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I recommend compiling a document with all interesting patient encounters, presentations you did on the rotation, notable things you accomplished on the rotation. Then when it comes time for your Letter writer to compose your LOR send them that information. Then they can have anecdotes to go off and write in your letter, this will be much more powerful than a generic LOR. This book goes into much more detail about this and I recommend reading the chapter on LORs https://www.amazon.com/Successful-Match-2017-Success-Residency/dp/1937978079/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522800836&sr=8-1&keywords=residency+match

Meditate for 20 minutes twice a day.

Exercise for 30+ minutes every day.

Read (no screens) before sleep.

Hang out with friends.

Get flux.

OTC Melatonin can be helpful in the short term, but I recommend 0.25-0.5mg.

You DO have the time. Cultivating these habits is immensely more important than M1 grades.

If you don't see improvement after a month or two, consider meeting with a psychiatrist.

Good luck. You WILL get through this; it's just a matter of time.

"How the Immune System Works" is a concise book that provides a great overview of immunology. It was the only immunology resource that actually made things click for me!

https://www.amazon.com/How-Immune-System-Works/dp/1118997778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526224656&sr=8-1&keywords=how+immune+system+works

Say it with me: "I will always use virtual credit cards with spending limits from Privacy.com when buying things from businesses I've never purchased from in the past."

Seriously. So many headaches averted. This is not an advertisement. Just a happy customer.

>For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.

From the neurologist/psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Read it on the interview trail, regardless of what specialty you're going into.

I keep this^1 hanging over my desk to remind me about what my definition of success (and thus happiness) is. It's easy, especially in the hypercompetitive world of medicine, to get caught up in external measures of success. And then you'll always be thinking about the next stage of life, hoping you find happiness there.

Life has its ups and downs. Some days are better than others. But I can honestly say that I'm happy and at peace with life. And I sincerely wish the same for all my colleagues and peers.

^1 (Yes, I know about both typos, that's why I got it for free)

I seriously think that every med student should read The White Coat Investor at some point before residency. It's a pretty quick, well-organized, and extremely useful read on how to manage finances going into residency and beyond. So many doctors devote everything they have to medicine, but don't understand how to manage the unique financial circumstances that go with it (e.g. high debt burden, guaranteed high income potential as an attending).

Make sure you get enough zinc:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=zinc+supplementation+influenza&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5

and drink more green tea and make sure you're getting enough protein (whey is particularly good for cysteine):

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22theanine+supplementation%22+influenza&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5

Green tea epicathechins also appear to improve the absorption of dietary zinc.

Boom, improved immunity. Note: some of those trials were conducted on hospital workers (predominantly nurses).

You really, really need to address your depression. Don't make any drastic and unalterable decisions right now (such as dropping out of med school) because of your feelings of hopelessness. Whether it be with a therapist, psychiatrist, or PCP, it's important to talk to a professional rather than random people on r/medicalschool who may or may not have good advice to give. I also highly recommend this (basically cognitive behavioral therapy in a book): https://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy-ebook/dp/B009UW5X4C/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3DEPOIHVCW02L&keywords=feeling+good+the+new+mood+therapy+by+david+burns&qid=1576788065&sprefix=feeling+good+the+new+mood+the%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-2
It teaches you a lot of tools for addressing automatic negative thoughts and other things that might be distorting your perception of reality.

You're in medical school, and they chose to accept you for a reason. You are not at all "a disgrace".

It's by the esteemed professor Chris (Simpsons artist)

The reality is that people who look rich may not actually be rich and vice versa. There's been data gathered on this and millionaires actually tend to live in middle-income neighborhood, drive a Toyota/Honda, clip coupons, shop at Wal Mart instead of Whole Foods, etc.

Obviously, a hedge fund manager from Wall Street both looks rich and is rich but that's the minority. Most millionaires accumulated their net worth by saving a lot and spending frugally. Statistically, over three quarters of "luxury" cars (Mercedes, BMW, etc) were bought by people who were not millionaires.

If you're the type of person who wants financial independence, $1 million dollars in the bank doesn't give that to you. You underspend and oversave so that you're making enough passive income that you don't have to work. At $1 million, taking a conservative average rate of return of 5%, you're looking at dividends coming out to 50,000 a year. Not shabby but probably not an income that gives you the ability to live your life as you want with complete comfort and no worries about finances. At $5 million, again taking a conservative ARR of 5%, you're looking at 250,000 a year. You can live a comfortable life taking vacations, driving a nice car, donating to your favorite charities, going out to nice restaurants, etc without worrying about money running out.

For the M4's who're done and want to think about finances, I'd strongly recommend the book The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley and Danko.

In terms of the ACA, it does. They are required to cover at least one option of each category of birth control without co-pay or co-insurance, as long as she gets it from an in-network provider.

How about feeding some virtual cats? Try Neko Atsume.

Android

iOS

Plus what CodeRed said.

Lol, no. The median net worth of the typical American between 45 and 54 is around 85k with two thirds of that being home equity.

You can try f.lux (https://justgetflux.com/) to help with the eye strain.

That said, why are you spending such a ridiculous amount of time in front of a computer?? If it's all studying, you need to reevaluate how you study instead of just trying to brute force it.

I seriously think that every med student should read The White Coat Investor at some point before residency. I know this isn't quite what you were asking for in terms of maintaining clinical knowledge, but it's a pretty quick, well-organized, and extremely useful read on how to manage finances going into residency and beyond. So many doctors devote everything they have to medicine, but don't understand how to manage the unique financial circumstances that go with it (e.g. high debt burden, guaranteed high income potential as an attending).

this book How The Immune System Works by Lauren Sompayrac It's like <100 pages and a super easy read/very approachable. Don't pirate a PDF, buy a physical copy and read it and sleep with it and shower with it. It is incredible. Immuno went from one of my worst topics to one of my best after reading it.

Like I know this is a joke, but http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ actually really helped me with writing personal statements. It calls you on the flowery bullshit that we love to fill pages with and encourages you to write with active voice. I highly recommend it to anyone stuck in a rut.

I highly recommend reading Ben White's book on student loans. It answers your question and many others. Medical-Student-Loans-Comprehensive-Guide

To get $0 monthly payments, you would need to be in an IBR payment plan (Forbearance or deferment do not count as "payments" with regards to PSLF, although technically you could use them for a $0 monthly payment; although this is likely unwise).

The cost of monthly payments is determined by 15% (IBR) or 10% (PAYE or REPAYE) of your discretionary income divided by 12; discretionary income = (adjusted gross income - 1.5*federal poverty limit). Under IBR/PAYE/REPAYE you can have $0 monthly payments if your income is low enough (remember that REPAYE includes spouses income).

For these plans, you have to certify your income annually. One trick to getting the guaranteed $0 payments is to consolidate your loans right after graduation. This immediately enters you into repayment (no grace period), but allows you to certify that you have no income. This has the benefit of allowing you to truthfully check that you have no income (not technically employed until July 1st) and allow you to build up extra $0 payments should you choose to pursue PSLF in the future. If in REPAYE it also allows you to halve your interest rate effective immediately, which will save you money in the long run.

My school had a AAMC representative speak to us regarding student loans and she confirmed that this was a legitimate strategy that many people use.

TLDR: Definitely still a viable option

1) compression socks help tremendously. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GZJYH36/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1

2) dont lock your knees when standing

3) i dont like eating before a long surgery due to "increased bathroom tendencies", so i carry around protein gel packs for energy

Watch this.

Buy one of these.

Hang your suit/shirt in the bathroom and take a hot shower before your interview.

Cutting for Stone. It's about a small rural hospital in Ethiopia during the 1960s. Lovely storytelling and really intricate descriptions of medical care & procedures (written by an MD).

Maybe you could recommend they read the autobiography "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanathi, who was a neurosurgery resident when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I believe he touches on another friend who had glioblastoma. I know it doesn't make it any easier for you, especially since you are in med school, but try to recognize that the distrusting comments coming from your friends/family members come from their desire to be sympathetic and helpful. It will be a trying time for all, and you don't want to drive a wedge between the very people you might need to lean on in the near future.

A patient just told me the other day to take life one step at a time. Really inspiring to me on a personal level. Lessons for Life from Mr. Huang

My thoughts are with you and your family.

OP linked to the iOS app. As an Android user, the instructions seemed a tad different.

Make an Epocrates account or if you already have one, sign in. Epocrates Plus is the app and you can download straight to your phone if you're using a browser.

There's going to be a decent sized update once you log in to the app. It doesn't say the size, but there are 6 components so don't download on LTE unless you have unlimited.

After that, top right of the app, tap the menu button and then "settings." Scroll to the bottom and you'll see 'subscription level' and then an option to upgrade. Tap that.

Next page should have 'upgrade now' and the $174.99 price tag. Tap that. Don't fill out all the billing information and go straight to the bottom where they ask if you have a code. Enter in 'Harveyrelief' and the information boxes should go away and you should be able to just continue on.

You might need to close out of the app and restart and do some more updates in order for it to be fully recognized but the code did work.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

¯|_(ツ)_/¯

¯ \ _ (ツ) _ / ¯

Well, copying and pasting didn't work, and neither did adding underscores. Seems that these characters are used for Reddit formatting. A Google search led me to a website full of these so-called Kaomoji, which use Japanese characters within the emoji. Many of them get quite elaborate. There's a link on the page to download Kaomoji for Android.

٩(◕‿◕)۶

(★ω★)/

｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡

♡ (￣З￣)

(；⌣̀_⌣́)

┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐

┐( ˘_˘ )┌

(⊙_⊙)

(つ . •́ _ʖ •̀ .)つ

┬┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬┴

ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

/╲/\╭(ఠఠ益ఠఠ)╮/\╱\

(￣▽￣)/♫•¨•.¸¸♪

[̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]

( ∙_∙)

( ∙_∙)>⌐■-■

(⌐■_■)

Try Notion (https://www.notion.so). It’s free with an education account, has waaaaaaaay more flexibility/customizability than onenote and is actually very reliable too.

I started using it as an M4 and created illness scripts that are tagged by organ systems, related problems, etc. it makes searching for problems and reviewing my notes a breeze

If you're a really big fan of studying to the sound of rain/white noise, check out RainyMood. They used to have a really cool site with tons of options....which they have now put out as a paid app. Still, you get free basic use of their site and if you really like it you can buy the app. Enjoy!

The most important 5 to gain life perspective. Helps you want to study.

• "Getting Things Done" by David Allen - How to manage your life. Google his two TED talks as well
• "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey - Simple
• "Awaken the Giant Within" by Tony Robbins - What can I say, I like his energy. "Personal Power II" series of audiobooks (like 9hrs total) are pretty good.
• "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport - Made writing my personal statement hard, because it is clear people shouldn't follow their passion. You don't have a clue what your passion is as an MS4
• "On the Shortness of Life" Seneca - Classic

Bouns

• The TED talk "Learning from Dirty Jobs" by Mike Rowe. Goes with the Newport book.
• "48 Laws of Power" by Greene - A sociopath's playbook...but at least you have their playbook.

Learning

• "Make it Stick" by Peter Brown
• "How We Learn" by Carey
• "A Mind for Numbers" Oakley
• "The Practicing Mind" by Sterner

Narrative books, really good

• "Moonwalking With Einstein" by Joshua Foer
• "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin

Pop/behavioral Science

• "Mindset" by Carol Dweck
• "Flow" by Mihaly (some long Russian name)
• "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg
• "Thinking Fast and Slow" Daniel Kahnman
• "Stumbling into Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert
• "Willpower" by Baumiester

IMO, if you get the stuff in the first 5 books, you have a REASON and system agnostic approach to success. The, it won't matter what you do. Firecracker vs. Qmax, Step Up vs First Aid. Know yourself, handle your shit, and you will succeed.

I use Bitwarden! Open source, recently passed an independent security analysis (results posted on their blog), good UI, browser plug-ins for all major browsers, & native applications for all major operating systems (mobile & desktop). I hear that KeePass or derivatives of it, like KeePassX, are also a good alternative for the reasons /u/Ductal_Cat_In_Situ mentions.

Quick plug for some added security/privacy tips with password managers (regardless of app choice):

Set up multiple databases: 1 for each aspect of your life. For example, 1 for business/work/academics (UWorld, work email, Anki sync, institutional info, etc.) and 1 for personal (social media, personal email, etc.). That way, one breach of security doesn't compromise all security in your digital life.

Slightly less convenient because you will have to log out/in to the apps and add-ons when switching between contexts and remember 2 (or however many databases you create) master passwords instead of 1. You could set up multiple browser profiles as well and just switch profiles instead of logging out/in of the add-on which is simpler (easy to create profiles in Chrome, little more complicated in Firefox but still easy).

My friend had this water bottle that was basically shaped like a packet, so it would easily fit in your white coat pocket to drink from whenever you wanted and would be completely flat once you had finished it. I wish I had a link but I never got around to buying one of my own.

e: because I realize this post is kind of useless without a link, I found basically the thing I'm talking about, with good Amazon reviews

The most prestigious site interviewing me is famous for its ''high stress, long hours'' environment, but supposedly opens doors to anywhere you want for the rest of your life. Now, I've always been the guy who chases ''the best'', but for once in my life I've been thinking about going to a good-enough place that doesn't suck away my life and still gives me a good career. Hard choice to make.

Doesn't help that I was reading ''When Breath Becomes Air" and early in the book the guy says residency is a calling, not a career, so you should go to the place that gets you higher.

"The inner surface of the foreskin contains Langerhans' cells with HIV receptors; these cells are likely to be the primary point of viral entry into the penis of an uncircumcised man"

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roger_Short/publication/12472366_How_does_male_circumcision_protect_against_HIV_infection/links/53e84d8e0cf25d674ea80121.pdf

Real talk though, no need to be a rich doctor, just add reddit enhancement suite to your browser, go to user tagger, add my name then hard ignore me.

https://media.giphy.com/media/rpRnthmtVWC5i/giphy.gif

Hey man, I’m sorry about the restaurant story. Sounds like something out of a Dostoyevsky novel. My mom is a good cook and her advice is never order fish unless it’s a fish restaurant :)

Well, you’ll become a doctor soon and be able to go to those fancy restaurants. I also get mad when I go to a restaurant and pay a lot for something that wasn’t good.

Don’t worry about the pressure or compare yourself. Go at your own pace. Maybe read some books by doctors about their experiences in various residencies.

I read a truly touching one called Internal Medicine before med school and it made me consider doing internal medicine. Before that I had only wanted to do vascular surgery.

You don’t have to decide until you apply!

In case you’re interested:

https://www.amazon.com/Internal-Medicine-Doctors-Terrence-Holt/dp/1631490877

"Student scooted on his chair excessively during physical exam of pediatric patient." I don't blame him, I had the need for speed.

I think this article is right on the money. If other hospitals are anything like my med school, android isn't a viable option because since everyone wants apple hardware, IT has licenses for and supports only iPad/iPhone software. Some of the same software is available for android, but without knowing what device you'll be using, it's tough to know if the limited amount of available software will work fluidly, while nearly every iPad app will work solidly on the iPad mini.

If you're a physician, I doubt the $130 difference from a Nexus 7 to an iPad mini is a deal breaker. If you're a student, you're probably already borrowing $50k/year, so you might as well get the best-supported device.

Can anybody speak to the size difference between the nexus 7's 7" display and the mini's 7.9"? From zdnet (http://www.zdnet.com/ipad-mini-and-nexus-7-go-head-to-head-7000007563/), it looks like the mini has a lot more screen real estate.

Just save it to any folder.

Make sure you have downloaded the app from https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Once it is installed on your computer, open it, then you can click on the file and it will add it to anki

I bought a pair of softboxes on Amazon and was very happy with the results for zoom interviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Photography-Lighting-Continuous-Portraits-Shooting/dp/B07FN7FNPF/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=EMART+Softbox+Lighting+Kit+with+Reflector%2C+24%22x24%22+1000W+Photography+Soft+Box+Continuous+Light+Set+with+Photo+Studio...

Probably overkill if you have no other use for them, but definitely good results.

Thanks for doing this again! I saved your posts from previous years and read them recently. They're definitely helpful and appreciated.

For anyone else who might want something to read before intern year, I'm reading 'resident readiness: general surgery (amazon link - Our school library gets us access to the electronic copy, so yours might as well). I'm only doing 2 cases / day which takes me about 30 - 60 minutes if I'm slow. I literally just wake up, do the 2 cases then dick around for the rest of the day. It's such a tiny amount of effort and you actually learn something with plenty of time to relax for the rest of the day.

inb4: "where are the memes? stfu. gunner. chill brah no one expects you to know anything lol".

Step-up to Medicine, it's a review book on Internal Medicine (Amazon). It's one book in the "Step-up series", but its the most well-known and respected.

&#x200B;

I personally did not use the Step-up books because I felt Q-banks were a better use of time. Up to you though...

If anyone's looking for microphone suggestions, I've got one. I bought the amazon basics microphone and have gotten great comments on how my sound improved. I was doing a day of telehealth and the attending said I had a radio voice. Mind you I sound like an automatic cheese greater irl so highly recommend that mic!

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076ZSR6BB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_c3gKFb7N0YEG3

I would probably send emails to their website or on their facebook page (Filipinos somehow like having buisnesses on facebook) like UST or Univ. of the Philippines: Philippine General Hospital or De La Salle HSI.

Let them know of your current situation and probably ask about the credits.

Unfortunately it is probably better to go to their offices in person to ask, but it shouldnt hurt to ask anyway via email.

Addendum:

On the bright side: really great and cheap food. I can get full on food that is only 50PHP. I also got a set of 5 tailored shirts and pants for around $100USD.

If you plan to buy things in bulk like a Costco. They have S&R. Recommend you have a car or rented.

Dorming is pretty cheap. I pay 8000PHP/ mo (~$200 US). Includes internet (but is not to my standards) and water. They can however go up to 12000PHP/mo (~$300 US). At both prices though the rooms i visited are very nice.

Down side: internet lingo is pretty bad. I onced talked to a UST staff and he told me to email, just email, they gave no email address nor ask for my email address. I dont know what email means to them at this point.

Internet is expensive usually PHP1000 or ~$20 US for 3-5mbps (YMMV), been using Private Internet Access to get around inadequate services. I really wish Elon Musk got those Space X satellites going already.

Hot water, you have to buy those personal ones that rely on water pressure to work. YMMV on water pressure depending on where you go. You can find them at Ace Hardware or Wilcon stores.

Second addendum: No experience yet with tests. as I am just entering my first year.

The Art of War

But seriously, pestana's for shelf. Review anatomy relevant to the service you will be on and always google the anatomy relevant to case the night before. Read the step up to medicine chapter on lytes and review AKIs before the shelf.

How soon do you need it? And what OS are you most familiar with?

If you can wait until mid-Summer or so, like some have suggested, you can wait to see what the new MBPs offer. Do understand the port change from USB to USB-C, which are not interchangeable, and require an adapter if you don't have USB-C devices like an external HDD, wired mouse/keyboard, flash drive, etc.. That change happened during the last refresh last Fall.

If you need one sooner, this XPS deal is pretty damn good.

What are you using now? A change in OS isn't too big of a deal but if it's going to cause problems when you need to be studying or something else equally as important, you may not want to deal with finding alternative programs for Windows or macOS in the heat of the moment.

I personally use a 2010 MBP but recent changes to the current MBPs have me considering a Windows machine. If you like the design of the Macs, go with that. If money is an issue, the XPS is a better way to go and offers a better value with better specs for a lower price. Depending on which MBP you get, of course.

Nah my dude, it's more of an endoscope. Functions like an otoscope essentially though. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KPSLPRW?psc=1&amp;ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

I had no idea either until they introduced him and then I was like oh BOY reddit has prepared me for this one. Here's the book on Amazon

I bought a roomba, a case of energy drinks, this thing, and this

I frame my delivery of bad news similar to how I've seen an oncologist do it, and what I learned reading "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi, which I highly recommend reading. Especially since you are struggling with some of your emotions now (which are totally normal ways to respond to these situations, BTW).

Basically, you break it down into asking what the patient understands already if anything, explaining what it is, treatment options, and then prognosis (if they want to know).

A lot of people have a hard time understanding much once they hear a bad diagnosis, so it's reasonable to not get too technical, and answer questions best you can. Definitely don't give a prognosis unless you're qualified to do so.

While I haven't told anyone they have cancer, I have known they have badness from scans or something, and have to dance around giving those results when doing a consult and getting an H&P. Doing that isn't your job as a med student, so just stick with history and physical, and be as pleasant as possible.

I have felt deeply touched by patient circumstances, and felt like crying with them for sure. Ultimately I think that does more harm than good, and it's our job to reach out and hold a hand with smiling stoicism or offer a lighthearted moment, warm blanket, or consoling word. Again I recommend reading some physician memoirs to help you see what experienced physicians feel about death, and terminal patients. Their insights might help you learn to cope and take positive things from these situations. Either way it is encouraging you are feeling so much empathy at this point in your career. I think this is an invaluable trait to a strong physician.

The biography of Osler that Cushing wrote.

Body of Work by Christine Montross.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

House of God by Samuel Shem

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Any of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

Maybe I'm thinking of a different neurosurgeon, but Paul Kalanithi wrote "When Breath Becomes Air" (which is really quite good) and was diagnosed with non-small cell EGFR-positive lung cancer and had metastases to his brain.

Yup!

https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html

Also look up the older supermemo 20 rules for formatting knowledge. Not necessarily needed but it will help you understand good cards from bad cards. I edit the zanki cards as I go all the time, especially to make them more explicit in what they are asking, or adding a second “hint” to the close {{c1::hidden answer here::hint here}}

You can make filters yourself. My buddy did it for his wedding it was pretty amazing. IIRC you have to pay to make it (it was super cheap, tho).

Edit: https://www.snapchat.com/geofilters seems to be free for universities!

Instant Pot

Bose QC35 Noise Cancelling Headphones - well worth the price

Amazon Prime membership

External/second monitor

Some people set up a new email account only for ERAS so any email to that account was an important one. Or you can set up keyword detection in your main email.

Also, I'd recommend setting a different ringtone for that email address and set if for continuous push so you get it immediately and know it's not just a random spam mail.

Also, handheld steamers are gold.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IT314DG/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&amp;pd_rd_i=B01IT314DG&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_p=f52e26da-1287-4616-824b-efc564ff75a4&amp;pf_rd_r=S3SBD0852XKNR6G7PGH7&amp;pd_rd_wg=2BLw5&amp;pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&amp;p...

I've read and really recommend all of the books that everyone else has mentioned. Some others that you might enjoy:

• Five Days at Memorial by Sheryl Fink (though I bet you could just read the NYT article she wrote beforehand. The book's kinda long )
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• The Gene by Siddhartha Mukerjee
• When The Air Hits Your Brain

On a side note I think everyone should read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus' Handbook

Better by Atul was one of my favorite books, especially the chapter at the end that gives tips for future medical professionals. Another must read is When Breath Becomes Air. I would recommend just going on Amazon and looking through all the suggestions in the medical category with high ratings that look interesting to you.

The White Coat Investor probably has enough information for someone who's coming from zero financial literacy.

If you have the time in 4th year, I'd recommend these as well:

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley. This is the very first book on personal finance I read. My dad (also a physician) gave it to me in middle school to get me in the right financial mindset from a young age. Even in college, you can see which of your friends are on the path to financial ruin. In particular, you want to be able to identify the characteristics found in "Under Accumulators of Wealth" so that you can avoid them. You'll see a lot of those habits among your peers, especially as you begin residency. (The wiki page on the book actually summarizes it pretty well if you want a TL;DR).

I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. While the above book is more about getting the right mindset, this one is much more practical. In fact, I would say if you're going to choose one book, this is better than The White Coat Investor. There's really not that much unique in terms of personal finance and being a doctor.

Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This is interchangeable with the above. I personally found it slightly better than Sethi's book on what it does cover but Sethi's book is more comprehensive IMO. I know people think his advice on debt and credit cards is a bit extreme but I align with that philosophy myself. If you don't, Sethi's book would probably be a better fit.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle. Founder of The Vanguard Group so he knows what he's talking about. You won't sounds very slick when talking about your investments with friends but you'll get a nice steady return. I've been investing according to this philosophy since college and am happy with my returns.

If you liked When Breath Becomes Air, then I think you'd like Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. I personally liked Being Mortal more than When Breath Becomes Air. I think reading the articles on him were more than sufficient.

It sounds like you need some better sleep hygiene in order to get onto a regular sleep schedule. If medical school messes up your sleep cycle, you might have to adjust your sleep cycle in order to succeed and be happy/healthy in school. For example, sleeping in "hella late" one day might make it more difficult to get up early the next several days afterward - you're probably better off getting up at the same relatively early time every day. Also, do you go to bed at around the same time every night? Do you stop using screens before you try to sleep, or at least have f.lux? Do you avoid caffeine in the afternoon?

Also, if you learn to study effectively, studying 7 days per week should not be necessary.

I ask because you probably fall into the "medicaid gap" like I do. Obamacare subsidies only apply to people making something like between 125% and 400% of the federal poverty line. So, if your state didn't expand medicare coverage (a lot of red states, mostly), and you make less than 125% of the poverty line (which, $0 obviously is), then you won't get anything.

Play with the numbers on healthcare.gov for your state. For mine, since theres no medicaid for average poor people, you are screwed if you don't reach the income level where the subsidies start at. At around $12k I would start to receive a huge subsidy, which would slowly decrease as if my annual income went up, all the way up to 400% of the poverty line, where the subsidy stops. But each state that choose not to expand medicaid coverage has different rules for who qualifies for medicaid, so yours might be different.

this explains it a bit

also, from healcare.gov

Looks like you've tried meditating but I'll post this anyway in case you haven't seen it.

I've been using a meditation app called Headspace the past few months and it's really helped me be more calm and balanced. It's a guided 10 minutes each day (so not too time consuming) that I do soon after I wake up. It is geared towards beginners and helps develop your skills as you progress.

You can do a 10 day trial for free and join if it's something you like.

https://www.headspace.com

If not, like others said booze also works

drugs. and self control. and library.

pathomechanism: 1) Drugs --> increase mesolimbic reward pathway --> more focus --> more studying endurance

2) selfcontrol -> http://selfcontrolapp.com/

3) library --> people studying around you --> more drive to study (atleast that's what a DO told me since it sounds like pseudoscience).

hope that helps

To actually explain it instead of just being an ass, I like to think of it in terms of parasympathetic nervous system and sympathetic. I don't know if this method is 100% accurate physiologically since realistically these receptors have multiple different roles in different organs, but this is an easy way to remember them. Cocaine is a stimulant which activates the SNS so it causes the pupils to dilate (also elevated heart rate, arrhythmias, etc.). Opioids are depressants of the SNS so they cause pupil dilation. Anticholinergic medications inactivate the PNS leaving the SNS unopposed so they cause pupil dilation (aka atropine), while cholinergic medications cause constriction (aka pilocarpine).

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When we're talking about glaucoma though it's slightly different since you have to account for the effects of medications on both flow of the aqueous humor and the effects on production of the aqueous humor. This image explains it pretty well.

Really depends on your workflow and throughout the year you can try different things out. For awhile, I just worked on my laptop, then tried using my ipad as a second screen. Then tried out a 34" wide external monitor, and now using one of these because I like the ability to put it away when I'm not studying. The 34" monitor was cool during step studying because I could have 3-4 windows open at all times and cross reference all of my resources at the same time (having a qbank/uworld, amboss, google window, and school notes open all at the same time).

I am not a medical doctor, but a research scientist and I came across this little practice kit by chance one day. Thought it was pretty cool and almost got one for myself just for the fun of it ha! Perhaps something like this would be more useful than regular sewing?

If you can't find a Herman Miller Aeron 2nd hand I would recommend this Lorell executive chair from Amazon with the extra headrest. I did a ton of research on best bang for the buck chairs at the beginning of med school and after looking through tons of reviews, this one seemed to have the most people who were satisfied years after purchase while fitting within my sub-200 budget.

I've sat it in everyday studying for >8 hours for almost 2 years now and it's still as comfortable as day 1. The seat and arm cushions haven't worn down at all. The headrest is super comfortable. The adjustments are solid. Obviously this is no Herman Miller Aeron but if you don't want to go 2nd hand, I think this is a fantastic option.

https://www.amazon.com/Shibari-Personal-Lubricant-Water-Bottle/dp/B00G5K7L24/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=lube&amp;qid=1596214928&amp;sr=8-2

This book https://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Neuroanatomy-28th-Stephen-Waxman/dp/0071847707/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=clinical+neuroanatomy&amp;qid=1595770483&amp;sr=8-1

No idea if it's good for a certain kind of exam. It's great if you are intrested in the subject

I'd also recommend:
When Breath Becomes Air about a neurosurgery resident who gets diagnosed with cancer.
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly about a lot of the imposter syndrome in intern year.

I think this is a great write-up, OP, although as a disclaimer I do have the naivety of an incoming M1.

I have thought about this before when I read Viktor Frankl's "A Man's Search for Meaning", which is an excellent read I'd recommend in addition to Meditations. Each man's suffering, or "sacrifice", is relative and completely subjective. It can only be a comparison of what they have known and experienced before. We will never know what we haven't tried, as in the case of working X profession during your 20's instead of pursuing medicine. In my humble opinion, it is a pointless exercise thinking of what could have been. The grass is always greener, per say.

Whenever I have these thoughts, I think of this quote by Henry David Thoreau, which I find helpful:

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave,

Find your eternity in each moment.

Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land.

There is no other land; there is no other life but this.

The "average" American also has almost $16,000 in credit card debt and 62% have less than $1,000 in savings. So, if your goal is to not incur MORE debt aside from interest, consider coming up with a more moderate amount, like 75k a year. You want enough to begin both long and short term savings, doing some investing, and paying for every single thing you buy except maybe a house or car with cash. The goal is obviously to get to a net worth of $0 as soon as possible, and then go up from there. When you see that "average American" concept thrown around, just remember that statistically, most Americans are drowning financially and living paycheck to paycheck, even as they drive nice cars and live in big houses. You want REAL financial freedom, so come up with a plan that works for you. A good first step would be to read White Coat Investor, and then consider talking to a professional when you get your first real job.

Here you go you can download the folder as a zip or move it over to your one drive folder.

edit: Don't use MDPharmDPhD's file if you're on Mac os X, doesn't open onepkg files properly, believe me it took me way too long to figure out how to make this work on a Mac.

Interesting. I think you are correct, I looked at this and it seems to be an ICP monitor

http://www.khanacademy.org/#healthcare-and-medicine

This are also helpfull. I bet we could get a good resource going on if this kind of stuff catched on. I dont know you guys but in my university most people (including students) seem to love teaching.

http://examine.com/supplements/Melatonin

Melatonin, actually start at the 0.3mg range.

Download flux for your computer, too.

[Also buy these](www.amazon.com/Uvex-S1933X-Eyewear-SCT-Orange-Anti-Fog/dp/B000USRG90/) and put them on an hour before bed, and any time you wake up at night to check your phone or take a piss or something. Orange glasses block blue light. Blue and green light break down melatonin... so while you still get some of the green light, at least you're not getting the blue.

The blue/green light in the morning is actually a good thing, at night not so much (there's preliminary evidence that the the light causes melatonin to be broken down into a wakefulness promoting agent during the day)

Any Australian med schools out there with some exams?

I'm at University of Sydney; faculty doesn't release any official questions.

The student body makes their own questions for each block and releases them prior to an exam.

Having said that,

Here are 411 questions for cardiology block

And Mega Mirror for the same stuff

You're welcome :) There isn't any sound, I figured you could just follow along with the video and pause/repeat as necessary. When in doubt, consult the anki manual

I'm really fond of my ADC and actually prefer it over my Cardiology IV.
I certainly have a familiarity bias for it, but even a few classmates found it easier to hear when we were first learning BPs and auscultation.

I have this one and it works well enough. There's a number of other options too. https://www.amazon.com/Medics-Complete-Practice-Interactive-Skin-Like/dp/B07H3TDSPW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=a%2B+medical+suture+practice+kit&amp;qid=1622996214&amp;sr=8-3

Patients at risk just went on sale this week from the heads of PPP They also have a podcast

For the purpose of clinical rotations, I'd recommend the ipad mini mainly because of its size. Anything larger will be clunky. You'll be on the wards where you might not have access to a safe place to keep your belongings, so everything you have needs to fit in your pocket. You can check out the Apple refurbished section of the Apple website to see if they have any refurbs for sale. You can also check out Best Buy for any open boxed units for some savings. Finally, you can hit up Craigslist or eBay for a used unit.

If you're not tied to the Apple ecosystem, I'd also recommend a comparable tablet from Samsung, like the Galaxy Tab S2. I personally use the Galaxy Tab S2. It is very fast, long battery life despite some samsung bloatware. The main advantage it has over the ipad is removable storage. I pop in a 128 microSD card that contains all of my study materials and I'm good to go. You can go for cheaper tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 (hovers sub-200).

Some people feel fine using the Amazon Fire tablets. I do not recommend them after using one. I used to have the base model, $50 one. I found out that 1) it was hard to put the Android app store on there, 2) it only came with 90 day warranty. I also found it very slow. But some students do enjoy using it and I guess you don't have to worry about having it banged up during your rotations. If you are interested in one, I'd recommend getting at least the upgraded model Fire 8 (https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amazon-Fire-HD-8-8-Inch-Tablet-8GB/dp/B018SZT3BK) since that one should have at least the 1 yr warranty.

source: i like tech a lot and every once in a while, I'll review something with a focus towards using it for med school. here's my review of the ipad mini 4 if you are interested. it was written a while back but most of the comments still apply. http://soapdoodle.com/2015/12/27/s-o-a-p-review-apple-ipad-mini-4-is-it-worth-having-on-the-wards/

Definitely listen to The White Coat Investor. Should read it at least twice in medical school. To tag onto financial books, The Richest Man in Babylon is a must read as well (the audiobook is great, the voice acting with the accent is amazing - haven't heard any other audiobook like it)

Even though you didn't want suggestions from Atul Gawande, I'd still say "Being Mortal" is a great choice. It is a good reminder about the big picture of healthcare and why you probably became a doctor in the first place. You are about to enter the rat race where you can easily get lost in getting good grades, board scores, shelfs, residency, fellowship, etc etc (it will be an endless ladder if you let it). Books about life, doesn't have to be the title "Being Mortal", will get you into the right mindset moreso than any "concrete advice" from the get go. Remember, medicine can be a trap that will make you very unhappy if you let it.

Furthermore, listen to anything that you wanted to listen right now if you can. You might not get to for the next few months while you are adapting to the workload.

I first read "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" by Ramit Sethi. Don't worry about the title, it's not a get-rich-quick scheme. What I like about this book is that it breaks down personal finance into easily understandable and actionable chunks. You won't be a finance guru by the end of it, but you'll have a good foundation to start with. The author describes this as the '85 percent solution': a good plan you can act on today is better than a great plan in the future. Also, this book is an easy read with a casual tone (the guy started as a personal finance blogger).

I've also been reading "The Millionaire Next Door", a very well-known personal finance book that addresses the habits and philosophies that lead to the accumulation of wealth.

Finally, /r/personalfinance has plenty of great resources in its sidebar wiki that can answer a lot of other questions that one may have, though I would still recommend starting with "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" before jumping into that.

I'm really sorry, I went through the same thing. I just practiced visualizing myself in a place I knew I would be somewhere in the future. I know it's kind of a strange book recommendation, but reading Man's Search for Meaning was really helpful to me in third year.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group.

A little bit more specific for us would be The White Coat Investor: A Doctor's Guide To Personal Finance And Investing by James Dahle, an EM physician. To be honest, I didn't think there was anything particularly special about the book but it does do a good job of taking basic finance and investment information and compiling it into one concise resource. If you're brand new to personal finance and investing, I'd strongly recommend it. If you're already familiar with the main books in the field, I don't think it provides anything particularly mind-boggling.

Reading this and going back from it time to time has helped me some. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Meditating daily has also helped. Setting up a very strict schedule has helped too. Also studying in shorter chunks when I'm not feeling it. And setting up little reward systems. Like if I finish this set of questions, I can watch a John Oliver clip.

It's not a silver bullet. It's still a mutha effing grind every g-d damn day.

*edit: switched "[" for "("

Here is a link to the original save, before i took out the people who didn't actually give a score, or gave clearly fake results, or modified the answers like if they said "two" instead of "2". Just to give you a heads up https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2HjqRDI9KI-VjRaaFJBQUdqX2c/edit?usp=sharing

edit: it looks a bit weird in the google docs like its not displaying everything, try downloading it and see if it actually has 8 questions worth of answers in there.

If you don't understand EM images it may mean that you don't understand how the images are formed. I can recommend a well-done coursera course called "getting started in cryo-EM" that you can take for free. It has video lectures that give a nice introduction to both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and it should help your interpretation of image contrast. It looks like you're in the medical field so it will be especially useful to you if you plan on using an electron microscope to image biological specimen. The course provides details on sample preparation, which you will want to know since these types of samples often need special prep ( freeze plunging, staining etc.) to ensure that they retain their structure under the low pressure conditions of the microscope and that the images will display enough contrast to be useful. I don't work with biological specimen myself but I work in a TEM lab so I'm familiar with concepts in electron microscopy. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions.

Here's the link to the course:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryo-em

In addition to the desk light suggestion, I would also recommend installing Flux on your computer. It automatically adjusts the temperature on your monitor to a warmer color at night to prevent eye strain.

https://justgetflux.com/

I made an excel book and my goal is to get through 1 or 2 iterations of sketchymedical and pathoma before my dedicated time. Here's a link if it helps (I just googled file upload and this came up): http://www.filedropper.com/studybook

you could try If This Then That.

Here's a recipe that searches any new emails received in your gmail inbox for some keyword then sends a push notification to your phone (iOS or Android) if it finds it: https://ifttt.com/recipes/164663-notify-iphone-on-gmail-label-notify

I imagine you could try searching for "residency" "ERAS" "interview", or something similar...

edit: grammar

F.lux is an exceptionally good alternative too. It pretty much does the same thing and lessens eye strain. Great for those who already have glasses and it's free!

Link here: https://justgetflux.com/

Someone who isn't me heard that keeping a terminal window open to perform the selective screen shot command "screencapture -iw ~/Desktop/insertimagename.jpg" allows you to pick a window for your screen shot.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/11/take-screen-shots-terminal-mac-os-x/

Avoiding eye strain, at least for me f.lux is essential for this.

I still use my own handwritten notes since the writing it down in my own words process helps me a lot when studying, but almost all my resources are online or on my computer.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Stanley-Classic-12-oz-Hammertone-1-Hand-Vacuum-Mug/40370513?action=product_interest&amp;action_type=title&amp;item_id=40370513&amp;placement_id=irs-106-t1&amp;strategy=PWVUB&amp;visitor_id&amp;category=&amp;client_guid=1...

This is the exact one I have. Keep my coffee/tea hot and its pretty durable.

All of my lectures are streaming online, so I don't usually use VLC. I purchased a copy of Enounce Myspeed, which lets me adjust speed on streaming online media (HTML5 and Flash). Best $30 I spent in my life. I haven't been able to find a comparable free plug-in.

Asset limits for Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) depend on state: http://assetlimits.newamerica.net/content/asset-limits-your-state

No asset limit for ACA subsidy, just income (MAGI) on last year's tax return: https://www.healthcare.gov/lower-costs/qualifying-for-lower-costs/

Download the computer app, then you create an account which syncs everything to AnkiWeb (online server system), and then you can access online or on any mobile apps. Just be sure to sync any progress you make (there is a sync button in each app, & computer app will auto-sync when closed, but mobile apps will not).

Their official website has a lot of good info: https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html

Yeah, you can literally just drag decks on the main page so that they become subdecks. Alternatively, you can go into the "browse" function and just select all the cards of a deck then click "change decks".

Since your questions seem to be entirely about how to use Anki, if you have any other questions, the answers can likely be found here: https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html

You're right. OP should try http://www.mediafire.com But the files he gave us are barely over 1 GB. They give us 2.5 GB max on the site, so we should be fine unless he skipped over a LOT of stuff. Edit: Mediafire sucks, if anyone knows a good file upload site, they should message OP with it so we can get larger files easier.

Try http://www.filefactory.com

So I did tutoring for 8 months before Med school. Main thing I did was post on a site called next doorThey have it for individual neighborhoods, and I just made a little ad. It also helped I was at my parents in a wealthier area, and had some connections that neighbors got me. But people post on there both looking for tutors and advertising tutoring. And we had a few family friends who I offered to do for free but paid me anyways. I still get emails three years later from time to time about it. But word of mouth was definitely the biggest way. My sisters boss’ niece, a neighbor who tutored chem but her student needed a math tutor, family friend, my friends sister for ACT prep in math).

Finals week was the best. Sooo much extra tutoring. I charged $40/hr and was told I was too cheap haha. Again, it was in suburbia, so cost obviously varies. I’d rack in $300/wk cash for like 8 hours of work. It was awesome.

Edit: also an easier more guaranteed way, can you apply to tutor undergrads. I tutored a freshman math course during my senior year of undergrad and it was a guaranteed 3 hours a week (albeit only like $13 an hour) and was pretty straight forward. I’m sure undergrad anatomy and biology need tutors.