WE HAVE MOVED!!

As much as I didn't want to, I switched to WordPress for using my blog.That website is much simpler and allows me to organize my content much better for my followers/readers! 

It was a tough choice because my previous blog page reached 2,600 views last week but I know my new site will get there in no time!!! I really want you all to be able to navigate through my blog easily and so I know this was a great choice. Come on over and see the new and improved Survivor: Caribbean Med Student...Same great information just different URL 

💉😊www.survivorcaribbeanmedstudent.wordpress.com

The Little Things are the Big Things

Waking up from my first nap since I began this program will definitely be a memory to cherish! Naps don't come by very often as a medical student; well at least not with me. I have begun my 4th week of my MERP program and just finished my last quiz before my first Mini (Exam) of the program and I wanted to reflect on what has gotten me through these past few weeks.

Trying to balance learning new material, reviewing old material, attempting to get at least 4 hours of sleep a night, along with eating a well-balanced diet, have all been difficult to say the least but not impossible. A few things I have found to really keep my spirits lifted through this journey include: relationships, relaxation and imperfection. 

When I first began this program, I told many people I would be very busy and if I don't respond to a text or call, please do not get offended. I later realized, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in, you make time for things that are important to you. I have found great peace in those phone and Face Time conversations with friends, family and of course my dogs. I love the encouraging text, the jokes and especially the funny Memes; sometimes those laughs me get through the day. If I can give you one word of advice, it would be to never forget the people who helped you get to where you are. There will always be rough days when you have had enough and just want to de-stress; make sure you have those shoulders to lean on and haven't burned those bridges because you were too busy.  

Relaxation may seem like an impossible feat while being a medical student but I have found that being relaxed is one of the most important things during this journey. Most of the time, chaos does not yield success. Being a medical student or being in any rigorous academic program is physically, mentally and emotionally draining and in order to perform well, your mind must be at ease. I choose to make church, prayer and exercising my priorities next to studying and talking to family.  I always carve out time in my day to pray, go to church on Sundays and do small exercises in my room (I have been so busy and haven’t made it to the gym yet), whether it’s ab work outs, stretching or breathing exercises. It’s important to take care of yourself because you need the physical, emotional and spiritual stamina to get through it. Try to keep studying and free time separate. Study time is study time and free time is free time and always remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint! 

Lastly, be content with imperfection. Some people get so caught up in studying and striving for perfection that they forget to enjoy the journey. Don’t get so caught up in figuring everything out that you forget to enjoy the ride. Always strive for excellence, not perfection because those of excellence live comfortably but perfectionist don’t live at all! I will be taking my first Mini exam on Sept 9th. It's a 2hr 45min exam so please keep me in your prayers for a good outcome! Thanks for reading ❤️

1 week down, 4 years to go...

I have just finished a 2 hour binge of HGTV and realized, "wow, my first week of MERP is complete and boy is this hard"! For those of you who do not know, Medical Education Readiness Program (MERP) is a medical school preparatory program affiliated with Ross University and American University of the Caribbean, which accepts students to MERP and the medical school simultaneously. After you successfully complete your semester at MERP, you head to Ross or AUC; Ross in my case. 

So, my first week has been a whirl wind of emotions. I have been happy, nervous, anxious, exhausted, and a mix of more than one emotion at a time lol. I thought being a pre-med major was hard, yea...ok, just wait until you choose to go to medical school. It's amazing how much information I have been given in just one week; from the way our body replicates its DNA to how our body fights off viruses and bacteria and protects us from repeat infections. I am currently taking Medical Anatomy, Medical Physiology, Medical Microbiology and Medical Biochemistry. I have classes Tuesday through Friday: Tues-Thursday 8am-12pm, Friday 12pm-4pm. Mondays we have an hour long individual quiz which quizzes us on last week's material for all four subjects and following that individual quiz, we have a group quiz which covers all subjects and takes about 3 hours. We are scheduled to be done by 12pm. I easily spend 8-10 hours between class and studying each day and that is no exaggeration. My schedule for week one and plan for all the other weeks has been: 

Wake up: 6am

Class (2hrs/lecture): 8am-12pm

Lunch: 12-1pm

Academic Success: 1-2pm 

Study in Library: 2:30-5:30pm

Dinner, Gym, Relax: 6-8:30pm

Study Lecture 2: 8:30-10:30pm

Break: 10:30-11:30pm

Pre-read: 11:30-12:00am 

This schedule was a major super duper shock to me because I NEVER had to spend this much time outside of class studying in undergrad. Point of advice for future med students, this isn't undergrad. Information came very easy to me before but this is not the case in MERP. While I have a good background knowledge in the material (as many students do), the way in which you learn must change. We also have Academic Success lessons, which help teach us note taking and good study habits for medical school information. While some students think this is stupid and pointless, one important thing I learned from my first day of orientation was, "it's not about what you learn but how you learn it". 
Many of us from undergrad and grad school are linear learners as our Academic Success professor Dr. Sengupta explains. We rely on memorization instead of conceptualization and this has to change in order to succeed in medical school.  It's a completely different level of learning and thinking. I am so grateful to have been able to transition through this journey by starting at MERP. I have only been here a week but can already tell these techniques truly will set me off on the right foot for success! I can feel myself actively learning, analyzing and conceptualizing the information and applying it to clinical situations--in large part due to the tips on adjusting my note taking and study habits from Dr. Sengupta. 

Along with my academic adjustments, there are a few personal adjustments I had to make in order to increase the amount of time I have for studying in order to become more academically successful. One major thing I changed in my behavior was switching from daily cooking for dinner to healthy meal planning. I have and plan to continue to cook all my meals for 1 week every Sunday. I have cut out all fast food and limited my sugary sweets intake because its important to feed your brain good food (with a cheat snack here and there)! This allows me to come home at 6pm from the library, shower, grab my dinner out the fridge, eat (while watching HGTV) and exercise. Meal planning has saved me soooo much time because I don’t have to cook every day. Surprisingly It has saved me money too becausee I don't have to buy as much as if I buy junk food because I'm full longer. This means I get to spend more time studying. I’m hoping to not get tired of meal planning; although towards the end of this week, I hated the site, smell and taste of baked chicken, rice and green beans. 

Its also very important to have time to yourself, whether it be the gym, TV, shopping (which I also did for 3 hours Saturday morning) or some other form of a break, you need to decompress. I plan to start my exercise regime I was doing back at home in NY next week after the first quiz. I want to first get an idea on whether or not I need to change the amount of studying. I will be able to do my workouts at the Y and some of my running on the beautiful white sands of Hollywood Beach--I can't complain!
Aside from classes and my personal schedule, I am really settling in fine. I'm still trying to find my way around but that's not saying much because I lived in Syracuse my whole life and still used my GPS! It was not easy leaving my fiance Henry last Monday after I brought him to the airport. It was so nice having him here with me for the first 3 days to settle in. We even got to hit up South Beach. Of course I miss my family, particularly my daughter Alanah and Henry but everyone has been so supportive and understanding of my crazy schedule that I don’t get too much time to ponder on my thoughts of how far away I am; it’s not nearly as bad as I pictured it would be! I am kind of glad I took the move alone because I am not responsible or obligated to do anything other than studying and take care of myself; gives me the opportunity to succeed to my full potential! 

I had the chance to visit two malls (Fort Lauderdale and Pembroke Pines), South Beach in Miami, the Wegmans version grocery store here called Publix and a great Christian church. Things are a bit more expensive and apparently it’s hurricane season so its constantly storming (greattttt because I hate rain) but overall I am settling in fine; loving the beautiful beaches and sunshine and praying daily!! I have my first quiz on Monday so I will let you all know how my first individual and group quiz went!! Here are some pics below to check out of my first week here...

~xoxo Ash

 Enjoying beautiful South Beach

Mr. Handsome and I :) 

Feeding the brain

Pre-studying meal

Is this even English...

Next Stop: Med School

Hey there! So today was the day; the day to leave my home of 24 years to move to a completely new city to begin medical school. I wanted to share my experience of this day because I know there will be many of others who may have to experience this situation; whether you are leaving for school, job relocation or even just to start a new chapter in life.

I kept thinking about what this day would be like in my head and let me tell you, you can't truly prepare for it. Honestly, it wasn't as hard as I thought; maybe because I have a really good reason to go and something to look forward to on the other side. I envisioned drowning in tears the whole way driving but honestly, the hard part is leaving, seeing your family members cry as they are both happy and sad for your departure. The hardest part for me was hugging my 9 year old daughter and saying "see you later" (never goodbye) as she smiled, not completely understanding the magnitude of my distance. Maybe it will hit me when I get to school and a week or few weeks go by and I begin to realize "oh shit, this is real" but even then, I know I will make it through.

A few things that helped me was to constantly think positive thoughts. I kept telling myself I'm doing the right thing, I'm doing something great! Also, I took a lot of pictures with me, both on my phone and printed pictures. I also keep thinking about what's to come: med school. I know that I will be so busy with studying that it's not like I will be sitting around suckling in my sorrows, so everything will be fine! I'm not saying leaving wasn't hard, but it wasn't the worse thing in the world. Like I thought it would be! If you are preparing to move away from family and friends to start a new chapter in life, keep telling yourself what your doing is worth it and it will all pay off!

Now my fiancé and I just have to suffer through this 22 hour drive from NY to FL 😩😩😩

As always, comment, subscribe, and share! 

~xoxo Ash

The Return of the Natural

So, I have been technically “natural” (free from chemical strengtheners) for 4 plus years. I got my last relaxer 4 years ago and it was only on a small front portion of my hair. This was because I loved wearing sew-in extensions and would leave a part of my own natural hair out to blend, but I didn’t want the curls because it would take longer to straighten and blend. 

For the past 4 years I was technically “natural” but I straightened my hair almost every other day! I never liked to wear my hair curly because I thought it looked messy, frizzy and nappy. I am half Filipino and half African-American and my hair is very curly and silky and as I see it now, very beautiful but I COULD NOT see that prior to recently. My entire life, literally, many people would try to encourage me to wear my hair curly and tell me how beautiful my curls were and I refused! One teacher told me “Ashley, do you realize how much money some people pay to have those curls” and my response would be, “well they can have them”. I liked my hair straight because it looked neat, presentable and normal; all the things our society deems appropriate. I straightened my hair so much that my curls were just as damaged as someone who chemically relaxed their hair.  

The reason I started wearing my hair natural was not even because I felt inclined to embrace my hair or any of the self-empowering explanations, it was because I was accepted to a medical school in the Caribbean and I knew that straightening my hair would be pointless in that hot and humid weather. So, in August 2015, I decided I was no longer going to straighten my hair regularly. 

My initials feelings when I started wearing my hair natural were embarrassment, frustration, and very impatient. I hated my natural hair even still! My curls were so badly heat damaged that they looked like stringy ramen noodles (primarily the front part of my hair) and that’s the first part everyone sees! I felt so discouraged and wanted to give up sooooo many times. It took about 4-5 months in order for my curls to be at a point where I liked, not loved them. I tried product after product which promised curl reformation and all other things. I watched YouTube videos, I read hair blogs, I followed curly hair girls on Instagram and honestly none of it really truly worked as much as me just being patient and getting to know MY hair more and let me tell you why! 

• While YouTube and Instagram are great resources for those who need information, inspiration and are just getting started, it can truly give you a false depiction of your hair while also giving you false hope. So much of the YouTube videos I watched or Instagram accounts I followed were done so in envy of the girl on the other side of the screen. I wanted my curls just like hers and I wanted them now, until I realized, I cannot look to others for how my hair will look.

• I think YouTube is a great starting point to get anyone started in what to expect, how to take care of natural hair, how to do protective styles and styles that will help train you curls (twist outs, braid outs, flat twists, Bantu knots, etc.) but I believe at some point, it can become discouraging. My advice would be to use YouTube as a way to learn but not a way to envy! I encourage any transitioning girls, naturals or even girls thinking to go natural to use YouTube wisely and more importantly, learn your curl pattern and strive for YOUR good hair days and try to replicate those, not necessarily the curls you see on the big scree

• Another thing which I fell victim to was buying products that were popular, commonly used by natural hair bloggers and vloggers (video blogging) and/or products others suggested because they worked liked magic for them. I am not saying it is bad to take suggestions and recommendations because honestly trials and error is good, how else will you know what works or not, but I would recommend that you don’t go through this trial and error process blindly. Do not expect what works for someone else to automatically work for you. You can get caught up in buying all the popular expensive products some people recommend without realizing it may not be helpful for your curl pattern. I STRONGLY encourage you to learn what each ingredient, or at least the most potent ingredients do for your hair. Do not just buy products blindly. Research what you are putting in your hair because you can honestly be wasting your time. Read more about how neglecting to research a product caused me to essentially waste 2 months of progress and lots of money on my post “The Secret Behind Silicones” in my All Things Hair tab.

So if you’re thinking about transitioning, currently transitioning or already natural, hopefully my story and these few tips are helpful to you in some way! While my initial reason for going natural was because of a climate change, I fell in love with my hair, embraced the meaning behind accepting yourself for who you are and in the process have shown my daughter the importance of loving your natural beauty; it doesn’t get any better than that! 

As always, comment, subscribe, and share!

~xoxo Ash

How to Survive the Interview?

I was interviewed for Ross University in May 2015 for the May 2016 cycle. First off, let me explain the timeline of how things occurred.

• I submitted my application and all supplemental material by second week of April 2015
• I received an email invitation for an interview by the first week of May 2015
• Interviewed for Ross University School of Medicine first week of June 2015
• Received my acceptance email end of June 2015

So why aren't I in school now you ask? Well I asked to defer my acceptance to August 2016 in order to finish my AmerCorps service and earn another $6,000 grant for school...So now that I got that timeline out the way and it will help give some of you an idea of how long things typically take, let’s talk about the interview. The interview was about 1 hour long and the questions which were asked were specific to me and my application and resume.

A few questions which were asked included:

• Can you tell me more about your research you did in undergrad?
• What did you learn working/shadowing in the hospital?
• How do you believe working/shadowing in a hospital helped you validate your decision to pursue a career as a physician?
• It seems like you worked a lot while attending undergrad, do you understand that may not be possible for medical school? How do you then plan to finance your education and cost of living?
• What type of family support do you have while you will be attending medical school?
• In your personal statement, you mentioned…can you explain more about that? (so remember what you wrote, don’t make anything up and be sure your response is genuine)
• I noticed on your transcript you did not do as well on … what do you believe went wrong? How do you think you could have changed your study habits in order to get a better grade? What would you do different next time?
• How did you prepare/study for the MCAT?
• Despite being a Caribbean school, why Ross?

Some questions I asked were:

• What type of administrative support does Ross offer during clinical rotations?
• What is the process of choosing/attaining clinical rotation spots?

Much of the interview was spent, her getting to know me on a more personal level and going through my transcript, personal statement and resume with a fine toothed comb. The interviewer seemed very interested and satisfied with my in-depth thought out answers and mentioned that she could tell I have contemplated on my past years and undergrad and truly have thought about how approach medical school. If you want to rock the interview, just be yourself, know what you wrote on your resume and personal statement and be able to explain any hiccups in your academics; explaining how you have grown, without making any excuses. And don’t forget to send your interviewer a thank you note/card!!

As always, comment, subscribe, and share!

~xoxo Ash 

        It goes beyond the high paying salary...

Twelve years of college, on-call hours and potentially very little work-life balance are all factors which can deter many people from pursuing a career in medicine but I knew since I was 10 years old that I wanted to be a doctor. At the time, many people probably just took this as a young kid reciting the most popular response when asked “what do you want to be when you get older?”, except my answer never changed and from the time I was 13 years old, everything I did in school was aimed at helping prepare me for this profession.

While I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, I have a love for many other things such as writing, teaching others, solving real life ethical problems and sometimes acting as a therapist or social worker to others lol. I have never found any job which gives me the opportunity to work with people on a holistic level and allows me to incorporate not only my academic skills but my interest as well. Where I look to write, I have the opportunity to engage in cutting edge medical research and publish scientific articles, where I look to engage in philosophy and ethics, I get to work through medical ethical dilemmas in this career, when I have that urge to teach, I am fortunate enough to teach my patients about the importance of having a primary care provider, the prevention of chronic disease and how to better care for themselves and their children, while simultaneously being a trusting person my patients will be able to confide in; and when I need that biological fix because as a science junkie, I am always amazed by the complexity of the human body, I will forever be surrounded by my love of biology and science.

While I always knew I wanted to be a doctor, I did not always know what type. After graduating high school, I was sure I wanted to be a pediatrician, until I began working in a daycare and realized I do not enjoy working with children of all ages. Then it changed to a Neonatologist, because I am fascinated with abnormalities and diseases, but then I realized I cannot deal with death so frequently as I would have had to. I am not able to be completely detached from my job emotionally and working in the neonatal intensive care unit would break me down emotionally.

It was through my Community HealthCorps AmeriCorps public service at the Syracuse Community Health Center where I found my niche. My service assignment was a Community Health Educator specializing as a Women’s Heath Ambassador. Here is where I developed a passion for advocating for the care of women, especially those in underserved populations. I realized that women are not only treated unequally in corporate America but in medicine as well. I have developed a fire in me which burns to ensure that ALL women, regardless of race or socioeconomic class receive the best quality care. Women are often times the backbones of families and while taking care of everyone else, forget to care for themselves. I cannot wait to take my experience as a Community Health Educator and apply it to my clinical care as I study to become an OB/GYN. I have recognized the importance of primary care; teaching individuals the importance of seeing a doctor on a regular basis, as opposed to using the ER as their doctor’s office. And the great thing is, not only do I get to work in primary care but I still get to indulge in my fair share of infections and diseases dealing with STIs, which are sexually transmitted infections, formally referred to as STDs (I know, you probably think I’m gross but hey, someone’s gotta do it). I know that the passion I have is God given and I cannot wait to change lives, one woman at a time.  

As always, comment, subscribe, and share!

~xoxo Ash