<p>Actually, when I talked to D1, she related that she landed “badly” when she jumped down from a climbing wall earlier today. There was a loud crack (loud enough the front desk staff came hurrying in to see what happened) and she is unable to put weight on her foot. Either a very severe sprain or a fracture. She’s waiting on test results. So it appears likely that at least a not-insubstantial portion may go to pay for the orthopedist and/or PT.</p>
<p>OTOH, she got carried out of the gym by her firefighter BF ala An Officer and A Gentleman…</p>
<p>And, oh yeah–she’s supposed to go on L&D starting tonight. Can’t imagine trying to work in a delivery room on crutches.</p>
<p>Buiding “yes” list: renal, derm, infectious deseases. However, the notion is that academic preferences might not result in residency preferences as there are other factors, and many will be discovered later. The most interesting block is still ahead - neuro, the last one and from what was heard is the most challenging. The most difficult part of the current block is anatomy, huge amount of memorization. Somebody has said that conceptually Med. School is easy. We just wish that there is more “conceptual” material, human beings are not computers, memorization is challenging and very time consuming and makes Med. School very very challenging academically. There are exception, I bet, but there are very few out there who have photographic memory, most very top students do not have this exceptional ability and have to work very hard, much harder than they ever did before. Not a complain, just another comment in regard to “easy” academics at Med. School. There is no single student in D’s class who thinks so. Every time she mentions how hard it is, she would add, that it is very hard for everybody else. But applying all this knowledge and sometime receiving positive encouraging comments is very rewarding. Still, see what will happen during rotations, I bet experience is a huge eye openner.</p>
<p>Is there some medical related software application that is a “must-have” for MS students in clinical (MS3, MS4) years?</p>
<p>I heard from DS (currently an MS2) that he may need to have access to some mobile software on the smart phone in his MS3 years. I do not know what it is. He only mentioned it is like encyclopedia on the smartphone. When I looked it up, there is a free one called MedScape from WebMD and there is another one that may cost money. Does this kind of mobile software need fast internet access like 4G LTE? He has had iPad but I think it might not be convenient to carry such a big piece of hardware while in hospital.</p>
<p>Also, how many GB bytes of data usage each month would be needed if you rarely see video on the smartphone? I am thinking of 2 GB. (It is then $100 a month on Verizon!)</p>
<p>I personally never like any smartphone. The screen size is well too small for my old eyes. I always think these new gadgets are designed for young people only. The displayed characters are well too small (I know there is a zoom-in feature but it is hassle to use it constantly.) and the touch screen takes too much effort to get used to.</p>
<p>Probably. It appears MedScape and epoctates are the top two downloads.</p>
<p>Do most med school students likely have one of these apps? It appears DS’s school is “Apple-ware” centric, considering the fact that every student was given an iPad. Somehow he said he did not use his iPad much, probably because he is more used to his Macbook.</p>
<p>Son spent his weekend…wait for it…at homecoming weekend at undergrad. Said the football game between pton and harvard was unbelievable. espn worthy. I am supposed to go look at it. Says all his buddies had a great time. He couldn’t drink as much as the rest of them since he had an exam on Monday. His bf at Harvard law just had his exam so he COULD indulge. </p>
<p>Said he did fine on the exam and had a fab weekend. He was on his way to Sam’s club to stock up on food this afternoon when I talked to him.</p>
<p>The only two apps I ever really use are epocrates and Skyscape. There’s a free version of Epocrates and a pay version, and the only real difference I’ve heard of is that the pay version includes herbal medications (which would be useful, but I haven’t felt the need to have it yet). Skyscape (also free) includes a bunch of calculators which come in handy so that I don’t have to keep looking up formulae.</p>
<p>Same type situation with my D Kat. She spent the weekend in Boston rooting on her old crewmates at the Head of the Charles. She got lucky that this wasn’t exam week so she did partake a <em>little</em>, cough cough. All kidding aside, I’m glad she went. I could tell in her voice yesterday that a couple of days away did wonders for her.</p>
<p>epocrates is free for med students; just have to register as a med student. I like medscape. I can only get uptodate (=med wikipedia) at school since that’s the only place where I’m connected to a network that has paid for uptodate (subscription is expensive!).</p>
<p>Currently working in a heme/onc clinic and loving it. Recently finished (and PASSED! by a substantial margin) what’s rumored to be our toughest block. Surreal to think curriculum-wise it’s basically downhill from here. Guess that boards thing is looming in the future though.</p>
<p>Went to Oktoberfest with 20 classmates last weekend. Looks like it was a popular going out weekend for the CC representative med students Our homecoming is this weekend and, considering exams are 7 weeks away, I will surely be playing again this weekend!</p>
<p>Glad to hear you are all taking time to relax and have a little fun. D had her first break (five days) from residency and she took a quick trip out of town with her BF – a much needed break! This first year of residency has been very intense. She was back at work today and called tonight at 10:00 to tell me if she went to sleep right then she would get six hours of sleep. </p>
<p>D was/is a hard worker, but no one would ever accuse her of being a gunner. We have had (and continue to have) many conversations about balance. (H always laughs when I give her balance advice - do as I say, not as I do…)</p>
As a parent, I am very concerned that DS might have sleep starvation in the coming years. It appears to me those who could naturally be fine with a fewer number of hours of sleep are better fit for this career path. I do not think any of my family members has this ability. Can this be trained?</p>
<p>D1 has a sprain (partial tear–so that’s good news). She told me the name of the ligament but I can’t remember. She’s a bit unhappy because she won’t be able to run for at least 4 months. She says she foresees lots of swimming in her future. </p>
<p>Six hours of sleep is NOT sleep deprivation by any measure. Six hours is much more than many young couples with newborn would get over many months and most have to go to work and new mother should be able to produce milk (if this was the choice). I would say that 3 hours on a regular basis would raise my concern, I am not concerned at all with 6 hours. And my own kid was used to consistent 10 hours all thru HS. She is OK with much less. And in contrary to us, old …, young people have incredible ability to fall asleep at any time they desire to take a nap and catch up on their sleep, I wish I could catch up that easily. Although, I have to admit that after few nights of 3 hours of sleep, I can fall asleep in front of TV relatively easily, but TV is all together different story, it tends to put me to sleep no matter what. I am not busy at all, I have time, but I cannot sleep any more. They can and they will at any moment they have a minute they will catch up.</p>
<p>I think it is interesting how the exam and testing schedules vary so much at the different med schools. Son literally has an exam every week of MS2, they are all scheduled ahead of time on the yearly calendar so you know what you are looking at…so no huge test at the end of the blocks. Then he explained all the “blocks” are all broken into sub-topics and that is what the exams are on (sub-topics).</p>
<p>So it does make it easier to travel and do things. He drove to his undergrad, 700+ miles after his friday morning class and drove home late sunday night. His bf( best friend at Harvard law) can just hop on the train and it stops right at the university (they have their own train stop). Much easier than all that driving and all the tolls.</p>
<p>Son’s girlfriend who lives/works in NYC met him there for homecoming and she too just had to hop on the train. He was moaning and groaning about the ease of public transportation but than he quickly realizes just how much he misses Carolina when he is gone for a few days. That and how much money he spends up north vs. his realtively inexpensive living expenses here.</p>
<p>More for him to think about when considering residencies.</p>
I remember he went to bed at 3:30 am several times (during summer break, before college), but I have no recollection he has ever gotten up at 3:30 am – hmm…maybe only one time in order to catch an early flight :(</p>
<p>While he was in high school, we made sure he would have at least 8 hours of sleep every day.</p>
<p>Interesting. D1 usually has 3 exams per block. That includes a final STEP-like exam for each block. </p>
<p>D1 is on her last block. Her school has an accelerated second year and she will be finished all coursework the first week of January. Students are required–ever single one of them-- to take Step 1 in February. Unfortunately there are only 2 testing sites in the state and only 8 test dates available. (16 students total.) Which means most of the students will have to go OOS to test. One of her friends is flying to Las Vegas to take his Step 1, then is staying for a week long party afterwards (either celebrating or drowning his sorrows depending on his score). Sounds like an almost reasonable way to do it.</p>
<p>For those with students MS3 and above: how long does it take to get the Step score back? Is a 4 weeks like the MCAT or is it quicker?</p>
<p>As I recall it was about 3-4 weeks and the phone call prior to pushing the button to see them was intense. All the what ifs were explored before seeing the score. I was sure glad it was good news!</p>
<p>News from the MS3 front. What I have taken to calling “guts and butts” (GI), much to my daughter’s horror and occasional amusement, seems to fit a pattern. She loves part of it, but not all of it. I don’t have time in our weekly convo to delve deep into her residency decision-making process (assuming there is anything deep in there to delve deep into) but I am simply not getting the bell ringer feeling about…well, anything so far. Maybe thoracic but her mentor is a thoracic surgeon so that could be a clouded picture. Lately she’s been saying a gen surg residency and keeping surgical options open. I don’t know how much I like the sound of that. Heck. I don’t think I know what that means. A combined program, one admission and you know you’re in sounds appealing but what if you are wrong? Well, there’s still time. </p>
<p>Plastics still keeps popping up when I thought her distaste for cosmetics would rule that out. Well, at least she stays committed to “something procedural”.</p>
Our homecoming is this weekend and, considering exams are 7 weeks away, I will surely be playing again this weekend!</p>