It was a semester of ups and downs, a semester of past challenges to resolve and new challenges to face. It was a semester where we found out our greatest friends are also our greatest competitors and our greatest collaborators. No matter whether we struggled to pass a class or struggled to be the top of our class, we all…Today I finished my last final, in Molecular Cell Biology (MCB), and I am happy to announce that….
I HAVE JUST COMPLETED MY FIRST SEMESTER IN MED SCHOOL!!!
I was feeling lots of anxiety going into the final, not because I felt I wasn’t ready but because I knew it would count as 30% of my course grade. Wouldn’t you… 
There’s always a mystery as to what goes on behind the closed-doors of the admissions office. Here at AUC, after the applications are received by AUC’s very own Medical Education Administrative Services (MEAS) in Coral Gables, Florida, they are sent off to the island of St. Maarten...
If you're willing to spend money, there's not much you really need to bring, as you can pretty much find anything you want or need on this island. The most important thing to know about packing for St. Maarten is that things on the island can be expensive compared to the State and Provinces (on average about 1.5x more expensive). Whatever you can fit in your luggage...Today’s the big day that we took our first med school Shelf Exam, in Anatomy. It is a 2.5 hour test with 125 questions, nationally standardized and administered by all accredited schools, covering everything that we have learned about anatomy. Normally in U.S. Schools, this test is given to students in their 4th semester. But at AUC, we take it… So I’m here studying in the Rotunda, and a student studying at the table next to me turns around and tells me,
“you must have a very noisy home for you to be able to focus with all this noise around! I’m going home, I can’t concentrate here.”
After she said this, I suddenly heard all the sounds around me..… 
It has been quite an exciting 3.5 months in anatomy lab. First we worked on our first patient’s back, then slowly, we revealed her face, looking back at us. Then as we dissected deeper and more thoroughly we began to unravel the details about her life and her last days, as she left for us to find, all without knowing…
“Congratulations on finishing Block 4! We have now officially learned everything we needed to learn for Genetics, MCB 1, Anatomy, Histology, and Embryology………….EVER.”
yeah… I wish it were that easy.
Now the hard part has just begun.. to remember it all and apply it right off the bat when I see it in my career.
Now with no new material…
Hello everybody! As you noticed, I haven’t blogged in about four days, and probably won’t have much chance to blog in the next week and a half, and you’ll see why. The next week and a half will be the busiest I’ll ever experience THIS YEAR. First we have our 4th Block exams on Monday for Anatomy/Embryology and MCB/Genetics, then…
It was such a beautiful day today. Like yesterday, and every other day before that, it was warm, around mid-80′s, partly cloudy, blue sky. The trees are greener than ever and the flowers are in full bloom. As I walked around in shorts and a t-shirt, I could feel the warm breeze against my skin. I thought to myself, if…I am thankful for…
Today I performed my first phlebotomy! Like most AMSA workshops here at AUC, the phlebotomy workshop was taught by current students who used to be registered nurses, CMTs, and EMTs before coming to med school.
I’ve given vaccines before, many many times, to children at the pediatric clinic this past summer, so giving shots was no big deal for me,… 
The Rotunda is the beating heart of AUC. Every day, there is always something going on here. Every night, there is always somebody around. Whether you are just walking through it to get to class, stopping by one of the booths to pick up something, or simply hanging out, the Rotunda is the place of contact and exchange for the…
I finally know what the appeal of oxtail is to the Caribbean People. With the stringy meat falling off the bone layered in chewy collagenous glory, who wouldn’t like it? Well, maybe not everyone, but to me it was good. As long as there’s a good sauce on it, anything tastes good right? Today was the first time I lunched…
It’s amazing how time flies by. Only two weeks remain of lectures before Block 4, and a week and a half after that, finals are done. I will have taken and finished my first semester of med school ever. In exactly a month from now, I will be flying over the vast blue ocean back to my home in Georgia.…
Recently, a reader sent me a message asking me if it's true that "all you will do is study" in med school and whether or not it is possible to find balance between life and studying. I'd like to share my answer to all...Today has been amazing. I’m only a first-semester medical student and I have already performed my first appendectomy! Well, at least on a cadaver, and much less strenuous and urgent as it would be on a live patient… Last month, I posted an entry about my experience at an introductory suturing workshop hosted by AMSA, where we learned different ways… As my school is located in another country, we do not get the same holidays off as “on-shore” American schools, so that means no Thanksgiving, no Labor Day, and not even Independence Day. But instead, we get the national holidays of St. Martin’s Day and Kingdom Day, both of which we get the day off from school. Yesterday was St.… As you all see, from my temporary blogging hiatus, that I have been busy prepping for Block 3 exams, which we completed yesterday. Block 3 was by far the hardest we’ve had so far, with the most material covered. Not surprisingly, the class averages were quite low as well:
Anatomy Exam Class Average: 76.97
Anatomy Lab Practical Class Average: 77.77… |
My name is Dr. Benji Ho and I am a family physician and 2013 graduate of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC), located on the Dutch side of the beautiful island of St. Maarten. My time at AUC has been quite a worldwide adventure, studying two years of Basic Sciences on the island, then completing my clinical rotations in the US as well as the UK. I completed my family medicine residency at Mercer University School of Medicine / Navicent Health in Macon, Georgia. Today, I am a board-certified family physician practicing outpatient family medicine in Macon, Georgia. I hope you enjoy my site as I share with you my journey. Thanks for visiting Diary of a Caribbean Med Student!
    
If you would like to help me keep this website up and running, any donations will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Benji
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