Three weeks in...

Sorry folks, there's a bit of an adaptation to be made at the beginning of anything, and Medical School definitely requires a bit of adapting. 

But here I am. I made it through the first three weeks, and I'm happy. So far, honestly, there's nothing really difficult, there's only a LOT of stuff. They throw everything at us, and a giant bibliography for every class, that we have to read, summarize, and post on the online forums for each class. That is also graded. Then we have homework. Then we have one exam a week, on Fridays, which are a compilation of everything we learned that week in all classes. 

We're learning a lot of concepts in public health, like equality in healthcare, the right to Health, the determinating factors of Health. And bioethics. Also, communication technics for how to conduct an interview (HPI). In a week we actually get to conduct our first interview with a member of the community (not a paid actor!) where we'll be working with health education, primary care, prevention, etc. They really do throw us straight into the deep end to see if we can swim. 

But I was expecting this. And I must say, I really like that we have a test at the end of each week, because it helps me to keep on top of things with somewhat manageable amounts of material, as opposed to having thousands of pages and concepts to go through at the end of the month. Hopefully I'm not forgetting things right after the test! (I'm not, actually!) 

So, that's what's going on this side of the world. How are you all doing? How was your beginning in Med School?

The First Day of Med School

I think I mention elsewhere on this blog, that I had a different life before. I have a degree, had a different career and studied and lived in several European countries, as well as in the US, Brazil, Argentina and currently in Uruguay. 

If you add all that up, you can probably figure out that I'm not in my early 20s, much less straight out of High School (here, like in a lot of other South American and European countries, you start med school straight out of high school, but it lasts 6-7 years. Your undergrad is included into the medical training). This means I am older than 100% of my class, by at least 10 years. 

In some ways, I think this is awesome, they're all panicky, never gone to college, have no life experience and some had never even seen "the big city" before. They're lost and overwhelmed by the newness of it all, being away from family for the first time, etc. 

I, on the other hand.... well.... You can read a little about me on the rest of this blog. Suffice to say I was not overwhelmed by anything related to starting Med School. 

However, when I was getting to that amphitheater, shuffling along with the crowd of youngsters, I had butterflies in my stomach. It was the introductory and welcome talk, so no big deal, right? Wrong. 

The big deal was that I was actually here. That the dream I've had for the last 30 years is finally coming true. That after all the struggles and sacrifices I had to make, I am finally a med student. 

And it is AWESOME. 

However, being older than everyone *including the teacher* might take a little getting used to... (She's more like a tutor for our Problem Based Learning days, but still!!) 

*edit-- just remembered that in my other life, I was actually working at a University and was younger than some of my students. I guess the tables are turned! 

The *actual* beginning

Hi everyone, I'm back, and I think a slight explanation might be in order, as to the question: "she calls herself a medical student but seems like she's in a different country every other day. How is that possible?"

Well, last year I left my beautiful life in Berlin, Germany, because I was assured, after asking everybody that had anything to do with it (the med school back home, the dean of admissions, etc., etc., etc.) that I could start med school in March 2014. 

So I packed my bags, arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay (that's where I'm from), rented an apartment and prepared to start school. 

After all of that, however, they managed to come up with a stupid bureaucratic reason to find fault with my paperwork, and to rectify that, unfortunately, took months. And they did not allow me to start without solving that first. 

I was very pissed off, almost got myself on a plane back to Germany, cried, consumed massive amounts of chocolate, and then calmed down. A bit. Enough to realize that this might be a blessing in disguise and that I could use this time to my advantage. 

This is when I contacted the doctor in Tchad and asked if he wanted a volunteer. And how I planned a trip for the last 6 months, possibly the last block of that much free time I'll ever have. 

However, now I'm back, and there's no paperwork crap this time. It's actually happening. I'm T-4 days from the very first day of Medical School, a day that, if I'm honest, I've been dreaming about for at least 24 years. Seriously. You can only imagine how excited I am. I think ecstatic would be a better word!!! 

Wish me luck!!