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A Letter to my Classmates | The valedictorian speech I would've loved to say...

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 Good afternoon to the Dean, Deputy Dean, Chairperson, Members of staff, specially invited guests, parents, guardians, spouses, and finally, the graduates of the Classes of 2024 and 2023. I am aware that there might be peers beyond these years, and we celebrate you nonetheless. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge God first and foremost for the ability to stand before you today, greeting you not as a student body but as a congregation of colleagues, young professionals, and newly minted doctors. Standing here, I see the result of five years of sacrifices—more for some—to arrive at this moment. We all know it hasn’t been smooth sailing, and many times we found ourselves in uncharted waters. Thankfully, we had people like N.M., K.B., T.G., and S.M. who embraced the responsibility of being a voice and representation for us to the staff. They, too, faced challenges but served selflessly once given the mantle. We often joke about how our group seemed to be the guinea pigs; there ...
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End of Year 3 Recap | Adaptability is the name of the game| OSCE Tips

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This year presented an interesting paradox in which time seemed to fly by yet stand still in moments where it felt like we'd never arrive at this point. The race wasn't for the swift but for those who endured with fortitude and perseverance. I will admit it was without a doubt the most mentally taxing year which required a holistic perspective at all times. After all it is easy to have tunnel vision but because you have so many components simultaneously you cannot afford to dedicate all your attention to one thing at a time or you'll definitely be unprepared for many upcoming course assessments, quizzes, clerkships and PBLs. And let's not forget OSCE or OSPE!  Adaptability is the name of the game. It can be confirmed that our entire experience for Year 3 was done online with the exception of two in person Skills practice sessions, one each semester. The practice sessions were really just that --practice. In my experience you had to be quite familiar with the list of sk...
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To my Peers | A med student's SOS

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  I am writing to you all three days after the inception of this post and if that doesn't sum up Year 3 for you I'm not sure what will. This post is for my peers that have just finished their third End of Clerkship Exam since beginning the semester in August of 2021. This post is for everyone that's tired and is going through the motions of the mundane cycle of quizzes followed by exams followed by PBL followed by lectures upon lectures followed by more exams. This post is for those who have been consistently disappointed by course assessment after course assessment; who just want to pass at this point. Who are fearful of even thinking of their GPA and are relying on finals to keep them above water. This post is for you. You are not alone. We all feel this way right now. Yes some persons around you seem to be on-top of things but we're all struggling to cope. We all cope in different ways; some rest, some avoid, some sleep, some over compensate and burnout, some cry,...
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Yr 3- Overview

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Information here is based on experiences gathered from a series of upper class peers and going to an informal orientation hosted.  Let’s start off with what's most familiar and keep it simple. Year 3 comprises four courses, one of which is year long.This means that your year long course (3314) would be running  simultaneously at any time with one of the other three courses you are required to do.  The three courses are distributed among the two semesters and are as follows: 3311- First course of semester one and focuses on aspects of Cardio and Resp. 3312- Second course of semester one and focuses on aspects of GIT,  Repro and Renal. 3313- First course of semester two and focuses on aspects of Neuroscience, Endo,  and MBJ.  Again 3314 is a year long course which starts at the beginning of semester one and ends  at the end of semester two. In this case, semester two ends in March/ April.  You must have already heard something about Clerkships ...
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Semester Review- Yr 2 Sem 2| A writing hiatus…

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  Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t a bad semester, one of my most consistent concerning keeping up during the semester and getting those coursework marks where I wanted. If only the final exams were the same…  This semester required more from me in terms of managing my workload and ongoing research project, honoring leadership commitments, and forging new friendships. Each pruned my ability to prioritize, sacrifice and sharpen my vision on what’s important.  One of the most important concepts I have gained a greater appreciation for after this semester is Opportunity Cost . According to Investopedia, Opportunity cost is the forgone benefit that would have been derived by an option not chosen. This pretty much means, by doing one thing and spending time on this commitment, endeavor, and/or responsibility you automatically deny yourself the ability, time, and/or benefit of doing something else. Now can you see how prioritization, sacrifice and knowing what’s important was tested a...
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Semester Review- Yr2 Sem 1| Online Learning is Pace...

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  The only typical thing about this semester is that it started in early September and finished in late December, usual Mo. This semester started as a breath of fresh air and served as a much-needed revival of my passion for medicine.  During the two month break after Yr1 Sem 2, I jumped at an opportunity to become more financially literate. The need to develop those skills as early as possible can only be an asset to a young person, therefore, I try to cultivate that knowledge whenever I have free time on my hands (which in med gets lesser and lesser as time goes by). Any investment in yourself pays more dividends than you can ever imagine at that moment and may be as simple as reading a book. To be quite frank as much as I see the importance of doing these things and being intentional about it, it still requires tons of discipline and self-motivation because it’s not my passion. Medicine is where my heart is and I couldn’t wait for this break to be over. This momentum follo...
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