Internet Prescription: Life as a Med Student

Friday, March 8, 2013

DORMS

UPDATES: A LOT OF THE DORMS JUST RAISED THEIR PRICES, expect a php 1,000+ increase on the prices you see here. Although you can still find some pretty cheap rooms, they're gonna be pretty hard to come by now.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hey guys, just reposting this since most weren't able to view it in the tab at the top of my blog. :))

Okie dokie, so 2013 is coming up, and I know a lot of you are starting to narrow down your choice of schools, or have already chosen one.

And for those who chose DLSHSI College of Medicine.... CONGRATS AND WELCOME!!!! :)

When I was choosing a med school to get into, one of the factors I considered were the availability of dorms, or at least accessibility to public transpo when I did want to go home.

So for those of you who are already dorm hunting, here's a short list of places you can check out. :)

1) VILLA NICASIA

This place is about a 5 minute walk away from the school. Its just a village of dorms where a lot of students, interns, doctors, and even professors stay.

Dorm room rates vary from dorm to dorm and whether its going to be a single room or you're gonna share it with 2-4 people.

For single rooms, average cost is about Php 5,000/month, excluding your electric bill, and sometimes water.

For rooms good for 2 people, its about Php3,500/person, you can look for your own roomie, or you can just let the caretaker know that you're open to having a room mate.

Within Villa Nicasia, there are eateries (Asuncion, Frying Pan, Ninja Gohan), laundry shops, sari-sari stores, and its just a walk away from 7-11 and the school. :)

2) DEERLAND/ ANTLERS

Deerland is located right across the school, it has two entrances: the one right in front of 7-11, and another beside Starbucks. Its the one that looks like a forest. HAHAHAHAHAHA

It might look creepy, but based on feedback from classmates, its a pretty good place to look for a dorm since they are really cheap.

One of the reasons they also call this place Deerland is that inside, there's a pen with around 6-8 deer, another pen of pigs (i am not joking. :))

Antlers Hotel is located at the Starbucks side of this area, this one is a bit pricier than Nicasia since its set up very much like a hotel, but its totally safe, airy, you get to use the pool there.

Single Rooms cost around Php 6,000/month, includes a bed, cabinet, cr--just the basics, you;re not allowed to cook, but I think you can heat your food there (there's a common microwave i think).

Rooms good for 2 people cost around Php 4,000.

For Deerland (yes, they're considered separate, but they're owned by the same people), its located at the 7-11 side of the area. As my friend put it, the dorms here look a bit like the GK houses, and it might look a little scary, but the prices make up for it. HAHAHAHAHAHA

The rooms here are pretty big, with Single Rooms averaging about Php 3k (and also depending whether the room is tiled or not) a month, exclusive of electricity. It also contains the basics .

Rooms for 2 average around Php 2,500/person.

There's also the Deerland Extension, located beside the hospital, near a row of eateries. As the name suggests, its an extension of deer land, with the same type of dorms and is pretty secure. For over night stays (just in case your mom, sister, brother, family member wants to stay), there is a Php 500 fee.

NOTE: Its better if you have your name listed for reservations, a lot of people are looking for dorms at Deerland since its cheap, and the waiting list is pretty long.

Security is pretty good here, a bit dark at night though, but overall, its pretty good. :)

3) VILLA ISABEL

From Villa Nicasia, its another 5-10 minute walk, its entrance is near the Korean Grocery Store. The dorms are nearly the same price as Nicasia's, there are eateries and sari-sari stores too.

The village is huge, and not too many dorms have been set up there, its more of a residential type of village unlike Nicasia.

4) DORMBUILT

Located behind the Wang Building near the Animo Center.

Its much more expensive than Nicasia, Deerland, and Isabel, and stricter in terms of the accommodations.

Girls are separated from boys, I just forgot which side they are placed in. There is a lobby where the students can study or just get together, the soccer field/ track is located behind it, has a curfew, and you can't wash your own clothes (do your own laundry inside), or cook. But if you're pretty busy, this wont really matter since you would just have all your clothes laundered or you can buy your own food outside.

Prices for rooms vary, but based on classmates, Single Room costs around Php5-6,000, while rooms for 2 cost around Php3,500-4,000 each exclusive of electricity. It also has the basics, and you can request for cleaning service here.

Waiting lists for Dormbuilt are also pretty long, since its location is pretty good, being right inside the school.

So these are just some of the options for dorms, feel free to ask about anything else. :)

DORM LIFE MUST HAVES

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Making Medschool Fun: Awesome Doctors Professors

With this post, I'll be featuring certain doctors who just made learning a lot more fun in medschool. Will update this from time to time. :))

Although a lot of our doctors slash lecturers are pretty good, some just are outstanding, funny, and awesome. I wont tell you guys specifically why since I want you guys to experience it for yourself. :))

ESPECIALLY the ANATOMY doctors - lecturers ( The Amazing Duo/ Trio). <3

Here's a few of them.

Doc JC, Doc JA, Doc Kent, the Amazing Trio. :)) Anatomy professors/ doctors/ lecturers. LaSalle born and raised. <3

Doctor Esperanza Uy, Biochem Lecturer, as one friend of mine described about Doc Uy, parang Showtime ang class. She is crazy good, strict, and fun. In this particular picture, we were having our lab discussion, and a classmate of ours fell asleep (the following day was our Anatomy Eval, so a lot of us were really sleepy, tired, and grumpy). She walked around the room, and when she got to a certain student who was sleeping, she would stand in front of the kid and stare until the kid woke up. :)) When our classmate woke up, she would just walk away and look for her next victim. Hahahahaha

Extra special Physiology class, our topic was Vision. :) Doc Dexter Santos graduated at the top of his class, and was in the top 10 for the Physician's Licensure exam. In this class, he used several episodes of Dragon Ball Z to illustrate several concepts.

Doc Francis Samonte, doctor lecturer at Physiology. :) We were waiting in line to do a Color Blindness test for Physiolab, my classmate and I were doodling on the board, trying to draw the circle of Willis (we had it in our Neuroanatomy Evals, very traumatic hahahaha). He walked by and said, "Who drew this? it that the Circle of Willis?" We were all kind of scared that maybe we did something wrong, and he just sat beside us and started discussing clinical correlations, and reviewing us on the interrelationships of the brainstem, spinal cord, basal ganglia, etc. Within 10 minutes, we had our minds blown by how simple the topics really were. (and at the same time, extremely complicated).