gyriandsulci

[gyriandsulci]

I started this blog when I was on my first year in medical school, around 5 years ago. A few days ago, I found out that I passed my country’s physician licensure exams.

Honestly, I still don’t believe it. I’ve definitely grown, but I don’t know if I’m ready to be legally responsible for my patients (lol).

Keep studying, y’all. I surely will be. I feel like I have more time to *actually* study now that I have no deadlines (as of the moment). Excited about where this new chapter will take me but also terrified for my life (oh, and hello covid).

[gyriandsulci]

Really loving Pathoma (Fundamentals of Pathology) by Dr. Husain Sattar! My study buddy (Squirtle) is really doing a great job at keeping me focused. Also, I started using the productivity app called Forest. It’s not so bad after all!

[gyriandsulci]

It’s hard to be productive in this pandemic. It took me a whole month & a half to get back into studying again, and within that period was a lot of crying, self-doubt, and anger towards the government. If you haven’t made time to study either, please don’t beat yourself up. There are many things you need to prioritize over your studies, like your own health and your necessities at home.

I finally decided to get back to studying last week when I realized that it would soon be May. I made a study plan that started on May 1st, which sounded like a good day to start. I also set up the office table at home to get me in the mood to study. I placed my Squirtle plushie there too to stare at me so that I wouldn’t stop studying lol.

I hope you’re all doing okay at this difficult time.

[gyriandsulci]

I’m currently on my senior internship year and it’s been a wild ride so far. Interning at a public hospital is mad crazy but I’m honestly having the time of my life! Looking back, I never thought that I’d be able to handle my patients confidently as I do now. I dragged myself through medical school thinking I’ll never have enough knowledge to help my patients, but I can’t emphasize enough that experience is the best teacher. Once you face your patient, and you’re actually there taking their history and doing your physical exam, you’ll know. Or you’ll have at least an idea of what their condition may be. Trust me. I wasn’t the best student, not even close to the top 50% of my batch, but remember: what do you call the student who graduates at the bottom of the batch? Doctor.

[gyriandsulci]

I recently had the opportunity to observe a posterior fossa tumor excision on a 2-year-old. I think my username gives away the fact that neurology has a special place in my heart, and as a clerk, I was naturally excited to encounter such a case this early. For once, I wanted to be asked questions by the consultants. What’s even better was that they were kind enough to teach us as they went along with the operation, so we had the chance to see the structures of the brain up close. I didn’t realize how heartbreaking it was until the end, when one of the consultants discussed with us the prognosis of this case. To my seniors, how do you do it? How do you wrap your head around the fact that your learning experiences are someone else’s biggest heartbreaks?

[gyriandsulci]

s/p cesarean section

[gyriandsulci]

I'm going to be future dentist after exams.(i'm on 12th grade) and what is your future job hun? *_* P.s. Biology is my life ^_^ I'm loving your tumb

That's amazing!! I have a number of specializations in mind (pediatrics, neurology, neurosurgery, cardiology, etc) but surely I'm going to be a doctor 😊 Thank you! 💕

[gyriandsulci]

Posting on a good day. I'm starting to feel human again. Thank you so much for all your kind words and advice; you have no idea how much I appreciate them. We're on the cardiology module now and I also appreciate how our professors try to make it as fun and simple as possible. I've got a good feeling about cardio.

[gyriandsulci]

I started this blog to keep myself motivated and hopefully to motivate others along the way, but recently, I’ve been having the toughest time in med school. I feel like my class schedule is crazy, it’s from 7am to 6pm for 5 straight days, and it’s overwhelming and exhausting. They give us reading assignments (which I never finish, because hello, they keep us in class for so long) and case presentations all the time now. Basically much of what we do in school now is self-directed learning, which is absolute shit and it’s like my tuition fee’s going to waste. I can’t simply learn by reading all my books and taking exams, I hate the system, I don’t know why we aren’t given more patient interaction or clinical exposure. I’m not even kidding that this is the very first time in my life that I feel like quitting and leaving the medical field. There hasn’t been a single day since class started last August that I didn’t feel this way. I’m tired all the time. One of the things I’ve been most anxious about is going into internship next year because I know in my heart that I’m not ready. And it kills me. Because for most of my life becoming a doctor is my dream and now that I’m realizing how much it takes and how much harder it’ll be, it’s like I wish I had known all this when I was younger. But of course, no one told me how hard it was going to be, especially because I excelled in academics. I also thought this early “success” would get me ahead later on in life, but I realized just now that I’m not as equipped to handle failure. Now, I can barely pass a 30-item test, and it leaves me so frustrated because I spend all my time studying for that quiz and I still end up failing. Besides my inadequacies, what frustrates me everyday is the medical system, like how seniority/hierarchy among doctors is an unspoken practice that needs to be stopped or how people still cannot avail of subsidized healthcare. I’m sorry if you’re still reading at this point and feeling discouraged but I just have to let this out because I feel like a hypocrite posting motivational pictures and answering questions with advice. My semester is ending soon and I hope that I can get some peace of mind this Christmas break. I’m still holding on to the little hope I have left that quitting is not an option.

[gyriandsulci]

One of the best lattes I've had in a while

[gyriandsulci]

Are you a fan of TVXQ ?

For 10 years now!

[gyriandsulci]

Throwback to my undergrad days when I had to study how to do dichotomous keys for my Bio class 

[gyriandsulci]

Hey could you explain to me in medical terms why castor oil is a terrible idea?

Hmm could you please be more specific? tbh I don’t know if there’s some news on castor oil use or something that would make it a terrible idea 😅

[gyriandsulci]

hi! what is your favorite highlighter to use for handouts? I was thinking of getting mildliners for its multi-function purposes, but I haven't seen many reviews on handouts

Can't go wrong with the mango yellow Sharpie highlighters! I use Stabilo often as well (pink, teal, and blue are my faves). Honestly, I don't use my Mildliners much because the colors are way too light for my textbooks and handouts/transes. They're good for highlighting my own handwritten notes though.

[gyriandsulci]

I don't know about y'all, but as tough as it was, Pharmacology was one of the most interesting subjects I've had so far. The mechanisms of action are so fascinating and I often go, "So that's why it's like that!" when I learn the pathophysiology of their adverse effects. I'm not gonna lie, the lectures are so overwhelming and full of word vomit and just studying makes my head want to explode because there's so. Much. To. Remember. But weirdly, I enjoyed it.

[gyriandsulci]

How do you memorize all the anatomy in med school? It just doesn't seem to stick with me..

Personally I enjoyed Anatomy because it banks on visual learning. Try drawing the structures or find a coloring book you can work on (I have one produced by Kaplan)! You can also try watching videos until you can clearly imagine/visualize the organs & tissues from memory. :)

Edit: Thanks @lasttimetosaygoodbye for mentioning the Essential Anatomy app! Definitely helpful!! We sometimes used it as a guide during our cadaver dissections as well :)

[gyriandsulci]

Hey so I'm a high school student and I want to be an anesthesiologist. I am currently taking classes to help me get onto the medical pathway and I was just wondering how long you studied for the MCAT?

Hi there! Sorry, I can’t answer your question because I’m not from the US, but I’m posting this anyway so that my followers can help you out :)