Halloween

So tonight is Halloween and I am on the premed101 forums looking up different medical school admission topics. I feel like part of me should put that and homework on hold because of today, but I really have no desire to put it on hold, it is my life and it consumes me. I think about medicine all the time and can't stop, even during holidays and special events.

A couple years ago when I was a caregiver, I was asked to work during Christmas break. That would have meant not going home to see my family because I was working in Vancouver and my family events are on Vancouver Island. I was very ready to work during Christmas, because I felt that is what was needed to be done. I ended up quitting that job for a different reason, and never had to work during Christmas, but I was more than ready to. That situation reminds of tonight.

But I don't drink alcohol anymore so I feel a bit limited in my Halloween opportunities. I don't mind though, because I have a lot of homework to do. Maybe I'll get the highest mark on the sexuality midterm because other people were out and about and I was in studying.

However, I might do something fun tonight by going to a Langara basketball game. I usually watch UBC play and I know a couple people on the team, but I have a friend on the Langara team too. The game is probably only going to be 1.5 - 2 hours long. It shouldn't take away too much time from studying.

I wanted to go back to Vancouver Island this weekend but I think I should save the time and stay in Vancouver and study and do my papers instead. I took a break last night to watch the NFL and NHL because it was the end of my week. I'm glad I did because both of my teams won! There are 2 hockey games and 1 NFL game I'd like to watch this weekend but I think I'll pass on them and do school work instead. I really need to finish at least one of my essays this weekend and also study for my quiz, midterm, and final.

I'm getting nervous just thinking of my final.

Foundations Midterm Mark

I got my foundations of health science midterm back. I got 77.5% on it. The class average was 57%. So I killed the class average, but I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Looking over it, I thought I should've got 92% on it. The difference is the marks lost on the written section of the midterm. I'm going to talk to the instructor about it, but I'm not expecting her to change my mark.

However my instructor does have a special opportunity of getting bonus marks. If we resubmit our midterms with corrections made to the ones we got wrong, we get up to a 5% bonus. I'm not sure if I'll be able to re-correct my entire test, but I should get some right. So I may get 82.5% after the corrections. That is a better mark for me.

Foundations Midterm

So I did not receive my foundations midterm back on Tuesday. We are getting them back on tomorrow on Thursday. I was very disappointed as Thursday will mark the 2 week mark since we wrote it. But I am really looking forward to getting the mark back as this is the last mark I'm waiting for in my first round of midterms.

Over the next 2 weeks I have 6 different things to focus on. These are: 1)Anatomy & Physiology final exam 2) Human Sexuality midterm 3) Drugs and society quiz 4) a group presentation 5) a 6-8 page paper in Drugs and society and 6) a 1500 word paper in global health.

I just completed my part for the group presentation about an hour ago. (That is, I have done my research and I have everything I'm going to say written down, so all I need to do is put it down in point form on powerpoint and then present it in 1 week from today). Putting my main points onto the powerpoint won't take me very long at all. I finished the hard part of the project, which was doing the research and figuring out what I'm going to say. I'm happy with how efficient I was doing the research. It only took me 2.5 hours. I was expecting it to take 6-12 hours. So after the 2.5 hours I went to the washroom then immediately started studying for my sexuality midterm next Tuesday. I went through all of the slides I haven't gone through yet. I studied for about 40 minutes. Not bad considering I had been going hard for about 3 hours before that. I need to study as much as I can for my final, midterm and quiz. So getting in 45 minute chunks of studying here and there in-between things is perfect. 

I kind of want to start studying for my tests, rather than doing my papers. I feel okay about the drugs paper, but not the global health paper. I'm afraid I'm going to make the same mistakes and get around 60 percent again. I can't afford that. I'm going to go speak to my professor to voice some of my concerns.

No A+ in global health

So I got my essay mark back and I got 63%. I was very disappointed as I was expecting at least 80%. So I lost 5.5% on this assignment and add the other 5.5% I lost from my midterm and I've lost 11%. So The highest I can get is around 88.something percent. That would be if I got 100% in everything remaining. I think a B as a final mark is more likely.

I may be getting back my foundations of health midterm tomorrow. I really need something to cheer me up and boost my confidence right now. I'll post tomorrow whether or not I get my midterm mark back.

Hands of a Surgeon?

So yesterday I was carving pumpkins, and someone there commented that my cuts on the pumpkin were clean and immaculately cut. I couldn't help but think that maybe I have a surgeon's hands. But realistically, cutting a pumpkin is probably in no ways like doing surgery, except for the fact you're using your hands. But for me right now, carving pumpkins is as close to surgery as it gets for me,(unless I'm dissecting in a lab, which I haven't done for years) so I will take any little boost of confidence I can get for my potential future career.

Right now my top 5 speciality choices would be cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, general surgery, and opthalmology. So it looks like my top choices are all surgical fields, but I'm not quite sure if opthalmology is surgical.

Being a surgeon has a lot of appeal for me. Not to say that being a different type of doctor wouldn't be a great job either though. Surgery just has a certain quality that I find very appealing. Even the word surgeon sounds so cool to me. I'd love it if I could call myself a surgeon. I'm not going to limit myself to surgery, but I am aiming for surgery based off of everything I know right now. That may or may not change. The most important thing to me is being happy.

Global health midterm mark

So I got 72% on my global health midterm. Better than what I thought before I wrote the test (see my "Yup" post). But I still can't help but be disappointed. But luckily I only lost 5.6% of my grade, so it's still possible for me to get 94% in the class, however unlikely that may be. Still not bad for about 6 hours of studying.

Now I'm just waiting for my global health paper mark to be posted and also for my foundations of health science midterm mark to come out. I really need a good mark on my paper or else I can say goodbye to my A+ in global health.

I might not even get one A+ this semester (except maybe my online course). Straight As isn't bad either though. I know I can get at least straight A's.

Next 2 Months, Next 2 weeks, Next 24 Hours

For the next 2 months (well 1.75 months) I will be preparing for my final exams in way one or another. I just checked the final exam schedule, and my exams fall on December: 1st, 2nd, 9th, and 12th. I think I will be ok for the 9th and 12th exams because I will have at least a full 6 days (ie December 3rd-8th) to study for those two exams. I can get a lot done in one day with no classes to go to. However I will start hard studying for the 9th and 12th exams on November 20th. I will start hard studying for the exams on the 1st and 2nd on November 12th. I am giving myself a full day break on Remembrance Day on November 11th. I don't have any classes that day either. If I get bored I will study though. I plan to do preliminary studying for all 4 of my exams. That preliminary studying will start on November 8th or 9th. I may have to modify this schedule depending on what content my exams will focus on. So I will talk to each one of my profs and get a sense for the exams sometime in the next 2 weeks.

In the next two weeks I have 1 final exam (for my online class), 3 quizzes, 1 midterm, 1 presentation, and 1 paper. I hope to be done my paper by Monday or Tuesday. Then I will be done my presentation by not this Friday in two days, but next Friday coming up. I will study for my quizzes and midterm intermittently. I haven't decided on a timeline for my final exam studying yet, but I will have that finalized by Friday.

My global health prof said that our midterm marks will be posted within 24 hours. I'm expecting that they will be up tomorrow morning before noon. I'm very glad the test was strictly multiple choice. Kind of rare to have that, but it benefits me greatly. Plus it is easier for a professor to put the multiple choice sections through the scantron machine rather than marking 50 long answer responses. I have no problem with that. I'm still waiting for the midterm in my Foundations of Health Science class. The prof said it will likely be marked by next week, so either on Tuesday or next Thursday. I am not a very patient person. Although I guess it is better to be waiting for marks then to be anxiously waiting to write an exam. I'll trade waiting for marks instead of waiting to write in a heartbeat. Waiting for marks at least gives you a sense of completion.

I will post my marks as soon as I get them.

4/4 completed; Done for now.

Just wrote that global health midterm. Not really going to comment on how I did because I don't want to jinx it.

One piece of good news is that I just joined a group for my group presentation in global health. I missed the class where we got into groups. I was worried because the prof told me that I could not do it by myself. So the pressure was on. Luckily someone kindly offered me a spot in their group. So I feel very relieved. I was worried I would get a mark of 0 if I couldn't find a group. The group project is worth 20% of my mark. Now I'm just waiting for a reply from my group as to discuss a meeting time to help fill me in on the plan of attack.

Overall I'm feeling relieved and a bit anxious. Tomorrow I have my foundations of health science class and I REALLY hope she marked our midterms. I absolutely despise waiting for my marks. I feel very strong feelings of uncertainty when waiting for marks.

I will post marks for my last two midterms and my paper as soon as I get the marks back!

Now my focus is shifting towards my online class, anatomy and physiology part one. I applied to write the exam in early November, but haven't received confirmation yet. I will be studying as though I am writing the exam in early November though. That is the class where the final is mostly based on the nervous system. I'm looking forward to becoming proficient in that area, mostly because I find it pretty cool!

Yup

Yup I'm definitely going to fail this midterm today. I was going to stay up all night studying but I fell asleep last night. I've only studied for a few hours for this test. Sigh.

3 Down, 1 to Go

So I have completed 3/4 midterms so far for my "first round" of midterms. I have my "second round" of midterms next month, but only in 2/4 classes. So 3 more midterms left this semester.

I'm eagerly awaiting marks for my one midterm I haven't received and also my Global Health essay. I'm still superstitious and don't like commenting on how I did. Kind of silly but that's just me. Soon I will be awaiting my mark for my midterm tomorrow, which is my global health midterm.

I really haven't studied that much for this midterm. I felt so depleted on Thursday (because of my busy week) that it affected my studying this weekend. Luckily there is some overlap of the material with my foundations of health science class. That was the midterm I wrote on Thursday. Hopefully there are lots of questions on that material. I also did an essay for my global health class, and researching for it allowed me to indirectly study a bit, but most importantly it clarified important topics in the class.

One of the problems is that I missed both of my global health classes last week because I decided to study for my other midterm. That might come back to bite me. But if you think about it, I'm sacrificing one class for another, which is what I would have been doing in the other class anyways had I gone to class, and it would've lowered my score on my last midterm. So it's kind of like I have to make a choice. Obviously the best thing would have been to start weeks ago and be good for both. But these last few weeks have been pretty crazy workload wise. This has easily been the most productive 3 weeks of my life. My 72% mark on my sexuality midterm is lower than I wanted, but aside from that I've been doing pretty good. I've only had a handful of days off since about Sept 27th. So that is progress for me. My work ethic is improving. If this would have been in the past I would not have been studying much and definitely not getting the marks I'm getting now.

Next month is going to be better, as long as I didn't miss much for my group project. It is in my global health class. Global health is what I feel to be my weakest class, so if do poorly on my midterm and poorly on my group assignment, I will end up with a B, best case scenario. Not the end of the world but it does set me back.

I shouldn't stress out too much about a B here and there because I have 1-2 years to get good grades. 2 years of good grades would put me in the conversation for UBC medical school. Speaking of UBC medical school, I also have some semi good news but I have to clarify it first. Basically my GPA is higher than I thought, and after my January semester, I may be above the minimum academic average for in-province at UBC medical school, which means I could apply to UBC medicine in August 2015 for admission in 2016. But I have to calculate my GPA based on UBCs criteria first. I'm not even sure if they will tell me the exact academic calculation formula, but they do post grading tables on their website, so worst case scenario I have an estimate. I'd hate to have my application disqualified because I didn't meet the cutoff though. I just want to "put my name in the hat" (for my international readers unfamiliar with that term, it's a figure of speech that means you want a chance, albeit however slight, at something that is based on chance. Sometimes in draws for prizes, people put their name on a piece of paper then put it in a hat to try to win the draw). I will phone UBC on Monday (if they are open at 430, which is what time my exam is done). If they're not open Monday I phone Tuesday. It is a very exciting idea that I could apply in 2015, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Nonetheless, I've been dreaming about it for the last few days. Maybe it was that feeling of happiness and complacency may have distracted me from studying for my midterm.

As I was writing this post I decided to check out ratemyprof.com for my global health instructor. Apparently one person never studied and still got a B. I really hope his tests are that easy, but the review is from 2011, so the instructor may have changed things up. I feel good that even if I get 0% on the midterm tomorrow, I can still get a B. Yes I am calculating my mark with a 0% because despite that review, I know the prof asks very tricky questions in class, and many times I don't know the answer, so the midterm could be similar to that. So yes, I could end up with 0% on my midterm. The midterm is worth 20%.

I'm going back to studying now.

Drugs & Society Midterm Mark

Just checked online and there was an update. Much to my surprise I got 90%! My guess after I wrote the exam was that I got anywhere from 50-100%. Haha a big range but that was best and worst case scenarios. The exam was out of only 30 marks. So that means I only got 3 marks deducted. I am actually quite surprised I got a mark this high. I guess since I didn't do great on my last midterm I was expecting a similar result.

I have to remember that ideally 90% is the lowest mark I can ever get. This is because 90% is a generally the lowest mark you can get for an A+ at UBC and Langara. So I want my average to be around 95%. I don't know how people like Kay (AKA Birdy, http://premedpostmom.blogspot.ca) get averages like these over the course of like 2 years. Actually I do know how - work ethic. That is where I lack the most. I don't think that I can get into medical school in Canada without work ethic. I'm going to step it up for the rest of the semester, and continue it into next. I can't guarantee 95% averages in my classes but I can guarantee I'm going to put in serious time to become proficient and master the material. That should result in high marks as long as the tests are fair. Even if they aren't fair I want to be able to get all of the questions right. That is my goal for every test from now on - 100%. Essays, now that's a different story. I have an essay due next week in the area of global health. Essays are a weak point for me. If anyone has any tips, feel free to comment on this post or email me at premedpostfailure@gmail.com. Thanks!

Some scores

In my sexuality class I got 72% on the midterm. This was about the average for the class. Not bad for 1 day of studying. Would have been 3 days but I had other assignments to do. I did surprisingly well on the short answer and diagrams, it was the multiple choice that got me. I didn't double check my exam, and if I had I would have got at least 83% on my midterm. This was due to simple mistakes in interpretation. Next time I will definitely double and triple check my exams. I'm going to have to do really well for an A+ in the class. My work ethic hasn't been that great. I'm definitely going to step it up for the rest of the semester. The prof in this class also said this was the hardest test in the class, so my next midterm and final will be easier.

My foundations of health science class has 80 people in it. The average for the quiz was 45%. I was one of two people that got 100%.  I feel great about it. The quiz had aspects of critical thinking, and I think that's where I have strengths over my peers. It's my work ethic that is far below my peers. But as my education progresses I will have better work ethic, because I know that will yield better grades and it will also make me a better doctor. I always hear that work ethic is so important for being a doctor.

I've wrote 2 midterms so far. There are 4 midterms for the first round of midterms for my classes. So I have two more to go. My next two midterms are in Foundations of Health Science and Global Health. I think the Foundations of Health Science midterm will be very hard. I'm going to start studying tonight.

I don't know my other midterm score yet but I will post once I know. Hopefully the extra time studying translates into greater success. I think it will :)

Vancouver Weather

I still wear shorts to school everyday. So far it has only rained for 3-5 days this school year. It is going to be mid October in a few days, and it is sunny and 20 degrees (Celsius for my international readers) out. Some people complain about Vancouver rain, but I think we have it pretty good.

I have lived in either Vancouver or Vancouver Island  for my whole life, so I like to think I have a good idea on the pattern. I have a theory, and it is that it is sunny and beautiful for April, May, June, July, August, September, then half of October is decent, then it starts to get rainy. and the rain continues for November, December, January, February, most of march. Then in April it's decent again. So if I'm right, Vancouver has sun for about 7 months. That is pretty good! Not as good as California but still pretty good. And apparently Tsawwassen (small town suburb 45 minutes south of Vancouver) gets 1/3 of the rain of the rest of metro Vancouver. That's part of the reason I want to buy a house there! Maybe I'd spend my winters in Tsawwassen and my summers in Point Grey. That'd be great.

I've had an exhausting day because of my midterm at 8:30am and then working on my paper and class. All I want to do is watch Monday Night Football. I've written 2/4 midterms that comprise the first round of my midterms (2 rounds of midterms and finals in total). I'll post my midterm results on here when I get my marks. Now to watch some Seahawks primetime football! Go Hawks!

Hello Seattle

So two weeks ago I went to Seattle, Washington. I've been there once before this trip and both times I had so much fun. Both times I went to NFL Seattle Seahawks games. I currently live in Vancouver BC. I don't like Seattle as much as Vancouver, but I really like Seattle a lot. There are some similarities between the two cities but I find them to be quite different. I really like America though. I was born in Canada but if I get a house in Point Roberts I will try to get dual citizenship. Point Roberts is an American town 1 hour south of downtown Vancouver. I've never been to Point Roberts but I think I would want a house there. Aside from Point Roberts, I'm not sure if I'd like living in America full time. I may get homesick. I feel the American way of life is different than Canada. But one thing I do want to do is go travelling around America. I'm not sure who I'd go with though. I think it would be so much fun and I'd learn a lot. I may go to various college and NFL games. Places I definitely want to go to are Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Dallas, New Orleans, South Bend, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Green Bay,  and Chicago. I probably missed some places too.

I could see myself living in Seattle if I got into their medical school. I wouldn't mind that because their program is ranked very high. I would probably go to a lot of Seahawks games. I like how Greys Anatomy is set in Seattle. I would also like that Vancouver is a 2.5 hour drive from Seattle. My girlfriend and I are planning to go to Seattle again for a visit within one year. This is because we didn't have enough time to do everything. I definitely want to check out the UW Medical Center. To people not interested in medicine, that may seem a bit odd, but I just love hospitals too much! Especially since UW is ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. I think that would actually be the highlight of my trip, as funny as that sounds. I actually can't wait to go back to Seattle again. I would go every month if I could.

Stroke Recovery Association Board

Unfortunately, I was not selected to be on the board. I thought I had a good chance, but not quite good enough. I may try again next year, but am not sure. I was supposed to volunteer at the branch but the coordinator never got back to me after I was sick. I'm kind of rethinking volunteering at the branch. I'm also rethinking my VGH volunteering as well. I asked to be switched to a position that is physically at the hospital. My volunteering is really up in the air with how busy I am. But I will continue to volunteer as a basketball coach at Drive Basketball.