All good things must come to an end....
conclusion: SMDEP @ Duke was AMAZING.
OK now for the interesting stuff:
I didn't have the chance to write at all during the last week because I had a presentation to prepare. All of the students that were taking cell biology had to choose a disease that was caused by a genetic mutation to present in front of the class. After presenting in front of the class, the three best presentations were chosen to present in front of all of the students in the program and all of the faculty members. (nerve wrecking !!!!!!)
The twist: the information MUST be presented creatively. A typical power point presentation would not be accepted.
My groups presentation:
Subject: Tay Sachs disease
Method: We chose to make a video!!!! We started of by making a parody of : "That 70's show" In our parody Dana and Eric have a child that have Tay Sachs disease. When they notice some of the symptoms they decide to go see the doctor (that's where I come in).
The second part of the video was a parody of House M.D. ... and I was House ;)..... The video ends with House wondering what's wrong with the baby... We then start our power point presentation explaining what occurred in the video (symptoms of Tay Sachs disease, causes, ect)
We had a lot of fun filming the video. In the end we reached the finals but ended getting second place :(. I really enjoyed myself and that's what counts ;)
I also wanted to talk about some of the seminars that I found really helpful:
1) The Health professions Recruitment Seminar:
Representatives of various Medical Schools came to talk about how to be a competitive applicant to Med school(Approximately 19 different Medical Schools: Weill Cornell, John Hopkins, Stanford, Washington University in St Louis, etc)
2) Financial planning Workshop. We analyzed:
a) The debt that is incurred after Med School
b) How to pay for Med School
c)How much a physician earns
d) How to be responsible with our money ( managing credit cards, making a budget, etc)
I'm really enjoyed being at Duke during the summer. Anyone that can apply should apply.
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the blogs.
Take care
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
I couldn't upload my schedule so might as well just write everything:
Most of our courses are 1 hour and fifteen minutes long
Monday:
8am: Math
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Cell Biology recitation
Tuesday:
8am: Writing in Medical Education
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Standardized Patient Module and Beta Interviews
Wednesday:
8am: Math
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 1:45: Ethics Health Care and Humanism
2:00 - 5:00: Peak Performance Organic
Health Care Disparities
Thursday:
8am: Writing in Medical Education
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Chemistry Recitation
Friday:
8am: Math
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Special Topics
On Thursdays I have Rotations from 7:00 to 11:00
On Tuesdays (or Wednesdays) we generally have a guest speaker from 5:00 to 7:00
Most of our courses are 1 hour and fifteen minutes long
Monday:
8am: Math
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Cell Biology recitation
Tuesday:
8am: Writing in Medical Education
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Standardized Patient Module and Beta Interviews
Wednesday:
8am: Math
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 1:45: Ethics Health Care and Humanism
2:00 - 5:00: Peak Performance Organic
Health Care Disparities
Thursday:
8am: Writing in Medical Education
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Chemistry Recitation
Friday:
8am: Math
9:30: Cell Biology
11:00: Organic Chemistry
12:15 - 2:00: Lunch
2:00 - 5:00: Special Topics
On Thursdays I have Rotations from 7:00 to 11:00
On Tuesdays (or Wednesdays) we generally have a guest speaker from 5:00 to 7:00
Hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend!!!
Well in this post I will talk about what has really made a difference for me during these past weeks.
First of all the orientations are amazing. During my first orientation in Labor and Delivery I saw a cesarean section. Seeing a babies first breath and his first instances outside of the womb is incredible. If was so amazed by what I had seen, that I called my mom back in Haiti to tell her THANK YOU !!!
My second orientation was really sad. I met a man who not only had AIDS but who also had some sort of cancer. He had undergone chemotherapy but sadly the latter only worsen the situation. Because of the chemicals he was unable to breath by himself thus had to be plugged into a machine that sustained him. The tube delivering the air entered the body through his throat and the doctors had to give him a sedative to force him to sleep and reduce the pain.
Finally my most extraordinary experience was at the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). We arrived that night at seven pm. We began our rounds by observing a lumbar puncture: it lasted approximately one hour (the attending was teaching an intern, thus it took more time than a usual lumbar puncture). After observing the lumbar puncture, the attending brought us to a room where a baby (barely a day hold) was connected to various machines. He explained that this baby had a lung infection; because of this infection he was unable to bring oxygen to his blood (thus the rest of the body wasn't oxygenated either). This baby had a tube in his throat, and was receiving a drug to increase his blood pressure... If the blood flowed through his brain while deoxygenated he could get brain damage....
Finally, before leaving for the night I saw a baby that had jaundice. The doctor explained the two methods to take care of a such baby: we can either expose the baby to daylight (or artificial light) and render the heme soluble. Or we can do a blood transfusion, the blood of the baby is"taken out " of the system while the blood of the donor is given to the baby. If jaundice isn't taken care of a baby can sustain serious brain damage. The doctor's explanation reminded me of story my dad had told me a long time ago (he's a pediatrician and sometimes tells me these types of stories). I called him, asked about what had happened, and discovered that he was actually talking about me. When I was born I had jaundice, and I was also close to sustaining brain damage... At the time my dad had to rush from the hospital where my mom and I were to get blood from the red cross... Our hospital didn't store blood...
I feel blessed because I could have not been here today writing this blog...
Well that's all for now
Take care!!!!!!!!
Well in this post I will talk about what has really made a difference for me during these past weeks.
First of all the orientations are amazing. During my first orientation in Labor and Delivery I saw a cesarean section. Seeing a babies first breath and his first instances outside of the womb is incredible. If was so amazed by what I had seen, that I called my mom back in Haiti to tell her THANK YOU !!!
My second orientation was really sad. I met a man who not only had AIDS but who also had some sort of cancer. He had undergone chemotherapy but sadly the latter only worsen the situation. Because of the chemicals he was unable to breath by himself thus had to be plugged into a machine that sustained him. The tube delivering the air entered the body through his throat and the doctors had to give him a sedative to force him to sleep and reduce the pain.
Finally my most extraordinary experience was at the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). We arrived that night at seven pm. We began our rounds by observing a lumbar puncture: it lasted approximately one hour (the attending was teaching an intern, thus it took more time than a usual lumbar puncture). After observing the lumbar puncture, the attending brought us to a room where a baby (barely a day hold) was connected to various machines. He explained that this baby had a lung infection; because of this infection he was unable to bring oxygen to his blood (thus the rest of the body wasn't oxygenated either). This baby had a tube in his throat, and was receiving a drug to increase his blood pressure... If the blood flowed through his brain while deoxygenated he could get brain damage....
Finally, before leaving for the night I saw a baby that had jaundice. The doctor explained the two methods to take care of a such baby: we can either expose the baby to daylight (or artificial light) and render the heme soluble. Or we can do a blood transfusion, the blood of the baby is"taken out " of the system while the blood of the donor is given to the baby. If jaundice isn't taken care of a baby can sustain serious brain damage. The doctor's explanation reminded me of story my dad had told me a long time ago (he's a pediatrician and sometimes tells me these types of stories). I called him, asked about what had happened, and discovered that he was actually talking about me. When I was born I had jaundice, and I was also close to sustaining brain damage... At the time my dad had to rush from the hospital where my mom and I were to get blood from the red cross... Our hospital didn't store blood...
I feel blessed because I could have not been here today writing this blog...
Well that's all for now
Take care!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Hi everyone,
In 15 minutes i will be starting my Organic Chemistry class. It has been pretty hectic these last few days. I go to bed at 12 and wake up at 7:30 to go to class at 8:00
My classes:
1)Cell Biology
2)Organic Chemistry
3)Peak Performance: in this course we learn time management skills, study skills, and we also learn about what might affect us academically ( stereotypes, lack of confidence, etc.) and how to face them
4)Mathematics
5)Health Care and Disparities: throughout this course we will learn about health care disparities in America. We will analyze the reasons explaining why there are so few minorities in the medical field, the differences between health care in the states and in other countries, and a lot of other very interesting issues (i'll try to post a list)
6)Standardized Patient Interviewing & Beta Interviewing: we will learn throughout this course, how to interact with patients. An actor will play the role of a patient with a specific personality (shy, extroverted, etc) and we, the scholars, will have to learn how to determine what the story of the patient is.
The Beta interviews are mock interviews with faculty members to prepare are interview once we have been selected as interviewees by a Medical School.
7)Ethics and the patient Doctor relationship (starts today so the explanation will be for the next post)
8)Writing in Medical Education: we prepare our personal statement and do various other writing activities
9)I also shadow at the Hospital every Thursday (somewhere different every Thursday):
on June 19th I will be shadowing in Labor and delivery
26th : (MICU) Medical Intensive Care Unit
3 Jul: (NICU) Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit
10 Jul: Pediatrics ER
17 Jul: CCU Cardiac intensive Care Unit
In 15 minutes i will be starting my Organic Chemistry class. It has been pretty hectic these last few days. I go to bed at 12 and wake up at 7:30 to go to class at 8:00
My classes:
1)Cell Biology
2)Organic Chemistry
3)Peak Performance: in this course we learn time management skills, study skills, and we also learn about what might affect us academically ( stereotypes, lack of confidence, etc.) and how to face them
4)Mathematics
5)Health Care and Disparities: throughout this course we will learn about health care disparities in America. We will analyze the reasons explaining why there are so few minorities in the medical field, the differences between health care in the states and in other countries, and a lot of other very interesting issues (i'll try to post a list)
6)Standardized Patient Interviewing & Beta Interviewing: we will learn throughout this course, how to interact with patients. An actor will play the role of a patient with a specific personality (shy, extroverted, etc) and we, the scholars, will have to learn how to determine what the story of the patient is.
The Beta interviews are mock interviews with faculty members to prepare are interview once we have been selected as interviewees by a Medical School.
7)Ethics and the patient Doctor relationship (starts today so the explanation will be for the next post)
8)Writing in Medical Education: we prepare our personal statement and do various other writing activities
9)I also shadow at the Hospital every Thursday (somewhere different every Thursday):
on June 19th I will be shadowing in Labor and delivery
26th : (MICU) Medical Intensive Care Unit
3 Jul: (NICU) Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit
10 Jul: Pediatrics ER
17 Jul: CCU Cardiac intensive Care Unit
| | ||
Monday, June 9, 2008
Day 3 at Duke University...
I know that it's a little bit awkward that i start by day three but the this week end as been action packed.
Since leaving Cornell I have been in Richmond Virginia (beautiful town!!!!!!). Sadly I decided to go to Richmond at the last minute (two days before leaving Cornell) thus I couldn't write the coordinators of SMDEP to ask them to change my travel plans (I think it would be really inappropriate to suddenly change my travel plans after everything had been settled). Initially I was suppose to leave from JFK but I was in Virginia... The solution was relatively simple: Friday June 6 I left Richmond at 10 pm on a Greyhound bus, arrived in New York Saturday morning at 5 am; then took the subway from Port Authority (E Train), got off at Stuphin Boulevard in Long Island, took the Air train and finally ended up in JFK at 7 am (very tiring!!!).
My flight was suppose to be at 9 am but I had to wait one hour before being able to leave JFK (waiting for a delayed flight is really annoying). After a one hour and 20 minute flight I arrived in Durham.... SO the adventure begins...
Thankfully once I arrived at the airport I was lucky enough to meet up with 3 Cornellians (they left from La Guardia). At 12:30, 4 Cornellians (2 BSPers!!!) 1 Student from Harvard, 1 from Stony Brook, and finally 1 from Fordham leave the Durham airport on bus heading to Duke University.
The Duke campus is amazing (but Cornell is of course the best ;) . The campus is relatively big (I still have a lot of exploring to do ) there are a lot of Victorian style buildings on the campus, and very beautiful facilities.
Once we arrive on campus we receive our room keys, our books, and the plan of the day...
Sadly it's 11 o clock right now and I have to go to bed ( I have to wake up at 6:30 !! tomorrow). What courses am I taking? What activities have we done so far? Are there other Cornellians on campus? Is the SMDEP at Duke University as great as the rumors say it is???????????
Stay tune... I'll be back ;)
I know that it's a little bit awkward that i start by day three but the this week end as been action packed.
Since leaving Cornell I have been in Richmond Virginia (beautiful town!!!!!!). Sadly I decided to go to Richmond at the last minute (two days before leaving Cornell) thus I couldn't write the coordinators of SMDEP to ask them to change my travel plans (I think it would be really inappropriate to suddenly change my travel plans after everything had been settled). Initially I was suppose to leave from JFK but I was in Virginia... The solution was relatively simple: Friday June 6 I left Richmond at 10 pm on a Greyhound bus, arrived in New York Saturday morning at 5 am; then took the subway from Port Authority (E Train), got off at Stuphin Boulevard in Long Island, took the Air train and finally ended up in JFK at 7 am (very tiring!!!).
My flight was suppose to be at 9 am but I had to wait one hour before being able to leave JFK (waiting for a delayed flight is really annoying). After a one hour and 20 minute flight I arrived in Durham.... SO the adventure begins...
Thankfully once I arrived at the airport I was lucky enough to meet up with 3 Cornellians (they left from La Guardia). At 12:30, 4 Cornellians (2 BSPers!!!) 1 Student from Harvard, 1 from Stony Brook, and finally 1 from Fordham leave the Durham airport on bus heading to Duke University.
The Duke campus is amazing (but Cornell is of course the best ;) . The campus is relatively big (I still have a lot of exploring to do ) there are a lot of Victorian style buildings on the campus, and very beautiful facilities.
Once we arrive on campus we receive our room keys, our books, and the plan of the day...
Sadly it's 11 o clock right now and I have to go to bed ( I have to wake up at 6:30 !! tomorrow). What courses am I taking? What activities have we done so far? Are there other Cornellians on campus? Is the SMDEP at Duke University as great as the rumors say it is???????????
Stay tune... I'll be back ;)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Summer Opportunities
During the summer I will be blogging about my internship at DukeUniversity. I'll do my best to give you guys all the information I have and hopefully (for those of you who don't have any experience) help you have abetter understanding of what a Medical Internship is.
I applied to the SMDEP program at Duke University because I wanted to do something productive during the summer. Here's the link to the page if anyone else wants to apply:
I also applied to the CAMP program in Chicago:
Freshmen (and Sophomores) can also apply to the Leadership AllianceProgram (this internship is for those of you who are interested in aMD/PhD degree or just PhD degree):
As Cornellians we can also apply to be Resident Advisors during the summer or Pre-Freshmen Advisors.
In other words there are a looooooooootttttttt of opportunities out there; we just have to look for them.
If anyone knows of any other opportunities please post them.
Well for the time being I'm In Virginia relaxing. I should be here for two more weeks then I will be heading towards North Carolina on June 7th for the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) at Duke
take care
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