What Beautiful Anatomy You Have

Med school marches onward, seemingly oblivious to the poor souls it's dragging with it. Realistically, we are a boiler, gradually building up pressure until that first exam hits and we burst out the safety release valve. That will be an interesting day for sure.

This week was notable for our first anatomy dissection. Every med school I know of has a cadaver dissection as part of the course, the point being to help us learn anatomy. To say it is an odd experience is downplaying it rather substantially. For one, death is not a topic that is addressed in casual conversation, thus evoking some anxious feelings when it is presented in such an explicit form. Additionally, cutting apart the flesh of the deceased is surreal. Generally, we tend to discourage stabbing other humans with scalpels and scissors and other pointy objects. Making cuts into the body requires you to fight back against decades of rule governed behavior, and even when you do, you still get the feeling that something is amiss. Yet, I certainly wouldn't pass up the opportunity to do dissections, and I know my classmates feel the same way.

Even though we've only had one dissection (two more this week; not sure what we did to earn this punishment), I've already learned a great deal. We started with the back because the muscles are large and it's relatively difficult to screw it up. To get to the good stuff however, required several hours of removing fat from the body spaces. Our body, unfortunately, is quite obese, which essentially acts to increase the amount of time it takes us to remove unimportant parts and ramps up the difficulty in defining the stuff we do want to keep. The other problem with dissection is that most anatomy atlases are color coded. This is great for learning initially, but completely useless for the cadaver. Normal living tissue retains some of its color, but the cadavers are mostly shades of gray. And since part of our grade comes from identifying structures on cadavers, it's kind of a big deal to know what areas you are dealing with.

I'm going to try to touch on some non-med school related topics this week, but we'll see how that actually goes. Now that we're done with orientation, our schedule is a little more regular. Apparently things don't really die down until the spring semester though, so I'm SOL at the moment. Is it too late to change to business school?

Applying to Medical School: Skillful Interviewing

For those of you applying to medical school, we're nearing the point where the first interviews will begin. Typically, the first invites go out in late July/August, and the first interviews are in September. Each school is different, particularly depending on when the secondary application goes out. Anyways, the interview is probably the most important part of the admissions process. Why? If a school gives you an interview, they're already pretty interested in you. Remember, only 10-20% of applicants to a school are interviewed. You already beat out a large portion of people. Now you have to land the deal.

In terms of helping or hurting you, the interview can do both, but to different levels. My opinion is that, a good interview will help you a little, but a bad interview will hurt you a lot. Think of it this way: You are like a cake. When you go to interview, the admissions committee is looking to confirm that you are what they want. They are checking to see if the cake is ready and looks good. Your individual talents/personality is the frosting or sprinkles or design that sets the cake apart from others. However, if they find your cake lacking in substance or taste, no matter how much frosting you put on it, no one will want to eat it.

So, how do you make sure you present your best, most tastiest cake? First and foremost, acknowledge that there is a great degree of luck involved. For example, on one interview, my interviewer and I had a lot in common. As a result, the interview flowed nicely from topic to topic, and we both had fun (at least I did). That was the luck factor; so much is dependent on who your interviewer is and how he/she is feeling that day, among other things. Don't despair though! You can still nail the interview by doing a few simple things.

1. Look nice. Make sure you are dressed nicely (suit is highly recommended) and well groomed. Medicine is fairly conservative (at least the interview part), so don't go overboard on make-up or fashion.
2. Be comfortable and relaxed. Okay, realistically you'll be pretty anxious; I was too. Just try not to let it show too much. Do some deep breathing exercises if you find yourself getting too worked up. And don't be afraid to take a second or two to think about a question before you respond. You want your sentences to be of substance; talking more doesn't necessarily mean better. Also, I recommend you wear your suit a couple times before your interview day. You can tell who is wearing a suit for the first time because they tend to look uncomfortable. So dress up to class or work a couple times to get used to the feel.
3. Be polite and positive. This goes without saying. Be polite to everyone, especially the staff and other interviewees. You never know when you are being observed...
4. Be passionate, be genuine, and know your application material. This is crucial. You will probably be asked about your application (some interviews are different, like the MMI). Make sure you can spend at least a few minutes talking about anything you mentioned. Most importantly, make sure you speak enthusiastically. Now, you don't want to go used-car-salesman on your interviewer, but make sure you convey a degree of excitement about the things you mentioned in your application. Look, everyone knows there is a great deal of scut work you have to do to get into med school. Just don't present that way. If you did research, talk about it. If you had a powerful experience volunteering or on a trip, explain how it impacted you so heavily. It's not the smartest, most accomplished people who get into medical school. It's the ones who show that they want it most, that they're willing to put in the effort to succeed. Make damn sure you get that point across.
5. Send a thank you note. For the love of all things good, write down the name of your interviewer(s) so you can send a thank you note. Often times you'll send it to the admissions office, and they can forward it to the person. Very important you do this. It doesn't have to be long (mine was a couple sentences saying thank you and mentioning a specific thing we talked about to make it seem less generic), but it's important you do this follow up.

You can find interview tips just by doing a simple Google search, so I encourage you to look up those general pointers. Honestly, the medical school interview is a lot of fun. It's the closest you'll be to getting into med school. You'll get to talk to students, find out about the curriculum, maybe even sit in on a lecture (if you get the option to stay with a student host, do it. It's way better than staying in a hotel. Just trust me on this one). The interview is the final hurdle you have to get over. There is essentially nothing left to do afterwards except wait for a decision. You can send update letters or interest letters to the school, but make sure you actually have something substantial to say. Avoid calling the office to see if a decision is made; you'll find out in due time. Most importantly, relax a bit. You got through it all! If all goes well, you'll get that beautiful, wonderful acceptance letter (and often phone call) in no time.

So remember, have fun. It's a long, tedious, stressful process, but if you stay positive and make the most of it, it'll reflect in your application, and good things will happen.

Return From Hiatus, With A Bright White Coat

Despite having nearly nothing to do for the past few weeks, I just could not find time to write a new post. It is truly a tragedy. Anyways, some things have changed since we last spoke. Most notably, I have made the transition from premed student to medical student. This was accomplished through a symbolic and somewhat odd ceremony called the White Coat Ceremony. Like a mini-graduation, several of the deans spoke to us and our family/friends/passing hobos about the significance of the occasion and offered advice about how to proceed forward. Then, four at a time, we are called up to the stage and "coated" by one of the deans. This was followed by a recitation of a modified version of the Hippocratic Oath, which was followed (I think) by drinking.

The odd part of the ceremony was two-fold. First, it was inordinately humid out, so everyone was drenched in sweat by the time we finished. Secondly, it seemed strange to hold such an elaborate celebration before we actually accomplished anything. Don't get me wrong, we all got into med school, which is a feat on its own. But I think the ceremony would make more sense between the 2nd and 3rd year. That's the bigger transition, when you go from student in lecture to student in practice.

Regardless, the start of school is still something to be excited about. Unfortunately, most of the week was spent in orientation type events, so we've yet to dive in deep (that changes starting tomorrow). So, what do I have on my plate for the next few months? Well, I've got your standard biochemistry and anatomy courses. We also have two courses in public health and human behavior, one each. Finally, we have a couple clinical med and problem based learning courses. At first glance, it may seem like your ordinary (difficult) college schedule. The deceptive part is that we have multiple lectures per subject per day. For example, tomorrow I have a three hour anatomy block, followed by two hours of lectures in biochem and another 1.5 hour public health lecture. That's how they get you. I have 6 hours of biochem, 9 hours of anatomy (lab starts next week), 8.5 hours of public health, and 3 hours of behavior. And that's just lecture time; many more hours of study are required for mastery. I'm starting to get that fire hose analogy now.

Anyways, I'll try to do better about posting. Maybe I'll even get on a schedule. Consistency is key! Here's to the start of an exciting four years!