Category: Medicine Life

medical school life

Medical School/

Choosing My Medical Specialty

Oh. My. Goodness! Identifying what medical specialty best fits my interest, my priorities, the lifestyle I want, turned out to be very difficult. It is such an important decision and to make it correctly felt like a ton of weight on my shoulders. During third year of medical school, you are taking core rotations but these are NOT the only options. There are a variety of things that you can do with medicine, like sports medicine, hematology, pathology (I will be making a post soon on all the specialities you could go into). We are expected to know what speciality we want by the end of third year, without even having the opportunity to explore other specialties. For example, depending on what school you attend, you might not have emergency medicine as a core rotation, so you would have to wait until your fourth year, once you begin electives to see if that is the speciality for you. Also, other specialties like dermatology, anesthesiology, and so much more, you would have to wait until fourth year to check those out. Medical schools that allow you to do 1-2 weeks of rotation in an elective in-between your core rotations, THEY ARE DOING IT RIGHT!!! This only makes sense, because you might choose a specialty that you think you like but only to find out it isn’t what you thought it was or you aren’t passionate about it.

Something you can do during your summers and times off in basic sciences, is to observe different specialties. In between my basic sciences I observed a dermatologist and a family physician. This was good because the dermatology observership taught me that I needed something far more interesting than skin. Family medicine observership taught me I wanted to not only take care of children, but also adults. This was very helpful. I wish I had done more. All you need is a week really. So, begin to line them up!

Anyway, so, I had to work with what I had and only half way through fourth year did I figure out what I was passionate about. I actually also made a YouTube video sharing the speciality I choose, if you would rather hear me talk about it (click the link). It all worked out in the end, but my story is different and I really hope that you find out your passion sooner because you will need to know by September 15th (towards the beginning of your fourth year) what you are interested in so you apply to that residency program.

How I chose my specialty

During premed years I thought I wanted to be a pediatrician. I love kids and this just felt right. I shadowed a lot of pediatricians and it confirmed that this was the specialty I loved. However, during my FM observership in-between my first and second semester of basic sciences in med school, I realized I want to treat adults as well (this is why you should do as many observerships as possible!!). By the end of second year I knew I did not want pediatrics and dermatology. As I was studying I loved learning endocrinology, cardiology and GI. I kept that in mind and I actually ended up gearing my fourth year electives towards these interest. I did endocrinology and cardiology electives. I had a GI elective set up but I canceled it because I realized what specialty I wanted and instead did sub-I and electives in that specialty.

Once third year began, I began to cross off things that I did not want for sure. Click the links provided below if you are interested to learn about the rotations as well as tips on how to study for the shelf exams and the sources I used.

  • Surgery rotation was my favorite of all the core rotations, however, I knew that was NOT the lifestyle I wanted. I wanted to have a life outside of medicine (this also means that I do NOT want to marry a surgeon either). Surgery.
    (Click here for tips on how to do well on your surgery rotation! and Click here for surgery rotation update experience where I vent a little)
  • Ob/GYN was another favorite, however, I knew waking up 3 in the morning was not something I would learn to love. I LOVE women’s health, but dealing with a very unpredictable schedule would only increase my anxiety that I am trying to take care of. OB/GYN
    (Click here for tips on how to do well on your OB/GYN rotation and sources to use, and Click here for high-yield topics you must study! — These are two separate links for content to help you with getting the best experience).
  • Psychiatry was eye-opening. It was beautiful to see how someone with uncontrolled schizophrenia change to being “normal” once they were properly medicated. This rotation made me realize the importance of drugs that I once looked at as a problem. However, it also taught me that I wanted more medicine based specialty. Also, I don’t think I am strong enough to listen to pain and sorrow that I could not eliminate straight away or even within time. I hold on to pain subconsciously, so I don’t think I could handle so much — I am working on it. Psychiatry.
    (Click here for tips on how to do well on your psychiatry rotation (and high-yield topics you must study!)
  • Pediatrics is another rewarding speciality. I love putting a smile on a kid’s face. They are like a clay that still needs to be molded and I wanted to make an impression in their life. I was always told that parents are the ones you really deal with. This is so very true, but I liked that challenge. I believe to have this ability to comfort people, so I think I would have done well. However, I also want to see adults and treat adult patients as well. Pediatrics.
    (Click here for tips on how to do well on your Pediatrics rotation (and high-yield topics you must study!)
  • Internal medicine was my very first clinical rotation and it was my back-fall residency selection. I used it as my cushion to fall back on. I learned about becoming a hospitalist and that was what I held on to as I crossed off everything else. Endocrinology was another thought, but to specialize into any specialty like pulmonology, endocrinology, cardiology, etc, you need to do 3 years of IM and then a fellowship in that specific specialty. Therefore, I had time to figure what fellowship I would want to go into. I did a sub-I and electives in IM. I loved how much medicine was involved, and I also loved working in the hospital setting. This felt to be the one, however, I kept becoming disheartened as I saw patients on the floor with diseases that could have been prevented. It became more and more important to me to teach and help patients learn about their disease and avoid returning to the hospital for exacerbations in the future. Eventually, I realized that I really want to be at the forefront of preventative care. I want to teach my patients BEFORE they get the disease and if they have the disease then to manage it so that they never end up in the hospital. Internal medicine.
    (Click here for my first vlog of my IM rotation and Click here for my second vlog of IM rotation)
  • Family Medicine was a core rotation I absolutely loved. I felt connected with the patients, some of which I saw again in their f/u appointments within the 6-week rotation. I loved teaching and connecting and making them laugh. It wasn’t just patients with health problems, but also patients needing check-ups. It wasn’t just children, but people of all ages. I could see more of a specific population, like adult females or geriatrics if I wanted to. I liked the flexibility. I liked the relationship I was forming. And I liked the lifestyle. During the rotation itself, I thought about this specialty, but it didn’t really hit me until I did internal medicine elective rotations that it would turn out to be my passion. I was ignoring family medicine for the wrong reasons, like the stereotype it had as well as the salary. Family Medicine felt like the perfect fit for me and finally the light bulb went off!! My heart was set and I got so excited for the future!!!
  • Emergency Medicine is another specialty that I am still interested in, however, I do not want to do this for the rest of my life. It is still something I am going to consider. As a family medicine physician you can do EM in certain areas and if you have a fellowship, you can do it in more areas. I like dealing with crazy situations, but I didn’t know if this was for me forever (also burn out rate is high). SO as the only speciality, it got crossed out, but as an addition, it is still something I am considering. I will find out during residency if this is it. This also holds true to gearing towards women’s health as well during/after residency. Emergency Medicine.
  • Endocrinology was too specific for me and after doing an elective in it, it felt boring. I would definitely get REALLY good at it, but I would also get so bored over time. Endocrinology.

So, what speciality did I choose? Family medicine!

It has the flexibility I want, the broad spectrum fo medicine that I need, the special doctor-patient relationship that I can form! I can do so much with it, including preventative care which is what I REALLY WANT TO BE APART OF! It also has the best lifestyle that I think I will really enjoy. It feels perfect.

This was a long post! I hope that it helped you some way, some how!!! Check out my YouTube channel on all my clinical rotation experiences!! I linked videos above as well as related posts. Let me know if you have any questions! Please, subscribe to my YouTube channel if you find it helpful!

Much Love,
— Mursi

Medical School/

Medelita Scrubs and Lab Coat Review

Hi! You are looking to see if it is worth the money to invest in a Metelita Scrub set and/or white coat. Here is my honest review and you can also check out a haul I made so you can see how they look on.

Click HERE to check out my YouTube Haul of the scrubs and white coat. This is not a sponsored video nor is this blog review.

Break down:
1. Scrub set
2. White Coat
3. Customer service/Interaction with the team.

Metelita has only a few selection for tops and bottoms, however, they are the kind most people gear towards. I love the classic look of a v-cut neckline and although for my scrub bottoms I like the skinnys, I do love their standard leg scrub bottoms as well. I have several scrubs sets and the one I am gearing towards currently are my Metelita scrub sets! I am absolutely in love with the look of the scrubs and ESPECIALLY the comfort. It could literally sleep in them!

As for the Medelita Lab Coat, I like how it makes me feel, meaning it has this boss feel when I wear it. However, it feels super sturdy and heavy. I tried ironing it several times, and it doesn’t look that much better than before. They could definitely go with making it more comfortable. I have used a few different lab coats, and this by far feels the least comfortable. The one I was sent was the Rebecca Slim in size 6. I am NOT discouraging you from getting one. They are still nice, but if comfort is the number one goal, you might do well with a possibly a different pair or a lab coat from Jaanuu. In terms of the size for the Metelita Lab Coats, if you are a size 4, I should get size 6. If you are a size 6, try the size 8. They are nicely fitted for the most part, but if you want to wear a sweater, then you need some room, so going a size up will give you that room.

I genuinely think this brand is filled with a great team of people that want to provide the best products. They are genuine in their work and style. I think that is a very important part of purchasing anything from anyone. You can proudly wear the scrubs knowing not only are you comfortable in them, but you are supporting a great company. Wear things you are proud of. So, the question was, is it worth it? The scrubs: 100%. The lab coat: 85%.

I don’t believe I have a discount code for them, but I will update this post if I do get a discount code. This will provide you guys with some savings if you choose to buy it. And it might compensate me with a very small amount of money as well (who knows).

Check out my Jaanuu Scrub haul and blog post review!

Medical School/

How to Look On-point For Your Next Interview

I think the hottest look is a woman in a suit—BOSS BABE, am I right?! When wearing a suit, whether you are a guy or girl, you just look so much presentable and people just give you this automatic respect. It is like doctors in white coats, automatic respect.

There are three rules to choosing the right suit for you:

  1. You have to look at yourself in the mirror and say “HAWT DAMN, I LOOK AND FEEL GOOD!”. This is absolute. Why? Because in order to bring out the confidence that the suit wants to provide for you, you have to FEEL it. If you feel it to be too tight or too lose, or just not well fitted, KEEP LOOKING. You want to find that suit that makes you feel confident. The suit doesn’t do all the work, it needs you.

    RELATED POST: My YouTube Video of a HM Suits & Slacks Haul
  2. Pick the right color – Black, Navy, Grey, Beige. When you select a color, pick one that goes best with your skin color and features. You can never go wrong with black, but for some people navy blue or grey might look even better. So, don’t just reach out for black. See whether the other colors can make you look even better than that black that we think is the ultimate color for interviews —remember, do not wear any dramatic color choices. Keep away from bright colors! I do like me my black suit though. My go-to right now is all black – top and shoes included.
  3. Flats for women = mehhh! I won’t lie I wore it twice for interviews, and both times I didn’t feel as confident. Heels just makes the outfit. It gives it that UMPH! It just makes it look 10x better, really. Now, I wouldn’t say wear freakin’ stilettos! You still want to be comfortable as you walk around. Now, my older sister who is 5’2” used to wear heels everywhere and her skills in heels is on another level. So, she could get away with it, would I recommend it for those types of people then? NO! Don’t wear more than 2 inches max. I think 1.5 inches is the perfect heel height. You are comfortable and looking like a boss babe. Flats, meh, you will still look amazing if it’s the way you have to go.

What purse? I wouldn’t wear major designers like LV. Keep it simple.

RELATED POST: Looking for cute Sweaters? Check out my Sweater Haul

Let me know how your interview season is going!? Best of luck!

Medical School/

RESIDENCY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Well, hello! Ready for your very first interview? Or another interview that you want to crush!? After going to your first, you will feel the groove of the process and it will get easier and easier. I will say, the nerves sometimes still stick around even on your 8th, but it’s under control and quickly fades.

Here is how I am going to divide this post:

  1. Before the interview
  2. During resident dinner
  3. During the interview
  4. After the Interview

Before the Interview

You need to prepare ahead of time: what you are going to wear, what you are going to ask about, how you are going to get there, where you are going to stay, what time you have to be meeting the residents and where and when do you have to arrive for the interview its self. Get organized! (Check out my youtube video on how to schedule your residency interviews: LINK COMING UP).

What I am going to focus on in this post is the interview and resident dinner in itself. You have to be sure to look at their website and learn about the program if you haven’t done so already. If you don’t do this, you will ask about things that have been answered on their website. And while you need something to ask, it is better to show that you have already looked things up and know a lot of the information. So, instead you can mention that you saw this particular info and ask them “how it works” or “who is involved” or “how you can get involved” or “can you elaborate” etc. Also, during this time of getting to know the program, WRITE THINGS DOWN. These are your notes for yourself that you will look back on when you rank — at least that is what I am doing. I also add to these notes after I have done the interview and give my insight on the program and what I appreciated about it — more on this later. Take a small notebook or a large one, I know a lot of candidates carry one of those portfolio cases. Meh, I just used a small note book that I can carry around. In it I wrote down my notes on the program and then my questions that I wanted to ask.

Keep reading for SOME QUESTION EXAMPLES you can ask during the interviews!

During RESIDENT DINNER

Example QUESTIONS FOR THE RESIDENTS:
— I noticed this program is unopposed/opposed, how are you liking it?
— What is your favorite thing about the program?
— How is the faculty and resident relationship?
— What is life outside of the hospital?
— How often do you guys (residents) get together?
— How is the program about resident wellness? Do they try to integrate resident wellness into the program?
— Do you find the didactics helpful?
— What is something you can change about the program?
— As an intern, do you feel that you are being guided/supported?
— Will you be doing a fellowship? What fellowships have residents of this program gone into?
— What is the living cost in this area?

During the resident dinner, be very much yourself. Throughout the whole interview, be yourself. Enjoy your time. Ask questions. These questions can be more personal and less formal. The really cool residents will let you know, “Hey, ask us anything. We will give you the honest truth. We know what it feels like being in your seat, we did that. So, just relax and ask whatever you want”. Something like that. Pay attention to how they talk amongst each other. You can tell how close they are by how comfortable they are with each other for the most part. Pay attention to how they answer questions. If they are hesitant, they are likely trying to hide their real answer. If they are willing to be honest they will flat out tell you everything without a filter. Pay attention to how tired they look. If they are zombies, most likely you will look like a zombie. Pay attention to their energy, their interest, their complaints, whether they are uptight or easy-going. These are all important because these are the people (unless they are in their last year) that you will be working with. You want to be around people you enjoy working with. This is the most important part of the interview season. For the most part, a lot of the programs will have the standard teaching and etc. but the people make or break the program. Sometimes, you might not get a good feel of the residents because there might only be two of them there. So, the next day when there are more of them around, you can get a better feel. For example, I met two residents during the resident dinner and they were super chill but not really energetic. They were very proper with their question answering. They were really nice though, however, it felt really formal. Then the next day after meeting more of the residents, I got a better picture. So, just keep that in mind.

RELAX. I already said this, but definitely relax and you do not need to sell yourself as this extra-ordinary med student! They don’t care about what you have excelled during medical school, they want to know if you are someone they can be with EVERY SINGLE DAY! So, don’t try to sell yourself to them so hard. Just be who you are and they will appreciate you for that, even if they are different than you. You don’t want to be in a program that is ignorant anyway! So, if they do not like you for who you are, then you will have a hard time there. Even if you desperately want them to like you, don’t show your desperation. Be confident. You are you and you are the only you. So, simply be you. I have seen candidates that are so over the top! Annoying questions, loud-proud, make remarks on so many things, doesn’t shut up; I am totally judging them, but if thats who they are, then who gives a shit in what I think about them. I am still going to make the remark that you should watch your limits, as there are limits to everything. So, me personally, I think being way over the top isn’t often caught all too well. You don’t want to be annoying and over-dramatic, but on the other hand you don’t want to be quiet and shy. You want to find a good medium. Someone that has opinion and doesn’t overly share every time a question is asked. Again, RELAX.

During the INTERVIEW

Example QUESTIONS FOR THE ATTENDING/FACULTY:
— How are the residents evaluated?
— Why did you choose to be apart of this program?
— What do you believe are the strengths of this program?
— What do you believe are the weaknesses of this program?
— Does the program help with loans if residents chooses to stay after residency?
— What are the statistics on first-time board passing?
— How does the program prep their residents to pass their boards?
— Is this program hands on?
— Is this program flexible to making changes for the better for residents, if so, what are some changes that have been made recently?
— How does this program promote resident wellness?
— Are there opportunities to do away rotations/global rotations
— How is the program involved with the community?
— What is the patient population like?
— What is the living cost in this area?
— I am interested in ___ fellowship, how can the program help me get prepared for the fellowship?

BE THERE EARLIER THAN START TIME! This is one of the easiest yet very important thing to do. Don’t be just in time, but be there 5 minutes before. Being late is unprofessional and they will judge you on this, especially if they are a stickler. Just tell yourself you have to be there 15 minutes before you actually have to be there. Be sure to give yourself room to make mistakes getting there, finding the parking lot and traffic. Parking situations are always different. Some are easy but some are a bit difficult to locate or a distant to the building and requires walking. So, for example, you have to be at the lobby at 8:15 AM. You checked before hand the distance and time of travel from your hotel to the hospital/clinic/building. You then check again when you first wake up the time of travel, then add 15-20 minutes to it (10 minutes for potential mistake, walk, locating the parking lot; 5 minutes to getting out of your car, putting on your suit jacket and situating yourself, grabbing gum or mint to freshen up your breath, etc). It is 8:10 and you are now at the lobby 5 minutes before hand! Well done!!! If you are rushing, you will be more anxious then you already might be. So, it is NOT worth it sleeping that extra 20 minutes.

If you are late for reasons you had no control over, call the program coordinator (which means you should have their number already at hand to call, just in case). Let them know! You do not want them waiting for you without knowing where you are, what is going on. I screwed up with one of my interviews—but that will be on another post or conversation.

There might be two of you or 15 of you. If there are a lot of you, this is a group interview, where they will take you one by one to interview. The ones not being interviewed will be either watching a presentation, getting a tour, or just sitting around. It all depends. The more organized the program is, the better the experience.

REMINDER: YOU ARE INTERVIEWING THEM JUST AS MUCH AS THEY ARE INTERVIEWING YOU! You want to know WHY YOU SHOULD PICK THEM just as much!!! Be confident. You are there because they were interested in you. They liked you based on what they saw on your application, now let them know that they made the right choice by sending the invite and show them that they should rank you high. The way to do this is to be yourself, answer the questions honestly but well, show them you have what it takes, why you have what it takes and that you would be an essential to their program. ANDDDD, ask them why you should pick them/rank them high — obviously not directly, but indirectly through your questions. Ask them questions to remind them that you are judging them based on their answers too. Know what I mean? Don’t be over the top, but don’t doubt yourself either. Find a good balance between the two.

QUESTIONS THEY ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO ASK

— Tell me about yourself?
— Why did you choose our program?
— Why did you choose this specialty?
— What do you do for fun?

Other questions they might ask

— What would you bring to the program?
— What are your strengths?
— What are your weaknesses?
— Tell me about a time you have overcome a challenge
— What does failure mean to you?
— What are your hobbies?
— How do you deal with stress?
— What was your favorite rotation and why? ( I just realized that I always answered surgery and realized that they were probably looking for the specialty that I am applying for… I was very honest and I gave my reasoning why and through out the the interview, I made it very clear that this is the very speciality I want even though surgery was my favorite—so I don’t feel bad).
— Where do you see yourself in the future?
— If you have any failures on your board exams, you might get asked about it. Just be honest — tell them you screwed up and how it has changed you for the better, blah blah blah.

I will add more to this list when I think of more in the future.

They will give you a tour of the hospital and clinic. Personally, I judge the program big time based on the hospital. I want to see how the patients are being taken care of and whether it is a place I will want to be in every single day. This is my honest truth. Ask them whether there is a pharmacist that rounds, this is helpful. Ask more of your questions geared towards the hospital, calls, etc here if you haven’t asked already or forgot to ask. Honestly, you need to know the answer to these questions so that you can make your rank list. So, ask questions that are important to you! Don’t be shy. I always ask about the cafe/coffee because that is important to me. I look at the cafeteria as well and the options. This is crucial!! LOL. I am a fat ass and get hangry. I know myself enough that I know what settings I work best in and with good food & coffeeeee = great mood me!

Last thing I would like to address here is to BE KIND to EVERYONE! Smile. Show positive energy. Be excited!!! You have been waiting for this moment to come and HERE IT IS!! Trust me you, I couldn’t wait for this time of the year. I was heart broken last year as I saw some of my friends going through the interview trail and I was sitting around. Here I am doing it myself now and it is so fucking exciting! It is nerve wrecking as well because who know what the future holds but I am enjoying it right now either way. I am here in the present and living this moment that I had been nervous about. No matter how many interviews you have, 1 or 20, just give it your all and what happens will happen. It always works out!

After the interview

You can send them a thank you card, personalized. You can email the program coordinator and than them. You can email the program director and thank them. Some people do, some people don’t. Me personally, I didn’t. I am going to send them a card in January and thank them. I am going to write a card and make it more personal, especially to the programs I absolutely loved. This way I am sending them a reminder and so they didn’t forget about me. Will keep you posted on what I do in the future if you guys are interested in knowing.

Thank you guys for taking the time to read this and I do hope that you found this informative. Keep me in your prayers if you did enjoy this post <3 and found it helpful. That will mean a lot to me!

Let me know your thoughts and if you have questions or helpful tips!

Much love
— Mursi

Medical School/

OnlineMedEd Case X Review

If you are a fourth-year medical student you are very much thinking this: “Omgosh, I am forgetting all that I have studied for the USMLE exams!!”

Dude, I get you. I am struggling to get the motivation to get back to studying mode (USMLE Step 3).

I don’t want to lose all that I have learned! One of my biggest pet-peeve as a 3rd year was hearing 4th-year med students excusing themselves from not remembering concepts because they are done with taking USMLE exams. True that while one is studying it is fresh on your mind, but just because exams are over, it shouldn’t mean you can become stupid — (harsh words, Mursi). It just bothered me so much because we need to know medicine for a living… With that said . . . here I am after just finishing my fourth-year, I am becoming stupid. LOL. Well, at least it feels like I am slowly getting my knowledge drained out of my brain cells.

THIS NEEDS TO STOP. NOW.

My plan to get my shit back together and not be a hypocrite: I have started doing Case X, a newly added study material from OnlineMetEd. Case X is good for 4th years, new residents, older residents, even attendings (why not?). As I am studying for Step 3, I will be adding Case X by doing 1-2 cases a day on weekdays. I want to go thoroughly through each case — this is the plan, for now.

I have done several and here are my thoughts so far on Case X by OnlineMedEd:

Honestly: this is absolutely great so far. This is the real deal. This is the real world studying, no more multiple choices. This is you getting your brain cells working and coming up with reasonings based on your knowledge and problem solving. This is your favorite resident/attending during clinical years making you think by asking you all the right questions. This is you being challenged and then learning from your mistakes. This is you reading well-explained reasoning behind the thought process. It is easy to follow and does not feel overwhelming.

Not all of us can open a textbook and read page to page and feel accomplished. Most of us, I included, can’t even get a textbook opened, let alone go through so much material. Case X allows you to take a case at a time. No overload. Just a section at a time with questions to go with each case.

Let me show you a case here, plus a cool perk.

OME provide videos with each case. This is a great tactic because this gives you that visual to trigger your recall when you get a similar real case in real life. You will remember the steps to make the right diagnosis, go through the right management steps, etc.

This is a Case under Cardiology section of Internal Medicine (PS. you will see the diagnosis).
A history of present illness provided after you have watched the video.
You get the full history to go through, including physical exam.
You get questions, but you can only see a question at a time. Once you have thought about the question and answer it to yourself you can click on it to see the answer. This will then unlock the next question.
These are all the locked questions that will only unlock once you have answered the previous questions.
You can click on the icon in the right lower corner to open up a note section to take notes to look back on later. You can exit out and it will save it for you there.
I exited out… look at next screenshot.
Clicked on the notes again.
Woot, woot! I like this.
Then it ends off with key points at the end. And you can give a feedback as well.

OME is doing it again, bring great content!

You can check out their website www.onlinemeded.com. Let me know your thoughts and how you are going to schedule this in.

Much love,
Mursi

Medical School/

Elective Clinical Rotation In the UK

My medical school recently added an elective rotation in a small town in England called Corby. There is a massive family medicine practice here called Lakeside Healthcare. You can do a 4-week elective rotation, which is what I did. Medical students from Cambridge and Leicester medical schools rotate here, and now students from my school can as well. Let’s just state it here and now, you are exposed to so many patients in this rotation, AND the most impressive part is that Lakeside Healthcare takes it to another level with their teaching: Medical students have their own rooms and system access to see patients by themselves before the general practitioners (GP) see them. Read on for schedule and experience.

As a Caribbean Medical student, you can be exposed to multiple hospital/clinic practices and I have traveled from NY (Richmond University Medical Center, Kingsbrook Jewish Hospital), to Michigan (Pontiac General Hospital), to Maryland (University of Maryland Medical Center). And now I have just finished my medical school career with my very last rotation in United Kingdom. All of which were my own choosing. This has multiple advantages of seeing how different hospitals run and it brings different exposure that you might not get by being in one single medical practice. Lakeside Healthcare was the first rotation where medical students are a huge part of the practice. It felt good.

A typical day in this elective: Come at 7:45 AM, log on to the medical record system and open the first patient’s chart. Call the patient in and grab history and physical exam. Then document it on their chart. Then present it to the attending either in front of the patient or before the patient is seen by the attending. After the presentation, we are asked about the potential diagnosis and indicate the next step in management. The physician then agrees or corrects. Then they talk to the patient for any further information and provide the final diagnosis and management. The patient then leaves the room and the physician briefly talks about the topic with the medical student. Then repeat! The medical student gets a full 15 minutes consultation time and then the attending gets 15 minutes of consultation time, which totals to 30 minutes with the patient. This is beneficial both for the patients, medical students and the general practioners. The patients get more face time and do not feel rushed; the students get the practice; the physicians get more information. Then after seeing patients for the morning, you go out for lunch, then come back and have a lecture on a topic.

During one of my patient encounterance, I went full Dr. Mursi, MD mode, where I counseled a pre-teenager whose mom had brought her in for depression. Initially I was in medical student mode, getting the history. However, realizing their intentions, I took full control of the appointment while charting everything that was discussed for the general practitioner (GP) to see. It felt really good to know I helped open doors to better conversations between mom and daughter. I was confident in my diagnosis of grief, provided some counseling and indicated the next step in management (of course, I informed the patient that the GP would make the final decision). This along with many of my other patient encounterance reminded me where I belong in the world of medicine. I am really excited to practice and have my own patients. I feel very content. It was also always fun to have the patient ask me where my accent was from.

Side note: In just about all of my rotations (especially fourth year) the patients I encounter, I indicate what I believe their diagnosis may be. Then tell them the next step in management. However, I always state that the GP will confirm this. This way, as a student, I am practicing diagnosing disease/conditions. I am practicing confidence, and also simply showing my knowledge to self and my patient. Often the patients will point out, “oh yeah, that’s what the medical student said”. This also makes you look good with the resident or attending you are working with.

Things I really appreciated:

  1. The patient exposure and student involvement. Rather than simply being asked to just observe patient and doctor interactions and then sometimes get asked to see a patient and present on them, students are expected to take history and physical and make a diagnosis and write up notes on the patient. Then they are expected to present it and indicate the next step in management. This is intimidating but you gain so much from it including confidence, knowledge and more efficient style of approaching patients. You are part of the schedule. It is always nice to be wanted as a medical student (doesn’t often happen)
  2. The coffee breaks! I think this is such a good idea to integrate into practice to allow for a breather for the physicians and the students.
  3. They provided access to a taxi cab company, which allowed me to travel within Corby. I just had to ring up the cab company and within minutes the cab was waiting for me! This was really convenient and it allowed me to venture out into the town center and etc. It definitely made it more comfortable to be there.
  4. They provided access to the swimming pool and the gym. This was great because I have been wanting to tone up and get healthier and it is located right by the practice. I simply walked over to the gym after work and then called the cab from the gym to get to the housing. It felt like a very productive day after work and the gym. I didn’t use the swimming pool so much, but it is one of the biggest one I have seen (it is an olympic size swimming pool).

Overall, it was one of my favorite rotation experiences. I do wish that I didn’t have two weeks of observation. This was due to my start date. I started with one set of students, who were on their last week of their 12-week rotation. Then I began with the next set of group. I ended up doing 2 weeks of observation. I was waiting to see patients on my own. I think it will be different for the next set of students as it will most likely be coordinated differently.


I definitely have to add that I am really grateful to have gotten this opportunity to see what medicine is like in the United Kingdom. I don’t think I can begin to explain how exciting it has been and the amazing opportunity I have been given. It was a pleasure to meet new people and get to know their thoughts in medicine and just as human beings. I have more thoughts and that will come in more blog posts.

Medical School/

My Last Clinical Rotation of My Medical School Career is in the Unit​e​d Kingdom!

I am an American medical student doing my last medical school clinical rotation in the United Kingdom. How crazy is that? I am currently in ENGLAND! I have been sulking for the past year and a half about traveling and wanting to come to England, and here I am, not just traveling but actually experiencing medicine in the UK.

Here is how it happened:
My medical school sent out a notification about an opportunity to do an elective in the UK in May-ish of 2018. One of my friends brought it up during my family medicine core rotation. Shortly after I emailed my clinical coordinator and said, I WANT IN! After about 10 months of going back and forth with emails, it was finally confirmed that I would be going to a small town in England called Corby (it took forever because I am the first person to be doing this from my school and there is a lot of paperwork involved). Corby, UK holds a portion of a very large practice, called Lakeside Healthcare Surgery [Fun fact: Surgery is an interchangeable word which also stands for “practice” in the UK].

The rotation is a 4-week family medicine elective. I am in my second week of the elective rotation and I am learning so much! I will be sharing my experience and what I have learned. Let’s start with what they call Family medicine. Family medicine = general practice – meh, not too far different. The family doctors are galled GPs (General practitioners) here in the UK.

In terms of the practice of medicine itself, yes, very different. KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR MY POST ON THE DIFFERENCE. It is quite interesting.

However, in terms of travels, living situation and etc, here are the details there:
— Housing is offered by the hospital for $170 dollars/week. It is a townhouse set up that you share with 3 Leicester Medical School students.
— Additional offers with your stay here includes gym and pool membership (which is SUPER nice), and Taxi fairs are provided for you to get back and forth to the hospital and into town, grocery stores. This last one is THE BEST, because since I can’t drive it is really helpful.
— The town itself is not big and doesn’t seem to have the greatest reputation, but it is safe and in my opinion, nice. Although, I do have to say the diversity here is SLIM.
— London is about 1.5 hours away by train and train ticket is not expensive.
— In terms of tuition, no additional fees. Of course housing is an addition, but that usually.
— There is a stippen of $500 towards your flight that my school gave.

I have been trying to vlog the experience, but it has been hard because I have been getting really involved with life here and it has been just SUCH an incredible experience. I can’t even explain the feeling. Just a fair warning in case you do this and you don’t find it as exciting –I have been wanting to live in the UK for a long time now. So, I am using this experience to just “live” in the UK. LOL. I think you will love it if you end up doing something similar.

I am going to end this post here. Come back for more updates on my 4-week elective rotation in England. PS, if you are from my school and want more information, DM me on my IG: @MursiMedical

Much love,
Mursi

Medical School/

Step 2CK Study Schedule | 1 Month

Hi, you guys!

I apologize for the delay in this topic. I will have a youtube video and IG post on this topic this month (February 2019). You can catch any one of them to learn how to schedule your study time for Step 2CK. The links provided below. Let’s get started!

First of all, YOU NEED TO PICK THREE MAIN SOURCES:
1. A review book (ONLY ONE)
2. UWorld qbank
3. A video source (OnlineMedED, Osmosis)

One of the worst things you can do is have too many resources. This will not be beneficial. After completing each rotation and studying for each rotation with your chosen textbook for that particular rotation, you should have the details under your belt by now. You now need to solidify the information you have in this dedicated 1-month study time. So, please do yourself a favor and pick just one review book –trust me. Honestly, it does NOT matter what anyone has said in regards to which they think is better. Everyone has their own preference. I have heard just about all of the options attested for. See if classmates above you or a library carries them, and look at a few pages in each and see what you like in terms of your own preference.

Once you decide on one, stick to it and STOP BOUNCING AROUND. Read it thoroughly and front to back. Divide the pages up for the number of days you have. Do questions EVERYDAY!! And review each day any of the notes you made for the day and in addition to the past days. It builds up and fast so stick to it. As you go each day, stop reviewing anything that you have understood well– what we could do is feel better about ourselves by studying what we are good at and avoiding the ones we are not good at (NO BUENO). At this point, you would be wasting time. Learn and keep reviewing things you are not good at.

So, here I have built a layout schedule above where you can insert the topics and build it very specific to you. You can look at this layout as you build your schedule in this empty one below.

I am also providing a sample one that is how I basically scheduled my own here below to get an idea. I also have the 7 most important topics which are the bulk of Step 2CK exam. It is important to have these under your belt because a lot of the questions will come from these topics.

Remember, ultimately, it isn’t about the time you spent, it is the amount of efficient time you spent. Don’t sit in front of your desk and assume you are doing the work when really you are not focused. Put a timer on and study in intervals and give your brain some break as well (more on this topic in a future post)! Come back again for more posts on helpful tips on how to study/how to manage your time/etc.

I hope in writing I didn’t come off mean. You got this!! Focus and soon enough it will be over and you can chill for a bit!!! <3

Check my other social media for more:

Instagram
Youtube Channel


Much love,
Mursi

Medical School/

Surgery Rotation Expereince​

My most favorite memory of all time.

This rotation was one of the toughest, but it ended up being my most favorite and memorable rotation. It was tough because of the hours, the chief residents yelling at you and the amount expected of you. It can break you or it can make you stronger. Depending on your attitude towards it, it can really affect your rotation experience.

I never considered surgery. It is not a lifestyle I care for and nor is it something I am passionate about. However, I LOVED the surgeries. I was fascinated and I think I could have been a good surgeon. I can’t say great because I think you need love for what you do to be great at it. You can disagree with this statement and be correct. Let me give you a breakdown of a typical day then go into some stories.

When the surgeries are all over then the lectures start. Once the lectures are over, you go home. The decision then is to sleep, eat or shower.

Depending on what week you are in, you will get scheduled 9 weeks of Floors, 1 week of SICU (surgery intensive care unit), 2 weeks of Surgery Clinic week, one day of anesthesia (you can get more days if you are interested in anesthesia). Our days began at 5 AM and ended at 7:30 PM. We had M&Ms (Morbidity and Mortality conference) on Mondays 7 – 830 AM. Every Thursday we had 1-4 PM clinic that all the students on the floors went to. We had lectures Tuesdays – Thursdays from 4 PM – 7:30 PM, but often it ended later, even up to 9:30/10 PM.

Everyone had 10-13 CALL NIGHTS. Call nights started 3 PM until 7 AM the next day. On Weekends, day calls started from 8 AM to 5 PM and night calls start at 5 PM and ended at 8 AM the next day.

Story time

I got yelled at a few times during morning rounds by the Chiefs. One was a full out lecture on how I need to improve. It was, of course, harsh. I went with the mindset that it was going to be tough rotation and I would get called out for my mistakes and that I wouldn’t take it to heart. Instead of taking it to heart, I would learn from it and just do better next time. SO, here is the full story: One morning during the presentation, the chief residents had switched (we got new ones). This one was extra loud and yelled. A few people presented before me. The one right before me got yelled at and told she did a horrible job and picked on EVERYTHING she said from the start to finish. Then, OF COURSE, it was my turn! I tried to keep calm. I started and I thought I was doing decently until I presented the physical exam. There was an older PA (physicans assistant) as well rounding with us, and she started to make comments on things that I hadn’t gotten to yet. So, I said, yes I am getting to it. Then it all began. I got criticized for EVERYTHING and initially, I started to defend myself then I just tried my best to stay quiet. It was hard to stay quiet, but it felt that if I were to say anything it would be perceived as disrespect. And for the most part, the chief resident pointed important things that I needed to do better on. It was just frustrating when they didn’t give you the chance to say some of the things you were planning on saying but hadn’t because they remarked on it first. UMMMM HELLO, LET ME FINISH.

Moral of the story: Don’t take it personally. Don’t let it bother you too much. Learn from the lesson and be honest with yourself. It is going to be a tough rotation, and be excited about the challenge. I know medical student friends that had rotations in a hospital that they barely even scrubbed in on one proper surgery. I saw at least 10 surgeries per week. Sometimes you had surgeries from 7AM – 7PM!! Depending on the surgery case, you had several back to back or just one surgery that lasted all day. One of the surgeries I scrubbed in on was 8 hours long!! It was a vascular surgery. Those are always long. Ahhh, good times!! It was a tough rotation, but all in all, it was one of my most favorite memories of clinical rotations.

PS. if you are about to start surgery soon, be ready to feel like a badass.

PSS. There is another reason why I loved surgery core rotations so much. It has to do with the very first picture I have on here. Remember, to always keep striving and do your best to get the best out of every situation.

Medical School/

How To Take UWorld Notes

When studying for USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK, UWorld is the ultimate QBank that is used by medical students worldwide. Why UWorld? Simply because it has all the high yield topics and amazing explanations! With that said, let me tell you how I took my UWorld Notes.

YouTube Video coming soon.

I had not taken extensive notes during Step 1 preparation using UWorld. The notes shown above were for Step 2CK. However, you can use the same idea for Step 1.

What you need:

  1. UWorld QBank
  2. Microsoft Word Document
  3. Patience

There is a trick that I will show you which will allow you to capture the diagrams, pictures & charts and place them in your notes, keep reading…

As I went through my clinical rotations, I did UWorld questions for that core subject. For example, pediatrics – after watching Online MedEd and doing the basic learning, I started doing questions during the second week. And as I did questions, I would take notes on the following questions:

  • questions I got wrong
  • questions I got right but took too long to answer
  • questions I guessed right
  • questions I got right but still needed better understanding of the topic.

Organization is important.
Depending on the core subject, if there were subtopics, such as Peds Pulmonary, Peds Renal, I would categorize them alphabetically and then as I did questions, I would “Control F” and search the subtopic to get me to that particular page and then continue the notes. This keeps it organized and helped when I went back to review particular topics. I made one Microsoft Word document per core subject, and within each document, it was divided per subtopics. EXCEPT, for internal medicine, I made individual sections (one Word Document per system — Endocrinology, Cardiology, etc. This allowed for easier printing).

Let’s say I got a question flat out wrong. I would read the explanation portion that was short and to the point and learn the reason for the right answer. Then I would go straight to the answer choice I selected to read why that was the wrong answer. This allowed me to quickly review before beginning my notes. Then I would read further and start typing a quick synapse of the question at hand and then try my best to explain it in my own words without rewriting the explanation. I used indentations as seen in the photo above. The best and most effective part was taking notes on why the other choices were incorrect. I wrote this out under “differential diagnosis ...”

“Differential diagnosis for a rash that started out on the patient’s face and traveled to the rest of the body”:


This allowed me to associated certain findings with the right diseases or flat out say “this symptom is NOT seen in a patient with ____ because …” Do you see what I am getting at?

Here is the TRICK to putting those charts and diagrams from UWorld Qbank in your Microsoft word document: (Follow the sample screenshots I took below to help you).

  1. Click on “Insert” tab
  2. Look for the camera drop down
  3. Select the one that has the picture you want.
  4. Then crop the picture so that you only include the diagram itself and nothing extra

As you continue to make notes, you will figure out your own preferences. This requires patience and the most benefit comes from typing out the explanations in your own words. Don’t worry about repeatedly explaining the concepts, because it will help you learn the topic more and more. You will find that you will type less on those topics as you go on because you have come to learn it really well as you see more questions on it. Only now, you need to learn the details that you still seem to be getting wrong. Know what I mean?

As you go through your core rotations, you will accumulate a giant binder!! Then once you are prepping for Step 2CK, you will already have your notes ready and you will do the qbank for a second time and review your notes you already took. I turned the Word Documents into PDF and printed them out after finishing each system.Review, review, review. You did not make all those notes to have them sitting there!!!


I hope that was helpful!! See you in the next post!!


Much love,
– Mursi