Midterm 2 score of Anatomy & Physiology I

So it turns out I didn't do that bad - I got 90% on my second midterm! In my last post I said I thought I got at least 5 wrong, and it looks like that was all I got wrong because my raw score was 45/50.

This means my average in the course is 94%. Not bad at all.

One thing I'm worried about now is that I have to pass the final exam in order to pass the course. I believe this is a rule for TRU open learning courses. I know the final will be hard and I am very scared about it.

Second Midterm of Anatomy & Physiology I Completed, Science World, and Final Exam

So today I finished my second midterm. But I think I rushed it a bit, because when I was writing it I did not feel that confident. I simply should have studied more. But I wanted that relaxing feeling of completing a midterm so bad, so that is why I rushed it. My mark will suffer as a result, I don't think I did nearly as well. I think I got at least 5 wrong out of 50. That is not good at all. Considering I want an A+ in the course (90% or above), I have very little wiggle room. And I'm expecting the final to be very tough.

My final exam for the course is scheduled on Saturday September 6th. I need to study quite a bit in order to get my A+ in the class. I am going to study everyday. The only break I'm taking is to go see the Science World science of sports exhibit, which ends September 1st.

It is going to be a real test for me to get above 95% on the final exam, but I am going to try my absolute best to do it. I need that A+ so badly, I don't want it to slip out of my hands, because I had such a good start with my first midterm. Anything below an A+ will be a failure for me because 1) I need all the A+'s I can get to balance out my transcript and 2) I started the course so well that I have high expectations.

Who knows maybe I'll get 100% on the final exam. Wouldn't that be something.

Oh crap

So I just realized that I may not be eligible for FlexMed. This is because Mount Sinai doesn't necessarily consider sophmore by credits, but instead by the actual year. So I will be entering my 6th year after high school (but I took some time off). So they may look at my transcripts and see that I took classes in Sept of 2009,2010,2011 and 2012. On their website they say that if you have 3rd year standing but are entering your 2nd year, you can apply. So I have 2nd year standing but am entering my 5th. I obviously won't be eligible.

Looks like I got excited for nothing. Oh well 2-3 years isn't that far away.

FlexMed at Mount Sinai

So I just got off the phone with admissions at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City, and they said that their FlexMed program accepts Canadian citizens who also study in Canada.

Even though I have less than a 1% chance of getting accepted, I am still very excited about applying. Mount Sinai is a "top 20" school in the states, for what its worth. That fact, coupled with my poor academic history, means I should really be saving my money and not apply. But to even throw my name in the hat, and at a potential shot at an interview in as little as 6 months is too exciting for me to pass up.

FlexMed is a program for sophmores who if accepted, get early admission to Mount Sinai's medical school. People in FlexMed still have to get their bachelor's degrees, but they get early admission to medical school up to 2 years earlier than usual. I only found out about the program a few months ago, and luckily since I'm entering my second year, and I meet all their requirements, I seem to be eligble to apply.

I don't think I'll get an interview. The chances are too much of a long shot. But part of me just wonders, "what if". In all likelyhood the earliest I will ever get an interview is when I will have to wait my turn until I'm elgible for Canadian schools.

Regardless, time to make my application account!

Rental Income and Finances

So I talked to my uncle today and he said my grandpa's basement is renting for $800/month and the upstairs for $1100/month. One thing though, I have to take it with a grain of salt because only a month ago he said he didn't know how much it is renting out for. So those might not be the exact numbers. Anyways I will be getting half of the month's rent each month. But the thing is that we pay the utilities, so that will take out a huge chunk in the winter, and we have to pay the property management company around 15-20%, but I am not sure exactly how much we pay the property management company. Anyways even though I get half the months rent each month, I may only get $400 a month. On the other hand, I may get as much as $700 each month. It is kind of up in the air. But I will know as soon as my uncle has paid off the roof, because thats where the rent money for each month is going right now. It should only be 1-3 months until I start getting money. I'd be happy with $400, that would allow me to save a lot of money. I would save around $5000 a year. I'm facing a lot of pressure from my mom right now because she is paying my expenses. I can't wait until I'm a doctor and I don't have to worry about money anymore.

Note:

I have failed many courses in my university career. But I recently started doing well in my university courses in January 2014 and have continued since. I just wanted to state that none of these courses were repeats. They were all new classes I've never taken before. Likewise, in September they will all be new courses as well. I will post on here when I am doing a repeat.

Midterm 1 score of Anatomy & Physiology I

So my instructor took a little longer to mark the midterm then he said he would, but that's ok because I got 98% on my first midterm! 49/50 was my raw score. I am very happy with this mark, as I should be! I am so glad I had enough time to change that one answer that I got wrong!

It's amazing to think that only a few years ago I was failing classes and failing midterms and finals. And now I'm getting close to straight A's with marks like 98% on midterms. I am always afraid of  not performing well and getting marks similar to those that I recieved a few years ago. I do believe that I'm quite a talented student because I really haven't been putting that much time into my courses (I'm always putting things off and getting into a time crunch.) It's gonna be great to see how well I do in the September semester because I'm literally going to spend all of my time studying (except for time spent volunteering/exercising). I'm taking 4 courses, and I want to get above 95% in all of my courses. These courses will be calculated in my GPA for the University of Calgary Medical School. This will be the first time that my marks will count towards my medical school GPA (except for UBC which looks at all courses taken). Anyways time to get 100% on my next midterm!

First Midterm of Anatomy & Physiology I Completed!

So I just finished writing my first midterm for Anatomy & Physiology I. I literally just finished it 10 minutes ago. I thought the test went well but I don't want to jynx it (as stupid as that sounds I am superstitious when it comes to these types of things). I also didn't have enough time to review my answers I put, except for one question. The only question I had time to review, I saw that I had misread the question and put down the wrong answer, most likely because I was going too fast. I wanted to be sure that I would finish the test on time. Anyways the fact that I changed 1/1 questions isn't comforting. I wouldn't be surprised if I did poorly on the test because of this. I just ran out of time plain and simple. I also had a few knowledge gaps. But oh well, I won't know for sure until the test is marked. The instructor said he tries to mark them within 48 hours. So hopefully I will know my score by 10:30pm on Saturday.

For those of you that are wondering why I wrote a midterm at ten o' clock at night, it is because I schedule the midterms on my own accord. So this does mean that the tests aren't supervised, but obviously there is a level of academic integrity implied.

Overall I thought it was a fairly fair test. One question I was really stuck on and spent like 15 minutes trying to solve. But the question was worth 5 marks. The midterm is out of 50 marks, and consists of 35 multiple choice and 3 short answer.

The more I wait, the more I start to worry about how I did. The midterm is worth 25% though. So if I got 50% on this first midterm and 80% on both the next midterm and the final, then my final mark would be 72.5%. That would be either a B or a B- (depending on if TRU-OL rounds up). That is a poor grade for me (good compared to some of my academic history, but not good enough for medical school). I would be furious and disappointed if I received a grade like that, given how much I enjoy the content of the course. I'm aiming for at least 90% in the course, but I'd like to get above 95% because I actually think I have a shot at doing it for this course. But there is massive amounts of information to remember. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to remember it all, but I know I can do it. 90% in this course would be an A+, and I would be happy with that mark.

One thing though, the instructor said the tests do get harder as you progress, so that is tough but I will have to suck it up.

Anatomy and Physiology I

So my course schedule is being pushed back a bit. I've been going slower than I would have liked. But I've really been picking up the pace in the past week. I'm almost ready to write the first midterm. Once I'm finished the first midterm I think I will write the second midterm fairly soon after the first, after I learn the modules first of course. I think it's just a result of my momentum of the course.

Some of the content I'm already familiar with from chemistry and biology courses, but it has been about 6-7 years since I first learnt it, so it wasn't that easy. However when I read about topics like transcription/translation, I feel like I've learnt that at least 5 times now. Although it can't be that many.

Taking this course is enjoyable though. I haven't quite arrived at the good stuff yet though, as I will be learning about nervous tissue, central and somatic nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and somatic senses and special senses. Sadly the cardiovascular system isn't covered in this course, but it is covered in my next course, Anatomy and Physiology II! I can't wait. There are about 3 modules on the cardiovascular system and there are only about 12 modules. so a whole 25% of the course! And I should be excited, especially if I'm going to be a heart surgeon! Overall, I am very happy with choosing these two courses. Special thanks to lokiki for recommedning them. If it wasn't for her I'd be taking either chemistry, math, or social work right now. Needless to say, I enjoy physiology much more!

Stroke Recovery Association Interview, VGH Volunteering, and Rental Income

So this past Tuesday I had an interview to be a board member of the Stroke Recovery Association of British Columbia. I had applied for the position a couple weeks ago, and was a bit surprised to get an email back. I suppose they are looking for diversity on their board. Anyways, it was more of an informal informational interview. The process to become a board member is a bit complex, and it is something that I may not have the opportunity to be nominated for because each Stroke Branch nominates candidates, and the nominees from the members get priority over the nominees of the board (me). If I make it to the next round, then I will have a formal interview with the President and Vice-President, then I believe they will select their candidate. There are 2 openings on the board, and they must be filled by their Annual General Meeting in October. So I believe I will find out in September-ish.

At the very least, it looks like I've gained a clinical volunteering experience out of it. Because the executive director of the branch suggest I volunteer at their Shaughnessy branch. The volunteering doesn't start until September, but I'm looking forward to it. I told the executive director that direct patient contact is a must-have for me, and he said that those positions are definitely available.

Even if I don't get on the board this year, because I'm volunteering, a member of the branch could nominate me for next year, and then I would get a position on the board. Overall, I am very excited about the whole thing, not only about the board but just the volunteering as well.



I have also been offered a position at Vancouver General Hospital at the Banfield Pavilion as a breakfast program assistant. It seems to have a large social component with the patients, but I haven't quite made up my mind yet. In fact, I have posted a thread on pm101 asking people to help me evaluate if I should do it or not. The thread is called "1 week to decide if I should pursue this volunteering opportunity?" and it is posted in the General Premed Discussions.




So some of the best news I've had in years is that I will be making money through rental income. My uncle is currently renting out my grandpa's house (because my grandpa is not currently living there anymore) and he said that I will get half of the rent each month! We do have a property management company working on it, so I belive they take out 15-20 percent. But I'm still glad I'll be getting at least a couple hundred dollars each month. The house is a big house but it is a bit dated, so I'm not sure how much it is renting out for. If it is renting out for $1500 per month I will be getting at least $600 each month. I am hoping to get anywhere between $400-$800 each month. Realistically, I'd be happy with any amount, so I should try to control my expectations.

UBC Premedical Society -part 2

So I went to the UBC Premedical Society office and the whiteboard on the door said they would be open starting Sept 23rd. The office was really hard to find because they have the wrong room number listed on their website. I'm not quite sure why they haven't noticed that yet.