This week was a little unusual for two reasons. First, we did not have an exam. Second, I was away at a conference the previous week, presenting my research. Therefore, I spent a lot of time catching up on things (e.g. sleep, errands etc.).
Monday
11:30AM: Wake up and walk my dog
12PM: Eat breakfast/lunch and answer emails
Hi Again! You will in this post see how things look during the final week of classes. You will notice there’s a lot less happening in my schedule other than classes/studying during this time because it is crack-down mode! And then STEP 1 Board Preparation begins! I have allotted myself 4 weeks for Board studying after classes are over.
Monday
9-10am: Pulmonary lecture- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
The following is the first in a two-part reflection piece written by Kamini Doobay, Class of 2015, during her Art and Science of Medicine (ASM) class.
“Breathe with your patient – with your stethoscope placed correctly. In and out….and again, in and out.”
As I fumbled to get my earpiece in correctly and gently place the cold stethoscope on Mr. T’s back, Dr. Fierer spoke these words. Breathe with my patient? I nodded in acceptance, for he knew what he was doing and I clearly did not. My skepticism and self-doubt was not obvious. No one – the doctor, the patient or my fellow classmates – could tell that all I was thinking was,”How can I breathe with my patient and listen at the same time?”
Monday
9-11am: Endocrinology lectures
Woke up late! So missed the first hour of lecture. But totally not worried, can watch the video recording online or just look at the course syllabi text.
Monday
The day began with four hours of the new module – physiology. From the very beginning, I was thoroughly enthralled by the material. I was that little child who asked “but whyyy” many times a day and physiology fulfilled that very question.
At 3 pm, a session was held to teach us how to go about preparing an abstract for our summer research project. Not only was it useful for my writing but even more importantly, it had me ruminating on the many different parts of my research projects.
My preceptor went ahead to double check whether the patient was willing to speak with me. I heard a woman’s voice and tried to imagine what she looked like-was that a Caribbean accent I heard? My preceptor drew back the curtain and introduced me to the patient. Then he turned and strolled out of the room to leave me alone with Mrs. Washington.*
