DLSHSI MED SCHOLARSHIPS

UPDATES (as of Dec 17, 2014)- you can check out the current requirements for the scholarship here. Much better if you can contact the office itself for any questions or clarifications regarding the other requirements. :)

CLICK HERE: CURRENT REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOLARSHIP SY 2015-2016

UPDATES, results are out for those accepted into the scholarship program. :) you can either personally ask at the admissions office at the Wang Building or email Dr. Cabanias at scholarships@dlshsi.edu.ph. But since a lot might email, it would be faster to just visit the office. 

Wish you guys all the best! Im still waiting for my results. Kinda scared to ask. :(

____________________________________________________________________________________

Hey guys, I know most of you are already applying at different med schools and i hope that De La Salle is one of your choices. :)

One of the reasons why I chose De La Salle Health Sciences's Med Program was their great scholarship program.

One thing I have to say is that their scholarship program is really generous. When I was applying at different med schools, one of the things I looked at were their scholarship programs and the availability of slots. Of the med schools I applied to, DLSHSI and UE were the only ones that I was qualified for.

In UST, they dont give out scholarships to 1st years unless you graduated Summa or Magna. With UP, you have to be within a given economic range (I think it was Php200K below for the whole year), and I was above that range. With UE, they had a limited number of slots that I was half sold on because I knew I had a chance at it, but chances were slim, and I didnt want to take that chance. DLSHSI practically guaranteed my scholarship when I applied, and my parents were sold on that. All I had to do was just fill up their scholarship forms and voila! ultra mega discount! :))

So they have several scholarships (taken from their website):

General Institutionally Funded Scholarships

• Entrance scholarship
• Academic scholarship
• Financial scholarship
• Service scholarship
• Gawad Lasalyanong Edukasyon scholarship
• Institutionally Funded Scholarships given to all DLSHSI regular employees
• Brother President Scholarship Program (BPSP), Enhanced Brother President Scholarship Program (EBPSP) and the Employees’ Dependents (EDSP) / Grand Father Clause (GFCSP) Scholarship Program

• Externally Funded Scholarship (Medicine)

  • Brother President Scholarship Grant (BPSG) through Individual Sponsorships
  • DLSU Science Foundation (Hi-Eisei) Scholarship Grant
  • Dr. Patricia Generoso Memorial Scholarship Grant
  • Dr. Romeo P. Ariniego Scholarship Grant
  • Dr. Lloyd Balajadia Scholarship Grant
  • Dormbuilt, Inc. Scholarship Grant
  • Merck, Inc. Philippines Scholarship Program
  • Provincial or Local Government Scholarships
  • Other scholarships that are funded or sponsored by an external agency and/or individual sponsors/philanthropists through the effort of the Brother President and the Scholarship Program and Development Center
  
  

For the externally funded scholarships, these may differ from year to year, depending on the sponsor. :)

For general requirements and other info, you can check out their website here. 

For this school year, I applied for the Entrance Scholarship, (I graduated Cum Laude from my undergrad) so I was entitled to 50% off my tuition. For the discount, this is based on the tuition itself and does not include discounts on the miscellaneous fees and whatnot. So for my tuition of Php113k (at the time), I only paid around Php 70K. This was one of the major reasons why I was drawn to DLSHSI, from the other schools that I applied to.

The scholarship is good for one whole academic year, and by the end of the year, you can just renew or reapply for the scholarship, given that you were able to maintain the grade.

For Entrance scholars, we have a maintaining grade of 87%. It may sound attainable, but I have to tell you, after just a sem here, I'm starting to feel that I wont be able to get that grade. Hopefully this second sem, I can catch up and keep my scholarship. :(

For Financial scholars, they have a maintaining grade of 83%.

Once you're a scholar of the school, they'll have you fill out an MOA that states that for every year you accomplish under the scholarship, you have to render 1 year service to the school/hospital and must be done within 5 years upon graduation.

For some, this may pose as a problem since they might have a hospital in mind to take their internship or residency. I dont think this is such a problem since the De La Salle University Medical Center (UMC) has a pretty good training program. They also said that its ideal to do your internship here since you can have the time to study for the boards and do your rotations, while some doctors/ lecturers there can even provide review classes.

For more information on their scholarship program, you can call their office number at:

Office of the Director for Admissions and Scholarship Assistance Program

Scholarship Program and Development Center
4th Floor Old Med Building
City of Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines

Cavite: (63) (46) 481-8000 local 5001
Manila: (63) (02) 988-3100 local 5001
Telefax: (63) (46) 481-8020
Email: admission@dlshsi.edu.ph

Look for Ms. Wendy! :) The staff here are very very accommodating, and will entertain all your questions about the program. 

Oh, before I forget, here's a copy of the brochure (PDF) just in case you'd want to show your parents or something. 

DLSHSI SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM BROCHURE

JFT~JUST FOR TONIGHT!!! The Biggest Med Event @ DLSHSI

This may be alittle late, but who cares, November was hell month, and exams are kinda finished. Hahahaha

Anyways, for those who dont know anything about this event, JFT or Just For Tonight, is the biggest event of the year held by the College of Medicine. Its called so because just for tonight, we are not med students. We take a break from all the studying and take this night to showcase our hidden talents in dancing, singing, acting, and what have you

This happens every year as a fund raising event for charity, and within this event, all the batches compete in the following events:

BATCH BAND
BATCH PRODUCTION
BATCH CHORALE
JFT KING AND QUEEN

For this year's theme, marking our 25th Year, it was "Silver Screens", where everything was a tribute to Broadway, Glamorous Hollywood, and musicals.

Honestly, I was blown away by how big this event really was. I thought it was just one of those flimsy programs that you put together a week before the event itself and just settle with some weak music, weak food, and grumbles from the batches who were just required to attend.

Instead, it was just short of a full blown concert!

the Animo Center was completely transformed with fabulous lighting, a gorgeous stage design complete with a big ass LED in the middle, and 800 or so fancy looking med students who attended.

I was absolutely blown away by all the talent raging the stage. Every batch was just bringing it, wave upon wave of awesomness! All i kept thinking was, dang, these future doctors are badass!!!!

JFT was just awesome, plain and simple. Kudos to the College Assembly of Medicine (CAM) for setting this up, especially to Sanny, Pat, Syril, Madel, Gorj, Kuya Roy, Melayne, and Randall, the kick ass participation of all the batches, our stand up comedians/emcees - Doc Kent Ermita, Doc Ja Amistad, and Jessica Asuncion.

Its kinda hard to explain how EPIC that night was. Try checking out Youtube for videos of the batches' performances!!!!


Here are some pictures of the event, credit to Fritz Dalida for taking these awesome awesome photos!

Sem Break Is Over, Studying Begins

We had two weeks for sem break...and I honestly don't know where the time went. Once we started classes, everybody was so keen on just waiting for the classes to end and gives us the freedom to become normal human beings. Hahahahaha

Aaaand, the time came. and just like that, sem break ended. Back to school. Another round of beating the clock in cramming everything you need to know before the next eval.

Although I dont advocate cramming, I seriously cant get out of the habit. Fr example, I studied the whole week for the exam, and as a practice of mine, I bring out an outline I'vemade of the topics and run through them, reciting or writing down everything I know about each topic. After that, I test myself with the past rvals (of the higher years) and then list down the topics that I havent mastered.  It always happens that the night before ( and sometimes even in the wee hours of the morning), when reviewing, that I find a super ultra mega topic that I completely forgot to cover.

Mission: Try to cram this topic in under an hour.

You may think an hour is a lot of time to study a teeny topic, but for me, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TEENY/MINOR TOPIC.

This is because I believe that EVERY POINT COUNTS. Some people would think, "nah...the prof wont ask any questions about this topic because there are other topics with heavier bearings...", or "...the prof said this topic only covers 5 items, I guess I can sacrifice these items and just focus on the more important ones..."

WRONG. Sometimes, one point is all that stands between you passing and failing. So many of my classmates found themselves in that situation where they failed by one point, and because of that, they had to take the Refresher Exam.

***Refresher Exam: a make up exam given to those who failed the previous exam. But for this one, no matter how high your score is, your end score will just be 75% or passing. These Refresher exams are usually harder than the past evals so as to discourage other students from abusing these   opportunities.. you'll know what I mean once you start studying here. Hahahahahaha

And honestly, who wants to take ANOTHER exam? I wouldn't want to study everything for the 2nd time. Sayang yung oras na sana nagamit mo para mag aral ng ibang subject or topic.


Which reminds me...I have to study. Goodbye sweet sweet sem break. Til we meet this Decemberrrr!

Best Place to Study: Romeo P Ariniego MD Library

Romeo P. Ariniego MD Library

I have spent so many days (and nights) studying here, and its the best place to be, well, up until 10pm from Monday to Friday. After 10pm, the next best place to study would be the Student's center, but, if you are girl, its much safer to study in the comforts of your dorm.

I used to study at the Student's Center, met a lot of great people there too, but some of the problems I kept encountering were:

1) Too many distractions (aka classmates)- instead of being able to study, you sometimes get caught up in the new gossip going around the classroom, or a study session with really "interesting" mnemonics, and whathaveyou.

2) Too many people in one small room. - Sometimes, the SC gets really crowded, especially a day before evals, and thats the last thing I need, 20 or so people inside the room, banging elbows with someone next to you just so you can flip through Netter and Moore, and other ginormous books.

So one day, my classmate invited me to study in the library. I used to hate the library because it was too quiet, too cold, too etc etc. But with Biochem and Anatomy evals looming ahead, I decided to go. My dorm was crazy hot, and I hated being stuck in that room. 

From 5pm to 10 pm, we stayed at the library, and I have to say, it wasnt all that bad.

PROS

1. Lots of sources to choose from when the textbook you bought is just not enough.

2. Air Condition- Mmmmmmm, all icy cold against the hot oven of the outside world.

3. Tables- and lots of them- not like the SC. At this lib, you can study at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th floor, and the lobby. 

4. Computers- just in case you dont have one, they have a set of computers at the corner of the lib where you can look up other sources. They also provide you with other sites that can help you study like anatomy.net, online access to journals,and the like. Sometimes, you can check the download folder and find several reviewers from upper years that you can use in your own time. HOHOHO.

5. You can borrow book stands.- These are especially helpful since these darn book stands cost about Php450. At the lib, you can borrow them, and relieves the strain from having to crane your neck to look over your big ass books. 

**Friendly reminder: DON'T buy the cheap plastic book stands in National Bookstore, the ones that cost about Php80. It cant hold anything over 300 pages or so. Mine collapsed under the weight of an 800 page book (this may be common sense to most people, but at the time, I thought it would be sturdy enough to hold my Physio book...)

6. Look closely at your assessment slip, it would indicate that you paid Php6,000.00 bucks for library resources. Since you paid for it, why not use it wisely?

CONS

1. Its only open from 8am to 10pm Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays, its open from 8am to 5pm. The SC is open 24/7.

2. Cant bring in food or drinks.

3. Sometimes, when the lib is filled, you run out of books since everyone else is trying to get a copy, with a limited number of available books on the shelves.

Problem with Trying to Stay Awake for Exams?

Try this.

I swear by this, this keeps me awake.

And I swear to you this is NOT a virus. :D

Have fun staying awake!

http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?titleId=350217&no=31&weekday=tue

UP THE LOOP DE LOOP

Up the Loop de Loop

First sem is over and done with aaaaaaand....i have to say that I am tired as hell. 

One of the reasons why i havent updated my blog is that september and october were hell months. Every other week we had our major exams or evals as we called it, and within each week, there were quizzes, recitations, dissections scheduled to make our studying just a little bit harder.

Of course, the higher years have it waaaaay harder. 

We have about 5 subjects (with anatomy being divided into gross, histo, and embryo) and at least  our exams were scheduled every other week. Unlike the higher years, they had about 7-12 (?) subjects (sorry if im a little vague here, cant remember what the 2nd years were telling me), and all exams were scheduled in the same week, 4 days in a row. Imagine trying to study for all that with monster subjects like Pathology, Microbio, and Pharmacy haunting you every night. 

I seriously dont know how they can manage it, but, you know, we are med students, we have to be trained in managing gigantic workloads.

But these workloads do take a toll on the students. As one doctor-professor pointed outnduring one discussion, that all the students were gaining weight, breaking out, and just looking stressed out. A long sembreak is what we need to get healthy and in shape for next sem. 

3.5 more years to go before grad...

CONGRATS TO THE BOARD PASSERS DLSHSI!!!!

We had three top notchers!!!

http://www.prc.gov.ph/uploaded/documents/PHYS0812ps.pdf

Additional Sources for Anatomy!!!

Hey guys, here's some links to really useful sites that can help you out, from time to time I'll be editing this one, or if you know of other sites, feel free to post them here so that everyone can see it. :)

http://www.mednotes.net/notes/anatomy/

http://visualhistology.com/products/atlas/index.html

First Cut is the Deepest: Dissection in Gross Anatomy!

Every med student awaits then day when they get to fulfill their psycho tendencies and cut up a dead body...legally. HAHAHAHAHA

Yesterday we had our first dissection class headed by our uber- awesome Doc JC. There was this kind of crazy panicky feeling in the air when we were putting on our lab gowns and goggles, and Doc Jah, Doc Kent and Doc JC oriented us on the dos and donts.

For our team of 8, we were divided into two where the first four were to dissect first, and the second half stayed in the briefing room to do research, study the bones, and do clinical correlations. 

Walking into the dissection room, we all felt giddy with excitment, heading over to our cadaver in the far end of the room.

"You may now uncover your cadavers."

All of us panicked and were pointing at each other to do it, and then we peeled back the cloth and plastic to reveal....of course, our cadaver.

Honestly, I had a different idea of what a cadaver would like. A little more...fresh, i suppose? The cadaver was black and leathery, average sized male, physically fit i guess because there was minimal fats when we cut him open. 

At first, we were careful with the first cut, a vertical cut from the C7 to the Lumbar area, and we were all, "hey dont cut too deep, we might damage the underlying tissues!" 

And five minutes into the dissection, we didnt even break through the skin yet! We dug in a little deeper, slicing a little deeper, and voila! we could see the pink flesh beneath!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPZ-n_axrfw

This is just an example of what we did since we cant take pictures or video our dissection classes--out of respect for our cadavers also. 

Seriously, dissecting is hard work. The skin is so tough and the connective tissues underneath are sooooo many, one of us was in charge of holding the edges of the skin back so that three of us could slice away at the connective tissue and expose the fascia, and then the underlying muscle. 

In 10 minutes of dissection, we were sweating like pigs, our muscles ached from all the pulling, tugging, slicing, and craning our necks to get a better view of the connective tissue beneath. 

BUT...IT WAS FUN AS HELL. 

We were able to identify and take apart the trapezius muscles, the erector spinae, deltoids, and the fascia. It was awesome to take apart the body and see these structures in real life. And I have to say, the books have it down to the details, except, of course, for the color. For gross ana and dissection we use Netter.

Much better if you studied Netter beforehand so that when you dive into dissection, you dont have to keep guessing what you're looking at or if you already sliced up an important structure.

Before I forget, here's a list stuff that would be handy during your dissection class. For our first dissection, we really had a hard time cleaning up and prepping because we forgot soooo many things.

DISSECTION HANDY PACK LIST:

1. Gloves- you can go for the disposable ones or if you're really icky with those things, you can opt for thicker ones that you wash and use again (kinda gross though, but if its your thing, who am I to stop you :) )

2. Goggles- much better if they were the suction type, not the glasses type since some of the formalin can sneak through your glasses and it hurts like hell. You  can buy this at your local hardware store. 

3. Lab gown- you wouldnt want to smell like the walking dead and have parts of your cadaver staining your uniform.

4. For girls- wear flats, never wear heels to your dissection class, (honest mistake though). standing up for hours and walking around your cadaver in heels messes up your legs, and they hurt.\

5. Bandana, hair ties, clips- keep the hair away from your face, and cover up your hair, because it will smell like your cadaver after several hours of dissection.

6. Feminine Wash aka Betadine- most of my classmates swear by this. We have used rubbing alcohol, all kinds of soap, and nothing else except betadine removed the smell of dead body on our hands.I dont know how they found out in the first place, but it works. HAHAHAHAHAHA

7. Vaseline- and plenty of it. Needed to maintain your cadaver from drying up and preventing unwanted insects from swarming and breeding in your cadaver.

8. Dissecting kit- standard set.

Not Sure About Med School?

NOT SURE ABOUT MED SCHOOL?

Its been about 2 months since school started, and I still don’t regret going to Med School.

Through the weeks, different horror stories came up about students who got  kicked out, or realized by the end of their 1^st year in med school that it just wasn’t for them.

I was just sitting through it all and thought, can that ever happen to me?

Well it can.

I just said that there IS a possibility that later on in med school that I might realize that I don’t really want it, or that I’m not made for it; but the truth is, I want to be here, and I have to be here.

Horror stories:

Ø  Med school is hard, and it will suck the social life out of you.

Ø  If you are not smart, don’t go into med school.

Ø  The professors/doctors are terrors.

Ø  Average sleeping time for med students is about 2 hours a day.

Ø  Its expensive and time consuming.

Ø  Your classmates might not be there by the next school year.

***all pictures included are not mine, just got them off the internet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sylvar/6955985416/

The truth is...

Ø  Med school is hard, and it will suck the social life out of you.

Its hard only if you think it is, and if you don’t set your priorities right, it will suck all the life out of you. Honestly, med students still have fun, get drunk, and party. With all the exams, practicals, quizzes, and workload, it just gives us more reasons to unload and celebrate.

Ø  Its expensive and time consuming.

Expensive, yes, you can see my previous blog on med school expenses for that. Time consuming, absolutely. Sometimes 24 hours isn’t enough to tackle everything you wanted to.

Ø  If you are not smart, don’t go into med school.

If you are not COMMITTED or at least DEDICATED (in general), DONT GO INTO MED SCHOOL.

A lot of students here never planned on taking up Medicine. Some were forced by parents, some, just wanted to study a little more, and some just want to be kick ass doctors.

But in Med School, I will reiterate, you need to be committed. Just baseline COMMITTED.

You don’t have to like Med School 100% of the time, you can have your down periods too ( like I do, sometimes I just get frustrated with certain subjects and think, wtf am I doing here anyways?) . But the most important thing you can do is STAY COMMITTED.

First off, you owe it to your parents. Medicine is no joke. Php100k+ is no joke. You can feed a 100 families for a week with that money. The least you can do is study hard.

I’m not saying that if you do fully, and truly realize that Med school is not for you, don’t quit. If you are absolutely, 100% sure that its not for you, go.

But if there is even a .05% that you still want to be a doctor, I say fight for that .05% and let it grow along with your commitment.

In med school, there are lot of smart people. But being smart can only get you so far. COMMITMENT and DEDICATION is the key.

Ø  The professors/doctors are terrors.

Partially true. I think all doctors/lecturers/professors can become terrors if you don’t listen, understand, and participate in class. Whats there to be scared about anyway? That there is a graded recitation? Then why didn’t you study? That they can shame you in front of the class? Then why didn’t you put in the extra effort to study harder, or at extremes, grow a set of balls in that moment?

I honestly think that Med School, to a certain extent, should scare you, terrify you, and turn your life upside down. Why? Because in the real world, when you are actually practicing, there will be moments where it does exactly that—life or death situation, conflicting schedules or parties, horrible patients, you’re getting sued for malpractice, etc.

But here at DLSHSI, the professors are nurturing. Yes, I used the word nurturing. They will guide you every step of the way, they will get mad you but will let you know that its for your own good, they will be there for you when you need help (academic, financial, personal, etc).

Dont mistake nurturing for babying. Babying implies that you can sit on your ass all day and get spoonfed, and when you fail or meet an obstacle, the professor does it for you. No.

Nurturing, they help you grow, they encourage you.

With the professors here at HSI, all I have to say is that they are AWESOME. Want to know why? Well, enrol here.

Ø  Your classmates might not be there for the next school year.

I personally haven’t encountered this yet since we’re just 2 months into the school year, but upper years have told us that there are cases of classmates who just left.

Some didn’t continue medicine because they realized they really didn’t like it.

Some just took a leave of absence—maybe they got burnt out, tired, or just needed to step away and see the big picture.

AND some just failed too many subjects that they had to get kicked out.

Ø  Average sleeping time for med students is about 2 hours a day.

True IF you didn’t study beforehand and is used to cramming. I have classmates who have time to go to the gym, work out, join afterschool activities, party, and whatnot. They learned how to manage their workload.

Read this blog about the effects of sleep deprivation in med students. :)

***all pictures included are not mine, just got them off the internet.

As one doctor/professor said, “There is not such thing as time management.” Really? Well he does have a point, you cant really manage the time, you can only manage your tasks.

***all pictures included are not mine, just got them off the internet.

Study a week earlier, tackle the hard subjects first when you’re still fresh, learn new techniques for studying at the same time. Try to discover what learning style works for you. DONT CRAM.

I mean, you owe it to your patient to be the best damn doctor that they have ever encountered. Am I right?

The Academic Avalanche

Hey guys, I apologize if I havent posted in awhile. The pace in med school kinda picked up when July settled in.

As i said before, things went into hyperdrive when July settled in. June was the typical settling in phase where doctors/professors slipped in a quiz or two, letting you gain a solid foothold on studying again.

BOOM!
Then July came in.

Every other week we had quizzes and major exams, and it came to a point where you just couldnt study as much as you wanted to because you were dead tired.

Major exams that happened this month: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, and this week would be Community Medicine and Bioethics.

Seriously, of all the major exams that came and went, Anatomy was probably the most mind boggling thing I encountered since our freshmen orientation with the mock exams.

I prepared for that exam like everyone has prepared for the oncoming zombie apocalpyse.

I kid you not. I spent a majority of my weekdays + 80% of my weekend reviewing everything and I was kind of pumped for the exam already.

Day of the exam, 7am in the morning, my dorm mates and I came out of our rooms at exactly the same time with blank faces, silently staring at each other, when, very quietly, one whispered... oh my g*d, I dont know anything.

All of us kinda went into a crazed panic since the exam was a bout 3 hours away. 

GROUP STUDY NOW!

Nobody brushed their teeth, fixed their hair, or took out the morning glories scattered all over, we got our stuff out and went to one room and started reviewing each other like there was no tomorrow. 

We spent two hours studying, took a bath, then went for the exam.

Here we go.

About an hour later, I was feeling pretty good about the results. But within a few minutes, panic set in again as we prepared for the practical exams for that afternoon.

For the practical exams, they set up 80 stations in the laboratory where there would be around 65-70 microscopes set up with specimens, around 5 pictures, and 5 resting stations. Every 20 seconds we a buzzer would sound out and everyone had to move to the next station.

This type of exam gives you an adrenalin rush. It was awesome and at the same time, depressing.

Within 20 minutes or so, we finished all 80 questions and headed out the laboratory. And everyone was kind of high with the rush. We headed out, ate, and made merry while doomsday/judgement day waited silently.

About 2-3 days, results came out. And I failed both the theoretical and practical. And so did 80% of the batch.

It was kind of comforting to know that, but deep inside, I was depressed because I studied my ass off and I still failed. 

Good thing that they lowered the passing rate a little, and I passed both, but, it still frustrated me. 

I will not be an average/ mediocre doctor. I will study my ass off, and one day I will top the exams.

Shit just got real.

Thank You Doc JC!!!

Cool thing happened this week. :)

HSI really takes care of their students. one of the things they do is have this Guidance Day for freshie Med students, which was more of a talk on adjusting to the medschool life. And after 3 weeks of med school, I have to say that I need all the help that I can get to survive my first year.

Well, to be fair, it IS the adjustment period for every student, but, I think there's no excuse for failing a quiz (which I had done yet again, hahahaha--quiet sobbing) or being unable to read all the material you need to understand the lesson beforehand. 

Honestly, I had difficulties in memorizing and understanding all the information that came out of each 3-4 hour lecture. But, the anxiety this caused me was lessened somewhat by this seminar.

I'm not bulls--ting you when I say that their pointers helped a ton load and you could actually see the results the day after.

 Doc Tata started the seminar with a few words of wisdom to impart on our young fragile, impressionable minds (lolwhut? hahahaha) and made us think about our future as med students. Are you living the dream for your parents? Yourself? Your boyfriend?

Next up, Doc JAA, our doctor/lecturer/professor for Embryology as well as our Student Adviser. We sent a good part of the hour just laughing. He gave us the statistics on med students, what works, what doesnt work in med school, and--my favorite part--categorizing things to do into neat little categories namely: a) negotiable or non-negotiable.


Physiology? Non-negotiable.
Biochemistry? Non-negotiable.
Anatomy? Non-negotiable.
Boyfriend/ Girlfriend? Pwede bang non-negotiable?


He also covered effective studying techniques as well as the usual techniques practiced by students that excel, students that are average in performance, and those who perform poorly. 


One of my favorites is using mnemonics for studying. He gave out a few examples (sorry, couldn't remember them that much, hahahaha) and my dorm mate and I tried it out while studying for Histology--Connective Tissue. 


Another doctor, Doc Kent was also there, and I wish he could have shared more of his experiences also. 

Aaaand finally. The rush I had that day. 


Doc JC, shared his experiences on surviving his first year of medicine. He excelled in his first year, being exempted from all the finals in all the subjects, and at the same time, still being active in several student/academic organizations. Pretty hard to follow that, right? Well he showed us that it is completely attainable, if he could do it, why couldn't we?


Well, in one of the slides he presented, he showed....(drumroll please....) one of my blog entries!!!! He said that he came upon the blog on the internet, and he wasnt sure if the author of the blog was present already, or was in thE room.


GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I was freaking out in my seat. I turned white right then and there and my seatmate asked if I was feeling ok. 


I actually wasnt sure if it was my entry because it was so long ago, but it was my post about why you wanted to take up Medicine. 


It surprised me that Doc JC, or anyone actually from my school would stumble upon this blog. (I'm not sure who actually reads my blog, I sometimes think that they got misdirected to this page or something. hahahaha)


And what he said made me sooooo happy. He commended me for the blog/post that I wrote and said that I should come by the office and let him know it was me. 


WELL, that sure didn;t happen. I was scared/shy as hell. And I didnt know how to react to it all. 


But it certainly made my day. 


THANK YOU DOC JC!!!!

Will be sharing more of their tips and advice in another post, kind of groggy from all the studying. :)) Happy weekend guys!

The Great Human LaSallian Star!

Today is the end of our 100 years, and the start of HSI's Jubilee year. :) Check out the photos within this week once I have the time to upload.

2nd Week of Med

SUBJECTS OF THE WEEK: Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Community Medicine


From now on, I'm just remembering the week based on the subjects for the week. Why? Because everything else seems like a blur, and the only way I can remember events is when I associate them with the mind-boggling, overwhelming, and at times, depressing lectures--just like the ones we had this week.


First off, June 13 was the first day of classes for the rest of the courses in HSI (PT, OT, Nursing, Rad Tech) and we all met up at the Animo Center for the Opening Ceremonies. The place was awesomely decorated, taking on a carnival theme, balloons were everywhere!

They hired stiltsmen (dunno if this is a correct term for the entertainer, hahahaha) and a mascot too!

Cavite's symphony band came in through the middle aisle playing Michael Jackson's Thriller with the entertainers dancing to the beat, and then the finalists for the Talentadong Pinoy show (pretty much like America's X Factor or something) performed for an hour. 

People were cheering loudly, and just high as hell (hahahaha) and the performances moved on to the different dance groups of each college. 

By lunchtime, they ended the opening ceremonies and we were free to go...study. :)) 

The day before, it was Labor day i think, I didn't go home, I just decided to stay at the dorm to make up for the lack of knowledge in Biochemistry. Spent the whole half of the morning studying basic/highschool chemistry using my brother's book. Yup, if you have your old highschool chemistry book, I recommend  you use it. It really does help you a lot especially with the bonds (ionic, covalent), the hydrocarbons, structures of the functional groups, etc. The second half of the day, I spent on review for Organic Chemistry. Our Doctor-lecturer advised us to backtrack on orgchem so Biochem can come a little bit easier for us. 

So for the next 6 hours, in between mini breaks on FB, I studied orgchem. I did this at HSI's student center, located at the old med building. Its a small room furnished with study tables, benches, a small sink (for those who study there overnight), and airconditioned. Its open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is open only for Med students. This was a lifesaver for me since the dorm is full of temptations (food, bed, tv), and it was stuffy and hot, so going to the Student Center was pure heaven. Not to mention that you can charge your laptop and cellphones there and wifi! woot! woot! The connection there is pretty fast, so the only con in studying there is the unlimited access to the internet.

http://www.dlshsi.edu.ph/Gallery/MED/images/IMG_3379_jpg.jpg

For the internet connection, you have to have your devices configured by the school's IT staff located at the ground floor of the Angelo King Building. You are only limited to 2 devices, so I had my smartphone and laptop configured. 

Anywho, I spent the next few hours in the student center and got to meet upper classmen, and honestly, I was thinking--these guys are invincible. They passed the first year. HAHAHAHAHA

They were absolutely friendly, and gave me tips on how to study for certain exams. For example, in Biochemistry, the questions are pretty straightforward so all you need to do is remember structures and functions. In Physiology, it helps to read it AT LEAST two times so you can understand the processes. 

But the usual advice is: STUDY STUDY STUDY. No matter what subject it may be, you MUST MUST MUST STUDY. and READ a lot. In Med, you can;t just stick to one book and expect everything to be there. For the doctors, they usually use 2-3 references for their presentations/lectures. And, if you can (and you should), read all the books. 

So Biochemistry down, we have, drum roll please... ANATOMY.

This subject really depresses me. Results for the first two quizzes came out, and surprise surprise. I failed both of them by a measly one point (7/10). Its frustrating when you studied your ass of the week before, and boom, you still fail. But, as the professors and upperclassmen advised, try to accumulate as many extra points as you can to make up for the failures. They're pretty generous with it, but the failures are overwhelmingly strong in this subject.

We had our laboratory period in the Old Med building, and looked at the cells found in different parts of the body.

We looked at cells from the spinal cord, blood smear, compact bone, and liver. Each student had their own microscope and set of slides.

The last time I used the microscope was in highschool, and using one again, and more extensively, was pretty fun. 

Physiology was the same, and the topics were already merging with the ones in Histology and Biochemistry. Well, of course, they're supposed to be interrelated, but you'd never expect it to just blend in perfectly unlike the way of teaching in highschool and college where each subject is boxed seperately with little to no connection bridging them together. 

This week was tiring, but still gotta push. This is just the second week. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH/