SWAISHA: …And So I Moved In

Can I just tell you that Emory is awesome!?! Okay, now that that’s done, I want to introduce myself.

Hello, I’m Swaisha D. Fields, first-year medical student. Although I may seem a little more enthusiastic (on paper) than the average first-year, 3 months in, it is genuine enthusiasm and boy do I have my reasons for it. Before I go into those reasons, let’s get to know me a little, shall we? I was born and raised in Youngstown, OH. If you’ve ever been there before you’ve probably already formed an opinion of me (just kidding), but for those of you who’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone and you’re not missing ANYTHING. I studied at The Ohio State University for two years, before I transferred to Georgia State University where I received my B.S. in Biological Sciences back in 2003 (please, don’t do the math). Since then, I’ve been majoring in minors, and minoring in majors, pretty much up until last year when I decided to take a serious crack at applying to medical school. This wasn’t something I just came up with out of nowhere, but my confidence had taken a hit or two in my educational career up to that point so I was too unsure of myself to apply before. This brings me squarely to reason #1…

When I decided to apply to medical school (this time), my strategy was to try schools that I thought I might have a solid chance of getting accepted to, and to apply at Emory because it was here in Atlanta, where I was already living. I wasn’t sure I’d get accepted anywhere, to be honest, but it was time to find out. Although I was slowly piecing my confidence back together, I didn’t believe I had a serious chance to get into Emory SOM at all. I’d heard some pretty stellar things about the university as a whole, and never considered myself competitive enough for their MD program. So, imagine my surprise when I got a phone call on February 26th with an invitation to interview on the very last interview day, February 29th…a day that only exists once every four years, if you really think about it. With such short notice and so late in the interview season, I felt like a second round draft pick (NBA not NFL). To me it felt like, maybe someone had cancelled and they wanted to fill the spot with someone who lived close enough to get here on short notice. I felt like I had been given a great chance, and I had nothing to lose. I didn’t feel like my interviews went that well, but it was the “funnest” interview day that I’d had. I may have fallen in love that day. It was still like a pleasant dream and not something I thought was going to happen for me. I remember telling my mother all about the school, and the campus, and of course the wonderful new building and new curriculum. After that day, I didn’t give it much thought. I had two more interviews crammed into the next week, the last week of interview season for two other schools, so I put it out of my mind and kept on interviewing. Six days later, I got the good news! It was unreal! Just when I was preparing myself for that horrible waiting period between when all the interviews were done and the final decisions were made, my wait was over. I went from worrying that I wouldn’t get in anywhere to being accepted at the best school on my list. So yes, I am super excited to be here!

I am also super excited about how my time here has gone so far. So I don’t really need to go into detail about how long I was out of school, or what I was doing, but let’s just say I was very nervous to dive back into the life of a full-time student. Up until now, there hasn’t been a time where I’ve been unemployed for more than a couple of months since 11th grade. I really couldn’t wrap my brain around how hard med school would be, or how I would handle it. Fortunately, these people know what they are doing. The faculty and staff do a really good job at putting together a class, and they put together an awesome curriculum. I’ve been able to ease into student life without any hiccups. I’m hanging in there right now, and it is hard, but I lean on my classmates, and they let me. I now live in an alternate universe where I often forget how old I am (no math here either ladies & gentleman), I work harder and play harder than I ever have, and I spend more time in the med school building than I do at home…and so I moved in! =)

TENG: Introductions

Dear Everybody, I am Teng–very happy to be your blogger.

(That’s me in purple on the right)

When I was applying for medical school, I read some student blogs to get a feel for what life is like as a med. student, so I hope that someone will find this helpful. Feel free to think of me as your Valerie, passing on wisdoms on toilet paper that inspire you with purpose as you toil away in applications. Know that even though I do not know you, with all my heart, I love you…
(V for Vendetta…anyone?)

Introductions:

You will be asked ‘officially’ introduce yourself many times in the first few weeks of medical school, to your small group, society, and to any member of the administration who has just met you and wants to be your buddy. At your Emory interview you probably have to do this in a circle with the other interviewees. My blurb would go something like this:

1 Personal background — I claim to be from Baltimore, even though I have spent very little time there. Baltimore is just where my parents live now. I actually spent the first 9 years of my life in Xi’an, China, where up till the 3rd grade I sat with my hands behind my back in class, suffered some physically abusive teachers, and learned about Mao. And Math. Just kidding…kind of. Anyways the rest of my childhood was spent in Clemson, SC, with a brief stint in Vancouver, Canada.

2 Educational background — I attended college at Clemson University. I majored in Biochemistry, did research, some service, etc., tied it up in 3 years and went off to Bethesda, MD and did the NIH Post-Bacc. IRTA.

Looking back, I would advise against graduating early. Live it up. Hang out with your friends. Double major. Read some fiction. Take a class in Aesthetics or Slavic languages. College is great.

I would advise taking a couple of years off after college before medical school. Doing research full-time after college helped me realize that medical school was really the place I wanted to go (instead of grad. school). Even though I loved my project, I wanted to know how everything in the human body worked together instead of just focusing on one pathway. Also, I wanted patient interaction and to see the fruits of biomedical research applied at the patient’s bedside. And research is just one option. The point is to take some time for yourself so you can start medical school rejuvenated and excited about learning again.

3 Why Emory? – You’ll definitely be asked this at your interview, so be prepared. For one, Atlanta is great. It’s only starting to get chilly here so that means more pool time per year. There are many concerts and shows. So far I’ve been able to see Wicked at the Fox Theater and Maroon 5/Counting Crows in concert. There are always events at the High Museum. In sports this is home of the Braves, and UGA football seems to be a big thing amongst my classmates. So there you go.

Emory itself is amazing, too. Great building, great people, great research, great education. You’ll hear more about my experiences in the SOM as this blog thing gets going.

Your blurbs I’m sure will be infinitely more interesting. Maybe some of you will even work in a joke or political reference. Take the other people in my class for example: there’s a skier, several people who did Peace Corps, an opera singer, and someone who biked across the continental US. I don’t remember who did what after that first week when we all introduced ourselves, but the point is that they’re all here. Just ask around when you’re here and everyone will have a good story to tell.

BRITTA: Just the Beginning

It’s funny that I’m writing this from Emory School of Medicine, because growing up, I was sure of only one thing career-wise – there was no way I was going to be a doctor. I have to look back at that now and laugh, since at this point in my life, there’s nothing I can think of that would suit me better. But let me start at the beginning. As a young lass, my dream job was to become a farmer – grow lots of fruits and vegetables (I pictured farming basically as a glorified backyard garden), drive around on cool tractors and combines, and get to play in the dirt all day. I grew up in small-town Kentucky, so there was ample opportunity for me to admire the farming life in all its majesty.

Here I am in the center with my brother Jordan (left) and my sister Kara (right). Yep, that’s one of our miniature donkeys. Cute, huh? Note the stylish coveralls we’re wearing for barn detail.

My dad was (and still is) a family practitioner back home in Elizabethtown, but despite that, I decided early on that doctoring was not for me. Dirt was one thing, but blood was another. Even in later years, after I had discovered some burgeoning interest in the medical field, I had a hard time with this. Let me tell you, there is nothing more embarrassing than passing out while shadowing in the emergency room of your local hospital in a small town. I’m pretty sure that at least half of the nurses on staff that day were parents of my friends from school, and of course, the first thing the ER physician did was call my dad. He in turn called my mom (out of a meeting, no less), and they both drove down to the ER to get me, where I was having my chin stitched up in the emergency psychiatric room, since it was the only one available. I was 20 at the time. Anyway, it just goes to show that even a squeamish person can be a doctor – or at least a medical student.

There were other reasons I was against becoming a doctor. You’ve probably heard a lot of them in general before, and if I went into a lot of detail, it would sound too much like my AMCAS essay, so I won’t talk about them here. Also, I don’t have any funny/humiliating stories connected to those other reasons. Suffice it to say that as my carefree undergrad years at beautiful Notre Dame (go Irish!) progressed, I began to have a change of heart and was solidly convinced that medical school was for me by the beginning of my junior year. After graduation in May 2007, I took a year off to get some experience working as an EMT and to get married to my wonderful fiancé, Adam. He was in Flight School for the Army at the time, so we decided that I would wait a year so that my start of med school would line up with his reassignment to a new post following his graduation. Knowing that wherever the Army decided to send him would play a huge role in my med school choice, I decided up-front that I would not get too attached to any of the schools that I visited. That resolution held pretty well until I came to Emory, when I immediately fell in love with the School of Medicine, the staff, and the students. I was both elated and depressed at the same time, since I figured there was no way the Army would send us to Savannah (the closest post to Atlanta for which we were eligible). However, approximately one month before the May 15th deadline to commit, we learned that we were indeed headed for Georgia, so I started getting ready for life in the bright lights of Atlanta!

We’re almost three months into medical school right now, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s all that I hoped it would. The pace has picked up gradually as we’ve moved through our modules, and I think some of us (me, at least) are starting to feel a little stress as we move through the week. Luckily, we have our weekends free, which leaves lots of time for relaxing with friends and getting to see some of the city.

Here’s me in my brand-spankin’ new white doctor’s coat at our White Coat Ceremony a couple weekends ago. The handsome fellow standing beside me is Adam. He flies Blackhawk helicopters, in case you were wondering what came of Flight School

JOSH: To New Beginnings

Hello potential new best friends. First off, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Josh Levinson, and I’m closing in on 3 months here at Emory. But more importantly, before I digress and start sounding all “me, me, me” I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and if you’re only here on a detour from Googling famous film producer and director Barry Levinson, then I still invite you to stick around. I’ll throw in a Barry Levinson fact somewhere along the way to make it worth your while.

I grew up a stone’s throw away from Emory in Dunwoody, GA, and I just graduated from the University of Georgia after taking what I like to call the “scenic route.” I majored in Finance, but I never really felt passionate about my studies until somewhere along the way I discovered that my true dream was to go to medical school. I traded my financial calculator for an orgo book and never looked back.

So now that I’ve given you the back story, I’ll tell you that the gut decision I made 2 years ago turned out to be the best, and probably most important, decision of my life so far. I’m working harder than I ever have, but I’m having fun. If there’s one point to take away from here, it’s that Emory is a fun place, and I hope that the rest of my blog entries can be a testament to that. If you come to visit Emory (and I suggest you do – it’s the only place that lets you eat back your plane fare in free cookies and Coke) then I’m sure you’ll get a chance to see exactly what I mean.

Below I’ve posted a photo for two reasons that I’ll get to in a minute. It’s a picture of my small group at our White Coat Ceremony – a very aptly named ceremony where our friends and family came to watch us receive the white coats that we will be wearing around the hospital for the next four years. Now you’re probably wondering “what kind of small group?” and that’s good because inquisitive minds are exactly what we need here at Emory. Twice a week we divide into teams of 8 plus a faculty mentor to discuss practical issues of medicine including learning how to complete physical exams. Now back to my reasons. The first reason that I posted this picture is that our small group is the best small group. Other bloggers and maybe even your friends here at Emory may suggest otherwise, but it’s simply not true. But the second (and real) reason that I am posting this picture is that somehow by a freak chance of camera angle, it makes me feel like I am the star of my own hit medical TV show (second from the left and way too close the camera).

So that’s me in a nutshell, and hopefully I’ll be able to give you an insight into this journey through medicine as we go. Oh, and just because I am a man of my word, you might be interested to know that Barry Levinson is a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, thanks for reading.

ADEEB: I’ll Be Your Tour Guide

And so medical school began with orientation. It was at this time that we learned the demographics of our class, one of which was our age range. Our class began the year with students as young as 20 and as ‘mature’ as 35. Why do I bring this up? It is because well within the first week of school I was found out as being the youngest in our class. For any of you prospective students, who might be able to fill my role next year, let me advise you to embrace this privilege. Two weeks into orientation, this 21st birthday of mine (August 9th – for any of you who want to wish me happy birthday next year) was the perfect excuse for any and all to get together under one roof and celebrate.

Yup, that’s me. By my chalkboard. Now you might be thinking, “hmmm, was this before he drank lots of alcohol legally?” Let me take this moment to appease your qualms. I don’t drink, but I did enjoy an unhealthy Red Bull and lots of ice water. The night went well, songs were sung, dances were danced, and I then stepped into the world of maturity and wisdom. Well, not exactly.

Now you must be thinking to yourself “He’s so young. Why is he holding his stomach in this picture? Is he made of magic?” To both of your questions, I answer “yes”.

As for my age, I had no control over it. I was born in India, 2 years after which I moved to a tiny island in the Philippines called Pohnpei. It was there that the school system was loosely regulated and I was tossed into first grade without looking back. I moved back to India when I was 4 years old and then came to the U.S. at the supple age of 9. The culture shock at the time was stunning, but that is a story for another time. Anyhow, I grew up in Savannah Georgia, went to school at Georgia Tech, received a paper that said I had studied biology, and then found myself in the picture above.

Since everyone is up to speed, let me tell you who I am now. What I love to do at the moment, among other things, are playing guitar, watching youtube videos, and finding amazing (jammin’) music [note: an abnormally high percentage of this music is provided by my brother who, in addition to being handsome and charismatic might also be blackmailing me – explaining why I’ve typed this out]. This being said, I’ll try to leave you with a gem of a video once in a while. It’s impossible to pick among the tons of amazing videos, but this month, I’ll leave you with Cadbury chocolate.

Finally, let me assure you that you’re in good hands. Over the next couple of months, the other bloggers and I will give you a sneak peek into our minds – as well as the world of student life at Emory. Before leaving you, let me at least answer a simple question. Why Emory? The reason is simple. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’m not speaking solely of the new building, gorgeous weather, and amazing scenery. What truly grasped my attention was the welcoming character and humility of the students, the revolutionary mindset and student concern found in the administration, and the energizing curriculum. Well……the reason isn’t that simple after all, because I could go on and on. Maybe if I see you around on your interview day I’ll give you more details.