The Five Things I learned During Board-Study Time for the COMLEX

I know, I know. This post has been long overdue. Partially because I was trying to decide how I wanted to write about my experience and partially because I've been super busy in my rotations so far. With that said, this post is not exactly about what type of resources I used or how I studied. Rather, this post is more about what I learned throughout the process of board studying - about myself, my journey and the process of studying for this board exam. I hope you take away something meaningful from this post and that you find it helpful! If ya'll are interested in a specific post regarding how I studied - what worked and what did not work, let me know and I'll do a follow-up post to this one! 

#1 Self-Care
Something that tends to go to the wayside when stress comes around is self-care. With the hustle and bustle of studying, I tend to get a one-track mind. What I mean is that I tend to only think of the specific task at hand and I neglect to eat healthy or exercise or just relax. Studying for the boards is a long process. Depending on each individual, the time that they take to study varies anywhere from 1 month to half a year. With this amount of time, self-care becomes important because you don't want to end up feeling awful, or sick, or just unhealthy in general. You know that feeling when you've been eating bad and not exercising and you just feel like crap? Yeah. A lot of that happened during this time, for me. That's when I knew that I couldn't let my health go to the wayside during this time. This doesn't just go for physical health. It also goes for mental and spiritual health. I had to make sure that I took care of all aspects because that helped ensure my sanity and success in the process. 

#2 Stay Grounded
Don't get carried away by the competition. You'll hear about people's goal score, or their dream program, or how their study methods are better than what you're doing. DON'T WORRY and stand your ground. Avoid getting caught up in comparison and saying "they're better, and smarter than me", or even the opposite "oh I'm so much smarter than them". Let's just be honest, I'm more part of the first camp. I found myself from time to time comparing myself to other people and feeling inferior. I'm not naturally smart - I really have to work hard and put in the hours to learn things. I had to stay grounded and true to myself and not try to do what other people are doing, or think that I'm less than them. I just had to think positive and do my thing. 

#3 Surround Yourself with Positive People
I cannot stress how important this was. During my study period, I regularly met up with a group of girls and prayed together, talked about our stresses, and even lend a shoulder to cry on (should out to my girls). This was the best thing I literally did because it helped me stay grounded (as I mentioned above) and remember what I'm really doing this for. I was reminded that I'm in medical school to become a future doctor that will serve others. Doing this truly helped me to keep things in perspective and remember my true purpose. If you ever feel like you're losing sight of your goals and dreams, just remember your "why". 

#4 Trust the Process
It was so easy to get caught up in the studying, and doing this or doing that to fine tune your study method. But honestly, just trust the process. Sometimes things will click right away and sometimes it doesn't. Just because it didn't click right away doesn't mean you have to change the method right away! Trust that what you're doing is what YOU need to be doing. Otherwise, you will waste time and energy trying to work and re-work your schedule, study method, and what have you. This is not the time to do it (unless you REALLY REALLY NEED TO meaning, you've evaluated, taken practice tests, talked with your academic advisor, etc). 

#5 Do You
Now THIS is what got to me a lot. You will find that you will talk to you peers and you'll come across a few people who will swear up and down by THEIR method and how only THEIR method works. This is simply NOT TRUE. Everyone has a different style of learning which means different study materials/resources will work for different people. I couldn't tell you the perfect combination of these materials, and I couldn't tell you that they're perfect either, but all I can tell you is that what I did worked for me and for what I needed. Try your best to not get influenced or caught up by what others are doing during this time, and take everything with a grain of salt. As I mentioned earlier, trust the process and that everything will work out as it needs to!

Best wishes to all those who will be taking any type of exams soon <3

xo,

Dorothy Faye

Guest Post | Yangswearabouts Experience as a Third Year Medical Student

Happy Wednesday everyone! As many of you know, I'm almost 2 months into my third year of medical school. It's insane how fast time flies. Today, I wanted to share with you an insight from one of my fellow medical school bloggers (and she's a fashion blogger too!) who is finishing up her third year in medical school! She's sharing her experience of what third year was like for her, and later on I hope to do the same and share with you my thoughts once third year is over. This is a post that I'm very excited about because I want to know what to look forward to as I continue in my third year and also learn some tips for rocking third year!

So, without further ado here is Yang's experience as a third year medical student.

"Third year was much better than the first two years of medical school, but it didn’t come without its own challenges. I took for granted how much study time we had in the pre-clinical years and really wish I hadn’t. Sure, there was a lot of material but we literally had the entire day to to study! Coming home from the hospital/clinic after trying to absorb everything in your environment while being on your feet all day, and then trying to force yourself to review material was a different kind of exhaustion. Not only that, I had to adjust how I studied. For example, instead of focusing specifically on appendicitis and its presentation and treatment, I tried to work backwards and create a differential diagnosis for abdominal pain. It was tough but really worth it, especially when the attendings ask you for your opinion on treatment.

On a more personal note, third year was a little bit more lonely because our school has rotations at different hospitals and I was unlucky and had to move for every rotation. It made it a little harder to keep in touch with everyone and really showed me how important it is for me to have my support system nearby.

That being said, I loved third year. Witnessing the application of what we’ve been studying and (semi)understanding what the medical team is discussing is amazing! It’s essentially seeing what you’ve been studying for the last two years brought to life, which is pretty incredible. I think that’s what surprised me the most-that I entered third year with a pretty decent understanding of the more common pathologies.

It’s hard to say what a typical day was like because it differed for each rotation. Sometimes I was in an office and seeing patients on my own, other times I would be rounding with the whole team. But I think the key to success, no matter what scenario you’re in, is to make the most of everything and take initiative. Think of it this way: you are paying to be there. You need to make sure you get your money’s worth! There will be times when people are too busy to teach or even notice that you’ve finished your work. Take the initiative and ask if there’s anything else you can do for them. Read more about the management of your patient’s condition. If your resident is busy doing notes, ask another resident if you can tag along. Ask the nurses (if they’re not too busy) if you can learn IVs. I’m pretty soft spoken and it can be hard for me to ask, but I’ve found that most people are very willing to teach! It’s just a matter of making it known that you want to learn from them.

As I’m ending my third year now, I think I can safely say it was the best year so far. I learned a ton both professionally and personally, formed new relationships, found my specialty of interest, and really, truly realized that medicine was the right choice for me."

I hope you were able to take something away from Yang's experience as a third year, almost fourth year medical student. I know I definitely did! If you want to follow along on Yang's journey, you can follow her at @yangswearabouts on the 'gram ;).

XO, Dorothy