Tag: Summer

Categories
General Lifestyle

Goals between 1st and 2nd Year

When we were young, summer days were our most free. Our neighborhoods suddenly became hives of activity; kids playing baseball in the streets, video game sessions lasting all day, trips to the pool, family vacations, and most importantly, no school. Those days of summer seemed too short, and during the long winter months when school seemed to stretch on forever, I often sat and daydreamed of the days when I could wear shorts and a t-shirt. For many, summer vacations can last through college, with time spent abroad or back home enjoying the comforts of their childhood. Medical school, however, changes the game.

For those who come straight to medical school from their undergraduate institutions, the last true summer might be the one between the first and second year of medical school. In fact, most schools give students several weeks off to decompress after the long struggle of first year. Therefore, it’s worth asking: what do we do with this time? With that question in mind, I went out and queried fellow students from all years, as well as several physicians in practice and in academia, in order to collect ideas. Not surprisingly, there were a huge variety of answers, but they divided into two basic camps. About half said to do something, anything, to prepare ourselves for our future careers, and the other half said to enjoy the last vestiges of our youth.

The arguments are valid on both sides of this debate. Amongst those who said to do something “productive,” about 75% said to, more specifically, gather experience in an area of interest. Whether through shadowing or more formal experiences such as research opportunities, the idea is to gain whatever knowledge and experience you can to make choosing a specialty easier. Additionally, these measured voices said, you will gain a little extra something on your CV that might impress residency programs. For instance, a friend who had an interest in mental health and addiction medicine spent the summer doing research in a major university setting. He applied months in advance and said the experience changed his life. On the other hand, the remaining 25% said to spend time studying for the Boards. “They’ll creep up on you quickly, so best to start early,” one professor told me. He suggested creating a plan of action for the summer, including high yield topics to review each week.

The “do nothing” crowd, or those on the other side of the argument, also had their say. Many advocated that this last summer is the perfect chance to do a few things that simply won’t be possible in the years ahead. “For those who enjoy traveling, take the chance to get away,” they repeated again and again.  A student who recently matched into PM&R told me that he went to Europe for 4 weeks, rode the train, met lots of great people, and “stayed as far away from studying as [he] could.” He added that this gave him the chance to recharge his batteries before tackling the challenges of second year and beyond. While traveling Europe might not be possible for all of us, finding ways to decompress should be. A family medicine physician who has spent 20 years in practice told me that he went home, saw family, and spent lots of time fishing.

In the end, there is no clear path. Just like with everything else, how to spend that last summer is a very individual choice. My own experience involved taking time off to rest and reflect, and also spending a month locked in a room with some fellow students crafting a business plan for a student-run free clinic, which, after a lot of work and fundraising, opened the next year. I also completed a 2 week internship in rural medicine. I wouldn’t change anything about the summer; both of those work experiences motivated me in different ways regarding the type of physician I want to become, while taking time to rest rejuvenated me for the trials ahead. No matter what you choose, remember to do what makes the most sense for you. If you need the rest, take the chance to get it. If you want to work on something you feel passionate about, do that. While it may seem like another multiple-choice question, in the end, there is no wrong answer.

Featured image:
travelling by Elvira S. Uzábal – elbeewa

Categories
General Lifestyle

Goals for the Summer

The beginning of December is when it begins. Around winter finals, people already start to ask – What will you do over the summer?

“Should I apply to a summer fellowship?”

It’s reasonable that we want to make the most of the summer. Considering the prevalence of ordered, dutiful personalities in medical school[1], it’s no surprise that this precious time – the last summer vacation of our lives (at least, in the US school system) – is wrought with indecision.

“Are you doing research over the summer?”

We go to second-years and faculty to ask for advice. We post on Facebook or other social media outlets. We ask career counselors. They all say to take things easy. Second year is hard, so do something that is important to you. Go travel. Spend time with family. They say things like, you only have to do research if you want to go into a competitive specialty. We search Google and find resources about summer fellowships and research opportunities.[1]

“What should I do over the summer?”

I am reminded of the memoir When Breath Becomes Air, written by the neurosurgeon-in-training Paul Kalanithi. In the book, Kalanithi writes about a similar situation during his undergraduate sophomore summer. He had to choose what to do with his summer, because he had been accepted both “as an intern at the highly scientific Yerkes Primate Research Center, in Atlanta, and as a prep chef at Sierra Camp, a family vacation spot for Stanford alumni on the pristine shores of Fallen Leaf Lake [… which] promised, simply, the best summer of your life. […] In other words, I could either study meaning or I could experience it.”[1] Ultimately, he chose the job as the prep chef. And despite the outrage of his biology mentor over the lost research opportunity, Kalanithi still became a neurosurgeon.  He said his experience at the camp was meaningful, invigorating, and had lasting effects on his perspective when he returned to school. It’s a little different in medical school, but the principle is the same.

“When you look back on the summer, how will you feel?”

I struggled to decide what to do with my summer. I felt like there were a lot of options, but was unsure of what to pursue – I could conduct research on campus, be a medical volunteer at free clinics, work at a global health mission, spend time with family, travel with friends … there were too many options. I felt like all of the options were possible as long as I submitted an application on time. The most difficult part was that at my school, summer lasts only one and a half months.  Ultimately, the time constraints limited me to only one or two activities, and I wanted to choose an activity that would be “the best summer of my life.”

I had started the application for a summer research fellowship, submitted it, and was waiting to hear back. Meanwhile, I heard friends talking about how they were planning to go on trips in-state and

abroad, get married, or just spend time at home. Other friends were awarded fellowships at other academic institutions. I wondered how valuable it would be for me to spend another summer putting in forty or more hours of research a week when I had spent a number of undergraduate summers doing that before. In fact, I realized, my last real break was the summer between high school and undergrad.

In my final year of undergraduate studies, a retiring professor told the class that he was most excited about the opportunity for extended break from academia. He expressed regret that he had not taken more breaks throughout his career. My friend and I had discussed this together; we wondered whether a break from school or work could really be as meaningful as he said. I’m beginning to realize what he meant now, as my classmates and I fight through burnout during our first year in medical school. The importance of self-care cannot be overlooked.

I weighed the pros and cons of each option. When it came down to it, my ideal break consisted of: (1) reconnecting with family and friends, (2) spending time with literature – both reading and writing, and (3) exploring future career options. While important, career-building was not the most important summer activity because I still have the rest of my training and the rest of my life to work on it. For me, time with familiar people and literature are sources of enduring happiness. At the end of the day, I take comfort in cultivating these life experiences. I worked hard to create an opportunity that would incorporate all three of these items. I’m planning to spend the summer at home, relaxing and working on a small project I managed to set up with a mentor nearby.

For those coming up with their own summer goals, I suggest considering the following points:

  1. What are the pros and cons of the options you have considered so far?
  2. How much time can you allot to each of your options?
  3. Is there something you would regret missing out on?
  4. What will rejuvenate you for the upcoming year?
  5. If you could do anything, how would you spend an ideal summer?

References:

  1. There was an actual study published on this. Lievens, et. al. (2002). Medical Education, 36, 1050–1056.
  2. Interested readers may want to peruse the following pages:  “Summer Opportunities for 1st-Year Students” from Indiana University and “Summer Opportunities for Medical Students” from the Medical University of South Carolina.
  3. Kalanithi, Paul. (2016). When Breath Becomes Air. Random House, New York, NY. 31-32.

Featured image:
San Francisco Peaks from Kendrick Mountain Fire Lookout Tower by Al_HikesAZ

Categories
General Lifestyle

Torn Between a “To Do List” and a “Social Life”

I have always been an overachiever, no doubt about it; always wanting to be one step ahead of the rest, always ahead of the game. For example, if I finished a school assignment by 7 o’clock in the evening, instead of taking the night off, I’d start on another assignment I knew was coming up. This was the motto I lived by all my life, until I finished my 1st year of medical school, that is. As a pre-med and 1st year medical student, I constantly told myself I’d fill my summer up with resume-building extracurriculars. But people kept telling me, “It is your FINAL summer off for years to come, enjoy your time!” Me?! Taking time off? Not being productive? I couldn’t even bear the thought. By midway into my 1st year, I already had research for the summer set up, in addition to potential shadowing opportunities in fields of interest to me. I factored it all into the schedule for my seemingly lengthy, but in reality limited, 6 weeks of summer: research, volunteering, shadowing, studying for boards. My plan was to complete all my research and volunteering positions throughout the days, and study a few hours for Boards at night.

Today, 2 days into my official summer vacation, I realized I had failed to factor some crucial aspects into my schedule: my family, friends, & outright sanity! I have worked too hard all year not to enjoy a few weeks of bliss. I deserve to wake up to a day filled not just with endless studies and a “To Do” list the size of my Grey’s Anatomy textbook, but rather to a day of, yes, some work and productivity, but also some well-deserved fun! Since this realization, I have altered my schedule drastically, allowing myself to live the next 6 weeks with this new mindset. On top of everything, my sister is tying the knot the last weekend of my summer, an event I underestimated in terms of the time and effort it would take to plan for. These happy times with family and friends will be memories I will cherish forever. Ok, so you can’t exactly add “planned sister’s wedding and hung out with friends and family” to your resume, but one cannot compare the value of building those precious memories with a completed “To Do” list. I know I will regret it down the line if I don’t allocate some time during the summer for my loved ones.

Of course, I am filling my schedule with productive, career-building endeavors; however, I am not overwhelming my life with these plans. I plan to enjoy my time and to experience exciting pursuits with my loved ones. I am extremely satisfied with the decision I’ve made: the decision to have a summer I can remember for the rest of my life, yes, but one that also includes a realistic amount of academic accomplishments.. I mean, after all, how much of my Boards studying am I REALLY going to remember? Five percent, if I’m lucky. And at the end of it all, I know one person who will be the MOST thankful and excited about my decision: my loving sister. I can spend some quality time with her, helping make the happiest time of her life one to cherish forever. For those of you who wish to fill your summers with career-building activities (a.k.a. my fellow overachievers), below I have listed some things that were on my list to achieve this summer. I hope they spark some inspiring ideas and fuel motivation that may have dwindled if you are anywhere close to the state of mind I am in after a year of hard work! Good luck to you all!

  • Volunteer at a Hospital around your area, or school’s area, or where you plan to apply for residency. It is never too early to get your foot in the door and start forming connections with program directors in residency programs you will be applying to in a couple of years! You can even find individual doctors in departments of interest to email and ask if you can shadow.
  • Volunteer for a humanitarian project. I am personally volunteering for the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles, California. Any small gesture to give back to our community, preferably using the knowledge we have learned thus far, would be more than enough. A little help from a lot of people combined turns out to be surprisingly impactful!
  • Do research at your school. By finding a project at your school, you will be able to continue the research throughout the following year if the project extends past the summer. This shows longitudinal dedication, without adding an unmanageable workload on top of your coursework.
  • Light Boards studying. Key word: LIGHT. We are probably not going to remember much for the Boards from this summer. Maybe look over some drugs and bugs. Maybe Pathoma or Kaplan videos, focusing on topics that particularly confused you during your 1st year or that you were never able to grasp.
  • Pursue your hobby, and do it in a way that is applicable to medicine. Residency programs do look for a well-rounded applicant, after all. For example, I thoroughly enjoy writing, and now blog for the MSPress. This allows me to relish in my hobby, while giving me a solid accomplishment to add to my resume. For those of who might like to paint, paint a medical scene!

There are many many more, these were just a few. Above all, remember to always update your resume (you will regret it if your achievements pile up and you forget the details), and remember to enjoy life!

Featured image:
100! ;D by Abdulrahman AlZe3bi.