Stevens Admissions: Julia

Halloween

Happy Halloween! 

I'm happy to have survived another exam. We're on the verge of starting a bunch of new courses here, and one of the highlights is a Team-Based Learning Activity called, "Grand Rounds". We have been broken up into groups of 4 and are receiving information about the same case. We will be working on the case and answering the questions that have been asked of us, while researching on our own and trying to figure out what might be the right course of action. In November, we will all sit in an auditorium in our groups in front of a panel of doctors, while our names are randomly chosen to answer questions in front of the panel. This not what you might typically expect of "grand rounds" in a medical setting, but I'm glad that we're getting the chance to work with our peers on a case.

Tips I've received for anatomy:

1.) Don't touch ANYTHING in lab without gloves. Saran wrap your computers or put them in ziploc bags. 

2.) Bring a plastic bag to keep your lab scrubs outside your locker... so none of your other belongings get infused with the embalming odor. If you take public transport home after lab, pretend that "weird smell" that your neighbors have noticed, isn't you.

3.) Expect to throw your shoes out

4.) Put scented lotion on before you put a pair of gloves on, then put soap on the outside of the gloves and put another pair of gloves on.

No Textbooks Necessary

I'm starting to think that my affinity for abbreviations and acronyms is what has made me so compatible with medical school. We refer to all of our courses as acronyms. MCP, PPP, MNE, PPC, POM, MHG, SDL etc. 

We started POM recently, Profession of Medicine, which is actually a really nice break from our "science-y" courses. Our preceptor for the group is a lawyer, and each week we discuss different case studies to discuss the ethical dilemmas we may encounter in the future. The rules of the classroom are:

1.) Check your beliefs at the door

2.) Question everything

Although it's been a while since I've had to sit behind my nameplate and defend an argument, I have been staying sharp through my defense of Ke$ha over the years. But in all honesty, we have had some really good debates in class.

 

Gray's Anatomy

I really hope that everyone knows this is an actual book. Our anatomy instructor calls it "our bible".

Gross Anatomy is a first year rite of passage. The cadaver is truly our first patient. Every physician remembers what it was like to walk into lab and first unzip the bodybag, and to make the first incision etc. I keep patronizing Georgetown, but I really do love the way that we are taught, and the virtues that are upheld. 

Before we started anatomy, we watched a poignant documentary about the topic from the persepective of donors and dissectors: The Humanity of Anatomy

The documentary examines how students cope with the stress of the course, and the fact that this person, who graciously donated their body to education, was once as healthy as them. After the documentary, we heard Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim prayers, and then began the dissections.

We try to always exist as "feeling" people, but with the pressure to learn and memorize all that we're being asked to, we often lose touch. It's far easier to learn when you shut off any other apprehensions/feelings you have about the situation. And this is not just during Gross Anatomy, but the profession as a whole. We're asked to have all the answers, to be an encyclopedia of knowledge, yet remain compassionate, understanding, and empathetic. But I think that Georgetown is doing a great job of keeping us motivated, and helping us never lose sight of the reason we first loved this profession. Go Hoyas.

Alumni Weekend

Today marked the kick-off of the Georgetown Alumni Weekend. The School of Medicine also hosts events this weekends, and so I jumped at the opportunity to sit down with an alumnus for lunch.

But before getting into that, we had an introductory lecture to our Independent Study Project. The requirement is a fairly new addition to the curriculum as the Class of 2011 was the first class to graduate with a research project. And while it will add more work to our already heavy workload, it will look pretty fantastic on our applications for residency programs. I'm excited to continue my research career, especially because now I can do clinical research. We have a lot of freedom in the project, as to who we want to work with, what we want to study, and when we want to complete the project. I'm hoping to do the project when I have a better idea of what I want to specialize in.

Anyway, after classes today I headed over to the Tombs to meet with an alumna for lunch. She is a neonatologist and graduated from a class that only contained 12 women. It was one of the most interesting conversations I've ever had; she was able to weigh in on so many aspects of medicine that you don't learn in the classroom. We talked for 90 minutes. I'm so glad that I signed up for the event.

Fun Fact: The Tombs is the bar that was the inspiration for the bar in St. Elmo's Fire.

This style IS Georgetown. Still.

More Reunions!

This past weekend was such a nice break from studying and the weather was beautiful again. My friends and I went down to M Street to check out "Taste of Georgetown" and bask in the sun. It was just like "Taste of Hoboken", except maybe more crowded. We had such delicious food, and many of the restaurants incorporated pumpkin into their dishes. I don't even like cheesecake, but the pumpkin cheesecake I tried was fantastic!

On Sunday, I met up with my friend at GW Law and hung out around the Dupont Circle area. He was able to help me out with one of my ethics assignments for my Profession of Medicine course. In return I offered him knowledge of Biochemistry, so I think he won that side of the bargain.

Afterwards, I went to meet up with a friend from Stevens who was in DC for a conference. It's hard for me to remember that not everyone is in graduate school, and that some of my friends actually have salaries. I ran into another Stevens alum in the lobby of her hotel, apparently they work for the same company? It was very cool to see familiar faces down here.

Also, speaking of Stevens, Congratulations to Laura Barito for winning NCAA's Woman of the Year! I'm so happy that she has received the honor, and has represented not only Stevens but Division III Athletes everywhere. GO DUCKS.

Inauguration Weekend

I finished another exam today, hooray! It's our last weekend off until Thanksgiving, and the annual Powderpuff football game is tomorrow between the M2s and the M1s. It should be a fantastic time. We have a pretty solid team; the players practice twice a week and many are former soccer and rugby players. Last year, two girls broke their arms, so I decided to be a spectator (I prefer non-contact sports because I bruise like a peach).

A bunch of my friends are going back to Hoboken this weekend for the Inauguration Weekend events. I wish I could be there, but I hope it goes extremely well and can't wait to see the pictures from the gala. Welcome again, President Farvardin. I look forward to seeing the progress that the Institute makes in the future.

Ducks Fly South!

My friends came to visit me for the long weekend! I can't describe how nice it was to see them again, and to be able to introduce them to my new friends. My friends here are actually pretty intrigued by my undergrad experience (ie: why I blog, how I went to Norway, why a batman walking around campus is normal), so it was nice to be able to introduce them to more people who went to Stevens.

We covered a lot of uncharted DC territory for me, so I really didn't offer that much in terms of navigation (my first tour at school was a pretty similar experience):

(We told him to do a "New York Pose", and that's all he gave us.)

We hung out around the National Mall, walked through Chinatown, and then had Dim Sum. The weather was perfect and so was the food. It gave me an incredible boost, and now I feel like I can push through until Thanksgiving. I have incredible friends, and am so grateful for each one of them.

Sightseeing

I met up with a friend who goes to George Washington University Law School one weekend, and we checked out the area around the Capitol Building. He chose to meet on the stairs to the Supreme Court (honestly, every building around that area has pillars and looks like the Supreme Court). We took a tour of the Capitol Building and walked around the Library of Congress. 

The only thing DC has on NY right now, is that the admission to the museums is free. I am so excited to go everywhere. And I'm trying to get a bunch of people together for Segway Tours of DC. If that happens, you can bet I'll take pictures.

Service

As I've mentioned before, there is a strong sense of volunteerism at my school. One of the things I've really liked about group community service projects, is that you get to meet people who value the same things that you do. I met some of my best friends in college through volunteering, most notably, cleaning up a beach post-"beach season". You would not believe the types of things we found (tv remote?).

At Georgetown we're required to complete a certain amount of hours of service before we graduate, and the first day we logged hours was before school even started. We painted some seals (not the animals) for the departments of medicine in the hallways, this is a picture with the seal for Family Medicine:

Another event I volunteered at was the NICU reunion, an event coordinated by the Pediatrics Department for those children who were once treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The doctoring course we're just about to start is called "Service Learning", and we're placed in either a clinic, community program, or school to teach basic health courses. My group is going to be volunteering in the poorest Ward of DC, and we'll be working with a program that helps homeless families: Tenant Empowerment Network.

Take care :)