Doctors of the Caribbean

Useless Ramblings

2009-01-17T17:26:00.011-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Well, it's a Saturday night and I'm enjoying the quiet comfort of the cold computer room in the library. (Please sense sarcasm.) We had 32 hours of lecture this week and I fell a little behind so I'm trying to catch up on all of my lectures by the end of this weekend. Anyway, I thought I'd take a break to write about the little things going on in my life besides school work.

1) It's been raining A LOT lately. It rains all of the time. And when it stops, I can't get too excited because I know it'll just start up again in 20 minutes or so. Normally, this wouldn't bother me because I love when it rains. But, lately, the annoying rain is keeping me up at night by falling on my face. I live on the top floor of my apartment building. The only things separating me from the monsoon every night are the wood planks on the ceiling, some insulation (I think?), and a piece of tin. Have you ever lived under a tin roof and had it rain constantly? The rain is LOUD. Sometimes it's so loud that it keeps me up at night. But, most of the time, I just play a TV show or a movie on my laptop to drown out the noise as I fall asleep. The real problem lately is that there seems to be a vulnerable spot in the tin roof where cold rain water can seep through the tin, insulation, wood, and on to my face. My bed is RIGHT beneath this leak and I can't move it because I don't have any outlets on the other side of my room. It's just a little annoying problem that can be easily taken care of. It's really just a matter of me getting a hold of the landlord's daughter to let her know so she can take care of it. I just find the whole situation (tin roof, rain water falling on my head and my bed, etc.) humorous.

2) This week, the Subway on campus started serving personal pizzas and soups! I am sooo unbelievably happy about this. (Lame, I know, that I find such joy in these little things.) I love, love, love soup and I always complained (to myself) and wondered why the Subway here didn't serve soup like the Subways in the U.S. Well, now they serve soup and I'm really happy about it. :) I had the tomato garden vegetable with rotini soup today and it was REALLY good. And it's actually pretty healthy. They give you a pretty generous serving and it only has 100 calories, 0.5 g of fat, 3 g of protein, and 20 g of carbs. Though, it does have a lot of sodium with a whopping 900 mg. I also had half of one of the personal pizzas. The pizza comes pre-made with cheese and you just add whatever toppings you want. It was actually pretty good and light yet filling. Even though the pizza is small, it's deep dish. Anyway, I'm glad the Subway here added these items because I was getting a little sick of eating sandwiches every day. So, *YaY* for Ross for this small improvement! It kind of made my day. :)

3) This was included in our Daily Announcements e-mail on Friday:

Body Tracker
We have a bimonthly activity called BODY TRACKER where we do a weigh in (including BMI, metabolic age, etc...), blood pressure check, hip/waist measurements and caliper determinations of body fat. We do this for your OWN KNOWLEDGE and is a greatly popular activity. On MONDAY, JANUARY 19TH (this coming Monday), members of the Wellness Club will be set up outside the Annex at 12:00 as a special Intro to Body Tracker for the first semesters. We want to get as many of the new students excited about this as possible. Our first session for the general student body will be on the 29th and 30th of January (Thursday and Friday). There will be more details on that closer to the day.

Fitness Test/Purple Turtle
Then, as a launch of body tracker for the whole campus, we will have a special activity next SATURDAY (JANUARY 24TH). This will be our first year trying this out, and we hope that you will all come and participate. Starting at 11am we will be running a fitness test that we will repeat again at the end of the semester so that people can set goals for themselves to achieve over the semester. We will also have a van making trips back and forth to PURPLE TURTLE BEACH as a relaxing escape from the first 2 weeks of studying. The Fitness Test will stop at 2 (unless we have lots of people still showing up) and the transport will be going back and forth until about 5pm. The whole thing is FREE and should be great fun!

I've had my eye on this Body Tracker thing for a while now. I've always wanted to do it but never really found the courage to come face to face with my body measurements - especially if another stranger is also coming face to face with my body measurements. But, I think I may participate this semester. I would really like to employ some sort of physical activity regiment this semester. I mean, I've never even stepped foot in the gym in the whole year that I've been here. I'd like to change that this semester. However, my track record with gyms is not very good so while I will TRY to get to that gym on a regular basis, I can't make any promises. I'm hoping I can con Gabe into participating in this Body Tracker program with me. That way, he can kick my butt all the way to the gym and to these weigh-ins. Oy... what am I getting myself into? I guess you'll find out right along with me. :)

As for that fitness test, I think I may have to sleep on that one a little longer. I don't think I'm very fit at the moment and the e-mail was a little vague regarding what exactly goes on during this fitness test. I know that Purble Turtle Beach is a few minutes away from campus by way of car. If the fitness test involves me taking a taxi to Purble Beach, then I think I'll pass this test with flying colors. Now, if I have to RUN to Purple Turtle Beach, well, let's just say that one of those transports going back and forth will have to stop to pick up a dead Ross student off the side of the road. Once I get more details about this so called "fitness test," then I'll make a decision regarding my participation.

4) No one else except Gabe and I probably care about this but Gabe and I are anxiously awaiting to hear who will be the next offensive coordinator for the University of Miami. This topic pretty much dominates every conversation we have when we're not talking about school. We LOVE our alma mater and we especially LOVE our football team. We should be hearing the news any day now. I hope it's a good hire because a good 'Canes football team makes for a very happy Melissa. If there are any other 'Canes fans reading this blog, drop a comment! Represent! :)

PS: I still haven't recovered from the Gators winning the National Championship. Michael, my cousin and roommate whom I love dearly, is a UF alum and major Gator football fan. While I'm happy for him, I .. am .. not .. happy. The 'Canes and the Gators are rivals (in case you didn't know) and so the Gators winning the Championship has pretty much crushed my football heart. So, I would REALLY love to hear some good news regarding the future of my football team. It's all in Randy Shannon's hands (whatever that means) so I'll just have to wait and see. Just a few more days till I know if next year's team will sink or float. Please.. FLOAT!!!

Anyway, I know this post was just full of useless ramblings. But, this is what's going on in my life except being in this stupid library all of the time. I hope this post didn't bore you all to death. :) Good night!

Update + Books 101

2008-12-22T10:28:00.016-05:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the HUGE delay in posts. My winter break was pretty hectic. As soon as I got home to Miami, I had about five hours before I had to be back at the airport to fly to North Carolina for the week. Then I had about a week before I had to get on my five day cruise. So, my winter vacation was pretty non-stop. I also find it ironic that I spent 4 months away from home only to spend almost my entire break away from home. But, I'm not complaining. I am extremely blessed to have been able to take trips to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina and the beautiful waters of the Bahamas. The point is that I'm sorry I wasn't able to find the time to post to let you all know that......

I AM A THIRD SEMESTER STUDENT!!

It feels INCREDIBLE to know that I am officially done with my first year of Med School. I found such joy in registering for third semester and picking up my third semester notes. I love that I can answer "3rd" when asked what semester I'm in. I didn't think I'd feel this accomplished at this point in my career. I mean, I'm YEARS away from being close to accepting that M.D. diploma. But, for now, I am happy and proud of myself that I have completed my first year of medical school. There were speed bumps along the way but this is a marathon after all and not a sprint. So, I'm just gonna keep on runnin'. One year down, many to go. :)

Speaking of third semester, it's already kicking my butt just three days in. We've had hours after hours of lectures and there are no signs of them slowing. (I posted this week's 3rd semester schedule below in case anyone is curious about what our schedule looks like.) Before my schedule gets even more hectic, I decided to take the night off to finish unpacking and getting all of my notes in order. I also figured I'd write a post before another month went by without posting.

I figure I'd start writing about some of the topics people have been curious about. I'm going to tackle books first. When I first got to Ross, I didn't know which books I needed so I purchased all of them. I can also say that I've cracked each of them open maybe once or twice. What I write concerning books is my own personal opinion. So, keep that in mind. That being said, I think buying most books is a big waste of money. In my opinion, the packets provided by professors along with the notes you jot down during lecture are enough to do well on the Minis. I've actually noticed that I do worse on Minis when I employ too many resources. The point being that the packets provided are very condensed into a "this is what you need to know" version of large textbooks. The textbooks have a lot of extrenuous chapters or material in general that, while great to know in the long run, is not what the professor is going to test you on. In my opinion, reading the textbooks gives you a more comprehensive and detailed view of what you're studying - which is good. But, at the same time, it's more details stuffed into your head that the professor won't test you on. Bottom line, the packets are typed up by the professors and they don't test any concepts that are not located in the packets. Packets are money at Ross. I believe this to be especially true with Neuro, Histo, and Physio packets.

PHYSIOLOGY

In my opinion, don't get ANY phsyio books. The Physio packets are AWESOME. In my experience, if you know those packets inside and out, you'll get an A. I just read the packets 2 or 3 times before each Mini and I did really well. I don't really know anyone who used any Physio book to study for Physio. I do know that pretty much everyone, including myself, owns a copy of the BRS for Physio. Though, I'm not sure if anyone actually uses it to study for the Minis.

ANATOMY

The anatomy packets leave a lot to be desired. They tend to be very bare word-wise. They're just full of pictures. So, don't rely on anatomy packets. Learn anatomy in the lab. One book that I absolutely LOVE is Rohen's Color Atlas of Anatomy. It's a huge book filled with real pictures of impecably dissected cadavers. In my opinion, this was the best investment I made in any book. I like to study from the atlas to get a sense of what structures I'm looking for and where they're usually found. This way, I eliminate a lot of time in lab. But, this isn't everyone's recipe for success in anatomy. A LOT of people rave about baby Netter's. I don't really like it because I like to see real pictures versus drawings. But, lot's of people use it and they love it and they do just as well on the practicals. I can't tell you which book to get because it's simply a matter of preference. I think both books are excellent tools for anatomy. The Moore & Dalley book (which is the required book for the course) is also a very good book. Some professors teach straight from the book. You can also find many images from the book in the packets provided by the professors. The book also has a lot of clinical correlates (what Ross calls the "blue boxes") that professors like to write exam questions on. The book is also very easy to read. It is very well written and uses the right amount of medical jargon. On the other hand, the book is HUGE, expensive, and has a LOT of details. Unfortunately, I never really found the time to study from the book. The chapters are pretty long and extensive. I do think the book is EXCELLENT but I'd be surprised if you can find the time to sit and read it. I wish I could have found the time to read it. Click on this link and it'll take you to a preview of the book. Check it out if you're on the fence about whether you should buy it or not or if you're just curious about the book. Below is an example of the type of pictures you'll find in Rohen's book along with a picture of the atlas itself. Below is also a picture of baby Netter's.

DOCTOR, PATIENT, & SOCIETY (DPS)

You don't need ANY book for this class. The packets provided by the professors are what you need to study. Trust me, don't spend a dime on a book for this class. I don't even know if there's a book available for this class.

HISTOLOGY

Again, you don't need any books. I bought like 2 or 3 books for this class and NEVER used them. In my opinion, the exam questions come right out of the packets. Also, a disc full of histology slides are given to each student. That disc has all of the slides you need to study for the histology lab exam. On the histology lab exam, you'll see EM pictures or slides that are not found on the disc. Those images are found in the packets. So, when studying for the histo lab practical, you want to know every slide/image that is on the disc as well as in the notes.

BIOCHEMISTRY

In my opinion, studying the packets alone is NOT enough to do well on the Minis. However, keep in mind that Biochem is a subject that I am very weak in. Perhaps for someone who has a stronger background in Biochemistry, the packets are good enough. But, this was not the case for me and I did end up using several books for this class. I think the required text is a very good book. The book is written by Dr. Meisenberg. He is a Biochemistry professor here at Ross. In my opinion, he is also the best Biochemistry professor here. He REALLY knows his Biochem and I think he's a pretty good lecturer once you get past his accent. :) I also used Lippincott's Biochemistry. Both Lippincott's and Meisenberg's book are easy to read and they contain A LOT of images. These books do a great job of explaining Biochemistry through useful drawings. If you're only going to get one book, I recommend Meisenberg's book. I, along with many people I know, love this book and found it extremely helpful. I also occassionally used the BRS Biochem book as a review right before the Mini or the final. The BRS book has a pretty good review of metabolism (Glycolysis, TCA, Ox Phos) in my opinion.

Well, that's it for books. I bought a lot of books and flashcards when I first got to Ross and they turned out to be a big waste of money except for a book here and there. However, this is MY experience. I know people here at Ross that study mainly using books. I think they'd tell you that investing in a medical book is never a waste of money. I personally don't like studying from books. I get bored of just reading and reading and reading. I like watching the lectures and I like the condensed packets and I especially like learning from pictures. I'm a visual learner. You're just going to have to figure out what works for you. Maybe the packets will be enough for you and maybe they won't be. In my experience, everyone here has to find their own way of studying. Some people love group study. Some like to study on their own. Some like using the books. Some like studying from the packets. Some like to go to class. Some like to Mediasite the lectures on their own time. Some like to do a million practice questions. Get the picture? :) What works for me maybe won't work for you. So, just because I don't like a certain book or I feel that you don't need any books for a certain class, it doesn't mean that you should feel the same way. Try to preview as many of the suggested books as possible or try to get a few other students' opinions before you choose to buy all or none of the books. You may want to search on Ross' forum on ValueMD for other students' opinions and suggestions regarding books. If you want another students' opinion about which books to buy, click on this link. It'll take you to Kendra's (author of IslandMedStudent.com) post on first and second semester books.

Now that I'm in third semester and I have a whole new set of classes, I'm in that same position as first semesters in that I don't know what books (if any) I need. But, instead of buying every book that Ross has on that book list, I'm just going to sit back and if I find later on that there's a book I need or want, I'll buy it here on campus. Sure, I'll probably end up paying more for a book because the bookstore here WAY overcharges on books. But, I'd rather over pay for one book that I really need versus buying a ton of expensive books I'll probably never open. That's just me... :)

I really hope this post helps shed some light on which books to consider buying or leaving behind. If you have any more questions, just leave a comment and I'll try to get to it as soon as I can.

An anonymous person left a comment asking the following question:

First off, thanks for the comment/question! I love when people leave comments. It lets me know people actually read my ramblings. :) To answer your question, I felt/thought exactly the same way as you do at first. I used to panic at the thought of not knowing EVERYTHING. When I started first semester, I tried doing all of the required reading plus reading the packets plus mediasiting the lectures plus going to PBL plus going to Anatomy plus eating, showering, sleeping, and trying to get an hour to myself all in a day. However, I QUICKLY found out that there is NOT enough time to do it all. I WISH I could sit and read the hundreds of pages assigned. I think that if you can somehow manage to find the time to do that, then you are setting yourself up nicely to do really, really well on the Minis and the Step. Of course reading the books and knowing everything is going to make you a better student and ultimately, a better doctor. I just never found the time to learn everything. No one I know did (or does). At one point, you just realize that the name of the game at Ross is survival. Your number one goal quickly goes from trying to learn EVERYTHING in a book to trying to learn/memorize EVERYTHING in the packet. No, in the large scope of your medical career, the packets are NOT sufficient. Even the professors here tell you that. At the beginning of every semester, they throw in the disclaimer that packets are meant to be supplementary material. However, you realize quickly that professors test straight from the packets and that the key to doing really well at Ross is to know the packets inside and out. Don't get me wrong, you're still learning. Some of those packets are extremely detailed and lengthy. And professors only include the information that they feel is most important or most clinical. Moreover, it seems that Ross' number one goal is to prepare you for the Step I exam and all of the individual subject shelf exams leading up to the Step I exam. The Step doesn't necessarily test you on EVERYTHING. The Step has certain concepts that they constantly test on and professors know that. The packets contain the concepts that the Step exam expects you to know. Learning from books is going to teach you EVERYTHING (including what you need to know for the Step) but, trust me, there just isn't enough time. So, I think most students just memorize the packets so that they can pass their Minis and finish their basic sciences. At the end of your fourth semester (your last semester of basic sciences), Ross requires students to pass a comprehensive exam that covers material from semesters 1-4. From what I've read, most people (like 65-70%) fail this exam on the first try. I believe you have less than two weeks from the time you take your final exams in fourth semester to the time you take the Comp. If you've been living off packets the whole way through, chances are you won't pass the Comp on the first try. THIS IS MY TAKE ON WHY PEOPLE DON'T PASS THE COMP ON THE FIRST TRY. Once you fail the comp, you get like four months before you can take it again. I think most people pass the Comp on the 2nd try. I know that most people employ MANY resources during these four months to help them get ready for the Comp the second time around. Some use the First Aid book and some use other Step I preparation books. I don't think anyone uses the packets to study for the Comp. Also, you get three chances to the pass the Comp. Once you pass the Comprehensive Exam, you have 6 months (I think?) to take and pass the Step I exam. So, my final point is that I believe most people use packets to just pass the Minis and get through the four semesters. Then, people employ books and other Step I prep materials to pass the Comp and the Step I exam. Once you pass those exams and you start your clinical rotations, I think that is when you really start to learn about clinical medicine. It's very ambitious to want to learn EVERYTHING. Medicine is so complex and detailed that I don't think anyone ever really learns everything no matter how much time they're given. Many current practicing doctors don't know everything and they constantly have to keep learning as medicine evolves. With the limited time you have here at Ross to learn the immense amount of material they give you, packets are your best friend for the Minis. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is here. Are they enough in the long run? Of course not. But they get you through your basic sciences here at Ross. Are they sufficient for actually learning and applying medicine in a clinical setting? I don't think so. They just get you through semesters 1-4. I don't think anyone, both in US and Caribbean Med Schools, get to the clinical setting and can instantly apply everything they've learned and be rock stars. I believe we're all in the same position. We just try to absorb as much as we can in our first two years of basic sciences. No one knows everything when they start their clinical rotations. You just keep learning along the way. I hope this lengthy response answers your question about the packets. :)

As for how long the medical program is at Ross, well, that depends. If you don't fail and have to repeat a semester and you just bang out all four semesters in a row, you finish your basic sciences in 16 months. I believe basic sciences takes 24 months in US med schools. So, you've shed off 8 months there. After the four semesters of basic sciences, you have a fifth semester (in Miami, Michigan, or Dominica) that lasts approximately 12 weeks. Then you start your clinical rotations. Clinical rotations are supposed to last 78 weeks (48 weeks of core rotations and 30 weeks of electives). The whole medical program at Ross is supposed to be 150 weeks. There are 52 weeks in a year. You do the math. :) However, you have to add gaps of time between rotations when you're not doing anything but waiting for a rotation spot to open up somewhere. For example, for the most part, you don't end your Internal Medicine rotation on a Friday and start you Surgery rotation on Monday. Some students (although I believe this is extremely rare) are able to jump from rotation to rotation one right after the other with minimal time (maybe just a few days?) between rotations. But I'm under the impression that most students are left with gaps of time from when one rotation ends and the other begins. Or you could have a combination where you have two or three rotations in a row and then you may have a week or two or more between some of your other rotations. I believe these gaps of time between rotations are random and dictated by rotation spots opening up and depending upon where you are on a waiting list for that rotation spot. Ideally, if everything goes perfectly and you pass every semester and all of your rotations are done one right after the other, I believe you can finish your entire medical program at Ross in 3 years (maybe a teeny bit more). However, I think this is EXTREMELY rare and it is more realistic that you'll be finishing your program in 3.5 years and maybe even the full four years. This delay is due to time gaps between rotations and/or if you fail a semester or any of the major exams. But, in terms of actual weeks of school and rotations, the program is 150 weeks of fun. Hope this answers your question!

Sound Off

2008-12-20T21:48:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Prepare yourselves for a lot of complaining because here it comes. DON'T EVER FLY WITH LIAT!!! OR AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS! I'm serious. They are by far the worst airline I have ever had the displeasure of employing. I say this because, at this very moment, I am writing this post from a $200 per night hotel room in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Now, I've had my problems with Liat before. At the beginning of last semester, they lost my luggage somewhere in the Caribbean and I was finally able to retrieve it 3 days later. Their planes are uncomfortably small and extremely hot. I've been on about 6 Liat flights now. Four out of those six didn't have functioning air conditioning. There was another time that our plane took off and then 10 minutes into the flight, they had to turn the plane around because of a malfunction with the left wing of the plane! I'm totally serious when I say that Liat is a disaster. BUT, today took the cake. Up until now, Liat's shortcomings, while annoying, never stood in my way of getting home. Today, Liat had all kinds of problems with a worker's strike in Antigua. This delayed all sorts of flights. When I reached Melville Hall Airport (in Dominica), there were people there that had slept the night because their plane never came for them due to the strike. I finally got on my plane at around 3:30 pm. Then, we arrived in Antigua where our plane was delayed even further. Oh! And then there was the stupid security lady that was convinced my Peach body splash from Bath and Body Works was an explosive. She was intently reading the "ingredients" and looking to see how many fluid ounces the bottle carried. At one point, she tells me that I need to throw that and my Ralph Lauren Romance perfume away. Now, I MAY consider throwing the $15 peach body splash away but there was no way in hell I was going to throw away my $70.00 perfume. I fought and fought with her until she finally gave up and let me get on the plane with my "dangerous" perfumes. HA! Anyway, so we finally board the plane in Antigua only to sit on the runway for about an hour and 10 minutes. Apparently, air traffic control was only letting planes take off every 20 minutes. Well, there were five planes scheduled to take off before us. So, we waited - in the heat. Because, of course, there was no air conditioning. At this point, I'm getting extremely nervous because I had an 8:40 pm San Juan to Miami flight scheduled and it was already 6:00 pm. THEN, the flight attendant informs us that we have to stop in Tortola before we go to San Juan. WHAT? WHY?!?! When I booked my flight, it was supposed to go from Dominica to Antigua to San Juan. There was no mention of Tortola ANYWHERE. And what is even MORE frustrating is that they had us stop in Tortola, get off the plane, go through security with the metal detectors and everything, come back to the plane, identify our luggage, and then get back on the plane. We only stopped in Tortola for a security check! Anyway, at this point, my San Juan flight is looking grim. It is 7:45 pm and it is a 30 minute flight to San Juan. So, we finally touch down in San Juan at 8:15 pm and my flight was leaving in 25 minutes. Perhaps I could make it? Sure enough, by the time everyone on the plane takes their sweet time to get off and by the time we get through customs and by the time I picked up my luggage ... my flight was gone. What's even more awesome is that that was the last flight of the day headed to Miami. So, it's 8:50 pm and my flight doesn't leave San Juan until 4:00 pm the next day. What do I do? What do I do? Do I do the hobo thing and sleep in the uncomfortable airport chairs? Surely I can't sleep on the cold tile in the middle of the airport. So, I wander over to the Best Western located in the airport. They want $200.00 for the night. I almost keeled over right there. I mean, do you know what I can do with $200.00??? I can buy clothes or I can buy a frickin' video IPod. (My Ipod Nano doesn't play video and I really want one that does.) Whatever. I'm stuck in a foreign city, all by myself, noticeably upset and pissed off, so I hand over the $200.00 and make my way to my room. And, that's where I am now. I bought some smoked salmon and cream cheese sushi in the Bistro down below and now I'm using the hotel's "high speed internet" (yea, right) to vent to anyone who's willing to read this. I am soooo upset. I've been so mad today that I've actually caught myself being rude to the different airport employees. But, in my defense, they deserved it! I just want to go to sleep in my $200 a night bed and wake up tomorrow and go home. Then, I'll play the fun game of "who will pick me up from the airport?" Both of my parents are out of town. My mom is in North Carolina and my dad went to visit some family for the holidays. I'm all alone. Then, once I figure out a ride home tomorrow, guess where I'll be the following day? Right back at the airport! I have to fly up to North Carolina to catch up with the fam for a week of holiday fun. Surely, if ANYTHING goes wrong that day, it'll just kill me. I can't handle ONE more airport/airline fiasco. I just can't. I'll lose it. So, to try to keep some mental sanity, I've furiously typed out all of my frustrations. If you made it this far through my rant, you're a champ and a true fan. And since I always like to impart some wisdom with each post, take my word for it - DON'T FLY WITH LIAT!!!! EVER!

It's That Time Of Year

2008-12-12T17:46:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone!

I took my Anatomy shelf this morning at 8:00 AM. What a disaster! That shelf exam was MUCH more difficult than I thought it would be. BUT, I'll talk about this next time when I write about the Shelf exams.

So, I'm now studying for Mini 3. I, personally, HATE studying in silence. Silence drives me crazy - especially when I'm studying. When I was in college, I made a "study" playlist. I use the same playlist every time I study. I just kind of keep it in the background at a low volume. But, it's that special time of the year so I've swapped my "Study" playlist for a "Christmas" one. The effects of the swap have been incredible. The Christmas season is my favorite time of year and hearing the music has definitely put me in that Christmas spirit. The music floods my brain with thoughts of going home and finally getting a break from a very long year. Therefore, I'm motivated more than ever to keep studying and finish strong.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share my playlist with you all. Whether you'd like to listen to it while you're studying, working, or just hanging out, I hope the music will have the same effect on you that it's had on me. Just remember, this year is almost over and the new year will begin soon enough. Every new year brings the opportunity to start fresh and put the previous year behind you. So, listen to the music and get in that Christmas spirit!! After all, there's so much to be thankful for - even when you're stuck in another country ... living a non-life ... miles away from home.

Hold On A Little Longer

2008-12-10T16:05:00.004-05:00

Hi Everybody!

I know it's been a while since I've posted but ya'll are going to have to wait a little longer for an update. I'm in the middle of what some students call "hell week" for second semesters. In the past 5 days, I've taken 5 exams - three practicals and two shelf exams. I have three more shelf exams to go plus Mini 3 and then I'm done with semester 2!! Needless to say, I've been extremely busy and will continue to be for the next 9 days. But, I promise to update the blog as soon as I'm done with my exams. I have sooo much to talk about so I'm anticipating a very long post coming up. Here's what I'll be writing about:

- How we spent Thanksgiving

- Shelf exams - what are they? are they part of your grades? how do you study for them?

- Books - people have sent comments asking advice for which books to purchase

- Renting apartments - people have also asked about where they should rent

- Power outages - oy! This has been quite the problem lately.

- The Updated Packing List - now that I've been here for a year, there are many things on my

list I didn't need and there are many things I know I couldn't live without. So, I'll give you all

my opinion about what you should and shouldn't bring from my packing list.

If there's anything else you'd like to know about coming to Ross or living in Dominica in general, just drop a comment and I'll be sure to respond in a post. Some of you have asked for an updated link to that "Guide to Dominica/Ross" so I've re-posted it below. Like I've said before, I put together this guide BEFORE I came to Dominica. Therefore, there are some parts of the quide that are outdated. I never seem to get around to updating it (because it's quite long) but it should at least give you an idea of what to expect.

Well, wish me luck! I'll be free in 9 days and hopefully heading back home on December 20th as a THIRD semester student! As long as I don't BOMB my upcoming Mini, you will all be hearing about 3rd semester soon enough. :)

UPDATED LINK TO "GUIDE TO ROSS"

~ When you click on the link, scroll down to the bottom of the page. To download the file, go to where it says "Save File To Your PC: Click here." If the link doesn't work for whatever reason, let me know and I'll correct it.

Re: "Jonesy"

I'm not sure where you purchase barrels online. Since I live in Miami, I am able to buy the barrels directly from the shipping company's warehouse. I don't know where else you can purchase a barrel. I'm assuming you will be sending a barrel to Dominica via Amerijet or DHL? If so, try contacting them about the barrel. Perhaps you can purchase one over the phone and they can send it over. I'm sorry I couldn't give you a better answer. Good luck!

Head and Neck No More!

2008-10-17T23:53:00.006-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I had my head and neck practical Friday afternoon and I can say with confidence that I did very well. Even though I haven't received an official grade yet, after looking at the answers, I know I didn't get more than five questions wrong. So, worst case scenario, I got an 87.5% I have mixed emotions about this grade. I'm extremely happy with this grade because it's a good grade. I'm also relieved because I'm not satisfied with how I performed on Mini 1 anatomy. Mini 1 anatomy was only worth 10% and it covered the hardest material (head and neck) of the semester. Therefore, my strategy was to focus on the other classes that were worth more. So, I wasn't surprised that I didn't receive a stellar grade on Mini 1 anatomy. With this in mind, I was determined to kill this practical to make up for Mini 1. So, I watched prosector videos over and over again all last week. I spent lots of time on Wikipedia (a great medical school resource by the way!) memorizing muscles, nerves, arteries, muscle origins and insertions, etc. Also, Thursday night, I spent about six hours in the lab going over the material over and over again. So, while I'm super happy that I did well on this practical, I feel that I could have done better considering my preparation. Looking over the answers, I saw that if I had just looked a little closer or thought about the question a little more, I could have gotten those five questions right. A 100% was not out of reach. Still, I'm NOT complaining and I'm VERY satisfied with my grade.

PS: I really recommend watching the prosector videos from this website along with Dr. K's. I feel that by using both resources in conjunction, you get a much more complete picture of what you need to know from each dissection. Just my two cents...

In other news, Mike, Gabe and I went to Roseau last week. We hired Alexis' taxi service to drive us to Roseau and back. Our first stop was Astaphans. Gabe needed to buy an office chair and Mike and I needed to pick up a few things. Gabe found a chair but they were charging an astronomical ~$900EC which is about $337.00US - for a chair! Needless to say, Gabe just ordered one online and had his parents send it over via Amerijet.

The next stop was IGA. IGA, like Astaphans, is a grocery store. However, I much prefer to shop at IGA than Astaphans because they have more US brands and items. They also have frozen items that I haven't been able to find in other stores. For example, they have Hot Pockets, frozen lasagnas, Breyer's and Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Cool Whip, blueberry and strawberry Eggo waffles, frozen vegetables, frozen pies, MorningStar Farm's sausages, pizzas, and much more. We also found cream cheese, cheeses, and yogurts that hadn't expired! (This is actually a big deal.) And, you can buy cold cuts at the deli. We bought a pound of colby cheese and a pound of honey ham for ~$44.oo. This is slightly cheaper than what Tomatoes charges for a pound of ham and a pound of cheese. However, I think Tomatoes offers better quality ham and cheese. Still, IGA's ham and cheese was good and I wouldn't hesitate to buy more the next time I go. You can also buy cakes and cookies. We bought a few other things like Coke, bread, and cereal. The point is that IGA is the closest thing I've found to a grocery store resembling the ones you find in the US. IGA is smaller and offers less variety but, in my opinion, it's the best grocery option in Dominica.

The next stop after shopping at IGA was a coffee shop called Rituals Coffee House. Rituals is the closest thing Dominica has to a Starbucks. And, it's actually not bad at all! They have all kinds of cookies, donuts, and cheesecakes. They have hot and cold sandwiches and they make all sorts of smoothies/shakes. I ordered the cookies and cream cheesecake. Even though it looked like a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, it didn't quite taste like one. Still, I thought it was the best cheesecake I've found in Dominica so far.

Finally, we stopped at KFC before heading home. Every time we go to Roseau, we pick up some KFC without fail. The KFC here is just like the KFCs back home. They have popcorn chicken, chicken nuggets, biscuits, fries, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, parfaits, etc. The only things they never seem to have are potato wedges and macaroni and cheese. Regardless, the KFC here tastes just like the ones found in the States and they pretty much offer the same items.

Below you'll find the pictures I took that day. I wish I would have taken more but I've gotten a little shy with the camera lately. It just feels a little awkward taking pictures inside stores. People look at me funny. So, this was the best I could do.

Enjoy!

Just Another Day...

2008-10-13T00:42:00.005-04:00

Hello!

A few days ago, a reader left a comment asking for more narratives of our daily lives here in Dominica. So, here it goes!

Mike and I headed to the library today at around 12:00 pm. It's been raining cats and dogs here for what seems like weeks now and today was no different. I took a few pictures so you can see how wet and gloomy Dominica was today.

Every time we head to the main campus, Mike and I take the bridge over the Picard River (pictured below). We lovingly refer to this river as the "chocolate river." The river earned this pet name because every time it rains (which has been extremely frequent lately), the river gets turbulent and brown. Hence, chocolate river. What's even more awesome is that sometimes when we turn on our faucets or flush our toilets, brown water comes out.

I remember the first time I noticed this about the toilets. I had gone to the bathroom near the library and every stall I entered had toilet bowls filled with brown water. I remember making these faces of disgust and thinking that there were some dirty, dirty girls here at Ross that weren't flushing the toilets when they were done. Turns out, the blame is on Mother Nature and not on the girls at Ross. lol... oops.

Anyway, once we got to the library, we worked and worked until it was time to grab some Subway at around 5:00 pm. We picked up our subs and sat down to watch a few minutes of the the Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals game on T.V. Pictured below is the kitty that joined us for dinner. After we ate, we headed back to the library where we studied until 8:45 pm. Then, we took the 9:00 pm bus home and that's about it!

So, that was our day. Thrilling, isn't it? :)

Well, tomorrow is the start of a new and hectic week. My anatomy practical on the head and neck is this Friday so I have to put in loooooong hours at the lab this week. It's supposedly the hardest anatomy practical ever so I'm pretty stressed about it. However, I usually perform strongly on practicals if I put in the necessary time. So, we'll see how it goes.

Enjoy the pics below and I'll post again when I get some free time this week.

~ Melissa

PS: I've made it a point to take my camera with me everywhere I go. I'm trying to take a lot of pictures of anything and everything for the blog. So, on the way to Subway, I snapped a picture of a father and son playing on the swings. I also took a picture of some students playing volleyball and of the clouds hugging the mountains in the distance. That's all that happened in the distance between the library and Subway. I hope that by sharing these pictures, you can all feel a little more involved in our daily lives here. :)

Heaven's Best

2008-10-11T16:28:00.005-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Gabe's birthday was this past Saturday but we couldn't celebrate it because the Mini was fast approaching. So, last night, a large group of us went to Heaven's Best Restaurant to celebrate his belated birthday as well as our friend Oscar's birthday.

I can't rave enough about this place. The food was BY FAR the best food I've had since I've been in Dominica. I've been to a few restaurants (Tomatoes, Fort Young, Sunset Bay, Blue Bay, Portsmouth Beach Hotel) in Dominica since arriving in January and they've been very hit or miss. Since I don't like seafood, I always order a chicken dish. More often than not, I leave restaurants very disappointed after paying WAY too much for "eh" food. On the other hand, Gabe always orders "the catch of the day" at every restaurant and he always seems pretty satisfied with his choice. I suppose it makes sense that if there's one dish a Caribbean restaurant will get right, it's going to be seafood.

So, imagine my hesitation when I ordered the "Chicken Sensation" at Heaven's Best. Thankfully, I made a great choice because it was soooo good. Mike ordered the same thing. I suppose he enjoyed it as well because I've never seen him eat so fast. Gabe, as usual, ordered the "catch of the day" and had NO complaints. For drinks, Mike ordered a vanilla milkshake and Gabe had the sweet tea. Both were EXCELLENT. They also served baskets of bread that contained butter, white bread, and this delicious raisin bread. Since I'm a big soup person, I ordered the cream of asparagus soup as an appetizer. Just... wow. For desert, we all had the warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Now, normally I don't sit here and write about everything we order at restaurants but I am SOOO impressed with this place that I feel the need to proclaim it to the world. The service was excellent as well. I left feeling so happy because I finally felt that I got what I paid for. Also, this restaurant is locally owned and it felt good to give them our business because they deserved it. I couldn't have asked for a better dining experience.

Furthermore, since it was Gabe's and Oscar's birthday, the owner brought out the apple crisps with candles and performed a little "dance" for the birthday boys. No, not that kind of dance - well, sort of. Just watch the clip below. She also gave them both a small gift. How sweet is that? I have never gone to a restaurant for my birthday and received a gift. The embarrassing happy birthday song, yes, but never a gift.

Plus, the restaurant is near Portsmouth so it took us about 10 minutes to get there by taxi. It's nice to know we don't have to drive all the way to Roseau to get decent (and in this case, AWESOME) food anymore. I know we'll be back soon.

Below are some pictures and a link to their website in case you were wondering what kind of food they offer. If you're here at Ross or are coming to Ross, I HIGHLY recommend Heaven's Best.

Here's the link to their website. Just click on "dining" for their menu!

Med School Funny

2008-10-08T02:02:00.006-04:00

I found this on a website after typing in "medical school sucks" into Google. You're probably wondering why I googled that. Well, I had one of those I-wonder-what-comes-out-if-I-type-"this"-into-Google moments. Anyway, I think this list is pretty funny and from what I've experienced thus far, a lot of it is so so true. Ah... the life of a med student! Enjoy!

101 Things You Wish You Knew Before Starting Medical School

If I had known what it was going to be like, I would never have done it.
You’ll study more than you ever have in your life.
Only half of your class will be in the top 50%. You have a 50% chance of being in the top half of your class. Get used to it now.
You don’t need to know anatomy before school starts. Or pathology. Or physiology.
Third year rotations will suck the life out you.
Several people from your class will have sex with each other. You might be one of the lucky participants.
You may discover early on that medicine isn’t for you.
You don’t have to be AOA or have impeccable board scores to match somewhere - only if you’re matching into radiology.
Your social life may suffer some.
Pelvic exams are teh suck.
You won’t be a medical student on the surgery service. You’ll be the retractor bitch.
Residents will probably ask you to retrieve some type of nourishment for them.
Most of your time on rotations will be wasted. Thrown away. Down the drain.
You’ll work with at least one attending physician who you’ll want to beat the shit out of.
You’ll work with at least three residents who you’ll want to beat the shit out of.
You’ll ask a stranger about the quality of their stools.
You’ll ask post-op patients if they’ve farted within the last 24 hours.
At some point during your stay, a stranger’s bodily fluids will most likely come into contact with
your exposed skin.
Somebody in your class will flunk out of medical school.
You’ll work 14 days straight without a single day off. Probably multiple times.
A student in your class will have sex with an attending or resident.
After the first two years are over, your summer breaks will no longer exist. Enjoy them as much as you can.
You’ll be sleep deprived.
There will be times on certain rotations where you won’t be allowed to eat.
You will be pimped.
You’ll wake up one day and ask yourself is this really what you want out of life.
You’ll party a lot during the first two years, but then that pretty much ends at the beginning of
your junior year.
You’ll probably change your specialty of choice at least 4 times.
You’ll spend a good deal of your time playing social worker.
You’ll learn that medical insurance reimbursement is a huge problem, particularly for primary care physicians.
Nurses will treat you badly, simply because you are a medical student.
There will be times when you’ll be ignored by your attending or resident.
You will develop a thick skin. If you fail to do this, you’ll cry often.
Public humiliation is very commonplace in medical training.
Surgeons are assholes. Take my word for it now.
OB/GYN residents are treated like shit, and that shit runs downhill. Be ready to pick it up and sleep with it.
It’s always the medical student’s fault.
Gunner is a derogatory word. It’s almost as bad as racial slurs.
You’ll look forward to the weekend, not so you can relax and have a good time but so you can catch up on studying for the week.
Your house might go uncleaned for two weeks during an intensive exam block.
As a medical student on rotations, you don’t matter. In fact, you get in the way and impede productivity.
There’s a fair chance that you will be physically struck by a nurse, resident, or attending physician. This may include slapped on the hand or kicked on the shin in order to instruct you to “move” or “get out of the way.”
Any really bad procedures will be done by you. The residents don’t want to do them, and you’re the low man on the totem pole. This includes rectal examinations and digital disimpactions.
You’ll be competing against the best of the best, the cream of the crop. This isn’t college where half of your classmates are idiots. Everybody in medical school is smart.
Don’t think that you own the world because you just got accepted into medical school. That kind of attitude will humble you faster than anything else.
If you’re in it for the money, there are much better, more efficient ways to make a living. Medicine is not one of them.
Anatomy sucks. All of the bone names sound the same.
If there is anything at all that you’d rather do in life, do not go into medicine.
The competition doesn’t end after getting accepted to medical school. You’ll have to compete for class rank, awards, and residency. If you want to do a fellowship, you’ll have to compete for that too.
You’ll never look at weekends the same again.
VA hospitals suck. Most of them are old, but the medical records system is good.
Your fourth year in medical school will be like a vacation compared to the first three years. It’s a good thing too, because you’ll need one.
Somebody in your class will be known as the “highlighter whore.” Most often a female, she’ll carry around a backpack full of every highlighter color known to man. She’ll actually use them, too.
Rumors surrounding members of your class will spread faster than they did in high school.
You’ll meet a lot of cool people, many new friends, and maybe your husband or wife.
No matter how bad your medical school experience was at times, you’ll still be able to think about the good times. Kind of like how I am doing right now.
Your first class get-together will be the most memorable. Cherish those times.
Long after medical school is over, you’ll still keep in contact with the friends you made. I do nearly every day.
Gunners always sit in the front row. This rule never fails. However, not everyone who sits in the front row is a gunner.
There will be one person in your class who’s the coolest, most laid back person you’ve ever met. This guy will sit in the back row and throw paper airplanes during class, and then blow up with 260+ Step I’s after second year. True story.
At the beginning of first year, everyone will talk about how cool it’s going to be to help patients. At the end of third year, everybody will talk about how cool it’s going to be to make a lot of money.
Students who start medical school wanting to do primary care end up in dermatology. Those students who start medical school wanting to do dermatology end up in family medicine.
Telling local girls at the bar that you’re a medical student doesn’t mean shit. They’ve been hearing that for years. Be more unique.
The money isn’t really that good in medicine. Not if you look at it in terms of hours worked.
Don’t wear your white coat into the gas station, or any other business that has nothing to do with you wearing a white coat. You look like an ass, and people do make fun of you.
Don’t round on patients that aren’t yours. If you round on another student’s patients, that will spread around your class like fire after a 10 year drought. Your team will think you’re an idiot too.
If you are on a rotation with other students, don’t bring in journal articles to share with the team “on the fly” without letting the other students know. This makes you look like a gunner, and nobody likes a gunner. Do it once, and you might as well bring in a new topic daily. Rest assured that your fellow students will just to show you up.
If you piss off your intern, he or she can make your life hell.
If your intern pisses you off, you can make his or her life hell.
Don’t try to work during medical school. Live life and enjoy the first two years.Not participating in tons of ECs doesn’t hurt your chances for residency. Forget the weekend free clinic and play some Frisbee golf instead.
Don’t rent an apartment. If you can afford to, buy a small home instead. I saved $200 per month and had roughly $30,000 in equity by choosing to buy versus rent.
Your family members will ask you for medical advice, even after your first week of first year.
Many of your friends will go onto great jobs and fantastic lifestyles. You’ll be faced with 4 more years of debt and then at least 3 years of residency before you’ll see any real earning potential.
Pick a specialty based around what you like to do.
At least once during your 4 year stay, you’ll wonder if you should quit.
It’s amazing how fast time flies on your days off. It’s equally amazing at how slow the days are on a rotation you hate.
You’ll learn to be scared of asking for time off.
No matter what specialty you want to do, somebody on an unrelated rotation will hold it against you.
A great way to piss of attendings and residents are to tell them that you don’t plan to complete a residency.
Many of your rotations will require you to be the “vitals bitch.” On surgery, you’ll be the “retractor bitch.”
Sitting around in a group and talking about ethical issues involving patients is not fun.
If an attending or resident treats you badly, call them out on it. You can get away with far more than you think.
Going to class is generally a waste of time. Make your own schedule and enjoy the added free time.
Find new ways to study. The methods you used in college may or may not work. If something doesn’t work, adapt.
Hospitals smell bad.
Subjective evaluations are just that - subjective. They aren’t your end all, be all so don’t dwell on a poor evaluation. The person giving it was probably an asshole, anyway.
Some physicians will tell you it’s better than it really is. Take what you hear (both positive and negative) with a grain of salt.
90% of surgeons are assholes, and 63% of statistics are made up. The former falls in the lucky 37%.
The best time of your entire medical school career is between the times when you first get your acceptance letter and when you start school.
During the summer before medical school starts, do not attempt to study or read anything remotely related to medicine. Take this time to travel and do things for you.
The residents and faculty in OB/GYN will be some of the most malignant personalities you’ve ever come into contact with.
Vaginal deliveries are messy. So are c-sections. It’s just an all-around blood fest if you like that sort of thing.
Despite what the faculty tell you, you don’t need all of the fancy equipment that they suggest for you to buy. All you need is a stethoscope. The other equipment they say you “need” is standard in all clinic and hospital exam rooms. If it’s not standard, your training hospital and clinics suck.
If your school has a note taking service, it’s a good idea to pony up the cash for it. It saves time and gives you the option of not attending lecture.
Medicine is better than being a janitor, but there were times when I envied the people cleaning the hospital trash cans.
Avoid surgery like the plague.
See above and then apply it to OB/GYN as well.
The money is good in medicine, but it’s not all that great especially considering the amount of time that you’ll have to work.
One time an HIV+ patient ripped out his IV and then “slung” his blood at the staff in the room. Go, go infectious disease.
Read Med School Hell now, throughout medical school, and then after you’re done. Then come back and tell me how right I am.

Updates Galore

2008-10-07T15:37:00.012-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Well, it's been four long weeks since I've posted. And the reason I'm posting today is because Mini 1 is officially over and done with! I took my exam at 8:00 AM yesterday and Mike took his at 1:00 PM. Four weeks from now, we take Mini 2. Ugh...

So far, I'm pretty disappointed with how 2nd semester is going for me. For one, it all started on the wrong foot. As it turns out, you have to buy your plane tickets way in advance if you want to get decent rates as well as decent departure dates. About 2 months into last semester, I sat down to search for a return flight for second semester. Ideally, I wanted to fly back to Dominica the Friday or Saturday before classes started. However, I searched everywhere (American Airlines, Expedia, AA to San Juan and then Liat to Dominica) and the only return flights I could find were for the Wednesday AFTER classes started. This would mean that I would miss three days of school. So, I spent HOURS with American Airlines, Liat, Expedia - you name it - and the best I could do was a return flight for Monday, September 8 (the first day of class). What a disaster that was! That Monday I flew from Miami to San Juan and then to St. Maarten via American Airlines. Then I jumped on a Liat flight from St. Maarten to St. Kitts (we landed there but I didn't get off the plane) to Antigua and then finally Dominica. I practically toured the whole Caribbean. So, I missed the first day of class and then the next day I had to register, take my refund check to the bank, put electricity, and do groceries. So, I also missed the second day of class. Yes, here in Dominica, doing all of those things takes an entire day. The point is - I got to the island late and by the time I had settled in and gotten everything ready to start 2nd semester, the first week of classes was over. That meant I had to watch and cram four week's worth of material into three weeks before Mini 1. And trust me on this, what you cover in one week in 2nd semester is even more astronomical than in 1st semester. Needless to say, the weeks leading up to the Mini were very stressful.

So, how did Mini 1 go? I have NO idea. I KNOW I knocked Physio out of the park. I spent a lot of time on it because it was worth the most along with Biochem. Mini 1 Physio and Bio are each worth 25% of our entire grade. Neuro, Histo, and Anatomy are worth 16%, 15%, and 10% respectively. Naturally, I focused on the classes that were worth the most. So, I think Physio went well. As for the other subjects, I feel "eh" about my performance and my grades can go either way. I can't say with confidence that I did really well on those subjects but I wouldn't say I bombed them either. That's usually how it goes for me with my grades here at Ross. I take the test and I never really know what to expect with my grades. I'll find out in a few days...

What else is new?

1) Well, the trio is down to a duet. Our third roommate moved out so it's just Michael and myself in our apartment. Mike and I are splitting the cost of the third room which means we're paying an exorbitant amount of rent this semester. One positive is that we're spending A LOT less money on electricity this semester than we did last semester. I don't know if it's because we're using less electricity or if the electric company is charging less. Either way, less money spent on electricity is always welcome to offset what we pay in rent. Mike and I are also undecided about where we'll live next semester. We don't want to bring in another roommate so our options are to either move or stay and pay what we're paying now. Chances are we'll stay because we love our apartment and we don't want to go through the headache of moving. Mike and I have A LOT of stuff and we can't fathom moving it all to then move again when we're done with Dominica. The less moving, the better. We'll keep you posted.

2) Moving to Dominica meant sacrificing a lot of what we love back home. We left our families, friends, and pets and moved to a country that resembles nothing of home. In Dominica, there are no malls or movie theaters. There is no such thing as a Denny's or Chili's or any other chain restaurants. There is no such thing as Wal-Mart or Best Buy. There is no such thing as Starbucks or Barnes and Noble. There is no such thing as a Burger King or McDonald's. (Dominica boasts ONE fast food restaurant - KFC. And when I say "one," I literally mean that there is ONE KFC in Dominica. To be fair, they do have Subway.)

The point is that we've given up a lot of our creature comforts to live here in Dominica. However, one thing we are not willing to give up is our college football! Watching TV here is quite the event. We get about 40 channels. Of those 40 channels, I'd say about 10 have some sort of religious programming on 24/7, about 5 are Dominica-related and the rest are an amalgamation of the same channels we get in the United States. Coupled with the limited amount of channels is the fact that our Cable comes from who knows where? I've turned on the TV and watched local news from New York and commercials from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. What?? That makes no sense. We have figured out that our cable comes from Northeastern United States. For example, if we turn on channel ABC on Sunday, Gabe and I get the NY Giants game instead of the Miami Dolphins game we want. Same thing happens with ESPN. If we turn on ESPN to watch the University of Miami game, instead we'll get a Notre Dame or Michigan University game. And then there are times that we turn the TV on to watch football and instead we get soccer or cricket matches or golf or whatever. So, you can see why three college-football-loving med students put their brains together to figure out how they were going to watch their games. Well, we found the solution: The Slingbox. Basically, you connect the Slingbox to your cable box and internet at home. Then, you download the Slingbox software and that allows you to watch your TV from home on your laptop anywhere in the world. Of course, there are cables and some configurations to be done but the setup is not very complicated. Also, it's cheap - sort of. The Slingbox is about US$180.00 but that's all you'll ever have to pay for the service. There are no monthly fees for using Slingbox. Mike bought a Slingbox over the break and it's currently connected to his mom's cable at home. I bought Gabe a Slingbox for his birthday and he has it connected at his parent's house. So, when Saturday roles around, we watch our UM Hurricanes game on Gabe's laptop and Mike watches his Florida Gators game on his laptop. To the right, you can see what the Slingbox and the software look like.
The remote control that you see actually works like a real remote control. You can click on it and change the channels so that you can watch whatever you'd like. The only drawback I believe Slingbox has is that you're basically sharing a TV between your house and your laptop. For example, if someone at Mike's house changes the channel on the TV that the Slingbox is connected to, then whatever Mike is watching on his laptop will change to the channel that person put. Then, if Mike changes the channel back to what he was watching, the person at Mike's house will now see the channel Mike wants to watch. I know it's a little confusing. Below are two videos from YouTube that explain what Slingbox is and how it works. Hopefully that'll give you a better idea of what I'm talking about. Bottom line - the Slingbox really does work and I highly recommend it! Without it, we'd be three very sad med students...

3) I want to apologize for the lack of updates. When I first started this blog, I was writing all of the time. Everything was so new and there was so much to do and see. So, naturally, there was A LOT to write about. But, like everything else, the novelty of being here has worn off. We've settled into our routine - wake up, study, eat, study, eat, study, shower, go to sleep - and we've rarely strayed from it. For the most part, I alternate between studying at home and at the library. Outside of Gabe and Mike, the only time I communicate with other humans is when I'm in PBL or lab dissection. I don't even walk to Tina's or RUH to put electricity any more. I just call them and give them my credit card information. Sad, I know. So, all of this basically translates to "I don't have anything to write about!" Which brings me to my next point. I enjoy writing on this blog and I really, really want to keep it updated more often. I hate that I let weeks go by without writing anything. Yes, I'm busy but it doesn't take more than 20 minutes to write a post or upload a few pictures. So, I thought I would come up with an idea or two that would motivate me to write more often. Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? I've been thinking about making a weekly post with nothing but pictures. For example, every Tuesday, I'll upload a few pictures as part of a series. I could do a post on, say, "The Animals of Dominica" and I'll upload pictures of different animals that have crossed my path. I could also do "The Fruits of Dominica" or "The Flowers of Dominica" or "The Beaches of Dominica" or "The Food Stores of Dominica." I know this sounds so silly but I think it'll keep me motivated to update the blog regularly. Also, you'll be able to get a better view of Dominica and our lives here. So, what do you think? Any suggestions?? Is there anything you guys want to see or want me to write about? Well, I'm going to give this weekly "of Dominica" idea a shot and we'll see how it goes. I really, really want to write more often. So, leave a comment or give me an idea of something to write about. And if I start slacking on the updating again, don't be afraid to leave a berating comment!

Well, that's all the updating I can do for now. We're going to Roseau tomorrow to do some grocery shopping at IGA and Astaphans. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures so that I can write a post about it. Also, check back every Tuesday for my "of Dominica" posts. And seriously, please tell me what you want to see or you're going to get a lot of photo series like "The Cars of Dominica" or "The Construction Workers of Dominica." (There's a ton of construction going on right across the street from where we live.)

~Melissa

Curtain Call For First Semester

2008-09-01T09:57:00.007-04:00

OK, so I'm officially done with my first semester of medical school! While I know I'll have to revisit first semester materials over and over again for future exams, I am so unbelievably happy to finally be able to put first semester behind me. I just can't believe I am now a second semester student.

The past four months were certainly difficult for me. For one, Biochem (the class I failed) didn't get any easier the second time around. Even with one less class (I chose not to repeat Histo), my repeat semester was just as challenging as my original first semester. Just because I was repeating, it didn't mean I could put in any less effort than the first time around. In fact, in some ways, my repeat semester was even worse. The thought of failing again was constantly on my mind. I figured that there was no way I could try harder than I did in my original first semester but I still failed. Plus, a second "fail" earns you a one-way ticket out of Ross for good. Talk about added pressure! So, before every exam, I had the worst panic attacks. The shaking, the heart palpitations, the sweating, the nausea... the whole deal. But once that test began and I got to work, it all subsided and my head was clear. Also, while I had accepted that I had to repeat, I never really got over it. I was constantly reminded that I was "left behind" as I watched my boyfriend, cousin, and friends move through their second semester. Even now, I struggle with the thought of being left alone on this island when I'm in 4th and everyone I know has moved on to 5th in Miami. But, that's 8 months away and I'll deal with it when it gets here I suppose. So, in my opinion, repeating a semester comes with its own problems.

Does the material get easier? I suppose it depends on the person. For me, I flew through Anatomy, DPS, and Physio with no problems whatsoever much like my original first semester. In the end, I got an "A" in Physio and DPS and I ended up with a 79 in Anatomy (a "B"). That grade really upsets me because I had an "A" the whole way through till the final and I let it slip away. Much like last semester, by the time the final came, I had already passed every class except for Biochem. So, the goal was to PASS BIOCHEM. In the four days leading up to the final exam, I studied NOTHING but Bio. Thankfully, my "A's" in DPS and Physio were strong enough that they could absorb a hit on the final and still remain "A's." As for Biochem, for me personally, the material did not get easier. I still struggled with it much like I did in my original first semester. I definitely had to give Biochem more attention the second time around. Thankfully, not retaking Histo freed up time for Biochem. So, in the end, I received a "B" in Biochem. *YaY*

GPA-wise, I ended-up with a 3.45 for my repeat semester. Personally, I'm happy with that GPA and I hope I can continue to do better and better. After all, that "F" for Biochem in my original first semester stays on my transcript and is included in my cumulative GPA. So, that "F" will always be like an anchor weighing down my GPA. Hopefully, my GPA will improve with each coming semester so that my cumulative GPA also goes up. In the end, I can only hope that I can bury that "F" with a high cumulative GPA. I've got lots of hard work ahead of me!

As you can see, the consequences of repeating stay with you looooong after your repeat semester. Still, you CAN do well in your repeat semester and you CAN finally move on. My motivation is a 4th semester student I met last semester. She repeated her first semester for Physio. After her repeat semester, she sailed through 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semester with A's and B's and never had to repeat again. I hope I can follow in her footsteps. Repeating first semester is just a bump in the road on the long journey to that elusive "M.D." So, for those that are repeating now and are reading this, please know that you can get past it! Just figure out what went wrong the first time around and don't do it again! Work hard and keep your eye on the prize! [Insert every other cliche in the book.] Before you know it, the semester will be over and you will be able to finally move on. Trust me on this. I've lived it.

So, here's to second semester (raising my hypothetical cup) and no more writing about first semester! lol... see you all on the other side for my 1st second semester post!

~ Melissa

PS: I can't thank everyone enough for all the kind words, encouragement, and prayers sent my way. I appreciate it so much!

Double PS: I made a little table that has the minimum passing scores for each Mini exam. I've also listed the cumulative MPS (the minimum score for passing each class) for both the January and May first semesters. The "?" where the final exam MPS score should be indicates that we weren't given MPS scores for the final exam. Hope this gives you idea what kind of scores are needed to pass each exam and the course in general.

It's Official!

2008-08-27T01:10:00.006-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for lack of updates - I know it's been a REALLY long time since I last posted. The last few weeks of first semester can get pretty hectic with practical exams, Mini 3, and the final exam. I've been meaning to update the blog since I flew home for semester break a week ago. However, I wanted to wait till I received my final grades. That being said...

I FINALLY PASSED FIRST SEMESTER!

I will be writing a post either today or tomorrow to summarize my thoughts on first semester. I just wanted to quickly let everyone know that I will finally be a second semester student this fall. Check back in a day or two for an update!

The Last Lecture

2008-07-25T11:38:00.002-04:00

Today is a sad yet beautiful day. Sad because the world has lost a great man. Beautiful because his dying words have touched millions including myself. If you've never heard of Randy Pausch or seen his "Last Lecture," I hope you click on the YouTube video below because it may just change your life.

I came across Randy's "Last Lecture" a few months ago after failing my first semester in Med School. His lecture was posted on YouTube as "Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Needless to say, at a time when I felt my childhood dreams fading, his inspirational lecture changed everything. I don't want to talk too much about the lecture because I'd rather let him do the talking. Trust me, watching him speak is MUCH better than reading about it.

So, today I am incredibly saddened by his passing because I feel the world is a lesser place without someone like him. I also think there is no better tribute to him than to help share his legacy with the world. So, please watch the video the whole way through, down to the last second. It's long (1:16:27) but it is so worth it.

Da Da Da

2008-07-25T00:20:00.003-04:00

This week, Mike is learning about the auditory and vestibular systems in Neuroscience. Because we're nerds (and probably you are too if you are reading this!), then maybe you'll find this as interesting as we do. Below is a video demonstrating the McGurk Effect. What do you think? (This me tricking you into leaving a comment!)

Dodge These Balls

2008-07-17T21:30:00.007-04:00

Hey Guys!

This past Wednesday afternoon, Mike and I went to the Dodgeball tournament sponsored by Salybia. It started at about 4:30 PM and lasted for about two hours. Mike and I had really been looking forward to this dodgeball tournament since we first heard about it two weeks ago. This isn't because we're dodgeball aficionados or anything. We were dying to go to this tournament because we heard that a few professors were going to play against each other during halftime. Mike and I were not going to miss seeing our professors get beamed by hard-hitting dodgeballs. Well, the professors didn't play at halftime like we thought they would. In fact, the professors didn't play until 20 minutes before the end of the tournament. So, Mike and I watched the whole tournament. I was personally rooting for the "305" team which was the Miami (our hometown) team. Unfortunately, they didn't win. Still, the tournament was a lot of fun to watch. It was definitely a good distraction for much needed laughs - especially after the Mini. However, the real laughs came when the professors played. You can see them play in the second half of the video below.

Since I take my camera with me everywhere I go, I took some video of the tournament. I made a little video with some music and uploaded it on Blip TV and YouTube so you all can see what I'm talking about. The quality and loading time is better if you choose the first video (Blip TV) than if you choose the YouTube version. YouTube compressed the video and made it a little fuzzy. Still, I uploaded the video to YouTube just in case the video didn't work on Blip TV. Hope you enjoy the vid!

Longest Post EVER

2008-06-27T22:57:00.008-04:00

Hello everyone!

First off, I want to thank everyone that took the time to leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. Your words of encouragement really meant a lot. Secondly, this is the last entry in my series about failing at Ross. So, I warn you - it'll be long. I really don't want to drag out this "failing" topic any further. I would much rather get to writing about more interesting things such as ... ?? Actually, there isn't anything interesting really to write about. I'll think of something. Anyway, here it goes!

The last time I left you all, I had written a recap of my first, first semester. But what happened after the final? Well, as it turns out, A LOT. After I came out of the final exam, I didn't feel it had gone too horribly wrong. I did feel that the Biochemistry section was murder but the rest of the exam was O.K. Honestly, I couldn't care less how I did in the other subjects. I knew I would pass the other four classes just fine. I was just hoping I scored well enough to pass Bio. After the final exam, Michael and I had five days of riveting fun (NOT! The island is SO boring when everyone is gone!) until our flight home. Of course, with nothing to do, I constantly refreshed my e-mail hoping to see an e-mail from the Exam Center. However, five days passed and no grades were posted.

My grades were finally sent to my e-mail on April 30. (Our final exam had taken place on April 22, FYI.) As soon as I saw that e-mail, my hands started sweating and my heart began to race. I downloaded the document and opened it up in Microsoft Word. When the document opened, I immediately searched the page for the Biochem section. When I saw my grade, I couldn't believe my eyes. Under Biochemistry, it said "Letter Grade: C." YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT! According to my grades from Ross' Exam Center, I passed Biochemistry! I don't think you could have found a happier person in the world at that very moment. After a quick glimpse at my other grades, I ran downstairs and woke up my mom to tell her I had passed first semester.

I went back upstairs and stared at the Word document with my grades. I just really couldn't believe I had passed Bio! Typed in a box at the bottom of the document were our semester's MPS scores for each subject. The Biochemistry MPS was a 57. I found it strange that even though my reported cummulative score was below MPS, my letter grade said I had passed. Normally, if your cummulative score is below MPS, that means you failed the course. But, in this case, an F would appear as your letter grade. My cumulative score was below MPS but my letter grade was a "C." Perhaps there was some sort of curve?? It crossed my mind that somehow Ross made a mistake but I just couldn't (or perhaps didn't want to) believe it. So many questions flooded my brain. If Ross did send me the wrong grades, how could a professional medical school possibly make such a horrific mistake? How could I receive a grade that said I passed when in actuality I failed? Even though I thought this possible, I dismissed the idea because it seemed too implausible. Also, my other four grades were correct. My cummulative scores matched the letter grades assigned. So, why would my Biochem grade be the only one that was incorrect? This, coupled with the fact that I NEVER received an e-mail or notification stating otherwise, made me believe that when I got back to Dominica, I would be a second semester student with my cousin, boyfriend, and the rest of my class.

The next day, I went on ValueMD to see if other people were in my same situation. It turns out, there were. And there were people in the opposite situation. Someone wrote that the Exam Center had sent them an "F" in a class they really got a "B" in. Quickly, things weren't looking too good for me. It looked like Ross really was that unprofessional and irresponsible to send out the wrong grades to its students. I never thought a medical school could make such a mistake. Some students were told they passed classes they failed and others were told they failed classes they had passed. Still, there were no e-mails issued stating something like "Please disregard your grades. You may have received an erroneous grade." No e-mails were sent stating something like "I'm sorry to inform you that you failed a course." After Ross sent the e-mail with my grades, I didn't receive a single e-mail from them regarding grades or passing/failing a course.

So, I flew back to Dominica unsure if I had passed or failed first semester. But I quickly found out the next day at Registration. When I tried to register for second semester, the Dominican lady quickly squashed my attempts when she looked me up in her computer and informed me that I needed to see Dr. L. That's when I pretty much knew. If you have to see Dr. L, it's NOT a good sign seeing as to how she's the head of the Promotions Committee. (The Promotions Committee basically decides who passes and fails.) Unfortunately for me, it was 5 PM on a Friday so I had to wait till Monday to figure out my registration situation.

That Monday, I made the line to speak to Dr. L. Turns out, LOTS of people needed to see her. When it was finally my turn to see her, I walked into her office and sat down. She asked me for my name and then she asked me which classes I would be repeating. O.K., so now I DEFINITELY knew I had failed Bio in first semester. She informed me that I had to repeat a minimum of 3 out of 5 subjects.

Side Note: DPS is not worth as much as the other classes; it's only worth 2 credits while the other classes are worth 3. So, if you fail a class at Ross, you must retake that class plus two other classes. DPS cannot be one of those classes. You can retake DPS as a fourth class. For example, if you fail Anatomy, you can take Anatomy, Histo, and Physio. If you also want to retake DPS, you have to retake it as a fourth class. So, you would take, Anatomy, Histo, Physio, and DPS. DPS is not worth enough to be one of three classes you repeat. If you want to retake DPS, you have to choose your three classes PLUS DPS.

Double Side Note: When you repeat a semester, the repeat grade DOES NOT take the place of the original grade. For example, if you got a "C" in Histo and you retake it and get an "A", your "A" doesn't take the place of your "C." In reality, they average. Basically, your GPA for your two semesters (the original and the repeat) average to give you one GPA for that semester. Another way to think about it is that at the end of your basic sciences, you'll have a cumulative GPA based on 5 semesters instead of 4.

So, I decided to retake Bio, Anatomy, Physio, and DPS. The only class I'm not retaking is Histo. Even though I love Histo and I did very well in it last semester, I find Histo to be too time consuming. In my opinion, the most time consuming classes are Histo and Biochem. This semester, I really wanted to make Biochem my focus so I choose not to take Histo again. Once I told Dr. LaVille which classes I would be repeating, she gave me the famous letter you need for registration. I walked over to the Administration building, finally registered, picked up my refund check, and went home to prepare for another first semester. Good thing I kept all my notes organized and readily available!

After registration, I received an e-mail from Academic Success stating that a mandatory meeting for all repeaters would take place. I was instructed to reply with what course I failed and which classes I would be retaking. I assume the purpose of this was so they could group people that had failed the same subject and are repeating the same classes. In case you didn't know, when you fail and consequently repeat a semester, you're required to go to weekly Cognitive Skills sessions with your group. It's just one of the perks of being a repeater. Anyway...

So, we had this famous meeting during the first week of school. What an interesting afternoon that was! Before the meeting, I was really curious to see who else had failed. I mean, when you're going through all the emotions and problems of failing when all your friends passed, you start to feel very isolated. So, I was kind of hoping I would recognize a fellow buddy in the room so I wouldn't have to go through "repeating" alone. Well, walking in to that conference room, I was amazed by all the faces I recognized. Looking around, I was shocked to see that certain people had failed. It just didn't seem like they were struggling. And to be honest, I wasn't too surprised to see some of the others.

Side Note: Word of advice, don't listen to anyone here. One of the things I've noticed at Ross is that there are some major liars here! Apparently, everyone does "really good" on the exams. Then, weeks before the final, some of these people that were doing "really good" are all of a sudden confessing their fears of failing one or more classes. Case in point: After studying in the lab for the practical, my boyfriend and I ran into a mutual friend. As we walked away, my boyfriend told me, "that guy's a monster. Did you know he's got a 4.0?" I was all jealous (not in an evil way!) and curious as to what it was he was doing (and I needed to be doing) in order to do so well. Fast forward six weeks and that same "4.0" guy was sitting in that meeting for repeaters with me. The point is that it used to get me a little down that everyone around me was supposedly doing stellar while I was struggling. The truth is that a lot of people are struggling here and I think they're too scared or embarrassed to admit it. So, if you find yourself struggling, don't feel too bad because I assure you, you're not the only one - even if no one else is saying it. Back to the story...

Once the meeting began, it was like something out of an Oprah show. The academic success people stood in front of the room with a microphone and conducted what seemed like a therapy session. They asked lots of questions like:

"How does it feel to come back as a repeater?"
"How did you feel when you find out you failed?"
"Do your friends and family know that you failed?"

You know, questions like that. So, they asked these questions and passed the mic around the room to whoever wanted to answer. And so we all sat around and talked about our feelings. However, the meeting took quite a drastic turn when they asked something like, "how did you feel when you saw your grades?" Someone raised their hand and answered into the mic, "well, it didn't feel good seeing my grade change from a 'C' to an 'F'." You wouldn't believe the shock on the faces of the academic success people. They were completely perplexed as to what this student was referring to. "What do you mean?," they asked. Well, to keep it short, we told them about how Ross sent us the wrong grades and how no one notified us that we had failed and how some of us didn't find out we failed until registration. So, for what seemed like forever, people spoke into the mic expressing their anger at Ross for handling (or rather not handling) the situation the way they did. At one point, one of the academic success people told us to "stop bitching because it wasn't going to get us anywhere." While I think that was a little inappropriate, they were right. Complaining wasn't going to get us anywhere because the fact that we failed was not going to change. It was visible that the students in the room were sad and angry and everything in between. For some in that room, they had just find out days before that they had failed. It was obvious some people weren't dealing with repeating very well. I guess that is why the meeting started out like a therapy session. From past experiences, they probably knew the students would be feeling the way they did. Though, there were some people that were surprisingly optimistic and grateful to be getting a second chance. Still, these people were in the minority from what I saw.

So, yada yada, they apologized for Ross sending out the wrong grades and everything else. We were also asked to write down on a blank sheet of paper about our experience with the wrong grades and lack of notification and so on. I guess they needed evidence? After, we broke into our groups so that we could meet our facilitator (as well as each other) and to set up our weekly meetings.

That's pretty much what went down in the meeting. One person did want to know how many people from our class had failed. The academic success person told us to look around and double the number. They said that about half the people chose to repeat. Well, there were about 50-60 people in that room. So, I'm guessing somewhere around 100-120 people total failed. I have never found out exactly how many people failed. All I know is that there are 50 repeaters. I know this because I counted all the e-mails in the "To" section in one of the e-mails academic success sent us.
PS: Do you think I use my time properly? And I wonder how I failed last semester.

Side note: I saw the list with the names of the repeaters and which class or classes they had failed. I'd say about 80% failed Biochem. A handful failed Histology, Physiology or Anatomy. I don't think anyone failed DPS from what I saw. And for the most part, people failed only one class. But, there are a few that failed Biochem and another class. For future first semesters, if you didn't already know, Biochem is the monster that trips people up. Look out for it...

Double side note: After every Mini, the Exam Center sends you a Word document with your scores. As it turns out, sometimes they get those grades wrong as well. There is one repeater (I shall call them "Shrek") this semester that failed because of an error in their Mini 1 Biochem grade. The Word document the Exam Center sent Shrek had a rather high Biochem score for Mini 1. Then, Shrek did well enough on Mini 2 Bio and Mini 3 Bio that when it came time to study for the final, he chose to spend more time on the other subjects. He neglected Biochem for the final because he felt he was in no danger of failing Bio based on the grades the Exam Center sent him. When Shrek came to register for 2nd semester, he was told he had failed first semester. Turns out, the score the Exam Center sent for Mini 1 Bio was in actuality MUCH higher than Shrek's real score. So, when Shrek's cumulative score for Bio was calculated, it was below MPS. So, my advice is this: When the Exam Center sends you your individual responses (sort of like an electronic version of your scantron), grade it against the answer key posted on Ross' Student Resources Page. This way, if you see a large discrepancy between the grade you calculated (make sure you grade it correctly!) and the grade the Exam Center sent you, then you know an error was made. You can also go to the Exam Center and see your scantron yourself. Bottom line: don't take the grade the Exam Center sends you to be set in stone because it could be an error. You need to know where you stand in every class so that you know how to distribute your study time and energy for the next exam. It's a numbers game. You may need to neglect one or more classes you're doing well in so that you can dedicate more time to the class/classes you're struggling in. If you don't have the right grades when you do these calculations, then what happened to Shrek could happen to you. So, make sure you have the right grades. Don't take the Exam Center's word for it.

Anyway, so the semester began. As a repeater, our semester is a little different. Even if you're repeating, you still have to go to PBL. "Ugh" is all I have to say about that. And because we're repeating, we have our mandatory cognitive skill sessions every week. We also don't have to redo the blood pressure lab (that's a one time deal unlike weekly anatomy lab) because we did it the previous semester.

And then there's lab. Like a total loser, I actually went to the first lab of the semester. Man, that sucked. It was the worst case of "been there, done that" I have ever experienced. The first semesters were in awe of the cadaver much like I was my first time. They were all giddy and "this is so gross yet so cool!" I was all anti-social, depressed, and "yea, it wears off." I was all dark and twisty inside. At that point, I wasn't in the place I am now where I had accepted my fate. But, I soon cheered up after lab when I ran into a fellow repeater. She was confused as to why I was in my scrubs. I was confused as to why she was confused. That's when she informed me that I could opt out of lab. Since I was repeating, I didn't have to redo the lab portion of Anatomy. If I had known this, I definitely wouldn't have gone to that first lab. She also informed me that I had two options regarding the practical exams. I could either retake them this semester or keep my practical grades from last semester. I did not know this key bit of information. Are you shocked that Ross failed to inform me of any of this? Yea, me neither. So, the next week before lab, I marched into the head Anatomy guy's office and told him I wanted to opt out of lab. However, I did tell him that I wanted to take the practicals this semester. I chose not to keep my old grades because I knew I could do better. And I did! This semester, I got a 97.5% on my first practical. I missed ONE question. I know that sounds all show-offy but considering what I've been through, I am so happy and proud of myself that I did that well.

As far as exams go, we take the exact same exams as the non-repeaters. We just skip the questions from the classes we're not taking. Because of that, we get less time on the test. During the exam, all the repeaters sit in the same row and there's like a designated time keeper that walks around with a post-it telling us individually how much time we have left. For example, someone repeating four classes gets more time than another person who's repeating three classes. So, we all have our individual time.

I know that some of what I've written makes Ross look really bad. Truth is, I think Ross is a total mess. Sometimes it seems like they can't get anything right. Still, Ross isn't perfect but they do give you the opportunity to fulfill your dream. That being said, because they seem to get things wrong A LOT, just keep a look out for yourself. I choose to write about my experiences with Ross because I hope that other students learn from my experiences. I believe that if you're going to pay a school ~$13,000 per semester, you deserve the truth as to how they handle your education. So, it is never my intention to make Ross look bad. After all, no matter how imperfect this school is, it is still MY school. And I honestly can't say another Caribbean medical school is any better because I simply don't know. My only experience is with Ross. I just hope Ross realizes that they need to make changes to better serve their students. And if Ross can't make those changes, I hope the students learn to look out for themselves so that they can do what is best for their medical career. My best advice is to not put your future in Ross' hands as strange as that sounds. Instead, take a proactive role in getting what you want and need out of your time here at Ross. I know that's kind of ambiguous but once you get here (or if you're already here), you'll know what I mean.

So, now you know EVERYTHING. *YaY* I know this post was excruciatingly long. I've actually been writing it for weeks now. Every couple of days I write a paragraph or so. I promise I won't write this much in a single post again. We just took our Mini 2 exam yesterday. When I find out how I did, I'll write a much shorter post on how I've been doing this semester. Spoiler: I'm doing much better than I was last semester!

- Melissa

UPDATE: Call it coincidence but the day after I posted this entry, Ross sent its students an e-mail regarding last semester's final grades. According to them, it was a virus that affected the e-mail attachments with the grades. The virus somehow rearranged the letter grades but not the number grades. So, the number grades were right but the letter grades assigned were not. From now on, Ross is only going to send us our number grades. Then, at the bottom of the document will be the letters that correspond with the number grades. For example, 80-100 (A), 70-79 (B), MPS-69 (C), and below MPS (Fail). After 3 months, it's nice to see the administration address the problem and give an explanation for the error. You know, better late than never...

The "How" and the "Why"

2008-06-23T13:11:00.008-04:00

As I mentioned before, the class that did me in was Biochemistry. Since day one of last semester, I knew Biochemistry would be a struggle. Throughout my undergraduate studies, it was the only class I struggled in. For me, Orgo and Physics weren't very challenging though I felt Orgo was the most difficult of the two. My weakness has always been Biochemistry. In fact, it's the only "C" on my undergrad transcript. Because I was a Psychology major and not a Biology major, I wasn't required to take Genetics or the 4th year level Biochemistry course. So, I took my "C" in my 200 level Biochem class and ran. Due to my utter disdain for Biochem and Genetics, I did the minimum required for my degree and for Med School and never looked back. Little did I know how much that would come back to haunt me later.

So, fast forward three years later to me at Ross. The first three Biochem lectures were not bad at all. They were meant to be a review of undergrad material. We went over bonds (covalent, ionic, hydrogen, van der Waals, hydrophobic, etc.), stereochemistry (diastereomers, enantiomers, et.), reducing sugars and reagents (Tollens' and Benedict's), carbohydrates (glucose, sucrose, amylose, amylopectin, etc.), fatty acids... well, you get the picture. So far, not too bad, right? Well, for me, the butt kicking began with the fourth Biochem lecture on proteins. That lecture was difficult and the following lecture on enzymes was even worse. Then began a DNA nightmare of replication, translation, transcription, eukaryotic gene expression, prokaryotic gene expression, mutations, viruses, and ... ugh, I can't keep going. My Biochem PTSD is kicking in right about now. Anyway, so pretty much on a daily basis they hurled a barrage of Biochem at us and I was still like "Huh? Wait. What's a gene again?" Not pretty. I just couldn't keep up. So, by the time Mini 1 reared its ugly head, we had covered five weeks worth of Biochem which came out to about 30 lecture hours. Then, there was still DPS, Anatomy, and A LOT of Histology. It seemed like there was never enough time to cover it all.

That Monday afternoon, when I turned in my scantron, I felt like I had just failed everything. I remember just wanting to stay in bed depressed all night while my fellow classmates went out and partied all night long. To them, it didn't matter how they did - they were just glad it was over. For me, I had just finished the hardest exam I had ever taken and I did NOT do well. I swore I got a 15% in Biochemistry. Turns out, I did better than I thought I did. I passed DPS, Anatomy, and Histology without a problem. Biochem, as always, was a different story. I got a whopping 48% on Mini 1. To this day, I still don't know how I managed a 48%. I think it was due to the sheer volume of questions. There were like 49 Biochem questions. Also, the Biochem department dropped about 8 questions. If I remember correctly, they dropped three that I got right and four that I got wrong. I think that somewhere between dropped questions, miraculously guessing right, and actually knowing a few questions, I somehow ended up with a 48%.

Mini 2 went MUCH better for me. I got a 92% in Histo and I actually passed Biochem! After Mini 2, I realized that I don't suck at all of Biochem. I only suck at the Genetics component of it. Silver lining, people! Mini 2 Biochem covered blood groups, plasma (blood) proteins and enzymes, the blood coagulation cascade, hemoglobin, Sickle Cell, glycolysis, TCA, ox phos, and much more. For me, Mini 2 material was more interesting (because it was more clinical) and easier to understand. The reduced volume of Biochem on Mini 2 and the reduced genetic component seemed to have helped my grade as well.

Mini 3 barely had any Biochem on it. Mini 3 Biochem was only worth 5% of our entire grade. This is because Mini 3 was basically all Physio. The Physio portion was worth 45% of our entire Physio grade. Because of this, I focused on Physio more than anything. Unfortunately, I didn't focus on Biochem at all and my grade suffered for it. My attitude going into Mini 3 was "Physio is worth too much and Biochem isn't worth anything. 5% is nothing. I'm going to focus on Physio because it's much more important that I do well on Physio on this Mini than Bio." While this is true, for me (because I was struggling in Bio), this was a BIG mistake. Out of the possible 5%, I only earned about 2%. Had I just spent a little more time on Bio for Mini 3 and answered a few more questions correctly, that may have been the difference between passing and failing first semester. Remember, the difference was ONE percent. This may have been the Mini that sealed my fate.

The final exam was ... HARD. There were only 25 Biochem questions on the final. 25 questions covered a whole semester's worth of Biochem! Studying for the final was so difficult for me. It seemed like too much material in too little time. I just didn't know where to begin. I had to go back to all the DNA garbage that plagued me on Mini 1. Since I didn't know Mini 1 material very well and I still had to cover Mini 2 and Mini 3 material, needless to say, the final didn't go very well for me. My other grades suffered as well because in the five days leading up to the final, I ONLY studied for Biochem. I felt that it didn't matter if I studied and did well in my other subjects if I didn't pass Bio. So, I gave Bio my full attention and effort. As you can see, my plan backfired. Turns out, you can't cram a whole semester of Biochem, especially if you didn't know it well enough to begin with, in 5 days.

And so, Mini 1 Bio (worth 35%) and the final (worth 35%) comprised 70% of my entire Biochem grade. Unfortunately, these two exams were my worst. For Bio, Mini 2 was worth 20%, Mini 3 was worth 5%, and PBL factored in another 5% to total 100%. So, in the end, I couldn't make up for my poor performance on Mini 1 and the final.

Mini 2 aside, I consistently did poorly (hovering around MPS) in Bio across the board. Still, I got close to passing. But as you can see, I didn't deserve to pass. I didn't know my Biochem well enough to move on to second semester. Let's say I did earn that 1% that would have allowed me to pass. I would have to face first semester Bio on the Biochem shelf at the end of 2nd semester. And then I'd have to face it again on the comprehensive exam (which determines if you can sit for Step I) at the end of 4th semester. And then I'd have to face it again on the Step! So, in a way, I'm glad I didn't scrape by. I'd rather I fail semester 1 and retake Bio and learn it properly, than fail the comprehensive exam at the end of 4th semester. Did you know that you have three chances to pass the comp exam? If you cannot pass the comp by the third try, Ross kicks you out for good. So, I like to think that retaking Bio will help me pass and perform better on my Biochem shelf, the comp (hopefully on the first try!), and ultimately, STEP I.

Now you all know how I failed. It wasn't that I didn't study or I didn't try. It's just that I struggled with the material, I didn't study efficiently, I didn't properly manage my time, and I didn't seek any help. It can happen to anyone.

My advice for incoming students is this:

1) If you struggled with any of the first semester classes (Physio, Bio, Histo, Anatomy) while you were in undergrad, chances are you may struggle with that class here at Ross. My advice is to brush up on that subject before you come here. You can re-read your old notes or read the BRS book on that subject. Find a way to strengthen your knowledge in that subject while you have the time.Once school starts, it's difficult to find the time to review those undergrad concepts that you were shaky on. Here, it's expected that you mastered the fundamentals and that you're ready to build on that.

2) Consider a Masters degree. After college, my boyfriend earned a Masters in Biomedical Sciences at Barry University. He was part of the accelerated program and finished his Masters in one year. In that year, he took all the first year medical courses you would normally take in medical school. Needless to say, he was EXTREMELY prepared for his first semester here at Ross. In the end, he finished first semester with excellent grades. When I was considering Ross, he advised me to look into the same program but I just wanted to start medical school already! Perhaps if I had listened (don't tell him I said that), I would have been better prepared for my medical studies here at Ross. I have also met several others that earned a Masters in similar programs across the country. They all aced first semester and are currently doing well in second semester. Of course, this may not be the recipe for success for everyone. There are MANY people that did well first semester that did not take the extra time and spend the extra money on a Masters degree. I just wanted to point out that this is one option if you've never heard of it or considered it.

3) If you find yourself drowning in the material once you start here, seek help! You can go see the professors themselves. You can join a study group. You can go to the academic success office where they have several counselors willing to help. They can help you map out a schedule to better manage your time or they can help teach you how to study more efficiently. They also have afternoon sessions where you go over practice problems. These practice problems are written by the professors themselves. Several of my friends would go to these sessions and found that going over these practice problems helped them prepare for the style of questions asked on the Minis. Then, there is also peer tutoring available. Just about every night, upper semester students hold tutoring sessions for first semesters that you can sit in on. They can go over any question in any subject you'd like. There are many other resources out there. The point is that they are there. If you're struggling, find help!

More to come in this saga... stay tuned!

-Melissa

The Lion Fight

2008-06-22T16:03:00.009-04:00

WARNING: EXTREMELY CORNY ENTRY UP AHEAD :)

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As some of you have noticed, I have been absent from the blogging realm for many weeks now. Truth is, a lot has happened since my last post. I simply wasn't ready to write about it just yet- but I'm ready now. So, here it goes...

I FAILED MY FIRST SEMESTER AS A MEDICAL STUDENT.

There, I said it.

I haven’t written in such a long time because I knew that when it came time to write again, I had to admit to myself and to the world that I failed. And so, I’ve dreaded writing this entry for a long time. But before I could write again, I needed time to figure out what went wrong last semester and how I could turn it all around. But most importantly, I needed time to just accept it. So, I took my time and I'm at a place now where I've done a lot of soul searching and finally regained some confidence.

Knowing how difficult it is to share your worst failure with others, friends and even Ross counselors advised to only share this information with people that absolutely NEED to know. But, since day one, I have chosen to chronicle my medical school journey with my family, friends, and thousands of internet strangers. If there is ever anything that needs to be shared, I feel it is this. Future and current Ross students NEED to know about failing at Ross.

So, yes, I failed ONE class by ONE percent. Because of that, I am back in first semester - back at square one as if I had never been here just a few weeks ago. It's taken me a while to accept it and to get to a place where I can feel good about repeating. Truth is, MANY of my fellow classmates scraped by with the minimum passing score in one or more classes and were allowed to move on to second semester. I missed the minimum passing score in Biochemistry by ONE percent.

Turns out, going back to the beginning may have been the best thing for me. I like to think that missing out on that 1% will make me a better doctor. Because I will be responsible for someone's life someday, I'm glad I have the opportunity to go back and learn what I didn't learn the first time. So, this semester I've been picking up all the concepts and details I didn't understand before or didn't have time to digest the first time around. I understand things better and I have a better grasp of the fundamentals of medicine. I've also learned to study more efficiently. But most importantly, I've learned to appreciate medicine and every day, my passion for it grows. I've always believed that nothing in life is worth having if you don't have to work hard for it. My failure has only motivated me to work harder. Failing made me realize how much I want to be a doctor. And let me tell you, you have to want to be a doctor REAL bad to come back to Dominica for four more months (totaling 20 months on the island) and an extra $25,000 in debt!

It'll probably take several entries to catch you all up to where I'm at now.I want to tell you about all the other people that failed. I want to tell you about how we all did on our second Mini 1. I want to write about how and why people fail. I want to share with you how Ross deals with failing students and repeaters. I want to share where I went wrong last semester so others don't make the same mistakes. There is so much to write about...

I am not the first, nor will I be the last person to fail a class at Ross. Unfortunately, failing at Ross is not uncommon. I hope to share my experiences so that those coming to Ross don't repeat my mistakes. And if another student out there has failed or is in danger of failing, I hope my experiences will give them hope and help them gain the confidence they need to continue on their medical journey. I'm not saying I've got it all figured out. I'm just saying "I've been there." I just hope that I'll be able to help others by sharing my experiences and what has helped me the second time around.

Some people find the inspiration they need to keep going by reading their Holy Book or by talking to their friends and family, etc. Me? Grey's Anatomy. I was feeling really hopeless and depressed right after I found out I failed and that I would need to repeat first semester. Then, one night while I was watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy, a scene came up that seemed to hit all the right notes. It was the kick in the butt I needed to get out of my rut and put me in the right mindset to keep working towards my dream. Watch the scene below and you'll see what I mean.

It still gets me every time....

= MY SCAR

What I Wish Others Had Told Me

2008-05-11T14:36:00.002-04:00

On the eve of our first day of classes, I thought I would bestow some of my limited wisdom upon incoming first semesters. In a previous entry I recall that I advised that you should never fall behind on your lectures. I think this is still sound advice. As one approaches a mini, it feels as though everything falls apart. Lectures will be added after noon, you will be in the anatomy group that has to dissect just before the exam, practicals will sneak up on you (particularly histology lab), your electricity will be running low and your water payment will be due. The other piece of advice I have previously suggested is that on either Saturday or Sunday it is important to review all the material covered in that week.

Mini 1

Your focus should be: Biochemistry and Histology

The first exam for first semester students (Mini 1) is packed with biochemistry and histology. These should be your primary focus. In my opinion, the biochemistry and the histology material for the first exam are the hardest you will face in the semester. Scoring well on biochemistry and histology on mini 1 puts you in good shape to have straight A’s or at least assuring a passing grade. Failing the biochemistry (below MPS) on the biochemistry for Mini 1 drastically hinders your ability to pass the semester. I should say, it is NOT impossible or even unlikely but it is difficult to dig yourself out of a hole that was worth so much of your final grade (35%). Furthermore, mini 2 and mini 3 carry a combined 30 % of your total grade and cannot completely make up for bad scores on mini 1. Finally the CUMULATIVE final is worth (35%) and by most people’s accounts (including my own), the final will only hurt your grade as it is nearly impossible to cover and learn all the material you learned in the entire semesters in the 3 or 4 days they allot to studying for the final. Also, don’t forget the other 4 classes you are studying for.

Histology is next in importance. Once again in my opinion, it is the most difficult of the material for the semester. The reason Histology is not as important as biochemistry on mini 1 is because all mini’s basically carry equal weight. Also in the long run Histology also has a laboratory component which is a grade booster with adequate study.

Anatomy is only worth 10% of your total anatomy grade. Also, anatomy, like histology, has a laboratory component to your grade, as well as an attendance component for your final grade. In my opinion it is important to do well on the practicals and as best as possible on the minis but the crux of your focus should not be anatomy.

Physiology is not tested on mini 1.

Mini 2

The focus on mini 2 is a tricky business because it obviously depends on your strengths and weaknesses from Mini 1. Almost certainly the majority of individuals will be concerned about their biochemistry grade, as they should be. If your Biochemistry grade was below MPS or just above MPS, this is YOUR ONLY opportunity to really improve your biochemistry grade. Mini 2 biochemistry is worth 20% of your grade, while mini 3 is only 5%. Also, in my opinion, I believe the material covered in mini 2 is the easiest of material covered in the semester (metabolism, hemoglobin, plasma proteins, clotting cascade, genetics). Your aim should be in the seventies on this mini, especially if you fell below MPS on mini 1.

Once again I think the focus should be on histology as well. The material for the second and third mini are equally difficult but the material for the second mini is taught by Dr. Yin who asks questions that are very straightforward (NOT EASY). You must know her material, but if you know it, she does not write questions meant to confuse you or test miniscule concepts. She asks a lot of first order and big picture items.

Once again I don’t think anatomy should be your main focus. Evaluate your individual situation including your lab grades to determine how much focus YOU need to spend on anatomy. My personal situation was that I devoted the least amount of time to anatomy and DPS.

Physiology is quite important on this mini for several reasons. For one, it is worth 25% of your grade. The material taught in mini 2 for physiology is important to form a solid foundation for the material in mini 3. Believe it or not a lot of the concepts you learn in cardiovascular physiology is consistent with pulmonary physiology covered in mini 3. I think Physiology is important in this mini. My advice is to give Biochemistry and Histology your focus. But if you did really poorly in biochemistry in mini 1 your focus should be biochemistry, as it is the class most people fail. Also there is plenty of room for improvement in Physiology as mini 3 the exam is worth 45% and the final is 25% I believe. In other words, the majority of your grade is still out.

Mini 3

Without a doubt your focus on mini 3 should be on Physiology. 45% of your grade is just much too important to make it second in importance. Also, biochemistry on mini 3 is only 5%.

If your biochemistry grade continues to suffer, the 5% of biochemistry for mini 3 can be extremely deceiving. Most people, I know who failed biochemistry, did so by 1, 2, or 3 %. Right away, it becomes obvious what a difference these 5% can make. Make biochemistry a major focus if you are in this situation.

Final

I am one of those who tried to cover all the material in depth for each class. It is not possible. Focus on high-yield material, focus on material you previously had trouble with. Focus on those classes you are most in danger of failing, or those you are closest to the next letter grade. Plan on having 3 or 4 days of study time, and therefore plan on covering all the material covered in the semester for 2 classes in one day. My schedule looked like the one below.

Day 1: Neuroscience (turned out to be only 1 or 2 questions) and Physiology

Day 2: Histology and Embryology

Day 3: Biochemistry and Anatomy

And DPS the day of the exam.

I must admit, I could not accomplish that schedule in the end I was only able to study for Biochemistry, Histology, minimally for embryology and I did not cover any anatomy or physiology. I felt confident in my knowledge in physiology as I did fairly well on mini 2 and mini 3 and the bulk of the material was on mini 3 and I had just learned it.

At the end of the day, my advice above is just that what I believe and what worked for me. I hope it helps those 1st semesters who read it or if not at least my hope is that it will stimulate you to think about what you need to do focus on for you to maintain the grades you want.

Have a great semester and good luck,
Michael

Back on the Island (Safe but not yet Sound)

2008-05-08T20:04:00.003-04:00

As I had predicted a week ago. Leaving home today for the start of a new semester was much more difficult than it was last time. It felt as though there was a gloomy conclusion at every step of my vacation. The last time I would see my parents, sister, pets, family and friends (though I still did not get to see all of them… Sorry Alex and Judy) and even minute things like the last time I would see my hometown of Miami for four months.

I have come to the realization that I do not hate Dominica as much as it may seem, instead, I hate what comes with it. Although I am actually excited about a new semester, I know that with it comes never-ending studying and once it begins all we could do is hold on.

I realized once I arrived in Puerto Rico that I did not do almost any of the things I was supposed to do in Miami. Yeah, I did the necessary grocery shopping and it will arrive here in a few weeks via a barrel, but I wanted to exchange my Vonage V-phone which had been acting up toward the latter months of first semester, I wanted to purchase a backup laptop, and get a haircut. Also, I have an uncle who is very ill in the hospital and I wish I could stay behind and at least serve as company (since we have not learned anything about the pancreas just yet) for my family members. Nonetheless, I did a lot of what I missed I saw a movie at an actual “movie theater,” imagine that. I made compulsory food purchases such as chocolate milk, Reese’s peanut butter cups, crema de leche, coldstone strawberry cake, and a dairy queen’s caramel sundae. I was able to stabilize my saltwater and freshwater aquariums for my mom and sister who are taking care of them for me. I went to see my little cousin’s (max and missy’s) soccer game where he scored the winning goal to advance to the finals. I spent a nice day at the beach with my dad, sister and his dog, Bella. Come to think of it, I did a lot on my short vacation.

I have been home about 3 hours and have already set up my notebooks, cleaned my room, unpacked and am ready to begin the semester. From here till Monday when school starts we will register for classes and enjoy each other’s company. To all of you back home, thanks for going out of your way to make my stay that much more enjoyable and the journey back to Dominica that much harder to bare. I had a great time. See you in 4 months! August 25th is only 109 days away (yes, I counted)!

Until next time,
Mike

Our Finals are Over! Our Semester is Over!

2008-04-27T23:46:00.000-04:00

Today it feels as if there is a million things we COULD do, that we have wanted to do, and now we can. I can’t properly express that feeling. Every morning since I have started in Dominica, I awoke at the crack of dawn already panicking about the endless amount of material set on my plate. Today I refused to get out of bed and slept like 12 hours. Imagine my shock when Melissa walked in to my room and told me it was 3 PM.

We have spent the last two days doing much of nothing relaxing, watching movies, and running errands. We bought electricity, cell phone minutes, obtained our visas, confirmed flight plans and got some lunch. For dinner the three of us went to Roseau and ate at the Fort Young Hotel. The food was excellent. It was by far the best food we’d had since coming to the island. With that in mind, the food was also pretty pricey. My meal alone was over 60 US dollars. The bill for three of us was 450 EC. Nonetheless, it was nice to get out of the house after locking ourselves in for finals.

We are now awaiting our grades to see whether or not we will all be second semesters or not. It is really nerve racking when your score on a final determines whether you move on or not. Equally annoying is that you may have passed every class and come short 1 or 2 questions in one subject (usually biochemistry) and you have to repeat the whole semester as if you had failed all the courses. For now, however, we do not have our grades and it is all speculation. Melissa and I have TRIED, unsuccessfully for the most part, to not worry about it and enjoy our first few days on the island with nothing to do.

For the first time today we visited the beach, had lunch at PBH and sat out by the pool enjoying a book and not Ross packet, although, those are a blast too. As I write I am making dinner for us as it is Sunday and ALL restaurants except Brother’s Chinese restaurant are closed.

Tomorrow Melissa and I are on a plane back home and already we have started to worry about how the return trip to Dominica. What a depressing trip that must be. Until then, I will enjoy my time back home with family and friends.

Until next time,
Michael

Unexpected House Guest

2008-04-25T21:11:00.008-04:00

I may be leaving Dominica in two days to go home for break, but I tell ya, the adventure never stops for a second. I was lying in bed watching episodes of "The Office" when I started to hear rustling sounds among my papers and books on my desk. I looked up from my bed but I didn't see anything moving so I paid no attention. I hear all kinds of noises in my room all of the time so I didn't bother to check it out. A few minutes later, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black blob on my curtains. So, I look up from my laptop and clinging to my curtains with its little black wings is a flippin’ BAT. I wish someone could explain to me how a bat found its way into my apartment and into my room. Somehow my room is a haven for the tiny creatures of Dominica. Throughout the semester, I’ve had unexpected roommates such as birds, spiders, bees, mosquitoes, beetles, and now bats. How lucky am I?!

Just like the bird fiasco, it took about 15-20 minutes to catch the little guy using tools such as a broom and filing box. After we caught him, we let him go free from the balcony… but not before I snapped a few pics!! Take a look…

Givin' Ya What Ya Want!

2008-04-25T13:41:00.005-04:00

Hey Guys,

I have received TONS of e-mails asking for the "Complete Guide to Ross." Well, I want to preface that I compiled this "guide" from a VARIETY of sources off the internet (mainly ValueMD) BEFORE I came to Ross. Now that I have been here for four months, I can see that some of the information I originally found is outdated. I will try my best to work on updating the guide but I promised a few people over e-mail that I would post the original guide so they can get a feel for Dominica and Ross. I read over some of the guide and while some of it is a little outdated, for the most part a lot of the information is correct and still applies. When I update the guide, I will post the new one for everyone out there planning on coming to Ross. Have some patience, there is a lot to write about!!

Here is the download link (no virus, I promise!) to the old, slightly outdated guide:

http://flyupload.flyupload.com/?fid=4574757

I hope it'll help you all!

Grades, Safety, & Health, Oh My!

2008-03-27T23:40:00.006-04:00

First semester is nearing to a close and it seems people are dropping like flies as our grades, safety, and health are put at risk. I'll explain...

1) Ross University is a very small school in a small town. As you walk around campus, you CONSTANTLY see people you know (including your neighbors, professors, and friends) as well as people you don't know but repeatedly see. Because of the small community, Ross is a rumor mill and the rumors here spread fast. Well, according to a girl in my PBL group, she heard from a friend that heard from one of the head professors that this current first semester class is, well, not the brightest. Apparently, this first semester class is "the worst Ross has ever had." According to my friend's source, approximately 130 students are currently passing all of their classes. She also heard that 50-60 students have already dropped out of first semester. This means that out of a class of 350 students (we started with 412, I believe), about 65% of the entire first semester class is failing one or more subjects. I don't know how true these numbers are because I imagine the numbers have changed (like in a game of "telephone") as this information has been passed around. However, I do know that our class performed so terribly on the Biochemistry section of Mini 1 that even after the Minimum Passing Score was set to 55% (the lowest it can be set to), 1/3 of the class was still below the MPS. "Below MPS" is a failing grade. The head of the Biochemistry department spoke about this in class so I know these stats to be true. Regardless, it seems that this current first semester class is struggling. I have no idea how many of us will pass all of our classes and move on to second semester. 50-60 "flies" have already dropped and I imagine that number will only increase though I hope it does not.

Sidenote: At Ross, a minimum passing score is determined after each exam based on class performance. The set MPS is a C and any score below MPS is simply "fail." So, your score can be an A, B, C (MPS), or fail. The MPS is usually set at 60% but depending on how poor or well the class does, it can be set anywhere between 55% and 65%.

2) Another new development is the recent increase in crime around the University directed at the students. In the past two weeks, we have received 3 e-mails from Ross Security informing us of robberies on Moo Cow Trail. On three separate occasions, students walking home were held at "machete point" by masked robbers on Moo Cow Trail. This may sound like a joke, but I'm not kidding. Below is an excerpt from one of the e-mails. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a Ross e-mail so if someone reading this knows, please inform me!)

"This is to inform you that last night, 03/17/08, between the hours of 9:45 and 10:25 pm, two armed robberies were reported to have been committed against members of the Ross community along Moo Cow Road. In the first incident a female student was walking back to campus alone, when two masked men, one armed with a machete and the other with a knife, emerged from the nearby bushes and accosted her. One placed the knife to her throat and demanded that she hand over her money. She handed him her purse in which she had $50.00 EC. They took the cash and her cell phone and ran back into the bushes.

The second incident occurred at 10:25 pm. A female member of faculty and her visiting sister were also walking back to campus along Moo Cow Road, when two masked men came at them from the near by bushes, one brandishing a machete and the other a knife, and demanded that they hand over their cash. The member of faculty opened her empty purse to show them that she had no cash, but they went on to steal her sister's jacket and bracelet, and fled into the bushes at the sight of an approaching vehicle."

Because of this increase in crime, Ross had more lights installed on Moo Cow Trail and they placed security on foot patrol in that area. They also trimmed the roadside shrubs "to lessen the hiding areas for the criminals." We have also received TONS of e-mails asking students to take the free transports from the main campus and the Annex to their homes at night. I know these crimes are not Ross' fault, and I genuinely believe they are doing everything they can to keep the student body safe. Still, I'm disappointed that on top of everything, I have to worry about being held at machete-point in my own neighborhood. I am literally a 2 minute walk from Moo Cow Trail. Some people that I know now walk with heavy flashlights and knives at a moments reach to protect themselves. As for me, I barely leave my apartment and if I do, you bet I'm taking a bus wherever I have to go. As long as students follow Ross' recommendations and take the buses, the crimes should cease and everyone will be fine.

3) With Mini 3 and finals less than one month away, life is getting even more stressful around here. The lack of sleep and constant levels of high stress seem to have people feeling a little under the weather. Also, it seems that every few days someone pops up with an injury. While I don't credit this to school and studying, I find it peculiar that people keep getting hurt. Perhaps mental exhaustion leads to clumsiness. While I am miraculously still in one piece (I am naturally clumsy), my boyfriend cannot say the same. This past Sunday, he fell down what he claims are the world's darkest stairs in my apartment. He hurt his ankle so I played nurse, and ace-bandaged and iced his foot. The next day, he went to the clinic on campus and they referred him to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in Roseau for an X-Ray. That was ... interesting. We hired a private taxi to drive us into Roseau. This service cost EC $150 (US $56) and 45 minutes later, we entered the hospital. I must say PMH was not what I expected. For a hospital in a country's capital, it was pretty deserted (perhaps because it was a national holiday in Dominica) and very informal. From what I saw, there was one doctor (perhaps there more that I didn't see) and a dozen chatty nurses sitting around or lethargically walking about. When we went to pay the EC $40.00 for the X-Ray, there wasn't a single person working the registers. Eventually, we had to grab a random employee to go behind the cashier window and write us a receipt. It didn't take long at all for the X-Ray to be done once we arrived at the hospital, but it took about an hour for Gabe to finally be seen by the doctor and have the X-Ray read. Because we have already studied the foot in Anatomy, we pretty much read the X-Ray for ourselves while we waited. When the doctor finally came in, he confirmed that Gabe did not fracture or break any bones in his foot - it was only an ankle sprain. He also took a look at an infection that Gabe had on his elbow and prescribed some Cipro to clear it up. Overall, the medical care was satisfactory (even though the nurse didn't know how to read the thermometer!) but I wonder what the medical care would be like for something more serious than an ankle sprain and small infection. I hope I never have to find out! I also found the facilities to be disappointing. There was mold on the ceilings and the equipment was rusty. Also, Michael and I were perplexed by a composition book held together by tape that had "Emergency Drug Book" written on it. While I was a little disappointed in the hospital in both care and facilities, I think they do the best they can for a hospital in a third world country. After all, Gabe got the care he needed and the right medication for his infection so we couldn't have asked for more. Below are some pictures of the hospital, the consultation room we waited in, and Gabe's busted elbow and ankle.

I know this post was long but it has been a while since I've updated everyone. Hope everyone is safe and healthy back home and we'll see you in about 5 weeks!

And We're Chugging Along...

2008-03-18T01:10:00.005-04:00

Last Thursday we had our Histology practical. During the practical, slides are projected on to a huge screen and then there is a corresponding question. We were tested on 50 slides of cardiac muscles, smooth muscle, skeletal muscle, nervous tissue, epithelium, and every cell you can imagine in the human body. To give you an idea, above are only 4 slides of epithelium out of the dozens we needed to know and be able to recognize. Some of the questions on the practical were purely "identify this structure" and some were second order such as "what does this structure secrete?" Even though it was a little challenging because all of these structures pretty much look the same, we all feel we did pretty well.

Of course, we spent the weekend studying NON-STOP for Mini II. It’s hard for me to gauge if Mini II was more difficult than Mini I because I felt MUCH more prepared for this exam. Still, the exam was riddled with questions focused on details which often get lost when you’re trying to learn the “big picture.” It is so frustrating when you spend HOURS memorizing everything about the clotting cascade, glycolysis, TCA/Kreb’s/Citric Acid Cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation only to be asked the most minute detail on a slide that the professor barely covered or said in passing. I’ve quickly noticed that the way to survive at Ross is to literally MEMORIZE everything. There is no “big picture” here. Regardless, I feel I did MUCH better on this exam. I’ll find out in a few days when my answers and the exam key are sent to my e-mail.

When the Mini concluded at 4:00 PM, we headed on down to the Portsmouth Beach Hotel. Of course, as naïve first semesters, we were expecting to have lunch. However, when we got there, it seemed the only lunch being served was beer. I saw TWO guys sitting at one table and there were literally about 20 empty Kubuli bottles on their table. Also, the beach was full of half-naked, drunk med students soaking up the sun they hadn’t seen in weeks. It appears that students live by the motto “work hard, play hard” - at least I hope they worked hard! So, for future first semesters, apparently the party is at the Portsmouth Beach Hotel after a Mini.

At this point, we were still hungry so we started walking down the beach toward Coconut’s Beach Hotel to see if we could eat there. Well, despite the brightly painted orange hotel and the numerous signs advertising the Coconut’s Beach Hotel, we found it COMPLETELY deserted once we’d reached it. I asked a local if he knew if the restaurant would be opening in the evening, to which he informed me that Coconut’s closed down FOUR years ago. I should have known. Rookie mistake….

By this point, it was too late to go to the beach (the sun sets here at around 6:00 PM) and we still hadn’t eaten. We couldn’t bear to eat from Tomatoes AGAIN so we grabbed some Mexican taco/pizza thing (similar to the Mexican pizza from Taco Bell but better!) and headed home. Gabe went home to shower and sleep. I came home and watched Sweeney Todd. Not quite the "fun in the sun" beach day I had planned. Still, I was super happy to do ANYTHING that didn't involve studying!!

So, yeah, today unfolded a lot differently than I had planned but that is life here in Dominica. Hopefully, this week’s material won’t be too bad so we can have the “day at the beach” I had originally planned for this Sunday. Of course, chances are we won’t be going to the beach this weekend because time spent not studying is, well, time wasted. I must say that I’m starting to get mentally worn out and I'm pretty sure I'm running out of memory space for mnemonics. At this point, I need a mnemonic to remember the days of the week! So, I’m really hoping we can all get our work done throughout the week so that we can take a day to ourselves. We REALLY need it.

Below are two pictures of the beach by Coconut’s Beach Hotel highlighting Cabrits in the distance and the large rocks lining the shore. The other random picture is of a spider I caught in my room. It took me like 20 minutes to catch this thing using all sorts of contraptions. I found it to be a pretty big spider so I measured it after I caught it. I find it quite unsettling that I found a (1.5 in) spider chillin’ out in my room. Once more, that’s life when you live in a jungle.