Day 5: Week One and Done!

I can't believe its already the end of week one! I really don't want the program to go by too fast and seeing how quickly this week went by I'll definitely try to make an attempt to get to know more people in the Tier before its too late.

This morning we began with a lecture from Dr. Urrea, a researcher who does clinical studies in the hospital on Motor Disorders. Dr. Urrea's backstory was very interesting as he is a very qualified doctor from Columbia but cannot practice as an MD in the US without completing rotations and passing the exams. It must be frustrating but at the same time he seems to keep himself busy with work at GHS. This lecture was especially interesting for me as I had already taken a neuroscience class at school. We had not covered Deep brain stimulation in my class and I liked hearing the different disorders that it can be applied to. Seeing the videos of Dr. Urrea's patients and the before and after of deep brain stimulation treatment was astonishing; it almost seemed like the patients had been acting out their tremors and and invisible switch was turned off. Amongst the 3 different movement disorders (hypokenetic, hyperkinetic, and ataxia) it was difficult to discern some of the differences in patients without Dr. Urrea pointing it out. Im sure after specializing in a field like this a trained professional such as himself is able to clearly see it. It definitely shows me how much further I need to go to become a physician.

Next was Dr. Eprights lecture on organ transplants. I agreed with her that the system put in place to get on the list and receive an organ is just (where the patient must meet medical criteria and pass certain psychological indicators). And it is true that you cannot simply eradicate bias by looking at the patients post-surgical support system and other criteria. One thing that has me slightly torn is the controversy over selling organs. Currently with the system in place it is impossible to financially compensate organ donors in any way (even with thank you plaques to the families which is a tad bit extreme). I am leaning towards the side that people should be able to make money off their organs but there must be adverse side-effects to that sort of system as well that I am not aware of. It certainly is something that I would like to read more on.

After lunch and some more research for our debate topics, we then listened to Dr. Banisaukas' overview on what we need to plan for when applying to medical school in college. It is very stressful to see the criteria but also reassuring to see that I am on the right track for many things that he listed. I am interested to have the 1:1 session on Monday; even though I've met with as many pre-medical advisors at USC I will certainly benefit meeting with another one from a different school such as Furman. Hopefully he'll be able to give me some tips on possibly applying to out-of-state schools.

Last but not least was the overview of our HRA results. It was reassuring to see that I am no closer to be being pre-diabetic than I was two years ago and the dietician was very knowledgeable in answering everyone's questions. The only thing was that it was the same presentation that we were given in Tier I. I know that many people in Tier II have not seen it before but the information was slightly repetitive for those who had, but still very inserting. I always feel so unhealthy after listening to the lecture on what consists a healthy diet but it certainly has motivated me to make an effort in improving my overall health. Here's to hopefully not being pre-diabetic a year from now as well!

#MedExTierII