Keep a track of your stuff! PLANNERS, lady, PLANNERS!
There we go. I made it!
As I took the picture, I got a nervous smile from another student who was passing by. Bernadette is the first fellow classmate that I have formally met in the program! She was just as nervous as I was, which made me feel infintely better. It was a common theme that we could both grab onto and start conversing over making small talk unnecessary.
We went up to the second floor where we found another fellow classmate, Kimberly. Over the next twenty minutes, the others in the program gathered, administration included. At the table where I sat, I had the pleasure to get to know Rosalynd, Maddy, Bernadette, and Kimberly. We had a great ice breaker a few hours later where we got to know some of the most interesting things about each individual in the room. I actually enjoy these topics because I can now say that I’ve done something amazing (cycle across the country on behalf of the ACS). That always makes for great conversation!
In any case, I want to take a moment to list some helpful tips/advice that I learned during the orientation, if nothing than for my own benefit.
- The Deans are unbelieveably helpful and supportive! Their goal (among many others) is to get your through medical school at your highest potential. Count on them for anything.
- If you find that you need it, don’t be afraid or ashamed to seek help. Do it the soonest that you possibly can. The Deans/Staff are not there to be punative or to put you down. They will help you find a way to help yourself.
- Start studying on your very first day. Don’t wait! Jump in sprinting and be prepared to keep up the pace for a long, long time.
- The MCAT is not a good predictor of how you will do in medical school, regardless of what “they” say. (This is a GREAT consolation to me because I don’t usually do well on standardized exams. Therefore, I will not let a “little test” define my potential.
- The tricky thing about medical school is not necessarily mastering the information you will learn. It is in mastering a large amount of information in a small amount of time and retaining it “forever.” You simply cannot “learn and dump” as is traditionally accustomed in college.
- Time management is key. Be realistic about what else you want to accomplish in your day and you will be able to manage your education and your life.
- Make use of the Urban Health Program’s workshop in study skills. Learn about your learning style so that you might be able to more efficiently and successfully study. Do this NOW! While we’re on the topic, invest in some study skills book. They will be well worth your time (and money).
- Go to anatomy lab. Go to anatomy lab. Go to anatomy lab. Go to anatomy lab!!!! (Cannot stress this enough).
- (Wow, it’s storming super hard again! Beautiful!)
- (Whoop… there goes the lightning and thunder!)
Probably, the best “quote” that I got out of this entire student panel discussion was this:
The light at the end of the tunnel is not the end of the tunnel. It’s just another train coming towards you!
In other words, people, be prepared for an arduous process, put in what you want out of it, and you will reap the benefits! Ney, in this case, others will reap the benefits! (You do want to be a doctor to help others, right?)
Now, onto other things like, oh you know… passing your M1 year! (M1 is a term used for medical students who are in their first year).
The grading system is based on a pass/no pass system. There are three levels: Outstanding, Satisfactory, and Unsatisfactory. Obtain a minimum of 60% of all possible points for the course and you pass (except for anatomy lab in which case you must pass each term independently in order to move on to the next).
One of the things that the students said is that at some points, it will get to a point where you will have to “triage” your classes. For example, you may be set to pass in Class A at 65/100 points but in Class B you have 30/100 points. What do you do? Focus on Class B and “ignore” Class A for a little while until you get at least 60/100 points in Class B. It’s a completely differnt concept for me…. very alien. But won’t that mean that you have a 65% in Class A?! Yes. But it won’t matter because you’ll have passed anyway. I mean, clearly the goal is to do as well as possible in every class, but do you really want to get 95/100 points in Class A and only get 55/100 points in Class B and then have to redo the entire year because you failed to pass that one class? The deficit in my bank account says, “I don’t think so!”
I should probably mention at least a little bit of the other information the orientation had to offer us.
- There are multiple opportunities for workshops and progress meetings – make use of them.
- The UHP provides a lending library to all UHP students. We are able to check out M1 textbooks and make use of the library for mentoring/studying purposes.
- There are two committees available through the UHP: Social and Outreach Committee and Web Page Development. I wish I could join the later, but I have no useful knowledge in that area. However, I am looking forward to participating in the former one!
- “UHP provides a mentorship program. The program facilitates connections between M1 students and physicians of color and physicians experienced in working with diverse patient populations. In informal meetings, the student and physician will develop a partnership in learning through which the student can learn about the many facets of medical practice, issues of cultural competency, health care delivery, a medical speacialty; and, if possible, observe the physician in the clinical setting.” (From the phamphlet).
So in summation, the orienation basically delivered this message: It’s gonna be a long, hard road, but we’re here for you every step of the way. Enjoy!
And enjoy I will.
After the orientation, a bunch of us opted for obtaining our i-Card, or in other words, for getting our student ID. Led by a member of the student panel, we crossed through the school’s main quad and went to the bookstore where the IDs were distributed. Here are a few pictures of the quad area:
I now have my ID and am an official medical student! I’d show you my card, but there is too much personal identifying information on it. I can, however, tell you that it is blue and orange (the school’s colors) and that it states: “College of Medicine.” Woo hoo!
Lunch followed that adventure. We were taken to a great sushi place, one that is sure to become a favorite of mine (at least when the budget allows). Below is a picture of the great group of fellow students I was with:
Oh, and let’s not forget the food, hmm??!
(It was delicious).
And just for kicks, here’s a picture that I took of one of the girl’s drinks (because I found it so pretty). You be the judge.
Chispirita Dares to Dream 