Day 1897: The last shadow...ing.

Oh hi. This is way belated.

However. I wanted to talk about my last shadowing session.

As a review, the mentor that my medical assigned me is an ophthalmologist. It was the usual shadowing session -- lots of wet/dry macular degeneration (macular degeneration is when the center part of your vision (where you see most everything) begins to deteriorate. The difference between wet and dry is, wet means you develop new blood vessels in that area which hurts your vision more. With dry macular degeneration, that means you are developing things under a layer of cells and the only thing to do with dry macular degeneration is to prevent it from becoming "wet"). However, there were some cool interesting cases but all in all, a pretty standard day.

My mentor and I chit-chatted at the end of the session and she asked if she had convinced me to go into ophthalmology. I told her I find it interesting and her lifestyle seems like a good deal but I was still unsure. Then she asked about my summer plans and I told her about an upcoming family vacation (I know, I know, I haven't told any of you about it yet), a possible externship I am applying for (basically a paid internship away from my medical school) and anything not research related. She was very nice and supportive but told me that if I did ever get truly interested in ophthalmology, I should do research. "Ophthalmology is a competitive field and it will give you an edge."

... uh... thanks? Can someone explain to me, how is it that if 100 (out of 200) of my peers are doing research, that me doing research will somehow give me an edge? Either way, I have my post-undergrad research and if anything ever comes of it (hard to say if a paper with my name will ever arise, to be frank), then all the power to me. If not, I'm going to be a doctor either way so I'm not terribly worried about whether or not I have research on my resume/CV.

Day 1861: Happy April Fool's!

Darling Jess, thanks for the push to update, haha.

My roommate's parents are currently in the living room hanging out with my roommate so I can't really study. Thus, a blog post.

WARNING. This will be a long post. Try to keep up ;)

Shadowing: My mentor is an ophthalmologist. The different between an ophthalmologist and an optometrist (who both look at eyes), is that my mentor can perform (laser) surgery. Being an ophthalmologist doesn't seem too strenuous, which could be good later in life. However, one of the most surprising things to me regarding the patient population is how common diabetes is in her patients. Diabetes, so what? Well, she stresses the need for her patients to take care of their blood sugar because diabetes can cause increased pressure on your eyes and you can imagine the bad effect that can have. Overall, it's been a really great experience thus far. My mentor is great and I am really enjoying the clinical exposure!

School: Le snooze. The schedule for the last two blocks is much easier than it has been. I am really not enjoying school lately because I understand the material and feel all smart and crap when I learn, but it is painfully obvious that I am a terrible test taker. I doubt my gut or I think too much about the question or, worst of all, I rationalize myself into the wrong answer. I know none of you ever respond, which is fine, but I am asking sincerely for any input you all have about test-taking. No joke, I got five questions wrong on my last physiology exam because I changed my answer from the right one to the wrong one. UGH!

In other news, I am taking a Spanish medical course. It's a completely voluntary thing. I have class twice a week, 90 minutes each, and I learn more medically-oriented things in Spanish. So, things like vocabulary and learning how to conduct a medical interview in Spanish. It's pretty sweet. And I'm enjoying it a lot. I forgot how much I miss Spanish.

Okay! The roommate (and her parents) have left! TIME TO FINALLY GET STUDYING!

Talk soon! PROMISE.