When In the Middle of The Sem/Year of Medicine

Internship Matching Q&A

Found this posted on FB, hope this helps.

Original post is here: https://www.facebook.com/thenoelbernardo/posts/1416598638366227

Answer and Question!

1. Ano ba talaga yung matching na yan? Paano nalalaman ilang slots?

At the start of each year, hospitals apply for a certain number of slots for internship. Depende sa laki ng hospital, manpower na kailangan, facilities na meron sila, at number of consultants na pwede magturo ng PGIs, doon nasesettle kung ilang slots yung meron. Kung ilan yung slots na maapprove, yun yung dami ng interns na matatanggap nila. The goal is as much as possible, all hospitals who applied for intern slots will be given the number of interns they applied for.

Usually, nagdadagdag eventually ng slots if the institution will send a request to APMC to accommodate additional interns. Pero hindi assured na bibigyan sila kaagad. Kasi kawawa naman yung hospitals na wala. For some hospitals naman kasi, sobrang crowded na ng interns, so di na talaga pwede dagdagan.

Everytime may matching, automatic na lahat ng isinulat mo sa 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice mo na hospital, isesend yung names mo sa kanila for deliberation. The hospitals will reply with a final list of interns na tatanggapin nila. If natanggap ka sa dalawa, doon ka papasok sa mas mataas mo na priority. With this, super walang sense yung ginagawa ng ibang incoming interns na pare-parehas yung 1st-3rd choice. Sayang yung chances mo na nakaapply ka sana simultaneously sa ibang hospitals. So please, wag na gawin ‘to for this round. Kaya marami pa ring unmatched ngayon eh, maling akala. frown emoticon

May forms sa APMC office. By tomorrow, nasend na din ng staff natin by courier lahat ng forms sa respective schools niyo, so pwede din naman na hintayin niyo nalang dyan if hindi kayo makakaluwas agad (for provincial schools). Kalma lang kayo dyan. smile emoticon

2. Kailan yung 3rd Matching?

Third round of matching started yesterday, May 23. So if wala ka pang hospital for internship, or if hindi mo pa nakita yung name mo sa first two rounds, wala kang choice kundi magapply for this round. Walang deadline yung 3rd matching, however, everytime umaabot sa certain number yung nagaapply for a certain hospital, sinesend na nila agad for processing and deliberation nung hospital na yun. So mas maaga ka mag-apply, mas malaki chance mo mapasok. For this round, our goal is to fill all slots per hospital as soon as possible

We received reports na may nagkakalat na: “natapos na yung 3rd matching and results are being encoded na”. Nope. Not true. Please stop spreading rumors like this. Sobrang inconvenient for everyone.

3. Paano magmatching for this round?

TWO options!

First option - Punta kayo ng APMC, tapos fill out ng forms ulit. Submit the following: Transcript of Records, passport size picture, and Certificate of Eligibility from your Dean na may rank niyo sa graduating batch. smile emoticon So pagpunta niyo ng APMC, papipiliin kayo ng 1st-3rd choice na school. Regularly, sinesend na ng staff natin yung mga nagaapply pero hospital, so mas maaga kayo magapply, mas okay. If wala nang slots sa gusto niyo applyan, hindi tatanggapin ng staff natin yung application form niyo. Results will be published as soon as magreply yung bawat hospital. Hindi na isang bagsakan yung release ng results.

Second option - Punta kayo sa hospital na gusto niyo and apply as walk-in. Hindi lahat ng hospital tumatanggap ng walk-in, so confirm niyo nalang bago kayo pumunta. Each hospital, may kanya-kanyang set of requirements for walk-in. If sabihin nila na tanggap na kayo sa hospital nila, eh di happy! Hingi kayo ng certificate or letter of acceptance, tapos punta sa APMC para maprocess yung application niyo. Sure na pasok na kayo nun. Magcocoordinate nalang yung APMC sa hospital kung totoo ba na natanggap kayo.

4. Paano pag ayoko na sa kung saan ako namatch?

Pwede naman magparematch! smile emoticon Punta lang sa APMC office personally! Okay?

Ang mangyayari, parang sasali ka sa third round of matching. If namatch ka sa gusto mo lipatan, automatic na iuunmatch ka nila sa dati mong napiling hospital.

Nakausap ko na din yung staff tapos nag-agree na sila sa arrangement ngayon... hindi mo kailangan magpaunmatch muna bago ka mag-apply sa lilipatan mo. That way, sure na back-up mo na yung hospital kung saan natanggap ka na dati. Wag na matakot na mag-endup na wala kang slot sa kahit anong hospital!

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Good luck batchmates! Sana magkainternship hospital na kayo! smile emoticon

PS. Naglagay ako nung list ng hospitals na may additional slots pa. Minsan nadadagdagan yung tinatanggap, pero as of now, yan lang talaga. Wag muna umasa sa wala. :)) More than 500 pa ata yung wala pang internship hospital so good luck. If may questions pa, comment lang.grin emoticon Hindi pala nagrereflect sa numbers yung mga nawawalang slots tuwing tumatanggap yung schools ng walk-in. Minsan kasi hindi nila iniinform agad yung APMC office. Kunwari minsan nakalagay may 10 slots pa sa photo, pero tumanggap na pala sila ng 10 na walk-in... so pag tumawag kayo, sasabihin nila wala na. Confirm niyo nalang din through the phone yung data kung kaya. smile emoticon

PS ulit. May conference yung APMC bukas tapos matagal na na-set na sarado sila dapat (ONE day lang yung conference so bukas lang sila sarado, wag magpanic!). Pero dahil sa dami ng nag-aayos ng papers, nakausap na natin yung staff at pumayag silang magbukas nalang sila tomorrow... pero skeletal unit lang nagpapatakbo ng office. Magbaon ng pasensya if bukas kayo pupunta, for sure mahaba yung pila dahil konti lang yung nagaasikaso sa matching.

PS last na. Sorry sa cellphone ko lang tinype lahat ito. frown emoticon Paumanhin sa typo at informal na tone. Huhu. Thanks! Ineedit edit ko siya paminsan pag may nakakairita akong word na ginamit hahahah sobrang conversational.

Flashback Friday

Flashbaaaaack from 3rd year, skills lab with ze batchmates. Everyone had to partner up, but aince we were odd numbered, i was joined in a grouo of 3. The dr. In charge said my veins were peominent and straighter so i should volunteer both my hands.

Mygaaaaahd. I nearly passed out from the pain. I had to walk like some funky dinosaur with my hands raised to my chest in pain. I spent a week and a half with these bruises before they faded.

College of Medicine Tuition Fee for SY 2016-2017

Good luck incoming students. T_T

We actually started at around 220k per sem in my first year.

In Preparation for Your Junior Internship

Junior Internship started in a daze.

I hated the feeling of terror, and feeling of impending doom since we knew nothing (Jon Snow ang peg...) about junior internship.

First off:

WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR YOUR JUNIOR INTERNSHIP/ Clerkship?

It actually depends on your rotation, as I found out. Most of my classmates resorted to borrowing from other rotations, but you must at least have your basics which are:

• Stethoscope
• BP App with Adult cuff (recommending Baxtel since its easier to find a pedia cuff for it instead of the Welch Allyn), and pedia cuff(if rotating in Pedia)
• 70% Rubbing Alcohol (you frequently need to keep your hands clean, as well as your instruments)
• thermometer
• Penlight
• Watch (for counting your RR and HR)
• Face Masks (comes in handy when rotating in Pedia since kids practically cough in your face all the time, or when your post duty and you're just too tired to brush your teeth
• Personal stuff that come in handy when youre starting to feel the 24-29 hour grime: wet wipes, hankies or towels, tissue, toothbrush, small packet of toothpaste, powder

For our rotations in DLSHSI, we needed the following in addition to the basic set:

OB: Tape Measure (to get the fundic height)
Commed: Neurohammer for OPD
ENT: Bandage scissors, Kelly, Mayo, Micropore, Otoscope (you can borrow from each other)
Ophtha: Ophthalmoscope, lots of rubbing alcoholc (when its the season for sore eyes)
Psych: Your patience.
Ortho: Bandage scissors, Kelly, Mayo, Iris, Micropore
IM: BP App with Adult Cuff, rubber shoes (hahahaha, for running in when theres a Code Blue ongoing), neurohammer
Surgery: All the scissorsssssss, micropore, 
Pedia: Pedia Cuff (some are compatible with Baxtel, ranges from 250-350 in price)

Books you say?

OB still uses Williams latest edition + tranx for their exams.
Commed- still unpredictable. Base it on your previous lectures/ tranx
ENT- Probst, and lectures
Ophtha- lectures
Psych- Kaplan and Sadock, baby book was extremely helpful
Ortho- lectures
IM- IM Platinum, Harrisons
Surgery- lectures + Schwartz
Pedia- lectures > Nelson's, Nelsons Essentials

SCHEDULE:
PREDUTY: 7AM TO 5PM
DUTY: 7AM TO 7AM THE NEXT DAY
POST DUTY: 7AM TO 12NN

Kinda confusing? Me too. I couldnt wrap my head around the status thingies. but it goes like this:

for example. Preduty is Monday, you stay at the hospital from 7am to 5pm, then go home.
Tuesday is duty, so you clock in at 7am, then your shift lasts until 7am the following day.
Wednesday, from 7am (immediately after your duty shift) you are post duty, and stay until 12nn.

Preduty: Do your usual duties, whether you are in OPD, the wards, or special rotation, do your paperworks, monitor patients, and whatnot.

Duty: You do the same thing as preduty, but loooonger.

Post duty: Finish up your paperworks. Paperwork? Updating abstracts, finishing your wardwork paper on the patient.

Although these tasks are different from rotation to rotation, there are some rotations wherein you do nothing much, and let preduty people take care of the tasks for that day, and then you start by 5pm. 

If you need tips per rotation, just email me. some of the details might be different during the actual rotation. 

IM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! You can still email me at animomedstudent@gmail.com if you have any questions!

   

Junior Internship (Super Late Post)

The [ Junior] Intern

Oh, by the way if you'd like a few tips on junior internship, read this: JUNIOR INTERNSHIP

I came into this year thinking that I’m 1 year away from graduating, that it would be busy, fast paced, and would pass by quickly enough.

Looking back on the past 8 months, I realized that I learned so much in such a short amount of time, but also realized that I had so much more to learn.

These past 8 months, and 4 different rotations made me realize the following:

1.      If you thought that you were tired, and you cant go on anymore, youre wrong. There will always be that extra hour of energy to finish that last few pieces of paperworks and cases.

2.      There’s nothing that 10 billion cups of coffee and energy drinks can fix on a long (very,very, very long) duty day.

3.      Team work will be the only thing that can help you get through toxic duty days.

4.      There is an amazingly large difference between the books/lectures and actual medical practice in the hospital. So when you see a consultant/resident doing their rounds, jump up and join them.

5.      Hardwork beats being smart anytime. But putting extra effort in studying makes it extra better.

http://medsketches.tumblr.com/post/60258641113/i-overheard-this-during-my-third-year-of-med

6.      Internship will break you, destroy you, harden you, and then gradually build you up, make you, mold you, and turn you into the most amazing, efficient intern ever [hopefully].

7.      Internship teaches you the difference between working with friends, and working with co-interns. Work is work.

8.      You will constantly be amazed by the wonders of the human body.

9.      Situations such as sickeness and disease will show you the best, and the worst in people in the hospital.

10.  Medicine isn’t as glamorous as everyone thinks...

OB GYNE

This was probably the best and worst time of my JIship. There is one thing that 3 years of med school wont teach you and prepare you for—endurance.

Mental. Physical. Emotional. Endurance.

This was like jumping off a cliff into shark infested waters while you were bleeding.

The first month was concentrated at the wards while the 2^nd month consisted of special rotations such as our rotation in GEAMH, OB Ultrasound, and OB Patho.

Que horror. That first month was something I dreaded and hated to the fullest extent of my being. I did not understand what I was doing since it was my first time to go on duty. The concept of preduty, duty, post was foreign, and I really didn’t understand what I was supposed to do as a clerk, coupled with extremely angry residents. I understand their anger and confusion that their new JIs know nothing about OB, and didn’t know how to actually present cases/ endorsements.

Everything was chaos every day for the first few weeks and sleeping became a problem. I had constant nightmares and remembered dreaming that I was on labor watch at the dorm. I would find myself waking up with my hand propped up on a pillow imagining that I was on labor watching, and wishing that she’d just undergo a CS instead.

The duties gradually became better. I started to understand what I was doing. The topics became much more understandable, and the stress levels were more manageable. But then again, it still remained very difficult for everyone. The endorsements were brutal. These 8am meetings at the SGD were absolutely brutal, and you just wished that you never had been decked with patients. I was lucky that my resident buddy was the best, and would teach me a few minutes before endorsements just so that I wouldn’t be tortured in front.

The worst moment of OB was during my post duty, and one resident as looking for two more junior interns to assist in their TAHBSO. The patient was a 36 year ol female, nulligravid, and was to undergo TAHBSO for the presence of her Ovarian New Growth. She had a BMI of more than 30. At first, I just thought that that was an extremely large patient. What i didn’t know was the extent of these small details about the patient which would affect the outcome of the operation. The resident was scary as hell, and kept asking me if I would still be able to retratct considering I was post duty, and had such a horrible duty. I wanted to prove myself to her, and confidently said yes. During the operation, we spent 1-2 hours trying to cut through the thick layer of fat which contributed to her amazing BMI.  Two hours into the operation, the post duty syndrome was really kicking in, I was struggling to stay awake, and retracting is by no means an easy task. I felt destroyed when the resident called in another JI to help out. Althroughout the operation, the resident kept shouting at me, telling me that the only job I had was to retract, and I couldn’t even do it right. An hour later, I was really tired and demoralized, and the resident could sense it. She asked me to scrub out, but I was trying to really prove myself. The resident kept telling me to scrub out, and in the end, the senior intern asked me to go instead of making it difficult for everyone. I scrubbed out. I felt down. But somewhat relieved. I went home, slept for 20 hours straight, with a heavy heart. The following day I learned from my duty mate that the operation lasted for 10 hours...and that the chief resident gave the JI and I a 24 hour merit for good patient care. I felt so happy for it, but at the same time, felt undeserving. It was a minor thing to happen, but for some reason, it had such an impact on me.

COMMED

Commed was the rest and relaxation that everyone was looking forward to. It was definitely worth it, but it wasn’t what we expected. We were stationed in Kabulusan, and the houses were far apart from each which didn’t give us enough bonding time with each other unless its breakfast, lunch, merienda, dinner, or patient visits. The experience was wonderful and was a welcome relief from the harassment of a rotation called OB.

During our rotation, we rotated in the OPD, TB DOTS, and the community immersions. TB DOTS wasn’t much of a learning experience since the rains kept getting in the way, resulting in multiple cancellations of classes. We spent only half a day at the TB DOTS, and we weren’t able to even give any medications to any of the patients since it was all done.

The OPD was probably the toughest OPD I had ever experienced. The histories and case files were long and winding, the patients mostly elderly with very very complicated and vague histories that no amount of time could straighten out, and the big surprise factor in every day at the OPD.

One of the most memorable moments was at the OPD, and the patient had the same birthday as me. He was covering up his left eye with a towel, and at first, we all thought that he should be sent to the Surgery Department for trauma. Upon asking him to take off the towel, I saw ptosis of the left eye, and a non reactive pupil, while the other eye was perfectly fine. I still didn’t know what to diagnose the patient, since it was my first time exposed to another case other than OB. I asked help from my senior interns and they just kept commenting that “ang toxic mo”. The chief resident who was the whole thing from afar barked out that I should do a full PE on the patient, complete with neuro exam. I thought that it would be entirely different from the OB PE, and assumed he was asking for the complete PE similarly done in the 3^rd year, with complete skin, ENT, abdomen, etc findings, complete with special maneuvers, and 3 senior interns were already helping me out so I assumed that what we were doing was correct. An hour had passed when I still wasn’t finished with the PE, and included was the medical abstract which I had no idea how to do since it was my first time. The patient was sent to another hospital for transfer, and what surprised me was the patients’ discharge diagnosis, it was a case of stroke. Call me a little ignorant, or unknowledgeable but there is a huge difference between how the books describe it, and seeing it in real life. I was completely horrified. The resident called me, along with my senior interns, and started shouting at me. He went on for 5 minutes, telling me how slow I was, that I was taking it seriously, and that I did a poor job of handling the patient. I felt demoralized since he was shouting at me, in front of everyone. He then explained (but still angry) that the only reason why he kept rushing and harassing me was that the patient needed immediate attention, was in a post-stroke time frame, and may develop into another stroke. It was only then that I realized how bad I handled the situation. I brooded over the occurrence the whole week, and then accepted that that was going to be the only way I would learn.

MINORS

OPHTHALMOLOGY

Ophtha was suprisingy fun, and its a specialty that seems to be taken for granted in my opinion. The OPD was confusing, and difficult, with so many tests being done.

ER was equally fun due to the sore eyes epidemic that spread during that time. There was one duty (not mine though), that they had 30 ER calls, 90% of them were sore eyes, whole families, classmates, relatives, and what really frustrated me was that they would come in at dead hours of the night. I mean, any sane being would rather rest it and go to the clinic or hospital in the morning when they were more rested. These people would come at 2am and would be agitated that it would take so long for us to process them since it was in the wee hours of the morning.

ORTHOPEDICS

I didn’t expect Ortho to be sa tiring and difficult, and gross. It really made me squirm to see twisted legs, ankles, broken bones, fractured ribs and the like. On inital management of the patient, it would require you to splint the affect extremitiy, but it seemed like we always made it worse. There was an abundance of diabetic foot cases, fractures, and ingrown toenails. At the OPD, we got to participate in an ungiectomy, as it was my first time seeing one. It was absolutely gross, and the whole toe nail was actually pulled off! I promised myself that after this rotation, I would take better care of my feet, and would never want to have anything done, or any procedure done at all.

PSYCHIATRY

This was probably the weirdest rotation I had. JIs who rotated here were usually benign, but during one time, I was decked with a patient who tried to commit suicide because her husband was engaged in an accident, and had to undergo an ORIF, but was unable to due to lack of funds. She had taken a kitchen knife, and tried to stab her mother in law, and then herself, by stabbing herself in the abdomen. She underwent an emergency ex-lap and was put on suicide watch for the next few days where we had to do a q6 MSE.

Another memorable event during my psych rotation was our trips to CCMH. These mini experiences at the center were shocking, and sometimes vulgar. The patients were mostly schizophrenic, a few were depressive, some were psychotic. At first, I had no idea how to manage these type of patients, but through time, we got the hang of it. It was during this time that we were assigned to different consultants for our oral exam with them...and guess who I got? Dr. Dejamco. The Dr. Dejamco.

I had never seen her. For the past two courtesy calls that we tried to do, she absolutely refused to meet us, and sent her secretaries to talk to us, give messages, and schedules for the exam. By our last duty there, I was completely horrified. There were two of us and she decided to do the oral exam at the same time. I was expecting a hurricane of an exam, but surprisingly , she asked basic questions that were never taught at school, basics such as doing an MSE, history taking, understanding schizos and their cases. We were able to answer most of the questions, and after an hour of intense grilling, she asked us to step out, so she could grade us. A fewminutes later, she handed us our grading sheets, and surprise, surprise! She gave us 13/15, the highest that she had gven so far to any Lasalle JI. The rest we heard from had been given 8/15, and the like, barely passing.  I thought it was a huge achievement for being able to get such a grade. Because.we.had.conquered.Dejamco.

ENT

QUE.HORROR. This rotation was horrible. OB was better than this. The residents were difficult , one made me cry and demoralized me in front of the whole group, the patients were all difficult, crying, bleeding from the mouth or nose, with batteries, coins, and cotton buds stuck everywhere. One case that really frustrated me was a 2 year old baby, brought in at 3am by the mother and father, complaining of bleeding from the ear. Upon history taking, she was cleaning her son’s ears when he was playing around with buds, pretending to be a robot/Frankenstein. First off...why are you cleaning your sons ears at 3 in the morning? And all of them are in such a bad mood since we had difficulty checking his ears, and the patient became very agitated.

At times like these, I question these parents and what they do in the wee hours of the morning. They are angry at you for advising them on the proper ways of cleaning ears, proper hygiene, proper safety procedures, but when harm comes to their child, they lay no blame on themselves for the occurrence.

I dreaded the 15 days of my rotation there, I didt enjoy it at all, and it is one of the rotations that Im dreading for this upcoming SIship.

ANESTHESIA

Our chosen elective was the bomb. It was such an eye opener, and I enjoyed every minute there. It came to the point that I put it up on my list of possible specialties for my residency. I never thought it would be so interesting and action packed to be looking at a few monitors, and seeing so many cases within the day. It was every bit exciting to see different consultants have different  techniques in doing anesthesia.

INTERNAL MEDICINE

This was by far, the most challenging rotation ever. I would rather repeat OB than do IM again. The cases were neverending, the paperwork was frustrating to do, with demanding relatives, and demanding nurses, and demanding everything. The cases were a mix of benign and toxic. It was during this rotation that I experienced my very first mortality.

He was DB, 65 years old, with a history of DM, and had suffered from Uremic Encephalopathy. He came in already with decreased sensorium, he smelled uremic too. I thought that perhaps, he would get better once he underwent hemodialysis or something. We spent the whole night, q1, making sure he was doing better. I breathed a sigh of relief upon my post duty status, with him still alive, and semi-well. While preparing my papers for the duty, I heard the heart stopping announcement. Your attention please, your attention please. Code blue, code blue, 1400. Code blue, code blue, 1400. I immediately knew it was my patient. I ran across the floors, and bypassed everyone, jumped on the bed, and started resuscitating the patient. 1 epi, 2 epi...10 epis later, and he was then pronounced dead.

I wanted to cry, but I didn’t. It would have been unprofessional. I don’t know wjy, but for some reason, his death affected me so much. I would not forget this patient ever. He would serve as a reminder of how much I needed to study some more, to be able to treat my patients.

SURGERY

Pretty much like OB and Commed, Surgery was the Commed of that time. Although it was toxic, in terms of the emergency Ors, the monitoring was by the most challenging thing to do. It was tiring. It was smelly, and it was messy to do most of the time. The ORs were long, and for me, boring since I couldnt see much of the operating field. I couldn’t see much, and the residents were very stressed and concentrated on their work, so you couldn’t really bother them that much about the speicifcs of the case. It was during this time that I realized that I didn’t want to go into Surgery at all. 

It was fun, and exciting and all, but it wasn’t for me. The cases I had consisted mostly of chornic calculous cholecystitis and appendicitis, and in the first few weeks, was exciting, but then it grew to a point that I had lost interest already. I know its kind of wrong to feel this, and that everything is a good opportunity to learn, and that every case was different, but I really had some difficulty  trying to keep up the motivation.

PEDIATRICS

Everyone. And I mean everyone had warned me over and over about how horrible it was. We would be reduced to being monitoring machines. Learning would come every so often, and interesting. So far, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.

OPD was the most amazing thing. Im not saying it because of the schedule, but the learning there was immense. The one on one with the mothers, and their babies,was amazing. The educating the mothers on new practices, and correcting them on their most common misconceptions was entertaining because of how the mother and their grandmother’s practices were constantly clashing. The patient had dermatitis with superimposed bacterial infection. Instead of using  cetaphil soap and the like, she put her own breastmilk on the babies face, saying that her neighbours advised her to do so since it was nutritious, and was like any other milk bath, that would help soothe inflamed skin. It was frustrating at first, but upon educating the mother, she realized how foolish it all seemed.

ER was the next best thing, the most action packed, and the most difficult. The patients weren’t the problem. Most of it the time, it was the relatives, mother, father, and the most notorious of them all, their lola, that made the whole situation unbearable and difficult. It was a good thing that our resident was extremely patient, and gave us the extra support we needed.

The wards was an entirely different thing all together. The work was monotonous, the hours long, and the monitoring was difficult with pediatric patients. On my first duty, I was assigned to bedside of a new case, a 33 week old neonate, who was suggested to have Down’s Syndrome, to consider Edward’s Syndrome, with pleural effusion, neonatal sepsis secondary to neonatal pneumonia, and now was being considered for hydrops fetalis. She was on mechanical ventilator, and had episodes of desaturation that made the monitoring all the more difficult. For the next two days, she was monitored closely, and I began to grow fond of her. By my last duty, I came in and found the room empty. I was completely surprised, and my heart pounded thinking that something bad had happened to her. On endorsement, I found out that she had self extubated herself, and was breathing fine on her own. Her parents had already signed the DNR waiver, and HAMA, thinking that if she were to pass early, at least it would be at home, without debt. I seriously hope that I wont see her again in the hospital unless its for a well baby checkup.

OVERALL

Im just glad JIship is over.

I'd give it a score of 100/100. Hahahahahaha

But Im definitely dreading senior internship.

and the boards.

Oh well. 

My Grades

TUITION FEE FOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE SY 2015-2016

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR COURSE AND SCHOLARSHIPS SY 2015-2016

Hi guys, much better if you could callthe office dor any further inquiries. :) just look for ms. Wendy. :)

Preview for JFT 2014

Happening this Thursday and Fridaaaaay!

You can visit the college of medicine's fb page for more info. :)

https://www.facebook.com/dlshsicmsc

When the Med Student Gets Sick

Hello, its been awhile, and I have to say, with everything that's been going on, I almost completely forgot about this site. 

Im in 3rd year right now, and half way done, 6 months away from junior internship, and  dead tired already. 

These past 6 months have been crazy hard, like 2nd year times a bazillion. Your mind and body are both stretched to their limits until you start breaking down. 

Considering that our profession is all about health, a large number of us med students are very very unhealthy. I got sick so many times this year that I've had progressive migraines that would last for days, everyday nausea, stress, gastritis, flu like symptoms, dengue, dishidrotic eczema, Polycystic ovarian syndrome, a viral flu that caused me to break out into these really weird rashes on my hands and feet...

And all this time, I was thinking...what the hell is going on?? 

***I know its wrong but, this is a blog, and I have to be honest with the things I say, hahahahaha...

I started reading up on my symptoms, trying to diagnose, manage, and treat myself. And just to make sure, I would follow up at the college clinic to make sure that I wasnt just making up stuff about my illness. What surprised me the most was that even the doctors that checked up on me werent always a 100% sure of what I had. One diagnosed me with German Measles, and I was completely freaking out because the weekend before that, I attended a family reunion and was exposed to kids of all ages, and 2 pregnant ladies. (German measles is highly contagious, and absolutely dangerous to the pregnant women since it can cause abnormalities and even death to the fetus). Additional psychological stress. The doctor made me undergo a blood test just to double check. As I was wandering through the corridors of the hospital, I became extremely wary of my surroundings, looking out for other kids, and pregnant women so that I wouldnt spread the measles around. It took me 2 hours of waiting before I got another doctor to check me yet again. 

I cant explain to you how relieved I was when the doctor said I had some kind of viral flu, or two that caused me to break out into two different rashes, and was possibly caused by dengue also. I didnt know it was possible, but they said I was doing better, and all I had to do was rest, increase my intake of fluids, and drink the occasional paracetamol if I didnt feel well. Now imagine that kind of experience with your patient. 

Then with the different illnesses, you start getting really psychologically disturbed, annoyed, and depressed about whats going on with you. Thats the crazy thing with getting sick. At one point, I think i had some kind of gastritis or something, it felt like I was being punched in the stomach every 5 minutes, ( i think this was after a very stressful hell week or something) I got the wind knocked out of me, and I could barely stand up. As I was curled up in the fetal position in my dorm, I was thinking, shucks, Im dying because of stress, what a way to be a doctor. 

You may be thinking, why didnt I just ask help from my friends at the dorm, or go to the hospital to have myself checked, well, I did. And there was little that they could do to keep me symptom free. They did give me meds, prescriptions, changing meds, self medication, everything. 

At that moment in time, you start to see how valuable your health is to you. And you start thinking yet again...at my level, with most of the things I learned already about medicine, and I still feel this panic at not being able to control my own health, how would it feel for the regular patient who has suddenly been stricken down by an undetermined illness or disease?

If I was in their position, I would be frickin down right scared. I'd fear form my life, my health, my family, my job, and everything else. 

Then I remembered. This will be my future job. Its not just about prescribing the drugs, listing down different diagnostic tests for the patient to spend thouands of pesos on, and get rich at the end of the day.

You are treating a person. A person with fears for his/her life, a person with several family members relying on them, and becoming uncertain about their future because the head of their family is sick with something they have no control over. 

In these moments that the med student/ doctor becomes the patient, you realize, sh*t... I need to study more. 

DLSHSI College of Medicine TRANSCEND

Having hard time reviewing for exams? or retaining knowledge? or even want to take medical challenges to assess what you have learned so far??
Learn, Relearn, and INTEGRATE.
Join Transcend, or attend our activities which enhances your own medical education and experience.

Hey guys, iniviting everyone, even those who aren't from DLSHSI, to like the Transcend page and participate in all our online activities. :)

https://www.facebook.com/transcend.dlshsi

We have a lot in store for you guys, with journal sharing, daily board review questions, medica breakthroughs and updates, mini cases, challenging, weekly cases, and more!

About

Transcend aims to enhance medical knowledge and critical thinking of the students of De La Salle Health Sciences Institute—College of Medicine.

Transcend's Mission-Vision

VISION
Transcend envisions to be a catalyst in enhancing medical knowledge and critical thinking of students of the De La Salle Health Science Institute College of Medicine. It sees the DLSHSI-CM atmosphere to be more vibrant and interactive especially in acquisition of medical knowledge and skills and nurturing of students to become competent and virtuous physicians.

MISSION
In the spirit of life-long learning, Transcend is committed to
spearheading activities that are integrative, sustainable and optimal towards learning and understanding, which will be met through collaborative efforts of its members. Transcend, through its programs, shall promote and foster La Sallian values in molding and equipping the students to become outstanding movers in the medical field and contributors to the society.

2nd Year and 3rd Year Books Price List

Got this from a classmate of mine. You'll get to know him pretty well in Medicine. :) watch out for him. :)) Thanks Wish Upon A Dead Star!

Never Become This Person in Med School

Im guilty of doing this in my first and 2nd year. When i read this, I realized that this was a big big BIG NO NO.

You will definitely encounter at least one person who will do this when you guys start talking about grades, academic standing, failing, the evals results, remediations, and danger subjects. 

I used to do this, and I experienced it also, where you guys try to one-up each other with how hard things are getting. Its tiring, and it makes both of you feel bad at the end of the conversation, eith one feeling like such a jack ass for having said something so hurtful, while the other feels ashamed for having thought their problems were relevant but ended up being trivial.

Just in case some of you still dont know what im talking about (hahaha, sometimes i think i talk normal, turns out nobody understands me...), here's an example (this is just an example, its a mash up of several conversations i've had, and i have also acted like X one time or another...)

X: fuuuuu, my grades are horrible, i failed this exam, and that exam, and i failed the quiz...

Me: awwww me too! I failed this and that, blah blah blah

X: at least you passed this subject, i have it worse than you because im failing all my lab exams, and all my evals in this subject

Me: well im also failing in this and that, and i got picked on by a prof, blahblahblah

X: i dont think it can get any worse than my problems, im depressed

Me: OMG! Me too, im sooo depressed

X: i dont see what you have to be depressed about, your problems aren't as bad as mine...

Me: no, everything's gonna be ok, cheer up, you're gonna pass all the subjects, dont give up!

X: thats easy for you to say, you're not the one experiencing this. You dont know what it feels like.

 

...so on and so forth.

Just remember, everybody has their own struggles, and each carries a different weight of their own. What might be trivial to you may be the unclimable mountain for the other.

Updates on DLSHSI Scholarship Results For College of Medicine

May 12 update: most likely results will come out at the end of this week or next week. Just called the admissions department and they said that the they're still discussing it.

For incoming 2nd to 4th years, maybe end of the week because the departments just submitted the grades.

For those who are asking, results of the scholarship arent out yet. They say that it wil come out around 2nd  or 3rd week of May.

Will keep you guys posted. :)

Does Your Med School Really Matter?

Does your school really matter when it comes to Medicine?

Maybe. Maybe not.

I had one such encounter with a friend, and this is how it went...

X: hey, how is med school?

Me: im doing good, but this 2nd year was really really difficult for me. I struggled a lot with most of the subjects.

X: i dont think so. I think its easier for you.

Me: ( kind of confused with her statement, but  continued with the small talk) i guess, the level of difficulty is different for you and me since im in 2nd year, and you're in (X) year.

X: No, i mean, its easier at your school, unlike our school which is really competitive and our performance in the boards are better.

Me: (struggling to control my anger, but i just smiled) why do you say its easier at our school? 

X: a friend said so. You know how it is with your school.

The conversation went on for several minutes with X continuing on with her condescending bashing. This was a friend, and i had no idea where this was coming from. It all started off with her just asking how i was doing, and then boom, roundhouse kick to my dignity and to my school. 

I defended my school by saying that the teaching and the doctor lecturers are just the same as in any medical school, and i dont see how she could say it was easier at dlshsi. I cant say anything else about her school because I've never been there, and I know nothing else about the quality of teaching and whatnot, except for their impeccable passing rate in the physicians licensure. Ok fine, you guys are better in terms of performance, but in the end does that really matter? They'd say that only the nonperforming  schools would use a lame excuse like, " depende na yan sa student/doctor" (it all depends on the student/ doctor) or "wala naman yan sa school e, nasa estudyante na yan" ( its not the school. Its the student) . 

I believe in both, plus the fact that HSI is a very good medical school. It might not be attaining the best of the passing rates, or isnt at the level of UP, PLM, UST, ATENEO, CIM, and the like, but its getting there. And what matters to me at the end of the day is that i become a doctor. 

A patient may ask what school i went to, and might prefer other doctors with a different medical school background, but in the end, the patient will always come back to the doctor who treated them well. Treatment meaning not just the actual diagnosis, laboratories, medications, but the overall care and concern for the person. 

Your school will give you an edge in certain areas, but its up to you to determine what kind of doctor you want to be. 

Like X, her statements are not a judgement of her school, but her CHARACTER. i still admire her school, and every other medical school out there who are making a gigantic effort to mold and develop us into competent, excellent, caring doctors, but what you say and do can only reflect yourself.

All the medical schools are on the same playing field, with the same curriculum, same schedule, same content, same textbooks, etc. So where does it differ? Well, The doctors who teach you, and the students. The doctors are all excellent, with years and years of experience, and a lot actually teach in several different medical schools. So, its down to the students. What kind of student are you?

Back to one point of my friend concerning the passing rates of my school and her school. What is the difference between two doctors who passed the Physician's licensure exam but are of two different medical schools?

NONE.

Yup, NONE. because both of you are FREAKIN DOCTORS NOW. Both of you passed the very same exam, with the same gruelling effort, blood, sweat, and tears. I dont care if you came from this school, or that school, but if you act like an a**hole about it, i might as well slap the living daylights out of you.

But i wont. 

What you said is a reflection of your character, and no prestigious school will be able to make up for your lack of it.

So, to you X, and to many many more others like you, I hope you realize we are not competitors when it comes to taking care of our patients. Our patients deserve better than that.

Update: this is an excellent post from an awesome awesome site The Importance of Medical School Reputation at Anastomosed.wordpress.com. :)

The Waiting is Killing Me- Scholarship and Promo Boards

Just called the admissions office, still no results for the scholarship. 

Promotional boards are coming out today,  im gonna go crazy if they extend this any longer. 

http://icecreamforzombies.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/waiting.gif

This perfectly sums up what im feeling.

Noblest then...Noblest now, and Noblest Forever will be...

Saw this on of our transcriptions, i dont really know who wrote it though.

The Extra Push

This hpened at the beginning of the school year when i just started failing some of my exams. I was feeling down inthe dumps, getting all whiny and stuff about how hard it all was. Then my little brother told me this.

You gotta love family.