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