First Week Recap

Wow, what a week! It's hard to say whether the week flew by really fast at this point or went extremely slow considering all of the studying I had to do. One thing that I was introduced to this week, something that I have already found myself doing: complaining about how much studying I have done (I am actually doing this as I write right now!). Apparently, medical students are notorious for complaining about all of the the hours they spend with lecture material and anatomy labs, so this is something you readers will have to get used to. But there is one secret us medical students don't share...we actually like it! And this has definitely held true for the first week.

So a typical day as a Ross student (assuming I am typical?) starts at 6:45 AM in order to shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, get everything ready for class, and leave the apartment by 7:30 AM for an 8:00 AM class. We typically have anywhere from two to four lectures spanning the hours of 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. After that, the day is yours! Whipppeeeee! Not! That means you basically spend the rest of the day in "your" study spot (yes, we compete for good ones) reviewing all of the material that you covered that day in class. And if you don't get through it, you will struggle because the material will just build up on you. We each have our own ways of taking breaks and mine have routinely been eating lunch at The Shacks, working out before dinner, and then heading to Subway right after for dinner.

One of the smaller classrooms at Ross where I study.

My busiest day, yet most interesting, day so far started out just like the rest with class till 12:00 PM. For the next hour I ate at The Shacks, but at 1:00 PM I started my first four hour anatomy lab. Now, this is my first time taking human anatomy, but even more specifically, this is my first anatomy lab dissecting a human cadaver. Despite all of the warnings of the overwhelming smell of formaldehyde and the graphic nature of the dissection, it went surprisingly well. We dissected the superficial and deep muscles of the back. I will tell you that it finally felt great to put those green scrubs on and get dirty (and not have to use the "fainting couch"). Also, learning anatomy is so much easier when you have the specimen right in front of you in comparison to studying from pictures. After lab, I was able to grab a quick bite to eat and then head straight to my study spot till 11:00 PM. Believe me when I say that I fell asleep pretty quickly that night.

Another highlight from this week was the White Coat Ceremony that was held on Friday. Now, if you don't know what a White Coat Ceremony is, it's basically a symbolic event that welcomes medical students to the exclusive club of becoming physicians. Most medical schools around the world have one for first-year students. To be clear, just because we were given the white coats doesn't mean we are physicians, it means that from this point forward we are to have the mindset of physicians and to carry out our lives/medical education in a professional manner. We had an array of speakers from local Dominican politicians, the Dean of Students, other faculty, and from a successful alum. For me, the ceremony was representative of how far I have come. I like to think that everything in my past has led me to this point and after being given a white coat....it gave me a glimpse of what my future will hold. And a little motivation as well. 

Since my days here have become a little busier (not complaining!), I just want to let you all know that I will be trying my best to update my blog every Sunday. I thought I would tell you so you won't be checking for updates every single day (like I know you guys are). Below I added some random pictures from my stay in Dominica so far. Hope you enjoy them...

Fancy housing near campus

Some classrooms/lockers where we keep our anatomy lab gear with a horrendous view of the mountains behind

Scene from my Indian River trip where parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean II were filmed.