what's med school like?

My cousin Danny came down to interview at UMC today! He goes to West Point, so he had to wear his dress whites, which garnered quite a few impressed looks. But he felt good about his interview afterward, so I'm hoping he'll get good news next month! In other good news, I did well on the second biochemistry test this week. I'm not failing med school! Yay!

So, an interesting turn of events happened regarding my future specialty. I still want to do oncology, but I had previously been leaning toward radiation oncology. Then a radiation oncologist came to talk to us about the specialty and what they do. He also said that in order to be competitive for a residency position, one needs to be published at least three times. 1) I have very little chance of doing that in the next four years; 2) I wasn't really drawn to the field itself as he described it. So, my mind switched over to medical oncology (because surgical is right out). Fortunately, the internal medicine department hosted yet another of our free lunches/info sessions. Since I would need to do my residency in medicine in order to be a medical oncology, I was suddenly very interested. So that's where we are now. Internal medicine 1, radiation oncology 0.

One question I get asked a lot (besides, "How's med school?") is, "What is your schedule like?" This questions is usually posed by future med students/interviewees, and I want to answer all their questions, so here goes.

6:00 I get up. Usually I think to myself, "My, it's early. What time will the sun come up today?"
7:00 I leave my apartment. I usually leave at this time even if I don't have class at 8, because I know there's studying or reading ahead or something that needs to be done. I leave this early to beat traffic and be able to read my Bible in my car before class, which is something I need to schedule into my day to maintain sanity.
8:00 (or 9, or 10) Class begins. For the most part, we have 4 or 5 hours of lecture or other activity scheduled, some of which is mandatory, some not. This also includes a couple hours each week that is "self-study." Typically there is an hour-long break in the morning, and we have 12-1 off for lunch.
1:00 (or 2), 1-2 times a week: Gross lab. On these days  the time I leave depends on the length of the dissection. Then I go home and shower and do laundry immediately. Remember, this is a war, people.
When I get home, I usually have a snack (or dinner, depending on the time). Then I study (hopefully). On non-lab days, I shower at 9 and hit the sack by 10. And on and on it goes.

One day, I intend to put pictures up so you can see the places and people I mention. And I started a twitter account so I can share the things I forget by the end of the day when I write blog posts. My username is erinknewman, so follow me!

I'll be studying all weekend for the first gross and developmental anatomy tests on Monday, so I probably won't post before Monday or Tuesday. But I know you'll be anxiously awaiting news, and I like to keep the people happy.