Unit Three Sucks

My name is Derrick Antoniak, and this is my blog about being a first year medical student.

So Saturday is the big 'thorax and abdomen' test, and, if today's mini-case session was any indication, I have a ways to go. The anatomy seems easier than the head and neck, but for some reason I feel less confident (could have something to do with the fact that I've had exactly 1 dedicated, efficient study session in the entire three weeks). If that's not bad enough, I had to spend almost two hours in Dr. Carver's office yesterday (student counseling) because my backgroung check looks like that of an alcoholic (at least enough so that entering the medical profession will require me to prove that I'm not). We had a really nice conversation, and he said he wasn't too worried about me, but in the end, I had to take a questionnaire, and, pending the results, I may end up in a more formal alcohol dependency assessment or even outpatient treatment (to the tune of several hundred dollars I'm sure). This is a pre-emptive move on my part (at the suggestion of Dr. Hill). I know without question that I am not an alcoholic, and it's been almost 5 and 8 1/2 years since my two run-ins with the law, but when I graduate, if I haven't done anything to prove it, any residency program I enter would probably send me to rehab just based on my backgroung check and family history, so, I guess it's better to get it out of the way now, while I'm really not that busy (at least that's the theory). It is frustrating, though, and, honestly, a little discouraging, especially when you see how some of my classmates act, not only on days like this Saturday after the exam, but also on just any night of the week. Oh well. So, as I make my daunting transition from a one-beer-every-three-weeks guy to a no-drinks-ever guy...

We have the exam Saturday, and, although anatomy is winding down, we have exams much more frequently overall in the near future. This weekend is exam 3, next weekend is ICE midterm, the following weekend is the last anatomy exam, the following weekend is the OSCE (objective structured clinical exam), one weekend off, then the first exam for cellular processes, which is the next class after anatomy. In reality, I don't care. I think it's going to be downhill after anatomy, and, besides that, I've had some success setting up shadowing experiences in departments of interest, and I think that will be my focus, with the hope that I will meet enough people and get enough experience to really decide what specialty I want to be in and pursue it regardless of competitiveness.