Monday, July 18, 2011
good things come [to those who wait]
after arguable one of the most difficult times in my life these past few months, it feels as though life has begun again. I passed my USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Exam) with my goal score and while I'm still waiting on my COMLEX, which I need to pass to be licensed (they seriously can't tell me until the first week of August?!), I know that I have much to be thankful for. I have started my rotations and this month I am on Psych (which I absolutely LOVE) down in San Diego. If I didn't want to go abroad and didn't think that I hopefully will love my family med rotation, psych would be a pretty serious contender as a specialty. The clinic that I'm working out now is small, in the ghetto, seriously helping people, and I absolutely love it. I mostly just listen to the psychiatrist and add a little here and there, and help facilitat the support groups which is pretty awesome too (minus Friday when a woman told me she saw a man in a chair that wasn't there...). But all in all I love rotations and it's so nice to love life again :)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
[hardest year ever]
since it's been oh-so-long since I've had time to post anything (and lets be honest, I don't really now), I thought I would update the world wide web on my activities:
Since September when I last blogged I have worked as a tutor for another student in my class, rocked our neurology course, found out that I'm doing my third year rotations at long beach, with potentially some rotations in the bay area, ran 3 races, been nearly pushed over the edge with stress, lost nearly 10 pounds and tried to deal with/overcome the emotional component of being a medical student in definitely the hardest part of my academic journey so far.
it's been a long 9 months.
all that being said, and despite all the stress I've been under and as pushed to the breaking point that I've felt (and I'm sure will continue to feel), I have so much to be thankful for and the Lord has no where near let me down yet. In fact, when I feel like I'm at the end of my rope and not good enough or smart enough or sane enough to deal with all that med school entails, He reminds me of His words to Moses in Exodus 4: "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Is it not I, the LORD? Now, GO; I will teach you what to say"
Some days reminding myself of that truth and living as though I believe it are easier than others, but it's a process and I'm growing and learning and thankful for all those alongside me on the way.
Hopefully my next blog will be from beautiful sunny Southern Californa :)
Since September when I last blogged I have worked as a tutor for another student in my class, rocked our neurology course, found out that I'm doing my third year rotations at long beach, with potentially some rotations in the bay area, ran 3 races, been nearly pushed over the edge with stress, lost nearly 10 pounds and tried to deal with/overcome the emotional component of being a medical student in definitely the hardest part of my academic journey so far.
it's been a long 9 months.
all that being said, and despite all the stress I've been under and as pushed to the breaking point that I've felt (and I'm sure will continue to feel), I have so much to be thankful for and the Lord has no where near let me down yet. In fact, when I feel like I'm at the end of my rope and not good enough or smart enough or sane enough to deal with all that med school entails, He reminds me of His words to Moses in Exodus 4: "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Is it not I, the LORD? Now, GO; I will teach you what to say"
Some days reminding myself of that truth and living as though I believe it are easier than others, but it's a process and I'm growing and learning and thankful for all those alongside me on the way.
Hopefully my next blog will be from beautiful sunny Southern Californa :)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Block I -- DOMINATED!
Well second year is in full swing!! After 7 exams in 4 days (plus one a week for the previous two weeks), block one is finally complete and I have achieved my first med school A's! In general, I'm a straight 85 kid on all my tests (which I'm totally happy with), but this for this Neuroanatomy exam, Angela and I were in the library for WEEKS before, studying and we were rewarded with 96 ON OUR EXAMS!!!!!!! SO SO excited and proud!!! It's especially encouraging because this semester is Neuro and Muscoloskeletal and is supposed to be our hardest semester ever so it's exciting to know that a)I can do it, and b)I have a nice buffer for our next few impossible exams :) So life is good! After our intense block weeks, this weekend we had a nice break and Mumsy came up to visit! We spent the weekend walking and eating our way through San Francisco so that was super fun, and now we only have 2.5 days of classes, then Wednesday I fly home to see the fam, then fly again Thursday night to spend my Fall Break in DC with Megy! So excited!!! :D
White Party with three of my favorites
pre-Block exhaustion in the library
Roommates!
Mumsy came to visit! <3
White Party with three of my favorites
pre-Block exhaustion in the library
Roommates!
Mumsy came to visit! <3
Walking the bridge
So all in all, life is really good! Now I just need to buckle down in studying for boards and figuring out where I want to go next year for my rotations!
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Block 3, Summer in AFRICA, and Back To School!
Wow, it's been so long since I have had a second to blog!!! To start -- great news: I passed block 3 and thus my first year of medical school!!! SO so exciting and such a relief to know that I can do it :) The last few weeks of school were crazy -- lots of Africa fundraisers, lots of hours in the library studying, a surprise birthday party for Robin, a midnight run to see Sex and the City 2, and of course, lots of celebrating after all of our exams! My parents even came up to see me off the 2 days before I left for AFRICAAAAA :)
getting sushi the night before I left!
AFRICA. What an experience that was.....it was amazing but much harder than I expected. Shirati, the town we were in working at the hospital for 3 weeks was not super poor by African standards, but by American standards, it was still a major culture shock....but we got to do a lot of cool rounds in the hospital, and I even got to help deliver twins!!
on a 24hour layover in Cairo
the kids were my favorite :)
they loved my glasses. I almost took the kid on my lap home ;)
assisting in surgery :)
handing out donations at the leprosy ward :)
our "bathroom" -- no running water, and you bucket the same place you go to the bathroom!
we even got to go on safari and see the sunset over the Serentgeti!
drinking coconut milk in Zanzibar!
All in all it was an amazing trip and I feel so blessed to have finally gotten the opportunity to go to Africa and work in a hospital, like I've wanted to my entire life :)
Since I've been back, I've been busy hanging out with Mumsy and my girlfriends at home, flying to DC to celebrate Megy's birthday, then flying to Michigan to visit my dad and the fam there, then back home for a few days to see Aunt Diane and Unka and the Long Beach fam, then driving to Tucson to see Holl and Kev, then back home, and now I'm driving back up to Vallejo, getting ready to start my SECOND YEAR! ahhh so stressful but exciting!
This was one of my favorite passages in Africa (espeically since people really DID faint in surgery there...thankfully not me ;)) --
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
getting sushi the night before I left!
on a 24hour layover in Cairo
the kids were my favorite :)
they loved my glasses. I almost took the kid on my lap home ;)
assisting in surgery :)
handing out donations at the leprosy ward :)
our "bathroom" -- no running water, and you bucket the same place you go to the bathroom!
we even got to go on safari and see the sunset over the Serentgeti!
drinking coconut milk in Zanzibar!All in all it was an amazing trip and I feel so blessed to have finally gotten the opportunity to go to Africa and work in a hospital, like I've wanted to my entire life :)
Since I've been back, I've been busy hanging out with Mumsy and my girlfriends at home, flying to DC to celebrate Megy's birthday, then flying to Michigan to visit my dad and the fam there, then back home for a few days to see Aunt Diane and Unka and the Long Beach fam, then driving to Tucson to see Holl and Kev, then back home, and now I'm driving back up to Vallejo, getting ready to start my SECOND YEAR! ahhh so stressful but exciting!
This was one of my favorite passages in Africa (espeically since people really DID faint in surgery there...thankfully not me ;)) --
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Block 2 and Spring Break!
Don't know how I would survive without these two -- my roommate and tooth-brushing-bathroom-buddy, Angela, and best friend here, Robin :)
So good to be reunited with my best friend!
We really love her! (you can read more about their love here!)
We even had a late-night Easter egg hunt!! :)Seeing Hollyanne and Kevin was an awesome start to my spring break and the awesomeness continued with lots of fam time:
friend time:
and just all around amazingness :)
friend time:
and just all around amazingness :)After my awesome week at home, it was time to head back up to school and hit the books again. We have an exam next Friday on all the "bugs and drugs" related to respiratory infections, and let me tell you, there are a lot! So, as usual, my time has been pretty well consumed with studying (the other day in the library the president of the student government here looked at me and said: "wow you really live in the library, don't you?" .....yes, yes I do, thank you for pointing out what a nerd I am).
The other thing that has been taking up a lot of my time as of late is trying to raise money for my trip to Africa coming up in A MONTH!!! I can't believe it; I've wanted to go to Africa for as long as I can remember and now I'm finally getting to do it!!!!! We're going to be both rotating and observing in a hospital in Shirati, Tanzania (as well as living with host families!), in addition to doing community service projects in the surrounding villages. I'm going to be working on the Leporsy Project (just like Jesus! :)). We have lots of neat projects that we're going to be working on, but we can't do them without supplies so a lot of time this month (in addition to studying :)), has been spent working on fundraising projects. This weekend, for example, we are having a people auction to raise money (I'm part of a group of girls auctioning off a spa night :)), next weekend a dance (dancing for Africa -- YES PLEASE), then a Rubios fundraiser (EATING FOR AFRICA?? yessssss) the week after that. So a lot of effort has been towards trying to raise money for the Global Physicians Corps, which was started by a Touro student and we are a part of -- 100% of the proceeds to directly to the project, none to funding our trip, so if you would like it give, please donate here and put Tanzania/Jolie Hoppe in the purpose field. Thanks so much for your consideration! And now, to bed, then to the library all day tomorrow!!
One last thought, last week at church we sang one of my favorite songs that I had forgotten about: "Lord, You Have Come". My favorite part goes like this:
Lord, take my hands and direct them.
Help me spend myself in seeking the lost,
returning love for the love you gave me.
O, Lord, with your eyes set upon me,
gently smiling, you have spoken my name;
all I longed for I have found by the water,
at your side, I will seek other shores.
One last thought, last week at church we sang one of my favorite songs that I had forgotten about: "Lord, You Have Come". My favorite part goes like this:
Lord, take my hands and direct them.
Help me spend myself in seeking the lost,
returning love for the love you gave me.
O, Lord, with your eyes set upon me,
gently smiling, you have spoken my name;
all I longed for I have found by the water,
at your side, I will seek other shores.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Something New -- Studying
I really do mean to post more often but I keep forgetting/getting distracted/not having time...all the usual excuses.
February was quite a month. On my last post I talked about the Respiratory and Structure exam we had that day....honestly going in, I felt more prepared than I had for any other exam in medical school thus far! Well, apparently pride really does go before a fall, because I was so confident that I knew everything that was being tested and talked about that I'm embarrarssed to say, I rushed through it and did worse on this test than I have done on any test since starting medical school! Though it was definitely a disappointment, it was a good lesson (TAKE YOUR TIME IN TESTS) and thankfully, I still passed :)
The first weekend of February was DO Day on the Hill where we went to Sacramento to talk to our state representatives to support legislation reversing the merging of the Osteopathic and Naturopathic licensing boards in California. It was a really neat thing to be a part of, and all the people I talked to seemed to be super supportive of our cause!
How could you resist that smiling face?? :)
That weekend was Nourah's birthday and a trip back to Southern California for a much-needed weekend home with the fam to celebrate my birthday and run my Half-Marathon!
The birthday glasses were obviously essential.
Sunday was my Half-Marathon! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful run (though a little boring at the end), but awesome because I had a whole cheering squad there! I feel so blessed to have people in my life who will wake up early and/or drive many hours just to see me run by and cross the finish line :) It was really really great.
Gennaya and Matt ran it too :)
Cheering Squad! :)
February was quite a month. On my last post I talked about the Respiratory and Structure exam we had that day....honestly going in, I felt more prepared than I had for any other exam in medical school thus far! Well, apparently pride really does go before a fall, because I was so confident that I knew everything that was being tested and talked about that I'm embarrarssed to say, I rushed through it and did worse on this test than I have done on any test since starting medical school! Though it was definitely a disappointment, it was a good lesson (TAKE YOUR TIME IN TESTS) and thankfully, I still passed :)
The first weekend of February was DO Day on the Hill where we went to Sacramento to talk to our state representatives to support legislation reversing the merging of the Osteopathic and Naturopathic licensing boards in California. It was a really neat thing to be a part of, and all the people I talked to seemed to be super supportive of our cause!
How could you resist that smiling face?? :)
That weekend was Nourah's birthday and a trip back to Southern California for a much-needed weekend home with the fam to celebrate my birthday and run my Half-Marathon!
The birthday glasses were obviously essential.
Sunday was my Half-Marathon! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful run (though a little boring at the end), but awesome because I had a whole cheering squad there! I feel so blessed to have people in my life who will wake up early and/or drive many hours just to see me run by and cross the finish line :) It was really really great.
Gennaya and Matt ran it too :)
Cheering Squad! :)
After my relaxing weekend home, it was time to hit the books. Hard. I have spent so much time at the library, I'm pretty sure everyone knows that this table (ironically, where I'm sitting now) is MINE. The thing about spending all your time at the library is that your actual home tends to suffer and by the end of blocks, I could hardly see the floor of my bedroom since I was pretty much only there to sleep....
Case in point: my room DURING block week.
....and after Block week :)
Case in point: my room DURING block week.
....and after Block week :)
As indicated by my room, these blocks took a lot of studying....we actually had 6 exams -- 3 theory (OMM, Doctoring, and Cardio/Respiratory/Renal), and 3 Practicals (OMM, Doctoring-Physical Exam and Anatomy Practical). It was quite a long week :( But thankfully, I passed!!!! I feel like every time I check my grade and see that I passed, its such a prayer of relief, after all the stress of exams.... The weekend after exams, Angela and I relaxed and it was AMAZING. We went to Napa and Sonoma, and caught up on the last 3 weeks of The Bachelor......so wonderfully mindless and relaxing :) The next week after blocks was also pretty chill considering we had just had 6 tests the week previous. Tuesday we went to free Pancake Day at IHOP and had cake for Angela's birthday :)
Note the BYOPB (bring your own peanut butter ;))
Note the BYOPB (bring your own peanut butter ;))
Wednesday was Angela's birthday, so we went out to dinner at this yummy sushi restaurant in Alameda
Practicing my cultural competency skills ;)
The view of SF (and us) from Treasure Island!
Thursday was our big game against Touro-Nevada (where we lost miserably) -- but still had fun cheering!
Cheering!
After the big game, it was time to go to the airport to fly to DC for my birrrrrrrrrrrth-dayyyyy!! :) It was SO fun to see Megy and Evgeniya (Jenny) even flew out as my birthday surprise!!!! Best birthday surprise ever!!! And my old roommate, Peaches even came down from Jersey City!!! I am so blessed to have best friends to fly out and spend my birthday with :)
Blowing out the candles on my HOMEMADE, sugar-free (Megy gave up sugar for Lent), AMAZING birthday cake!!! WOOOO HOOOO 23!!!! :D
Megy and my two birthday surprises!!! :) SPC Girls <3 style="text-align: left;">We spent my birthday in DC, but the next day we drove to Philly to see our good friends Sarah and Matt and celebrate my birthday with them too :) and eat cheesesteaks :)
Waiting for our cheesesteaks :)
Evgeniya, Me, Sarah, and Megy.
Dear Saint Peters, thanks for bringing me such amazing best friends :)
Practicing my cultural competency skills ;)
The view of SF (and us) from Treasure Island!
Thursday was our big game against Touro-Nevada (where we lost miserably) -- but still had fun cheering!
Cheering!
After the big game, it was time to go to the airport to fly to DC for my birrrrrrrrrrrth-dayyyyy!! :) It was SO fun to see Megy and Evgeniya (Jenny) even flew out as my birthday surprise!!!! Best birthday surprise ever!!! And my old roommate, Peaches even came down from Jersey City!!! I am so blessed to have best friends to fly out and spend my birthday with :)
Blowing out the candles on my HOMEMADE, sugar-free (Megy gave up sugar for Lent), AMAZING birthday cake!!! WOOOO HOOOO 23!!!! :D
Megy and my two birthday surprises!!! :) SPC Girls <3 style="text-align: left;">We spent my birthday in DC, but the next day we drove to Philly to see our good friends Sarah and Matt and celebrate my birthday with them too :) and eat cheesesteaks :)
Waiting for our cheesesteaks :)
Evgeniya, Me, Sarah, and Megy.
Dear Saint Peters, thanks for bringing me such amazing best friends :)
After my birthday and getting back to Vallejo (on the way to which, I was bumped up to first class! happy birthday to me! ;)), it was the usual, back to the library and intensive studying, in preparation for my next weekend where Holl came to visit!!!! SO amazing! Two weekends in a row of best friends?? I'm so so blessed :) It was so fun to have her here! Friday we went out for sushi and fro yo in Alameda, then drove through SF and the Golden Gate Bridge.... Saturday, we went wedding dress shopping at this amazing bridal salon only like 20 minutes from my house, and lunch at WHOLE FOODS (um amazing!), then spent most of our day exploring Berkeley and buying 50 cent books at the library bookstore :) That night a bunch of my friends from school came over and we played 'Apples to Apples' which I have never played before but was super fun!! And then we watched "The Hangover"...so funny! :) Sunday, Holl and I went to the Jelly Belly factory (yummmmm) and then to Napa and Sonoma, then to the airport :( all in all it was an amazing weekend though!!! But now its reallllly back to the grind. I'm spending all my time in the library so I can be super hardcore now and have the day off for St Pattys Day (Parade in SF!), then blocks are in 2 weeks! Eek!! But after that is Spring Break and I am coming homeeeeeeeee (and can drink Diet Coke again! ;)) Can't wait!!! :)
Thats all for now; hopefully its not another month til my next post ;)
Thats all for now; hopefully its not another month til my next post ;)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Cardio, Respiratory, Renal
I feel like every time I post, I start off by talking about how busy I've been and how much more intense school is....it's all so unoriginal! But it's true, school just keeps getting more intense and life just keeps getting busier and busier. I've had two major tests already this year: a Cardio "mini" exam, on the physiology of the cardiac system, and the today a Respiratory & Structure "mini" exam.... Angela and I have spent so much time in the library the past week, I feel like we live there more than our own house! But now its back to the normal grind of studying, at least until Wednesday. Wednesday night a bunch of students from Western University (another DO school in Pomona, CA) are coming up here and maybe 2 are staying the night at our house and then Thursday classes are cancels and we are all going to Sacramento to protest the merging of the Osteopathic and Naturopathic licensing boards. Friday we are making dinner and having a bunch of people over for Nourah's 25th birthday then Saturday I am flying home!! I am so excited to be home for the weekend, and run the Huntington Beach Half-Marathon and hang out with the fam....so excited!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)