Samantha Xavier
Week 2: Day 6
Today was Clinical Observation Day 2! I woke up around 5am, showered and headed to the hospital around 6:30 for my 7:00am clinical. Today I shadowed PodB in the ER. I got to see some really cool things. Dr. Keyes was so good to me, explained everything she was going through, and also provided me with advice. During my time of shadowing, I was able to see some trauma, patients that tend to come in on the regular, some serous cases and also some not-so serious cases.
Many of the patients enjoyed Dr. Keyes company, how she treated them, and show she cared for them. As she continued to talk to them, I could see the level of trust that they begin forming with her only within a few minute. One patient appreciated so much that they made sure to make note of her name to request her if they ever need her again.
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Dr. Keyes really showed me what it is like to be a true physician. She loves what she does and her patients love her motive.
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After a long day at the hospital, I took some lunch home and watched Netflix for an hour or so. I am excited to go to more clinicals along the week!
Week 2: Day 7
Today was the first day of mock interviews! I woke up very very nervous, my palms were sweaty, and I was trying to hide my nervousness by not shaking leg against the ground. I knew I was definitely going to have some mess ups and but the anxiety was still kicking in. I had to calm myself down my telling myself that this was a MOCK interview and messing up here would be better than messing up in an actual interview.
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Did that work? nope, still nervous.
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My first interview was with Maggie, an M2. Her section was on ethics. I was the third person in my group to go so my anxiety continued until it was my turn to sit in the hot seat. Maggie told me to take a deep breath and that everything was going to be okay.
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After Maggie interviewed me, most of my nervousness went away. She told me my strong points and also went over my weak points. After my first interview, I begin to grow some confidence in myself, confidence that I honestly have not felt before. I did better and better as each interview continued. I am happy that I noticed my self-improvements.
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After interviews were over, I realized that I do need to improve on articulating my words. I feel like I have all my thoughts perfectly running in my head, but when they come out of my mouth, they are not clearly said. I will be working on this in the future.
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We headed to lunch directly after interviews and brought our lunch back with us so we would be able to attend Dr. Thames' lecture on time. The end of the day consisted on working on our application and on our personal statement. I think that I had a very productive day at MedEX!
Week 2: day 8
Expect the unexpected. Today is Clinical day 3! I woke up at 4:30am to get ready to meet Dr. Sridhar, an ortho surgeon, at 6:00am by the fountain. We started the day by doing rotations and going over the patients of the day. Drow and I then went to our first surgery. For this one, I was able to see a full hip replacement. It was crazy to see flesh so up close and only about 3 feet away. During this procedure, I see a text on my watch from my brother.
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It says "are you free right now." I never usually panic when I see texts like these but I told my brother that I was shadowing all day so he knew that I would be in surgery. I politely stepped out of the OR, and texted my brother back "yes, why". He then said "it's about avo".
In Konkani, the native language in Goa, India, avo means "grandmother".
I called my brother and he then let me know that my grandmother had passed away. India is currently being consumed by COVID19. They have had roughly about 29 million cases, with about 400,000 of those being deaths. Unfortunately, my grandmother was one of the 400,000.
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Within ten minutes, my brother who lives in Greenville, was able to pick me up from the hospital and take us back to Spartanburg to comfort my mom.