Stevens Admissions: Julia

Mind-Body Medicine

Burnout can occur in a variety of fields, but the rate of appearance amongst health professionals is extremely high. I had heard and read that this was something medical students are susceptible to, but stayed optimistic. Schools around the country have been targeting new strategies to increase self-care and wellness, and luckily Georgetown is one of them.

Throughout the first and second years of school, we are offered the elective, "Mind-Body Medicine". The course is dedicated to the betterment of one's own physical and mental health, two aspects that can be easily overlooked in school.

I consider myself pretty good at allotting time outside of academics to exercise/release stress/sleep/eat/reflect. I guess I should thank Stevens Athletics for helping me hone this skill. But I do recognize that there are times when I realize I'm getting too caught up in my work, which is why I am very excited to take part in this course. We just received our assignments yesterday.

Each group has 10 students and 2 instructors (members of the Georgetown faculty). This is another example of how cool our teachers are:

- One of the small group facilitators is the director of the Renal module, another is our Sexual Development and Reproduction module director, and another lectured us on Endocrinology back in October.

I'll be sure to blog about any really life-changing sessions. On the program website, there is a list of benefits of the class. I'll leave you with my favorite one:

8. Shaking and Dancing
- Raises energy
- Releases tension
- Breaks up habitual physical end emotional holding patterns

Medically Tweeting...

I can't say enough about the lecturers we have at Georgetown. For a specific module, the director will plan the course so that each lecture is given by a doctor/professor who knows the material the best. We have had some really great lecturers; I though the Cardiopulmonary lecturers were some of the best teachers I've had in my life. 

For the Gastrointestinal Module, we have had some really interesting teachers. The course director is EXTREMELY passionate about her work. I really enjoy teachers who are genuinely excited about their material, and when this particular professor described the mucous lining of the stomach as 'beautiful', I was hooked.

Today, one of our Embryology professors came in with a bag of props to help us visualize the growth of the GI tract. We had been assigned video lectures over the weekend to familiarize us with the material, and today's lecture was supposed to be a fun supplemental lecture. It was hilarious to see this professor act out what happens to the Gut Tube in development, and you could tell that he really spent time turning everyday materials into the GI system. At one point he was holding a garbage bag open with his mouth and arm, using his other arm to demonstrate the 90 degree rotation of the stomach into its plane in the body &the formation of the Greater Omentum (which I didn't know existed until last week). What's really neat about the Greater Omentum is that if you suffer an abdominal wound, the Greater Omentum will migrate to that area and try and prevent excess damage/infection to the area. Whooooooa.

But what I really needed to show you, is that one of our anatomy professors is now tweeting questions to help keep us sharp. Laugh now, but when this doctor is standing at your anatomy table drilling questions, it's not that funny.

Applicant Dinner

Back in October, my sister and I chose a date in January to host an Residency Applicant Dinner (my sister is a resident at Georgetown Hospital). We decided on a date that was far enough away that we could make our apartment look professional, and a date on which I did not have an exam.

Well... the day came a lot sooner that we expected. We spent last weekend shopping for the apartment. I never want to think about matching plates, bowls, utensils, and dish-towels again.

Last week we heard that 2 applicants had RSVP-ed to the dinner, which seemed nice because with the 4 residents, it would be a very small group to entertain. On Wednesday, we found out that it would be 6 applicants, 4 residents, and me and my sister. Needless to say, we had to do some extra shopping that night and pull out folding-chairs from our closets.

The dinner went really well, and it was nice to be able to contribute in some way. The applicants were 4th year medical students from all over the country so I could only really provide them with the knowledge I have of DC, which is really getting up to par now! They laughed (politely) at my first-year stories/problems. It was really nice for me to be able to hear about why they chose their desired specialty, and to meet some of my sister's co-workers as well.

Seeing 4th year students that uptight/well-behaved reminded me that the medical totem pole will keep rearranging. Once you've made it through medical school, you'll be an intern. You'll work your way up through residency, and maybe apply for a fellowship, in which again you'll be towards the bottom.

At least at the end of it, I'll be EXCEPTIONAL in interviews.

 

Winter Break Assignment

I forgot to mention that over winter break, we were given an assignment. They couldn't let us have 17 days off without asking for something in return, haha.

So we were asked to sit-in on an Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous meeting over break, so that might get a better sense of the types of services we will recommend to patients in the future. I looked up meeting times in the town next to mine, and chose to attend an 'Open-Speaker' meeting. We could only attend 'open' meetings, but there were other types of open meetings, such as 'discussion' meetings.

Luckily, I didn't get lost driving to the church that the meeting was being held in. I asked around to see where to go, and then found the man in charge of the group to explain my request. He welcomed me very warmly and told me to help myself to some coffee an donuts.

I was really blown away by how supportive the group was, and from listening to many stories, I could tell that the group really 'saved' some members. There was no sense of judgment, there was no sense of humiliation. It truly felt like a brotherhood, and I was so grateful to have had the experience.

With that in mind, if you know anyone who you think might benefit from attending a meeting, why not go with them? I felt nervous walking into the room, and I was solely there to observe. Think about how scary it is for someone who truly needs the meeting.

Physical Diagnosis

We had our first exam of 2012 on Friday the 13th. Hopefully, the nature of the date doesn't reflect on the grade I will receive.

Anyway, things are really picking up again at school. We have had two sessions of Physical Diagnosis, in which we're taught elements of the physical exam. At the end of the year we're going to take an OSCE- Objective Structured Clinical Examination. We'll be asked to perform a physical examination of a standardized patient. 

For each session, we're divided into groups of 10 and given 1 preceptor for each room. One of the preceptors is chosen to give the week's presentation, and he/she chooses one male student in the room to demonstrate the exam (male student because the patient usually has to be shirtless). The exam is broadcast to all the rooms, and then we practice on our partners. It's quite entertaining to watch one of our peers be the guinea pig; they've all been really good sports about it. One of the guys was at least complimented on his musculature?

 I can't wait to learn how to use all my tools!

As with anything, practice makes perfect.To my friends and family: you've been warned.

(I'll go easy with the reflex hammer)

Third Time's a Charm

The second installment of our Physician-Patient Communication (PPC) course started on Thursday. Over break we were able to view our new groups and also see the schedule for the patient interviews. I was surprised to see that I was scheduled for the first week back, but excited nonetheless.

So what separates this round of interviews from the last one, is that this time we will be focusing on social history questions. My classmates will be asking questions regarding employment status, family, health-behaviors: smoking, drinking, exercising, hobbies/interests etc. The interview set-up for this class is kind of strange because we're asked to interview the person for at least 20 minutes, with our fellow group-mates watch in the background. To give you a perspective, it feels like a first date that all your friends get to watch.

My interview went very well, and I had quite an interesting patient. He had been hospitalized many times in his life, and was a real daredevil. He told me that his real passions in life are demolition derbies, and after admitting to him that I knew next to nothing about them, his eyes lit up as he began to explain them. Now I know that there are "winners" in demolition derbies.

After the interview, my group and preceptor went back to a conference room to discuss the interview. We talked about the barriers we have to overcome in asking difficult questions. For a lot of us who came straight from undergrad, it's strange to ask people who are older than us how much alcohol they consume, or how many sexual partners they've had. We're still trying to figure out our authority; I'm sure it will take a little bit of time.

Georgetown Basketball

When I first started telling people that I had chosen to attend Georgetown, I was greeted with warm words of congratulations. Once that phase was over, people started asking me to get them Georgetown Basketball tickets. I can't blame them.

Tonight was my first game! Our social committee created the event and seated us in a modestly-priced area of the Verizon Center. Tons of my classmates turned up for the game, and the arena was packed with other Georgetown fans and students. Though we didn't make it on the Jumbotron, we still had a fantastic night. Jack the Bulldog-mascot, and Jack the actual Bulldog were both in attendance.

Georgetown was down by 17 points at one point, and started to turn it on at the end. The team kept fighting back and finally won 73-70 at the last minute on a 3-pointer. TAKE THAT MARQUETTE!

Since I am no longer an active member on a roster, I've felt the need to pick up a new team to live through. Georgetown Basketball is now certainly on my radar. I have yet to determine whether Hockey is worth getting interested in.

Happy New Year!

2011 was an incredible year, and I am so happy that it left under such amiable conditions.

For the graduates of 2012, it's your year! It was really strange last year when the ball dropped and we realized that we had finally hit the year that we had been writing on our Study Plans since 2007. Make the most of the spring semester and look forward to Senior Week!

Since I haven't used my camera recently, I figured I'd leave you with a work from one of my favorite artists, Stephen Wiltshire. I first learned about him through Oliver Sacks' book, "An Anthropologist on Mars". The book focuses on extraordinary neurological cases; Stephen was diagnosed with autism when he was very young. He is able to look at a landscape once, and then draw it from memory with incredible detail. If you have the time, check our his website. If you have more time, read the book.