My new gig is going very well primarily because I've chosen to focus on all the nice and caring caregivers (pun intended) I work with and the great work in patient care I observe while ignoring as much as I can, the less pleasant parts of it. Like the fact that the fly Surgeon I thought I would be working with primarily, has been replaced by a "suit". And it's not like the fly Doc and I won't be working together at all, just that the "suit" will have some say in what I do. And while it may seem on the outside a bad thing (because he's neither a Scientist nor a Doc), it's actually a GREAT thing because it means that there's no way in hell I won't attempt to "bust a move" to med school in the VERY near future. Plus the fact that I spent tumor board sitting in between med students from 2 Texas schools, I'll be constantly reminded that there's something else I'm going to do in my life. All that said, the main purpose of this "meantime" gig will be to learn to manage my current Supv situation with the utmost of finesse since those skills will come in handy in med school. The other really wonderful part is all that I'm learning soooooooooooo much working with Clinicians!!! Yeah, it's an understatement to say that I'm blessed that I get to do this important work at a hospital that serves the less fortunate at this time in my wonderful life!! WOW!!!! The other really meaningful revelation I've had relates to the THREE, count em', THREE promises for a gig a PI made to me between last Fall, to as recently as March of this year. Turns out that all the research I did preparing for that gig is directly related to my current position, as in the Fly Doc and Dr. Empty Job Promise have worked together in the past. But the Fly Doc is considered a national leader in the field so once again I'm reminded that very little in life happens for no reason at all, we just have to be patient and more importantly, not give up hope that all things will truly work together for the greater good. Not only that, my personal goal of health disparities work fits like a glove due to our patient population and the organ system we're focused in. Double WOW!!!!!
Movin' on, I don't have words for how much I'm LOVIN' living in the city and we've spent the past few days (in between all the rain/flooding) exploring the neighborhood. I should clarify that, we've been exploring all the fine eating establishments within walking distance of our new home. Yum!!! We've also spent a good amount of time enjoying the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen in my life and I'll post some amazing pics I've recently taken soon.
Well, this is another quickie since we're having issues getting our Internet set up and hanging out the the clubhouse (where there's wifi for residents ) with all the partying 20 somethings is a bit of "been there, done that, got the hat, teeshirt, and matching shoes", type of situation, LOL!!!"
Yeah, it's the understatement that I'm basking in God's blessing for my life these days, it's truly MY season!!!!
My apologies for the weeks long delay, between final projects and packing/moving I've been VERY busy!! But I'm sooooo happy to be starting my new gig at a major hospital while livin' in the city!!! YES!!!! I'm also excited to be working side by side with clinicians, and I'm certain this experience will only enhance my need to stay focused on my future Physician/Scientist career!
I have my orientation on Monday and will try to give a report of my first impressions next weekend. I'm also still working on my summer plans but other than working on Verbal MCAT and taking ONE advanced stats class, I don't have anything else planned. Hold on, I do plan to volunteer at a hospital as well, although I would thoroughly enjoy working with special needs kids at a local school too. But the fact is that from this point until May 2016, 99.999% of my actions need to point me in the direction of med school ONLY, so that likely means a hospital position.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
This afore mentioned text is what I was supposed to post last weekend, but I got busy and simply forgot. Suffice it to say that I had a fabulous first week at the hospital and while it wasn't without any glitches at all, I simply refuse to focus on ANY of that and keep things pushing with my med school plans. One thing that is crystal clear besides my Physician goals is that my doctoral focus in Biomedical Informatics is a great move! Just not great enough for me to drop my med school plans and that's a great thing because I need to stay focused on med school by ANY means necessary.
So in the process of finishing my coursework last semester( all A's again), moving to the city, and getting settled in my new gig, I've been researching what I'm going to do to prepare for the MCAT. And I've decided to go with the new EK materials which seem to have good reviews. I've decided to order the complete new set not just pieces and parts just so that I'm covering everything. I'll also have to look into which companies are providing practice exams patterned after the new exam, but I'm darn happy I decided against taking the new exam this summer without first letting the new test "guinea pigs" go through it first. This decision jacked my application timeline by a year, but it's not a regret in the slightest because the better I can do on this new exam, the more options I'll have for my training. And I can't emphasize this enough, almost everyone I knew who applied/matriculated to med school with scores on the low end, had to repeat at least one (and a few times ALL) of their USMLEs/COMLEXs. No, there's not a 1:1 correlation between MCAT scores and performance on these exams, but mastering standardized test taking before med school will almost always pay off later in med school.
Well, I'd better get back to unpacking and organizing, I realize this is a months long endeavor, but I'm trying to create a home like atmosphere ASAP!!!
“I'm
feeling good from my head to my shoes, know where I'm going and I
know what to do, I tidied up my post of view, I got a new
attitude!!””
Those
infamous lyrics from Patti Labelle's song New Attitude, pretty much
captures what I'm thinking and feeling these days!! I'm going back
(FOR GOOD) to a clinical setting, and in the biggest, most exciting
news of all, we're getting da' hell out of the suburbs and moving to
the city!!!!!Yes, yes, YES!!!!
I actually attended this Prince concert, my first, in 1982 when this very tour came to the city I was living in in Florida.
But I digress, I've
been waiting on a move like this for years, but we stayed in the
'burbs because public schools are so much better there. The only sticking point
is renting versus buying, and at issue is the fact that buying is
MUCH cheaper than renting in the city. But I don't want to jump into city life
like that right now because I don't know where I'll end up in medical
school ;) (and being landlords just isn't realistic for our "on the go"
lifestyles). So I've found a few places that we're going to look at
in a few weeks, but I'll be doing this by myself at least initially
because DD is going with DH to Cali on business in a few weeks, right after she finishes her final exams.
Movin' on, I've
also decided on a tentative 2 year plan that is actually more like a
one year plan as far as the classes I'm going to be taking and my
MCAT study schedule. My program advisor is not too thrilled about my
decision to slow things down, but he'll get over it. The difficulty I
had finding a research group won't be forgotten soon and I need to
shore up my “clinical goals” since that's where my heart is, Peds in particular. But to make sure I hit the ground running next month on my new
gig, there are some websites I've had to review to make sure I'm up
to speed clinically speaking when I start in mid May. One of these
websites is the WHO-ICD10 training website which is located here . I'll only be responsible for the general training
information and the information specific for GI, but looking through
the manual reminds me that med school is going to require learning a
TON of information and that the clinical experiences I'm getting now
are sealing the fate on future and more importantly, my purpose!!!
"Know where I'm going my worries are few, 'cause I got love (purpose) like I NEVER knew. I tidied up my point of view, I got a new attitude!!
