Hey everyone,
So I'm not super creative with my blog posts usually and they usually go with what I'm doing in my life but this post is going to be a bit different. I have decided to show you all a few things that are different from "real" life or "business" life or "the real world" and describe as a medical student what a few of my favorite things are here, this is not a comprehensive list just a few things that came to mind!
1)
Delivery- when you are in the middle of studying and can't afford to stop, especially in a place where actually going to get food takes minimum of an hour.....delivery is amazing, order, wait/study, eat while studying...perfect! In Dominica this is the delivery car for Rituals, our only coffee shop. They just put a box on the back of the dirt-bike!
2)
Space -- So you see a picture of my multitude of things that I have around me while i study, books/note books/ computer etc. so having a large table is one of my favorite things!
3)
Office- Max or should I say Office-Mike- so I print A LOT here and of course I need things 3-hole punched and stapled butttt the only problem is that 3-hole punchers are large and the ones that the school provides don't work so there is Mike. Mike is my friend and he brings his 3-hole punch and stapler every day to the barn where we study....so we all go over to his desk and 3-hold punch and staple every time we need it done. Mike is our life-saver and our resident office-max!! Thank you Mike!!
4)
Colored Pens/Highlighters- I kno you laugh and say...do you really need 10 different color pens and 10 different color highlighters? The simple answer is YES! When I make a study products for each lecture specific topics are in different colors. For example, if it is in purple then it is a clinical correlation, Red is very important etc. So I love love my lots of colored pens and highlighters. Oh and in Dominica it costs $6 for 1 highlighter so bring as many as you can...I mean stock up, buy stock whatever you have to do!!
5)
The greatest book EVER - so this is my USMLE step 1 book, it is a concise book with the most high yield information for the USMLE, it has great mnemonics, and diagrams, and charts that make some of the most complicated subjects clear. I love this book and I write down notes into the book so that when I am studying I can look at one source for a quick reference and then my notes for the details that I might be missing.
6)
Water Water Water - So these 1.5 L water bottles are from the natural springs of Dominica, and the water is great! Because of the heat it is very very easy to get dehydrated and you want to drink water that has been purified so you will see most student and most people have these large water bottles on their desks/in there backpacks at all time! And for me...well we all know my love affair with water bottles, poor little blue used to have water bottles everywhere and here it is no different, I am a huge fan!!
7)
The Big Red Chairs - I study in a place we call the barn and one great thing about the barn is the large desk chairs that they have. Now there are a limited number of big red chairs so you have to get to the barn before 8am, after 8am they are all gone and it will be a regular black chair for you! These chairs are great support for your back and they are big enough for you to recline/put your feet up etc. People have even found their favorite red chair that they make sure they have every day because it doesn't squeak, or it reclines more than the other one etc.
8) Sound Canceling Headphones - A very common thing you will see while studying are the noise canceling head phones or the noise canceling ear plugs, I use the ear plugs but most people use the headphones and they are a lifesaver when you need to avoid the shuffling of papers etc.
9)
MY COMPUTER - oh how I love my computer, I spend 12-14 hours a day on my computer, have notes, watch lectures, keep in touch with family and friends, read emails, learn about news from the US...I can't even begin to describe how much a laptop means in medical school....it is a staple in everyones life and if anything happens to it I would cry. it is unreal how important your computer is and now even more that ever the computer is important because its how we take our exams so it is good practice to do multiple choice questions on the computer.
10)
A Giant Umbrella - ok so my umbrella isn't this big but you get the point... I live in a rainforest island that means it rains...A LOT sometimes days on end it rains and it doesn't just rain down but sideways and sometimes I swear it rains up!! So needless to say Jay bought me a huge umbrella for Christmas that I carry with me where ever I go, even if its just to get food because you might think its sunny our and it has no chance of raining but here it rains when the sun is shining!!! Makes for beautiful rainbows!
So those are a few of my favorite things while I am here in school, again not a complete list but a few things that a Dominica medical student can't live without!
Hope you got a laugh
Till Next time......
