Great Roommates

I have two roommates. I meant to write this post before one of my roommates moved out. Roommate #1 was very considerate of my schooling. I heard him talking to my landlord, and my landlord was complaining that the place was a bit dirty. Roommate #1 told my landlord that he did not approach me about it because he knows how busy I am with school. I thought that was so sweet of him. He did not have to take that stance, and instead could of said that "I'm an adult" and I "need to pull my own weight" etc. etc. I really admire him for it, not only because it saves me time, but because he stood up to our landlord and told her his opinion.

Roommate #2 also had the same sentiment about house duties as Roommate #1. Roommate #2 knows I want to go into medicine (not sure how he knows though?), and when him and I were discussing house cleaning, he said I did not have to worry too much because he knows how busy I am with school. I insisted that I could help out, and we decided he would text me when it is my turn to clean something. I totally trust him to give me a fair amount of work and not overload me. That is 2 roommates now who are very understanding of my schooling and future goals, and are effectively helping me achieving my goals. They are taking on more work for themselves, just so that I have less work and can focus on my schooling to achieve my goals. I found that so heart-warming. I am quite worried about getting "bad" roommates, but recently I haven't run into that. I know there are great people out there, but when one of them affects your life in a positive way, it is very touching.

Since roommate #1 moved out, there is a girl who has taken his spot. She seems very nice, and I believe she is a student as well. I'm hoping I can get along great with her as well.

Prep101 Seminar, Sports Medicine Shadowing, and Sushi

So tonight I am going to a "Getting into Medical School" seminar hosted by Prep101. It is at UBC tonight at 6:30pm. I'm going to leave pretty early so I can get settled and maybe talk to some people about medicine. I'm hoping that I will learn some new valuable information on the process of applying to medicine. But I feel like I know everything about the process up until the interview. The interview is the only part I'm lacking in. Also I have a feeling there will be many 1st year students so hopefully they all aren't totally clueless. I mean everyone starts out that way though. I remember when I was like that too. It was before I went on premed101.com. I have learned so much from that site and I am so grateful.  I will post after the event to say how it went.

I have decided to get more involved with sports medicine. I'm not sure when I will start, but it will be January of 2015 at the earliest and September of 2015 at the latest. I haven't done much research on who I'd be involved with, but it will be in Vancouver. The best case scenario would be to shadow the Canucks doctors, but I am 99% sure they wouldn't let me. The second best option would be shadowing the Vancouver Giants WHL hockey team, but even that may prove difficult. I think UBC sports teams are a more viable option, and the most appealing aside from the Canucks, Lions, Whitecaps, and Giants. UBC would be a good stepping stone to a top NCAA Div 1 sports school, which in turn is a good stepping stone to the NFL. So I basically have to start my journey at UBC.

One of the problems with sports medicine is I don't want to totally leave Canada. I wouldn't mind being in the United States seasonally though, which may be likely because it could coincide with the football season down there, which is only 4 months for NCAA and 6 months for NFL. Unless training starts in July instead of August, in that case it'd be an extra month for both.

Sushi is my 2nd favourite food (after steak and mashed potatoes). I love sushi, I could eat it 7 times a week. If any of my readers are in Vancouver or visiting, and feel like trying some inexpensive sushi, I highly recommend Volcano Sushi in east Vancouver. It's cheap, but it is good quality. If you go there, get the Volcano Combo. It's $7.30 for a 20 piece sushi special, and it includes miso soup and Japanese tea. That price also includes tax! There are two locations: one on Commercial Drive and one on East Hastings street. You can google the locations. I really love going to that place! Don't forget to tip!

Sports Doctor

So yesterday I went to a Seattle Seahawks NFL football game. If you haven't been to an NFL game it is such an event it is amazing. It was amazing and it rekindled my interest in sports medicine. Also I found out I may be able to be both a heart surgeon and a sports doctor. I'm incredibly excited about this. I will post more on this topic and elaborate as soon as I get some more info.

Drive Basketball, Drugs Quiz, and A+'s

So I finally received communication from the basketball organization I want to be involved with. I was told I could shadow the coaches until December. I am not sure if I will be able to continue after December. I guess it depends on if they like me. They also have a policy where coaches must be working towards an undergraduate degree and playing college/university basketball. I have only played high school basketball and no sort of college basketball. This is why I don't think they will keep me around as a coach. I am still happy to be involved for at least a few months. I will make the most of my short time with them. Plus, after I'm done with them, I can join a different organization and cite my experience with Drive. That will look very positively. However, I am also worried that I will be able to find another organization to be involved with. I want to be involved with basketball on a weekly or biweekly basis at some level for the next few years until I am in medical school. The other main organization I am interested in is the Vancouver Eagles Youth Basketball. I contacted them and received a call back, but I told them I would phone them back once I know my schedule. So I may be able to contact them in the future if Drive Basketball lets me go. I cannot emphasize how lucky I am to get experience with Drive. They are all college basketball players. So many young youth look up to them, and I am a coach just like them. Basketball is very competitive in BC, as every high school in the province has a grade 10 team. I wouldn't put it on the same level as hockey, but it is a clear number 2 in youth sports in terms of competitiveness. Steve Nash and Andrew Wiggins are evidence of Canadian basketball importance.

I am also no longer feeling sick, so I can get back to my studying and EC's. I did go to two Drive Basketball sessions as a coach so far, one on Friday, one on Saturday. It was pretty good, but I found myself looking forward to it being over. I think it has to do with my attention span. I have problems committing to stuff over 20 minutes long. I am notoriously bad for finishing movies. Part of the reason is I never watched movies growing up, and once I started, I thought they were so long! So this same thing was going on at basketball. I should be greatful though, because basketball is one of the most enjoyable ways to kill time and do an EC, at least for me. I don't consider going to basketball as work, because it is pretty fun. But it just feels good to be finished a 2 hour shift. I think I more look forward to the feeling of finishing something.

I have a quiz in my Drugs and Society class on Monday. The problem is that I haven't got my books yet because I was sick. But I do have the class slides to study, and my classmates said that should be enough because that is what will be emphasized on the quiz. I would have bought the text today but the bookstore was closed. Anyways I still will be disadvantaged so I may not get above 80% on the quiz, but luckily it is only worth 5% of our mark. I can definitely make up for this quiz, I've received barely passing marks in classes before and saved myself on the final, so this time I'm only behind by 1-2%, so its not a big deal. I just have to work hard in the rest of the class, which I obviously plan on doing.

I really want A+'s in all my classes this semester. This will help me out a great deal for at least University of Calgary and UBC medical schools. I'm not sure which other medical schools look at college courses for GPA though, but I know those 2 do for sure. UBC is my top choice for Canadian schools. Being in Vancouver while doing medicine would be such a privlege, and also I would have a stronger chance (I believe) to gain residency in Vancouver. I love it in Vancouver. In my human sexuality class, a student needs 95% for an A+ compared to 90% for other classes. That is going to prove very difficult. But I think I will get A+'s in at least two of my classes. The reason its not three is because I don't know the grading scheme for my Drugs and Society class. I don't know what percent requires an A+. But I do know that two of my classes, Global Health and Foundations of Health Science, both require 90 for an A+. I can do that. I am so ready to succeed. Ideally I'd like straight A+'s but I'd be happy with 2 A's and 2 A+'s. Still high marks, but some wiggle room. I will find out what percent needs an A+ in my drugs class. I need at least 2 A+'s though. Problem is both those classes have term papers, and if I screw that up, then there goes my A+. I suck at papers. I could get 4 A's. That would be an 85 average for UBC. That is pretty good. Barring some disaster and/or poor time management, I should get at least straight A's. But you never know what is going to happen. After I finished high school, I never dreamed I would fail 11 classes at univeristy. So I am always cautious that I will not perform well. I am actually quite scared when I think about it. I mean I don't even know how I could have let the situation get that bad. 3 failed classes after my first semester should have been my wake up call. I am so worried that I will fall back into my old ways. That is why I go to the library basically every day now. I can't afford not to. The library is going to be my life until December 12th. That is the last day of exams at Langara for the semester. That is really a short period of time. It is essentially half way through September already. About 15% of the way through. All I can do is try my best in school this semester. I'm going to have to.

Sick

I'm sick. And not in the cool way. Although I am getting better, it was quite bad. I have been vomitting, dizzy, nauseous, had stomach indigestion, and intense stomach pain, and the general sick feeling. The stomach pain got so bad that I had to go to the hospital. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I LOVE going to the hospital (even when I'm sick). Although when I am sick at the hospital waiting for the doctor, I get worried that I may require a procedure, maybe a surgical one, and I am quite afraid of those. I don't mind doing them, it is just that the idea of surgery scares me. This is quite ironic since I want to be a surgeon. Ever since I was a little kid, I just loved the hospital. To me it is such an exciting place, filled with highly trained people who want to get you better. To me that idea is very appealing, and I would absolutely LOVE working at the hospital, at least for a little while. I remember when I was really young, I used to love the vending machines in the waiting room of the emergency room. My mom would always let me buy 1 thing. Sometimes I got chips and sometimes I got skittles. Also when I was about 3 I had to stay at the hospital for a few nights. I don't exactly know why, but I was either vomitting blood or defecating blood.

I had a great time at the hospital as always. Well not always. The only time I didn't have a good time at the hospital was when my grandma died. So aside from when someone dies, I have a great time at the hospital. Anyways, I went to the emergency room because I had some really bad stomach pain. The charge nurse ( I think that's what they are called, the nurses at the ER check in desk) was quite annoying though because when I showed him where it hurt, he said "you have to be more specific, there are a lot of organs in there". Umm ok you do realize more than one organ can be hurting at once right? I didn't say that but I wish I had something similar to that, maybe not something as rude though. But I liked the medical student who assessed me the first time, and the ER doctor who assessed me as well. The medical student was compassionate, but you know the feeling you get when you get a really good knowledgeable dotor and it just feels like you are in good hands? I didn't really get that with her. I mean I do think I was in pretty good hands being in the student's hands, but I just don't think she had that strong knowledge base, and maybe lacked a bit of confidence. It could be because of experience though. She could be a fresh Year 3 student doing her first ever clerkship shift, because it is the 2nd week of school. So overall the student was good because she was compassionate and competent. I really liked the ER doctor too though. With him, it felt like you are in very good hands. He was telling me about appendicitis studies and that sort of thing. Also, he was very compassionate, which does not always correlate with a sound knowledge base. But he was very compassionate and even gave me some pain meds for the pain I was in. When they asked me on a scale of 1-10 for the pain, I said about 7.5. So that is pretty high. I wonder what the cut off is for pain meds though. The ER doctor kept me at the hospital for a few hours to monitor me for a few hours. Apparently what I had is really going around Vancouver right now, as the ER doctor said he had seen about 5 cases within the past few hours. So that is unfortunate because there is a lot of pain with it. When I was buying tylenol at the pharmacy, the pharmacist said she had the same thing, and it took her 8 days, with antibiotics, to get better.

The only bad thing about my hospital stay was that I didn't get a meal. I was there from about midnight - 6:30am on Monday morning. I am not so much concerned with the time I was there, but with the fact that I love hospital food. They made me put on a gown so I thought I would have stayed overnight, but nope.

Also I was at Vancouver General Hospital. After I was released from the hospital (I wouldn't really call it released since I love being there, more like had to leave), I went to Tim Horton's. All I can eat is bland food, so I decided on chicken noodle soup from Tim's. It is pretty nice that there is a Tim Horton's one block away from VGH. There are also a lot of restaurants on West Broadway in Vancouver, which is one block away from VGH. I was thinking it would be nice if I work at VGH, to have a lot of food options, since I'm not sure if VGH's cafeteria is 24/7 or not. But anyways there used to be a Wendy's right beside the Tim's but on google it says it's closed. I did not look when I was there. But there is another Wendy's one block away from the other one. I find it weird that two Wendys would operate so close to each other. But I guess that may be why the other one shut down. But there is a lot of restaurants on West Broadway. And since I will have a car I could even drive like 10 minutes away too. So if I'm at VGH I will have a lot of options, which is good because I'll need to refuel myself for those long shifts.

VGH is my favorite hospital. It is the best hospital I've ever been to. I would absolutely LOVE working there. I don't think I would want to be an ER doc though. Instead I probably want to be a surgeon. But realistically, I would be excited to go to work everyday no matter what hospital I was working at, and no matter which speciality I was in, as long as I'm a doctor.


I am feeling better today though. Unfortunately I have missed 3 days of school. I also have a quiz on Monday, so I need to try to get the class notes from a classmate.

VGH Volunteering, Basketball, and first 2 days of classes

Tomorrow morning I have to wake up early (I haven't been waking up early for the past few months). My first volunteering session at VGH starts at 8:30am. I have to wake up by 7am at least. I am no longer part of the breakfast program because they were short of staff. My coordinator said she can't guarantee when I will be volunteering again, so I asked to switch positions. Out of what was available, the walking group seemed like the best choice. Also I get to get some good exercise.

My new position is with the walking group out of GF Strong. We meet at Cambie/12th, so I guess we will be walking around there. It might be in the mall there. I'm not quite sure.

The main objectives for the volunteers are to provide supportive and social interactions with patients during their rehabilitation.

I'm kind of worried that I might not have much to talk about with the patients, but I guess I will try my best to let it come naturally. I sometimes find it to be a challenge making conversation with older people, as most of my life revolves around school.

I hope they also don't think that I'm really tired. I probably will be, but my early morning shower should wake me up enough to not look drowsy.

I like to think this is a meaningful volunteer position, as the support for the patients can mean a lot to them. I will be sure to highlight this on my application, but I plan on doing more EC's as well. Basketball is one of them. I just sent an email to the contact at the basketball organization I want to be involved in. He did not get back to me - again. So if that organization doesn't work out, I will be pursuing others.

So I've been to every class at least once, and I'm not sure how I feel about them. Two of them seem to be about epidemiology and public health, one is about human sexuality, and one is about drugs. The drugs course seems the most interesting. The other 3 seem decent. I'm all for public health, but I don't like it as much as medical science. But still, it is better than some of my other least favorites, like English. I hate english classes, unless it is about the American Dream. That is one of the only topics I can enjoy. I actually love the idea of the American Dream. It shapes so much of my life. To think that I could be a highly trained physician helping people and making good money for myself as well is just the ultimate win-win situation. I will post a more indepth post on my classes and the American Dream in the future.

But for now, I have to study my Anatomy & Physiology courses, as I won't have much time in later weeks because I will be knee deep in my other courses, which aren't self-paced like Anatomy & Physiology.

Pretending to be Training to be a Neurosurgeon

So in my Anatomy & Physiology I class there are 12 modules in total that we have to go through. My final exam tests 80% of it on modules 9-12 and the remaining 20% on modules 1-8. Modules 9-12 are all on the nervous system. I'm not sure which type of specialty I want to go into (although I am leaning towards cardiac surgery). So right now, I'm pretending that I'm studying to be a neurosurgeon (even though neurosurgeons probably learn this material in med school before residency). In any event, I think it would be cool being a neurosurgeon, but I kinda think a cardiac surgeon would be cooler.

From my limited knowledge, neurosurgeons seem to be the famous ones. For example there is the movie Gifted Hands, and then there is Wilder Penfield who by some is considered the greatest Canadian. Wilder Penfield was a pioneer neurosurgeon. From reading his biography, you can tell he had an amazing life. And of course, who can forget the Canadian Heritage Minute commercial on burnt toast and Wilder Penfield. I remember being 3 years old and watching that commercial.

Maybe being a neurosurgeon would be cooler than I thought.