My USMLE Step 1 experience..

Finally did my USMLE step 1 on March 3rd 2016!! Months of prep (9 months to be exact) and it feels good to be done! Haven’t received my score yet but I thought I’d talk about the experience.

I’m not gonna go over prepping for the actual test because that’s a whole different story, I’m only gonna talk about the trip and the test.

First of all, I took the exam in Dubai, for very good reasons. Turned out to be a great experience. Traveled Wednesday morning, stayed at a hotel 2 minutes away from the test center and took the exam on Thursday then got to spend the weekend in Dubai 🙂

The day before: I settled in to my room, reviewed some miss-able facts, then went for a walk, I thought I’d see where the test center is exactly because the area I was in is called “Knowledge Village” and it’s basically a campus for many different Universities which was nice. I made sure I had the correct papers with them and asked them a few questions then went to have lunch. Came back to the room, finished reviewing, took a shower and forced myself to go to bed at 10 pm knowing I’m gonna sleep an hour later.. which is what happened 🙂

Test day: woke up around 7 am, had my breakfast and the much needed COFFEE! Breakfast of course was very light and sugary as I needed every pint of blood in my body to go to my brain. Picked out comfortable clothes and took a jacket (just in case). I arrived 50 minutes before my scheduled time but they allowed me to start earlier, which was nice. The test itself was as expected, fair number of straightforward questions and many questions that required educated guessing x) .. probably what was alarming the most, and thankfully it didn’t ruin my morale, is that these educated guessing questions didn’t come dispersed, meaning that they weren’t scattered throughout the blocks (7 blocks) they actually took up 80% of my 4th block and almost all of my 7th block.. but I’m trying to be positive here 😛

After the exam, I was completely numb, I didn’t know exactly how I should feel. I don’t even remember the walk back to the hotel. I called my Mother, talked to her about the exam. I was happy to see so many good luck questions from my friends and colleagues, that was lovely 🙂 .. so I just said forget it for now, you wont change anything. So I took a shower and went to meet a very dear friend of mine 🙂

The next 2 days I took them at my own pace, easy-going, watched a movie, bought some stuff and gifts for my family, jumped from cafe to cafe 😛

Overall it was a very nice experience, I would definitely consider doing it again for my Step 2 🙂

Doctors..?

Ever since I started my clerkship years in med-school and started going to the hospital, doing rotations in different departments, getting exposed to a multitude of new patients and case; I learned and noticed so much that have helped me mature not only as a student but also as a person. But, one thing I’ve noticed that caught my attention is how it is to be a Medical Doctor.

All the prestige, glamour and status that comes with the title “Dr.” that we’ve been hearing all about, viewing them as – what they ought to be- an integral part of society, and, most importantly, the most humane.. but are they really?

I was very surprised to see, in quite a few cases, something completely different; Doctors who lack empathy towards their patients, who sometimes ignore or disrespect caregivers’ questions and concerns, and what disturbed me the most is how they only do their specific job and leave, regardless.

Examples best elaborate on observations, so here are a few:

The alarming example has to be how some Doctors are very much interested in the science and pathophysiology that’s going on that they even neglect the moral side of the job. Like undermining the patient or their caregiver’s questions and queries for example. This is striking because this isn’t the “fairy-tale vision” everyone has in mind; the trend I’ve noticed is that Doctors come, do their job, complain a lot, show interest in the science and discuss for HOURS (yes you know that specialty) and yet forget the essence of the responsibilities that come with the title. Yes, with time it’ll take it’s toll on you but there are some things you are born with, that are part of your “instinct”. Sadly, you can actually identify this type of people as early as medical school.. that’s when you start to wonder if it really is the noble specialty you chose.

Another example would be how a patient who has multiple medical conditions and follows up with multiple services at different periods of time based on their appointment slots; I was in a liver transplant clinic and a scan showed an abnormality in the patient’s kidney; what did the doctor do? he gave her a 6 month follow up appointment, he didn’t even attempt to check on the patient’s kidney and when I asked his response was “well this is the liver transplant clinic, the patient can follow this elsewhere” .. which would be true if only:

1. the patient knows they have a problem
2. they are eligible to follow up in this hospital in the first place
3. You actually call or facilitate an appointment for your patient who happens to be a transplant patient more prone to infections and diseases

Probably the worst of them all is not doing their job. What I mean by that is not that they actually don’t show up for work or just want a piece of mind and elect not to do anything. I’m talking about “practice-wise”. The most prominent example I could think of right now is a patient with Diabetes follows up with Family Medicine and was referred to the Endocrine clinic for another different reason than Diabetes. To the Family Physician and to my surprise the patient’s blood sugar was not optimal, the ENDOCRINOLOGIST didn’t bother looking at the patient’s blood sugar probably because “it’s not his/her job”.. well besides the fact that Endocrinologists know the most about Diabetes, isn’t it part of being a Doctor that you check the patient’s well-being as a whole in any given place in time?

Of course, I have all these examples and am writing this post just to speak of an idea or observation that came to mind; not to undermine physicians or question their motives or judgements because the examples I’ve listed might only make up 1 or 2 % of reality. I carry nothing but respect to all Doctors because it is a tough journey and a selfless act towards society. But it’s important to point out these points to gain insight and to hopefully avoid making these mistakes in the future, wherever we go, whatever major we’re in, not just medicine.

“You either do your responsibilities and play your role correctly and with the best approach possible or you don’t”

“It’s your fault you were born first”

Being the eldest of your 2 brothers you tend to have to shoulder some unwanted responsibilities whether you like it or not. But sometimes those responsibilities, your studying and your other problems either weigh you down or make you “slip-up”

If you think people are forgiving when you have those slip ups and say “oh it’s ok he’s been doing a good enough job already one problem is ok” or say stuff like “yea well maybe his brothers aren’t listening to him or they’re giving him a rough time”. Then, you are very wrong.

When something goes right or smooth it’s great and praise sometimes goes to others, which I’m TOTALLY fine with. But as soon as something goes wrong it’s all my fault for some reason.

Hence, the title of this post.

“Be Part of The Solution.. Not Part of The Problem”

A wise man, holding an administrative position in charge of a group of individuals, was approached multiple times by his group regarding multiple issues and for guidance. What they received everytime was a lecture about something completely unrelated, or some political discussion.

With this group encountering issues after issues and having to juggle around trying to solve them and looking to the men and women upstairs for help he was always there for them to give them that excellent piece of… unrelated lectures!

So, this very wise man, when presented with yet another issue, told his group “be part of the solution, not part of the problem”. Such a brilliant quote. However, what use is this quote if that person is exactly why this phrase was quoted?

Yet again, the wise man proves that he, in fact, is always part of the problem and stands n the face of the solution.

I have a feeling this may be applicable to many people in your life, people who claim to be something or to NOT be something where they actually ARE exactly what they say they’re not or what they despise.

The Perfect Life..

Everyone has a dream, a goal or a wish. We sit by ourselves quietly contemplating what’s around us, juggling through life’s many chores and struggling to have a grip on your sanity making it through day-to-day life doing whatever it is you do whether you like it, are destined to it or just there by virtue.

Yet there’s always a blue-print on the back of our minds on how or where I’d rather be, or what would I rather be doing. Some of us get lucky and manage to do just that, hence the phrase “followed their dream”, but some aren’t so fortunate, or they’ve found their fit in what they do or elsewhere entirely.

Of course, we have God to thank for our many blessings in what we have in our life; health, family and friends and most importantly stability in the mind and surroundings. But one can’t help but have these vivid imaginations some would call “daydreams”. This post is a walkthrough to my most frequently imagined “daydream”.

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Away from all toxicity and poison in my environment, and environmental pollution is not what I mean, I’m in a land where everything and everyone is appreciated, where a man/woman would strive to achieve something and no one stands to block his/her way. Most importantly a place that has everything I like, from it’s landscape, weather and people to it’s mindset, interests and products. Germany is the place that has it all for me. My dream is to become a football manager, I’ve always had this funny feeling in my gut whenever I watch football and I get it even more when I imagine myself taking charge of a team. The excitement and the buzz of it all; having your own team, your own staff and a city and potentially a global fan-base looking up to you and your team, eagerly waiting for every match. The sense of a “team” and working with many individuals together for one cause is just magnificent and takes my breath away. Since I’ve started watching football as a child I’ve looked up to many big names in management from the old guards Sir Alex, Del Bosque and Fabio Capello and his antiques to the new boys who burst up to the scene like Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola. They were the representation of what I wanted to become.

Now enough with my passion for football, let’s say something changed in this universe and I somehow got to manage a club I like in Germany’s top flight like Bayer Leverkusen.

I’d wake up every morning to train this great group of players

Man managing some of the big names and potential big names in Europe, listening to them, trying to work with them to achieve a common plan to reach our goals. Communicating with my assistants and ensuring their well-being and healthy team spirit. Working hard all week to meet our fans who would be waiting for us from weekend to weekend.

our home; where our fans eagerly wait to see us every week

Throughout the calendar year you get the chance to face every German team in the top flight and if you’re good enough you can get some visits from European super teams.

Magical nights like this make it worth while

Every other week you even get the chance to visit the other teams in Germany in their home ground where their fans are equally eager to see their team beat yours and you prepare your squad and plan to upset the hosts and get your 3 points.

Away games; a chance to visit the countries best teams and some of the major cities in Europe

During your off time, when your players go rest and be with their families or when you give them a day off after a match you can retreat to your lovely car from a wide selection of fantastic cars this country has to offer, take it to another city or try it out on a track.

Or just keep it simple and take a stroll around the city, either way you’ve escaped the toxic environment you’re in, you managed to fulfill your dream with no one there to judge you along the way, you feel appreciated and looked up to rather down on.

So, there is my dream, It was never Medicine. But as we said you might be one of the lucky people who get the chance to fulfill their dreams. Who knows, maybe God has better plans for you.

The best piece of advice to give someone once they snap out of their dream: “work hard on whatever you’re doing and be good at it, because you never know where your place in life might be and perhaps your destiny lies in where you are now”

But it doesn’t hurt to dream 🙂 .. or does it?

Scouting Players

Every season I have a few young underrated players I like to keep my eyes on. In this post I am going to list my top 5 based on my opinion AND their success or opportunities they got to play for big teams.

5) Felipe Luis – Left Back (LB)

When word came out in 2009 that Real Madrid were looking to sign Felipe Luis I was THRILLED, Marcelo wasn’t at his best at the time and no one really fulfilled the gap Roberto Carlos’ departure made. Felipe was outstanding for Deportivo La Coruna. He was versatile with good attack and defense balance. So to see him move to our city rivals Atletico Madrid was a disaster 🙂

The defender was part of the amazing 2013/14 season Atletico had; winning the league and reaching the Champions League final. He since moved to Chelsea.

4) Jordi Alba (LB)

Also another left back to add to the list, shows how desperate I was for Real Madrid to sign a LB 😛

Jordi is a speedster, literally, his pace and work rate are outstanding. His time at Valencia saw him play on the left hand side along with Mathieu, both were quick and energetic and both were left backs so BOTH covered defensive duties. I must admit it was very interesting tactic by Valencia, one that I admired.

Something that proved my point on how amazing this player is was his performance in the Euro 2012 tournament in Ukraine where I was lucky enough to witness this goal LIVE: http://youtu.be/X2PKvjIAh3s

Of course to my joy he went on to join no other than BARCELONA, our arch rivals.. Brilliant  😉

3) Calhanoglu – Central attacking midfielder (CAM)

My current top underrated player. This 21 year old Turk first caught my eye on FIFA while I was managing Hamburg SV. So I decided to start watching him a bit closer, I didn’t regret it, he was brilliant and was by far Hamburg’s best player despite their struggle against relegation.

Last summer he joined Bayer Leverkusen, a team that suits his caliber, although having been linked to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid I think this is a smart move from him to develop and establish himself before emerging as a great player in world football.

Another important point to mention about this player is his FREE KICK ability, he is a free kick specialist and is a good shooter as well. Don’t believe me? just watch: http://youtu.be/wvjCo9lLeeo and http://youtu.be/IX76FslSVx0

2) Griezmann – Centre forward and Left winger (CF & LW)

Probably the player I got disappointed by the most. I annoyed my brother and friends talking about this player since I first saw him at the age of 19 at Real Sociedad. He’s elegant and slick on the ball with a good shot when needed. Seeing him get called up for France for the 2014 world cup in Brazil made me so happy. I hoped Real Madrid would sign him because he is still 22 and we lack a good striker cover up so he seemed like a perfect fit, where did he go? ATLETICO MADRID…. sigh

I just can’t..

1) Marco Reus – Left and Central attacking midfielder (LAM-CAM)

By far my proudest discovery, I read about a wonderkid playing for Borussia Monchengladbach so I said I have to see this guy. I am GLAD I did because I managed to witness an amazing goal which I can’t seem to find!

Basically, that got him on the radar. Clubs like Bayern and Dortmund (his boyhood club) came knocking. He joined Dortmund and is playing there til this day and has evolved and flourished under Jurgen Klopp and is now regarded as one of the best footballers in the world.

So in conclusion, I don’t claim to be the best scout. But I do find joy and take pride in observing a promising players and telling my friends and brothers about him and see him a few months or years later become a top player who is well known to everyone.

Thank you 🙂

Society These Days

After a rather big hiatus I’m back. I hope I could sustain this posting run this time.

Of course being off for a while doesn’t mean I’m not full of thoughts to write about, but college work takes a lot of time from you.

One of the topics I kept thinking about while I’m off is something unfair in society (oh really), which is that those with the better minds and decisions are either quiet or SUPPRESSED by the more dominant but not necessarily efficient and better people.

Nothing explains these things better than examples:

Let’s start with school for example, as we all know (hopefully) people have different personalities and it’s hard to classify these personalities but one classification people seem to be accepting is the introvert vs extrovert. This doesn’t mean people understand this concept very well (I might have a separate topic on this) but basically or in summary extrovert derive their energy by being dominant and social, introverts on the other hand are more reserved but that does NOT mean they don’t know how to deal with situations or that they are shy or anything they just derive their energy by being with their thoughts and favorite habits or hobbies.

So, using this concept, at school the so called “popular” guys are usually EXTROVERTS, because they indirectly demand their status, you never actually see a popular kid who is liked for his quietness. No, that’s so superficial, introverts might have many interests, hobbies and traits that are actually in common with the extroverts but they won’t necessary show it. To give you a real life example: In school almost no one thought I watch and love football.. why is that? because I wasn’t like this particular popular student who keeps talking and talking about his team and other teams; EVEN THOUGH this kid is almost always wrong and knows too little of popular football topics that I know. The difference is only in that he expresses therefore he is noticed. Which is fair enough, the world is now a fast paced environment with many people so there is no problem. But there is! a big percentage of extroverts actually suppress those around them, to go back to the previous example, I pop up and correct a piece of information or add a comment; abuse and silly childish comment come hurling your way. So, you can see that this is where the problem lies.

In many stages of society whether it be at school, college or even work this has been a struggle. Each with it’s own set of effects on consequeces. College examples might include projects or research or even being head of whatever association. Which brings me to another example at college; a student (who is actually a friend, I have no problems with whatsoever personally) who likes to lead, but is a VERY bad leader. With his personality and probably lack of suppression during his life he gets this confidence which makes him crave leading, addressing and talking in meetings etc. He is obviously not the best leader but he’s leading, whilst others who are smarter, more organized and better leaders aren’t either because they are introverts or because they were suppressed multiple times whenever they wanted to do anything.

I could go all day but then it would become very unclear and misleading; this can all be summarized with one picture:

Thank you 🙂

Muscles of the neck

Medical Mnemonics

TOSS My Gravy Spoon, Darling

Infrahyoid muscles (TOSS) – the strap muscles of the neck

• Thyrohyoid
• Omohyoid
• Sternothyroid
• Sternohyoid

Suprahyoid (My Gravy Spoon, Darling)

• Mylohyoid
• Geniohyoid
• Stylohyoid
• Digastric

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Interesting and insightful tips

http://www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/top-10-tips-to-radically

Rules for women during the world cup

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