Hem/Onc

Welp! I haven't blogged in a WHOLE MONTH, because I have just survived the hardest domain of my second year curriculum- Hematology/Oncology. I was warned about this class from 4th and 3rd years basically since I entered medical school...so I was prepared to put myself in hibernation and learn the heck out of the subject for the month.

After many long hours sitting in our underground silent cubicle study area, referred to from students as the "nerd cave", after gaining about 10 lbs because there was no time to exercise/grocery shop/cook healthy, and after many nights of under-sleep, Monday morning was FINALLY here and it was finally the moment of truth -- exam time. Our exam started at 7:30, which meant doors opened at 7 AM...wayyyyy too early to think critically, but hey, there was not really any other option! The exam was 120 questions, which was also a challenge. This was the longest exam we have had up to date. The second longest exam thus far was only 90 questions, so this also was an added stress of this exam. Nonetheless, by 9:00 AM, I had finished the 120 questions, double-checked a few unsure answers and fearfully hit "submit". I then collected my belongings and left. From calculating the number of questions I knew I had definitely gotten correct, I was fairly confident that I had at least passed the exam (a 75%), but wanted the official grade report just to make sure.

The official grades arrive every exam day at 12:00 noon...This is directly after our first PBL group of our next domain. So, usually my fellow students are fairly brain-dead from a morning exam and constantly re-freshing their emails until grade reports are sent out. This was definitely the case for me during this particular Monday.

So, when 11:55 arrived and my last re-fresh of my inbox finally showed an update, I fearfully opened up my grade report and let out a huge sigh of relief. Not only did I pass, but I did pretty well! What a relief.

After getting our grade reports back, it was time to celebrate. For lunch, a group of us went to an Indian restaurant for a delicious lunch buffet. Michelle, Caela and I then (finally) went to watch the last Twilight! [side note: I have been to almost all of the Twilight midnight premiers, so I was pretty sad that I had to miss the last premier to study Hem/Onc...finally getting to see this movie was the BEST post-exam gift.] After the movie, we went to forever 21 to costume shop for 90s costumes. Our class was having a 90s-themed post-exam party that night and the G-Phi in me (who LOVEEEESS costume parties) was all about finding the perfect costume. Caela and I decided that we were going to buy matching outfits and be Tia & Tamara Mawry from Sister-Sister!

Roomie love. 

Now that I'm done with Hem-Onc, I feel much more confident about myself in medical school. This was always one of the big humps that I never thought I would overcome, and now that I have....I'm even more excited about the rest of the year. We will see how long this lasts as boards approach haha.