I finally feel like I am getting the hang of med school.  And it only took a year!

Anyways, school is going pretty well.  Believe it or not, I actually like being a second year.  I love learning about diseases and treatments.  More than anything, though, I finally feel like I am becoming a doctor.

As I have told you before, as a medical student I get a lot of medical questions, which is fine.  But last year I just felt really embarrassed when people would ask me questions that I couldn’t answer.  “Aren’t you in medical school?” they would say. I still can’t answer every question, but it is nice to be able to answer a few.  I like that feeling.

I thought that pharmacology was going to be the death of me this year, but it really isn’t that bad.  Now that I’ve got the hang of it, I know how to organize the drugs by classes, and I can zero in on the mechanism of action, clinical uses, and adverse effects.  Not to brag, but my note sheets for pharm are pretty stellar.

The toughest part about second year is that sometimes there is more than one right answer.  I still don’t know how to handle this come exam time.  So many questions I can narrow down to two answers, and they are both right, so then I have to sit there and agonize over which is more right.  I guess it is like life, though.  For example, it isn’t necessarily wrong to order a bunch of different tests with a patient, but sometimes you can get by with just ordering one.  I think it is going to take me a while to really get used to this way of thinking, but I am sure I will get it eventually.

Other than all that, life is pretty good here in Missouri.  Ragweed season is in full swing, but I enjoy the irony of sneezing all through my allergy lectures.  I am getting excited for fall break in a few weeks, but it also means a lot of exams and practicals coming up.  I am excited, though, because in a few weeks we get to do school physicals, and I have been assigned to first graders!  I will let you know how it goes!