The Packing List for Grenada

As the time grows near and after reading tons of blogs & online student-doctor forums, I have started to assemble my own packing list for the first 4 months on the island (and of which may be helpful to other students in the same boat since there is not one single source that I have found yet). With some of the things on this list, you would think that I was going backcountry camping or something. Even though I am going to what is considered a developing country, that is not the reason my list is this way. My understanding is that because nearly all goods are imported into the country from the U.S., I will actually pay a highly inflated price for something as simple as school paper. Here is what I am working with. If any of my fellow classmates have items to add, let me know!

Packing List ✓ Computer/Technology International Travel Outlet Converters Adaptors/Transformers, 300W and 2000W Wireless Router Extension Cord Surge Protector/power Strip Batteries – all sizes Cell Phone/Sim Card – Lime (buy on island) External Hard Drive Camera Printer iPod Noise Cancelling Headphones Ethernet Cords Clothing Hiking Boots Raincoat Summer - style clothes Swimsuit (X3) Bug Repelling Clothes Two sets of nice clothing (White Coat Ceremony, etc.) Pants Sweatshirts Watch Warm Pajamas Sneakers Flip-Flops Sunglasses Toiletries Sunscreen Hand Sanitizer Bug Spray Women's Products Make-Up Hair Dryer Brush Hot-iron tools Face wash Medicine Cold Meds Advil Midol Vitamins Digestive Aids Sunburn Aids Benadryl Claritin Food items Coffee Splenda Coffee Creamer Books & School Supplies Flash drive Post-It Notes Back Pack Dry Erase Markers Highlighters Notecards & Notecard Rings Paper Binders Calculator Pens/#2Pencils Colored Pencils Paper Printer Paper and Ink Cartridges Sharpies Anatomy Kit with Extra blades Stethoscope and Blood Pressure Cuff Latex Gloves Scrubs (x3) Envelopes/Greeting Cards/Stationary USMLE Step Prep Books ✓ BRS Gross Anatomy, 7th Edition ✓ BRS Histology, 6th Edition ✓ BRS Biochemistry, 6th Edition ✓ Survival Tools Flashlights, Large and Small Battery operated Alarm Headlamp Swiss Army knife Scissors Matches/Lighter Umbrella First Aid Kit Water Proof Bag Duct Tape House Supplies Single set of eat and drink ware Pots Fry Pan Bedding, Pillow, Blanket Coffee Pot Towel Hangers Water Filtration/BRITA Water bottle Lunch Bag Large, Insulated grocery bag Tupperware Laundry Bag Laundry Detergent Dryer Sheets Shower Liner Travel Coffee Cup Plastic Bags - Sandwich/Freezer Bottle Opener Can opener Important Documents Drivers License Passport Birth Certificate Acceptance Letter Immigration Letter To Do Before I Depart Contact Bank to put notice on account, debit ($5 ATM fee for withdrawals and 3% exchange rate adjustment fee) and credit card (foreign transaction fee of 3%) ✓ Contact USAA for car insurance ✓ Unlock iphone 4 ✓ Call AT&T to suspend iphone 5 Cancel/Temporarily Suspend Gym Membership Email Friends/Family for white coat ceremony webcast: http://etalk.sgu.edu/white-coat-ceremony/ ✓ Get info on shipping methods (e.g. Amerijet, http://www.amerijet.com/StationsMap.aspx) ✓ Get info on opening Grenadian bank account, http://www.rbtt.com/ec/personal/everydaybanking/chequing/cid-232218.html Receipts for laptops/tablets ✓ Set-Up Direct Deposit with SGU @ https://apps.sgu.edu/members.nsf/direct-deposit  ✓ Provide list of passwords to Family ✓

Where in the world is SGU?

Just so you all can come visit me down on the island, I think it is well worth me advising you on where the heck this place is.

Some of you may only know Grenada from the news coverage many years ago when U.S. medical students were being evacuated from St. George's University due to the internal power struggle that broke out between Grenada's Prime Minister and an organized military group. Needless to say, the U.S. called for an intervention and subsequently the deployment of thousands of troops. Peace and political stability were restored, but I know what you are thinking - "Now, why on earth would I want to visit that place now?" But this was 30 years ago.. and today, there is a lightheartedness and easy-going feel portrayed for life on this island. Just check this link out for yourselves:

30 Signs You Are A Medical Student In Grenada

Grenada is a 3 island state, located in the Eastern Caribbean just northwest of Trinidad and Tobago and northeast of Venezuela. It is just slightly over 130 square miles. As one of the world's largest exporters of nutmeg, Grenada is known as the "Island of Spice." Its capitol is St. George's, which is also home to St. George's University School of Medicine.

I hear that it is also home to some of the finest beaches in the world ...

and the famous annual Carnival festivities in August. I'm getting excited!!! My dad keeps telling me that I will be sippin' a Corona and reading my Anatomy and Physiology books on the beach. I would like to think so....but I am pretty sure that won't be the case, unfortunately. 

Calling In The Switch Hitter

For several months now, I have been accepted to medical school at Ross University and have started mentally and emotionally preparing myself for what it would be like on the island of Dominica. I attended a new student orientation in Los Angeles, joined a Ross University - Class of January 2014 Facebook group, stocked the Ross School of Medicine site daily, and started working on my request for federal loans as part of the FAFSA process. I was going to Ross!

I guess 'WAS' is the key word here though. In early September, I started receiving correspondence from St. George's University (SGU), an application I had also submitted earlier this year in addition to Ross. I hadn't heard back on the status of my application up to this point though, which was long enough for me to dismiss the school all together. I figured if I hadn't heard from them by now, I would't hear back in time to start for the January 2014 term. I was so fatigued from the process that even when I did hear from them, granting me an interview, I wasn't going to go through with it. I was going to say "Thanks, but no thanks." After a little push from my support group - okay a big push actually - I accepted the interview.

Well, on September 10th, I interviewed with a 1984 graduate of SGU and currently a family medicine-practicing physician at Scripps in Del Mar, California. It actually wasn't him that changed my mind though - it was something in the acceptance letter I received by email that made me start to think twice about the decision I thought I had already made. The acceptance letter granted me a seat in the MD program, starting in January 2014, but with the stipulation that I participate in the Academic Enhancement Program (AEP). Initially I thought that this was some pathway program that some other schools employ, such that you have to showcase that you can maintain a specific GPA in a pre-MD program or some other Masters program like a Masters in Public Health. I wasn't about to spend more time in school. All I want is the MD. But after further investigation, I was simply being asked to participate in a program that provided me a full-time mentor and study support during my first 2 years of medical school. I was being handed a "safety net"? That is when I started stocking the SGU website and when the Ross decision - final went to decision - pending. 

I rounded up the support group, both live and through phone conferencing, sharing my pro and cons list for each school and frantically contacting everyone I know that went to SGU or Ross.  We came to the conclusion that SGU was the better place for me. With a little anxiety about pulling a 180 degree, I knew that that was the right decision too. I will say that Ross and SGU go neck and neck in most areas, but the main things that sold me were (1) the housing and first term, on-campus living with classmates (2) the more developed city and island (3) seemingly lower attrition rates (4) more overall, structured support system and (5) the semester style of the academic calendar.  For anyone considering Caribbean schools, both schools will get you where you want to be - it is just a matter of choosing the right one for YOU. And St. George's is the right one for me.

So, this is my official announcement, I will be starting medical school at St. George's University in January 2014.

Out With The Old And In With The New

This past weekend was a defining moment, I guess, marking the end of one chapter of my life and the beginning of another.  Last June when I moved back to Arizona from Connecticut, I didn't know at the time how my life would unfold with a boyfriend in California, a work office in Phoenix, my family in Tucson, and the in-progress application process for medical school. Therefore, the easiest thing to do was throw all my life possessions in a storage unit.  Well, here we are almost a year and a half later and those possessions still sat in that storage unit, amounting to more costs than the actual worth of all the things in there. Granted, there were some things I wanted to keep that were personal to me, but it was definitely time to emotionally disconnect myself from them and let them all go! Yes, all of it! In other words, it was time for a Yard Sale. 

Thank goodness for my mom who, between the two of us, managed to get most of the boxes out of storage and set up to sell my life away. It turned out to be pretty successful and all the leftover stuff went to a local non-profit organization, Casa de los Ninos. It is nice to have that weight off my shoulders, knowing that if I didn't take care of it now, I wouldn't look at that junk for another 4 to 7 years. And although still in the hole, I am a couple hundred dollars closer to being out of the red. Anyway, here is to new beginnings! Salute!

Symbol Of Doctors: The Mix-Up

Interestingly enough there is some controversy around the symbol of medicine and rightfully so! Here's your history lesson for the day:

The common symbol seen on textbooks and commercial healthcare organizations, particularly in the United States, is the symbol of  Caduceus. The Caduceus is also known as the staff of Hermes and is represented by a winged rod and two entwined serpents. The God of Hermes was known as the God of merchants, thieves, messengers, and tricksters, of which the rod was used to enchant mortars or to lead the dead into the underworld. The symbol was popularized when the U.S. Army Medical Corps adopted it as its official emblem in 1902, despite attempts warning of the mistake and confusion between the Caduceus and the Rod of Asclepius, the actual symbol of medicine.

The Rod of Asclepius, on the other hand, is a single serpent coiled around a staff held by the demigod Asclepius. Asclepius surpassed all gods and mortals in the practice of medicine and was honored with temples, or what could be translated into what we know as the current day hospital, that were built across the Greek and Roman world. The single serpent entwined around the rod was displayed at the temples and has become known as the modern symbol of doctors. This symbol, although mostly lost in translation in the U.S., is the true symbol and used around the world and even used in the insignia of the World Health Organization.

Who would of thought that we have had it wrong all these years? :) 

Positioned For Success

The credentials for getting into medical school are already pretty competitive. It is expected that you had maintained a solid GPA generally above a 3.5 in your undergraduate career, obtained an MCAT score in line or above the national average, participated in extracurricular activities outside of academics such as volunteer work or leadership opportunities, that you participated in some sort of medical/biological research or got some lab experience, and that you maintained standing relationships with faculty so that they could write you letters of recommendation once you reached the admissions process.  

• But what about someone removed from their undergraduate institution for quite some time?
• What about someone that ventured/dabbled in other career paths before pursuing medicine?
• Why a graduate degree in business?
• What are the expectations then?
• How do you make yourself stand out among the rest of the equally qualified, top-notch candidates?

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I wanted to get some real-world experience before diving in. I am thankful for waiting and for that experience on so many levels because I feel it has positioned me to be a better physician in the long run. I had time to develop a maturity, an appreciation and a certainty for the trade I am entering, a whole different skill set and competencies to tackle what lies ahead.  This is all because of my time spent at Cigna Healthcare. I learned about the art of managing and leading projects and people, finding efficiencies and optimizing business process, working with people from all walks of life and with diversity in thought, a business acumen on the ins and outs of the healthcare industry and associated dynamics of government regulation, and the intimate love triangle between the patient, the doctor, and the insurance company.

And in addition to all that, I built a network of great colleagues, friends, and mentors of whom I just might work with again someday...but from the other side as a healthcare professional. :)

This post is in line with a previous one for "The Career Changers" - getting some professional working experience before beginning the journey of medicine is invaluable. In my mind, it provides for a holistic outlook when caring for the patient, reminding you that even beyond the bedside there is a whole other world working to ensure end-to-end patient support and satisfaction.