OMSIII

Not sure how, but I made it. I made it through what was quite possibly the hardest year of my life and the worst two months of my life. I have never been so mentally and emotionally challenged and although I broke at times and had to reach out for help along the way, I made it. I now know how strong of a person I am and that I can make it through anything, i’ve pretty much been through mental bootcamp and survived. After having multiple exams thrown at me at the end of the year and then given the task of studying for board exams, there is really nothing else I can imagine to be more difficult. I spent 37 days, approximately 11 hours a day, memorizing a book that was a culmination of information that was not just information for the last two years of medical school, it was a culmination of all of my years of science education. To understand and not just memorize but LEARN and conceptualize the vast amount of information that I was tested on, I had to pull from my years and years of schooling and to be honest, I believe my last 20 something years of schooling were preparing me for these two exams.

Correction, I spent 36 days studying. On Wednesday June 8th, after not taking one day off, my brain went on strike. I woke up in the morning and just could not get out of bed. I decided to let myself sleep in until 10am. Then after pressing the snooze button a bunch of times, I got out of bed around 11am. I made some breakfast, watched a bit of TV [first time in a month] and then decided I was not ready to study...so I went back to bed. Then, I went to sleep from 12 to 5pm. I woke up and my brain had re-set. So I went to school, put in about 5 hours of studying and then called it a day. Needless to say, my brain went back to working order the next day...

I still dont know how i did, i wont get my scores for about a month. But it really doesnt matter at this point as long as I passed both of them. There is nothing more i could have done, i could not have given more of myself to this subject and however I did i will be happy because i made it. I am here, a 3rd year medical student, having been taught as much as school could cram into my head, and I am now being ‘set free’ into the real world of medicine.

Tomorrow I start my first rotation...it is my first day of 2 years of clerkships in which I will trade in my books and powerpoints for patients. I will be learning from individuals who are kind enough to let a student learn on them. I will be supervised thoroughly and will never be completely responsible for someone’s help...so im not too scared. But, i will have input on their care and my opinions will be taken into account.

My first rotation is at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and it is 6 weeks long. Apparently it is one of the best hospitals to rotate at in the area because it is so big. I have to be there at 7am and it is about a 45min commute as the hospital is 40 miles away so I will be leaving at 5:45am to make sure I am there on time and where I am supposed to be. The best part about the whole situation is that my good friend Nicole is working at the same hospital, in the same department. Nicole and I studied for boards together for weeks and are very comfortable working alongside each other so knowing that support will be there is making this whole new transition much easier. We will be carpooling to the hospital tomorrow and will experience all these brand new situations together.

I am so excited for the USMLE and COMLEX to be behind me. I feel like a brand new world is opening up...a door has been opened to the next chapter of my life. I have been preparing for this day for so long....it is here. Student Doctor Dorothy is ready to soak up as much information as she can!

I cant wait to document all the new experiences!!! Should be some damn funny stories. Well, they may not be funny now but I know they will be funny years to come when I read this again...



"we're all set. 3rd year starts tomorrow. setting us free into the wild. now we just have to try not to look like idiots. IM SO EXCITED!!! :)"