First Med School Test Done!!!

Survived my first med school exam and I have to say it was not nearly as bad as I expected.  It was nice to take a test where your studying actually pays off!  While I studied my butt off, it was worth it.  I had a general idea on what the questions were asking and there weren't any moments of total confusion (unlike my experience with Orgo...).   I don't think I got a perfect score on the test but I am confident that I passed with a room to spare.  Of course during the test, it starts monsooning. Horizontal rain and thunder so intense that it shook the building.  Thankfully I love thunderstorms so this didn't faze me, but some people were definitely distracted by the weather. 

After the exam I went on a hunt to find frozen chicken breasts with my friend Lisa.  It is a rarity to have boneless, frozen chicken breasts, so when you find them you need to stock up!  The IGA for example won't have a new shipment of frozen foods until the beginning of October.  The rain made our adventure to find frozen chicken breasts particularly exciting (Amelia, you will be happy to know I didn't get swept away even though I did get absolutely soaked).  We got the chicken breasts and then headed up to campus to the coffee shop.  I have decided that this coffee shop will be my new guilty pleasure on the island.  I had such a good chai latte!  Almost CTB quality :) So overall it was a good day.  I survived my first exam, found frozen chicken breasts, and found a fantastic coffee shop.  

How much can you handle?

This past Sunday/Monday were my two worst days on the island so far.  I was fighting a very bad sinus infection that not only gave me a 100 degree fever, but also resulted in such bad sinus pressure that my eyes and teeth were hurting too.  Since I had been spending time during the week studying and doing various other activities, I was out of groceries and was almost out of electricity.  This was a very bad combination.  I went to the IGA and realized they didn't have any normal food (only pigs feet, smoked fish, various canned goods, etc) and they had somehow ran out of electricity.  So Sunday night needless to say I was not in a very good mood (thank goodness I had my roomies to video chat with or I would have been even more stressed out).

I finally gave in and started the antibiotics (which I definitely should have started early. I was just being stubborn).  So after a really bad night of constantly waking up (I was worried that my electricity had shut off in the middle of the night and therefore my alarm was not going to go off), I head to class.  This is when the infamous centipede-crawling on me episode occurred.  Clearly this made me even more happy (please note the sarcasm).  I finally went to the store after class, get restocked on electricity and bought some groceries.  Also the antibiotics started doing their job so I could finally breathe again.  At one point during this awful series of events, I was about ready to throw in the towel.  Thankfully I took some deep breaths, realized that this was just life in Dominica, and settled back into studying.

What I realized from this instance was that if you just keep trudging along, you can get through pretty much anything.  If I can survive being really sick, having disgusting bugs crawling on me, and scrounging for groceries, all the while studying, then I can survive pretty much anything!  The saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" definitely applied to the beginning of my week.   But now, here I am, on Friday night, feeling much better and now have a wonderful, entertaining story to tell everyone.  So I learned I can handle a whole lot and still get through it. 

Where is Dominica?

When I started telling people that I was going to school in Dominica, many said "O, isn't that by Haiti?" Nope that would be the Dominican Republic.  If you look at the picture below, Dominica is circled in Red.

 We are actually closer to South America than North America but we are still in the same time zone as all of you people on the east coast (thank goodness because it makes video-chatting that much easier).  One main difference is that in Dominica, there is no daylight savings time.  

We have daylight from about 6am to 6:30pm every day and the weather is pretty much 93 degrees (of course with humidity it generally feels over 100 degrees).  When it rains, it REALLY rains!  The other night it sounded like there was a waterfall outside my room because the rain was so intense.  

I hate centipedes/millipedes

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate these vile centipedes/millipede things that are all over the place.  Not only do they freak me out on my way to class (I keep thinking that one is going to come and bite me because I am only wearing flip flops) but one was crawling on me in class today!!!  BLECCHH.  Of course I was sitting in the front row so I couldn't get up and shriek because I didn't want to make a major scene. ( Inside I was screaming like it was the end of the world!)  So my class on gene expression got that much better because I was stuck envisioning all sorts of creepy crawlies on my back for the rest of class. After flicking it off my neck (yes the nasty creature had some how crawled all the way up my back onto my neck without someone telling me there was a bug on me....whatever happened to good Samaritans!!)  I then trapped it beneath my water bottle on the floor where it stayed until the break which is when I smushed it with the Nalgene.  Needless to say, I am becoming quite adept at killing bugs/not screaming whenever I see them.

I found this on the internet and I think it sums up my experiences today fairly well...Ross Insect Repellent.  While I haven't gotten to the point of throwing knives, my Nalgene seems to make a wonderful club to go "all caveman style" on the bugs.

First week of classes

Survived the first week of classes!  And man was it a lot of material.  During orientation they had given us a pancake analogy (each day we are expected to eat three pancakes and all the pancakes have to be eaten before the mini.  If you don't eat all your pancakes for that day, they roll over to the next and eventually you will be stuck eating twenty pancakes...aka stay on your studying so you don't have to learn 10 lectures before the mini).  I have been following my study schedule and it has been extremely useful keeping me on track.  I have finished each lecture material the day that I get it and I am getting six hours of sleep each night. Getting sleep is really important for me because I turn into a grumpy person when I don't have sleep/coffee.

Right now the material is kind of a review from the stuff that I learned at Cornell but it has more clinical correlations.  I am in LOVE with the clinical correlations.  Generally they provide the little extra oomph that I need to get the lightbulb moment. Since I am able to spend so much time studying, (no distractions...everyone will be so proud of me!), I can actually get a solid grasp on the subject matter the first time I review it.

This week has made me realize that being in med school means that I am not going to have a life whatsoever. Last night I stayed up until 1:30, not because I was partying and getting schwasty, but because I was studying the superficial and deep back muscles (now that's a good time if I ever knew one lol). Any "extra" time that I have is either spent sleeping or it is spent talking to people back in the states.  I can say that all my amazing friends/family and their video chats have been the shining moments in the bleak hours of studying.

My study area...yay colored pencils making everything better :)

White Coat Ceremony

Now it finally feels real.  As soon as I got the white coat, I truly felt like I was in medical school and that eventually, if I put in enough hard work, I would make it.  It used to seem like I was endlessly trudging towards an unobtainable goal.  Now I know it will happen!

The white coat ceremony was a very nice affair.  We had the Prime Minster, the President as well as some of the other Ministers of Dominica as well as high-up representatives from the school.  My favorite part of the ceremony (besides getting the actual coat) was when the honor guard came marching in to pick up the flags without any sort of warning.  We were all sitting there and then BAM, six military personnel came walking in with guns.  It kinda freaked me out at first until I realized what they were doing.  I also really enjoyed hearing Dominica's national anthem being sung.

Getting my white coat!

My Dad made it down for the White Coat which I really appreciated.  Since it was such a major day, I loved the fact that he was there supporting me.  He ended up staying for a week and bought me some much needed supplies (aka a bookshelf, a printer that has a scanner attached, and more colored pencils!).

  

Dad and I at the White Coat Ceremony  

During the ceremony they had us all read the physician's prayer which was pretty moving (even for me who is not particularly religious)...

"O God, Let my mind be ever clear and enlightened. 

BY the bedside of the patient, let no alien thought deflect it

Let everything that experience and scholarship have taught it

be present in it, and hinder it not in its tranquil work.  

For great and noble are those scientific judgments 

that serve the purpose of preserving 

the health and lives of Thy creatures.

Keep far from me, the delusion that I can accomplish all things.

Give me the strength, the will, and the opportunity

To amplify my knowledge, which yesterday

I would not have dreamt of,

For the Art is great, but the human mind presses untiringly.

In the patient, let me ever see only the man.

Thou all-Bountiful One, has chosen me 

to watch over the life and death of Thy Creatures.

I prepare myself now for my calling. 

Stand Thou by me in this great task, so that it may prosper.

For without Thine aid, man prospers not even in the smallest things."

Cocoa Tea

Holy cow!  I am never drinking regular hot chocolate again!  When I went to the market, I saw these strange sticks that kind of looked like weird cigars.  I asked the lady what they were and she told me they were Cocoa Sticks and that Dominicans use it to make Cocoa Tea (pronounced "kako").

I made this tonight and it was so amazing.  Probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had.  You make this
tea" with condensed milk, coconut milk, almond extract, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and of course the cocoa stick.  While it took awhile to boil (you need to make sure the cocoa stick melts all the way), it was worth it. My apartment smelled like heaven.  The mixture of coconut, vanilla, and chocolate was delightful.  

Cocoa Stick

The ingredients (I didn't use any set quantities,
just kind of made it to taste)

Add the cocoa stick to the pot of condensed milk,coconut milk, vanilla essence and almond essence.
 I then boiled it for about 30 minutes until I made sure the cocoa dissolved.  You are supposed to
add cinnamon but I currently don't have in my apartment. I am definitely going to have to get s
ome and try making this again.  

Wooo me and the cocoa tea! Clearly the humidity makes my hair
go super frizzy (french braids are my best friend)

Final product! 

I am going to bring some cocoa sticks back during Christmas time and make this for everyone back in the states. Let me know if you want me to bring this back for you.

 Here is a link for a native Dominican's thoughts on cocoa tea http://www.jennifervalerie.com/2009/07/recipe-for-hot-cocoa-dominican-style.html