Ugh.
A Family's Cry...
5 years ago
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My journey through medical school, thoughts on medicine, ethics, specialties, pre-med perils, and advice for those who want to do the same.
If You Are Looking For a Reason Not to Throw In the Pre-Med Towel...
....or to not throw yourself under a bus after your MCAT results...Click the "pre-med advice" tab.
(scroll down on the right side to categories)
Pages
Trying not to flunk out of medical school. Trying to keep the rest of my life from being a shit show. So far, so good.
About Me
- Ella
- The "doctor" part is a bit of a misnomer, as I am currently just a medical student. I'm semi-anonymously journaling my entire 4 years of medical school (maybe even beyond that) so that I can see how medicine has shaped me. I began medical school in July 2009 and I will graduate in 2013.
Ella's Quote of the Day
I came to med school to save the world. But frankly, dermatology is looking pretty good right now...
Pulmonary Physiology is much more enjoyable when pinot noir is involved
HOLY SHIT! I'm going to be a F@#&ing DOCTOR!!!!!
Things just don't seem so bad when you can say that for real.
Contact Me....
doctorella2013@gmail.com
All Those Things I'm Supposed To Say
So if you have selective eyesight, are a skimmer, or have all-around questionable intelligence and haven't deducted it from my posts, I AM NOT A DOCTOR... just a wee med student. My opinions are, well, opinions. Not to be confused with the legitimate and litigable advice of real physicians. On that note, none of my stories reflect real names ... nor do they contain enough details to fully nor partially identify anyone.
Character List
Lolo - epidemiologist girlfriend I met while getting my Master's
E - close girlfriend one year ahead of me in med school at my school. We also got our master's degrees together
Kiluam - volcanologist/geologist guy friend from Phoenix. We used to work in an insectarium together
Eli/Mr. Psychiatrist - ex-boyfriend of 3 years
Analiese - med/neuro resident at my school
Leslie - friend, resident, supermom
Dr. J - friend, mentor, attending, scatterbrain. I used to work with him, but now we're just friends.
Lizzard - getting her PhD in epi, she and Lolo and I met in school
M - Lizzards boyfriend, aka bow-tie guy, although I met him through work, new fellow at my school
Dr. Kenton-Hadley - superhero chick/obsession #1, former chair of IM, rockstar
Dr. R - superhero/obsession #2, female EM resident at the discount school down the street
Panda - anatomy lab partner, aka cutie patootie
Luke - my hound dog, aka love of my life
Lucia - FMG from Colombia, just got residency spot in Psych
Mr. Stupidly Gorgeous - Harvard EM doc, who is, in fact, stupidly gorgeous.
Down the street boy (aka boy #1) - we're friends. we date sometimes. sometimes not. it's complicated but worth it.
Netter - god of anatomy, if you don't know him now, you will
Robbins - god of pathology
Rew - lab partner #2, aka guy that generally saves my ass by reminding me of all the shit I forget to do
Rin - lab partner #3, she and I are on the board of the student clinic together
Teve - lab partner #4, aka Mr. Stupidly Smart. Ugh... wait a minute...
Rica - girlfriend in my med school class who lives by me. we hung out pretty much every day second semester of MS2
Ritt - friend of Rica.
B1- aka dollface boy (who ah-hem might go to the same school as me) that I occasionally get lucky enough to go out on a date with
B2 - friend of Lolo's who is applying to med school and we are all cheering for him (right??)
MB - my artist/boxer guy friend who gives me the best advice ever
Anthony Michael Hall(AMH)-- me, MB and AMH are a trio. Total doll of a friend.
Doc Awesome - my FM attending
R - my soulmate girlfriend & soon to be doc. we were out of each others lives for a few years... but recently reconnected and its like no time has passed.
P-brain - actually has the opposite of a pea-brain. Probably one of the smartest guys I know. We met on Peds. He's going to be an amazing neurosurgeon.
Blogger Awards
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and read my interview...
Love Affairs of The Week
1)Emergency Medicine XOXOXO
2) Family Medicine - best experience in med school thus far
3) Anesthesiology bumped to #3 by fam med? wtf? who knew??
4) Cardiology we did break up... but you're still just so cute...
5) PEDs?????? Kids good, parents, BAD. Very Bad. Its a nogo
6) Orthopedics - DIVORCED. Papers signed.
7) IM.... on second thought... not so much
8) Surgery (surgery rocks. surgeons suck.)
Ella's Favorite Posts
Topics By Ella
- About Ella (16)
- Alternative Medical School Options (1)
- Be a good human (1)
- Book Review (1)
- Clerkship Hell (4)
- Crazy Patients (1)
- Dr. KH (1)
- Dr. R (3)
- Elevators (3)
- Emergency Medicine (9)
- First Experiences (17)
- First Year Advice (1)
- Food (6)
- Healthcare (1)
- How to Become a Doctor (2)
- Interviews (4)
- Letters of Recommendation (1)
- Life Advice (2)
- MCAT (8)
- Med School Application (4)
- Med School Debt (1)
- My Future (1)
- NON-TRAD PROFILES (readers) (8)
- Obama (2)
- Osteopathy (4)
- Perks in Medicine (1)
- Pre-Med Advice (34)
- Specialties (4)
- The Funnies (7)
- Thoughts on Medicine (2)
MED SCHOOL CLASSES
Microbiology - DONE!
Clinical Diagnosis - DONE
Pharmacology- DONE
Pathology - DONE
Inflammation - Done!!
Neurology - DONE
Histology - DONE
Physiology - DONE DONE!!!!!!
Metabolic Biochem - DONE!!
Cellular Biochem - DONE!!!!!!Anatomy - DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Genetics - DONE!!!!!!!
Nutrition - DONE
Embryology - DONE!!!!!
Foundations - YEAR I and II DONE
ROTATIONS
#1 Internal Medicine DONE!
#2 Surgery DONE! (barely survived)
#3 Radiology DONE!
#4 Study break...Step One passed!!
#5 Peds... DONE!
#6 Family Med... DONE!
#7 EM....DONE!
#8 Anesthesiology.... DONE!
#9 Breast Surgery...... DONE!
#10 OB/GYN..... in progress.....
Some Other Cool Blogs on Medicine
REAL PROFILES
I've started listing everyone I personally know who has journeyed to med school, law school, dental school or nursing school.... and a few details about them. Some are traditional students, some non-trads, and some are REALLY non-trads. The point is to see that there are WAYYY more who've had difficulty getting in than those who breezed in with perfect grades and scores directly out of undergrad. And some with perfect scores and grades who never got in at all. As I remember more, I'll add to the list...
1. 31 MCAT, 4.0, researcher at UCSF, went directly from undergrad to Irvine med school PS: NONE of these are students in my med school class. They are all from my previous life.
2. Strong grades at Top Tier undergrad, MCAT unk, rejected from all US schools out of undergrad, accepted to Ross, didn't go, re-applying to US schools
3. From high school directly to med school/undergrad combined 7 year program, didn't have to take the MCAT, finished IM at an awesome institution (that white stuff that goes on sandwiches)
4. and 5. Master's students with me. Didn't do exceptionally well on the MCAT, both went to the Caribbean and seem to have liked it. Now doing rotations in the US.
6. Waited until her husband graduated from med school, at 27 just finished her pre-reqs and is taking the MCAT in a few weeks.
7. Smarty smarty from small liberal arts school. 30 MCAT, 3.9 in biology major, went to a sister-linkage program in Nebraska directly from undergrad.
8. Graduated undergrad at age 30 after a career in pro baseball, applied several times to med school and got accepted in a linkage program school in Nebraska.
9. 29 year old pro-wrestler, Masters in O-chem, Neuroscience researcher, 3.8 GPA, O-chem TA, 40 MCAT. Denied from med schools twice, currently PhD candidate.
10. Bio major at Arizona State University, HIV counselor, public health work, research, 3.5 gpa, took Kaplan MCAT course, took MCAT twice, low scores, repeated ENTIRE Kaplan course. Status unknown.
11. Masters student with me, took a couple years off after undergrad, strong masters grades, 31 MCAT, accepted at state school
12. Horrible undergrad GPA with way too many units to ever make a difference by re-taking classes. Got Masters degree in science based program, 36 on the MCAT, accepted at state med school after 2nd application.
13. Good but non-stellar undergrad, got Masters degree with excellent grades, published a legit paper, MCAT 24, got accepted at DO school.
14. Naval academy guy, got Masters degree in Neuroscience, got 30+? on the MCAT, went to a great med school at age 30.
15. Age 27, Chemistry TA and chem major at Arizona State, applied twice to dental school, graduated this year
16. Young biochem major graduated from Arizona State, decent grades, wants to go to dental school but can't seem to do well on the DAT
17. Undergrad took 10 + years to finish, repeated science classes over and over, terrible MCAT, accepted in the Caribbean. Married with 3 kiddos.
18. Graduated science bachelors and masters from Ivy League, retook the MCAT to finally get a 27, after 1 re-application got accepted to top-tier med school.
19. From undergrad at small liberal arts directly to law school
20. Age 45+ engineer decided to go to med school, completed Harvard PBPM, accepted to Yale Medical School
21. Married 5 years ago, mom with 3 children under the age of 5, just started nursing school.
22. 36 MCAT. Above 3.0 GPA. Denied from med school 6 times (S-I-X)... finally accepted at top tier. Ouch.
23. Marginal scores, accepted to medical school in Tel Aviv, Israel, completed 2 years, transferred to a decent US medical school 3rd year and graduated.
24. Non-trad, applied US several times and got denied, lots of research experience, mediocre grades and scores, accepted in Tel Aviv and really likes it.
Followers
Doctor Quotes and Jokes
“"Virus" is a Latin word used by doctors to mean, "Your guess is as good as mine”
"The difference between an itch and an allergy is about one hundred bucks."
"A patient going to a doctor for his first visit was asked, ''And whom did you consult before coming to me?'' ''Only the village druggist,'' was the answer. ''And what sort of foolish advice did that numbskull give you?'' asked the doctor, his tone and manner denoting his contempt for the advice of the layman. ''Oh,'' replied his patient, with no malice aforethought, ''he told me to come and see you.''"
"He's the best physician that knows the worthlessness of the most medicines" Benjamin Franklin
A man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"
"Is this her first child?" the doctor queries.
"No, you idiot!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"
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Good luck, Ella! You'll do great, just relax. :)
ReplyDeleteSwim! Swim! Swim! Swim!
ReplyDeletesooo.. how'd it go???
ReplyDeletehow'd it go??? it was freakin awful and a total effin miracle if i pass...
ReplyDeleteSaw your earlier post in my RSS reader - hope you're alright and that everything is alright.
ReplyDeleteDid you find out your results yet? Please share! :)
ReplyDeletenope. don't find out till the end of november and honestly i'm not sure if i plan on sharing how it went. i already know it wasn't good
ReplyDeleteI felt like I failed Step I when I walked out of the test, and I ended up doing fine. Hopefully that will be your situation as well. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe my luck in finding your blog in such a timely manner. I’m a college freshman, dead set on med school, and I’d already adopted the "pre-med mindset" (all work--no play, major in chemistry, 40 on MCAT or DIE, etc) when I read your “advice to pre-meds” section. Screw my major. I hate chemistry and there’s no way I want to spend four years studying it. Screw all the pre health clubs. Screw it all .I’m majoring in political science because I love it, I’m volunteering at medical clinics in Honduras because I’m passionate about helping people in rural and underserved areas. I’m not going to bust my chops to win a research grant that I couldn’t be less interested in. Hell no. I’m going to spend the next four years learning things I’m interested in, helping in ways I feel count, and not worrying about impressing med schools with things I don’t give a damn about.
ReplyDeleteI still want to be a doctor more than anything, but I refuse to sacrifice my personal joy and sanity.
Thank you for your insights. Thanks for being honest about your journey. Reading your blog has lifted a load I didn’t know was there.
Until I join the ranks,
-Lea.
Lea that is hands down the best comment I've ever received. Glad to hear it! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteElla- Im sure you did great. Crossing my fingers for ya.
ReplyDeleteWell.. Didja come out okay? Here's hoping it all went well!
ReplyDelete