By Benji Ho - March 2nd, 2011 | Updated July 9th, 2016
The 2010 USMLE Step 1 results statistics for AUC are out! This past year, 94% of AUC students who took the exam for the first time passed. In comparison, the average was 94% for US MD schools and 81% for US DO schools (2009 statistics). The average score for AUC jumped two points from 215 in 2009 to 217 in…
By Benji Ho - March 2nd, 2011 | Updated March 24th, 2011
Normally during REM sleep, the phase in which we dream our most vivid dreams, we display decreased muscle tone. Most of our muscles practically become paralyzed during this phase except for a few, namely the muscles we use to breathe, the middle ear ossicles, and the eyes, which move rapidly, giving REM sleep it’s name — Rapid Eye Movement.
However,…
By Benji Ho - February 19th, 2011 | Updated March 25th, 2011
I am so excited I found a new way to add streaming video to websites. This is something that can be applied to The Scope if organizations or SGA want to upload video footage to the site. Video streaming sites like YouTube often have limitations, such as the 10 minute limits on videos, limitation on quality, or strict filtration of…
By Benji Ho - February 17th, 2011 | Updated March 18th, 2011
Last night I had the opportunity to attend the second Spanish workshop hosted by the Latino Medical Student Association this semester. I must say, I was impressed with the first workshop last month and I was even more impressed with the one yesterday.
The workshop was very interactive and suited those of different levels of Spanish knowledge. LMSA president David…
By Benji Ho - January 30th, 2011 | Updated December 22nd, 2011
Virus!
So as you notice, a lot of my posts here are contaminated with random links to “cialis” or “accomplia” or some other random enhancement drug. I did not put these links here. My host server confirmed that I caught a malware infestation on my domain possibly from uploading a malicious plugin, and recommended I purge and recreate my account…
By Benji Ho - January 27th, 2011 | Updated September 23rd, 2012
The medical field is filled with difficult scenarios, and to someone who is encountering them for the first time, it may be difficult knowing what the best thing to do is. That is why we all take Medical Ethics to prepare ourselves for the real world in which any of these scenarios could take place (and many of these scenarios…
By Benji Ho - January 25th, 2011 | Updated May 9th, 2014
Hello all, I’ve recently received a message from a prospective student asking me to elaborate on the reasons for my decisions to attend AUC as opposed to SGU or Ross. The student is deciding between Ross and AUC and wanted to know...
By Benji Ho - January 23rd, 2011 | Updated June 8th, 2012
Arif’s right. I chose the wrong thing to give up for my New Year’s resolution. It’s painful not to blog, to bottle up every thought that’s stored up in me. I don’t watch TV. I don’t watch movies. I don’t play any sports. I don’t even work out that much anymore.. blogging is my release. There’s just so many memories…
By Benji Ho - December 31st, 2010 | Updated November 1st, 2012
It has been quite a journey so far, and now that I have completed well over a full year of medical school, I’m really starting to understand better my purpose of learning the Basic sciences, and what it means in being a doctor. I’ve learned that being a doctor is more than just being a mechanic of the body, fixing…
By Benji Ho - December 25th, 2010 | Updated February 22nd, 2011
Happy Holidays everyone! I am currently in Georgia visiting my family on break and having a great time. As I have some more time on my hands, I’d like to share a new logo I designed for the Student Government Association at AUC. This will be my last project as SGA Historian this semester. In the future the logo may…
By Benji Ho - December 17th, 2010 | Updated February 4th, 2014
As an Asian-American, it’s understandable that I need my Asian products. Growing up at home, my family ate rice everyday. My mom grew lots of Chinese herbs and vegetables at home and nothing beats home cooking. Before coming to the island, I wondered if I had to bring my rice cooker from home. What was this island like anyway? Could…
By Benji Ho - December 7th, 2010 | Updated June 7th, 2012
About: Known as the "Unspoiled Queen" of the Caribbean, the island of Saba is known for its majestic, natural beauty. There are no beaches. Instead, the volcanic island juts straight out of the ocean with cliffs meeting the water. Located 30 miles away from St. Maarten, it is accessible by ferry or airplane.
Highlights: Hiking to the top of Mount Scenery in the clouds, Landing on the shortest commercial airstrip in the world, Strolling through the charming village of Windwardside, Diving the World-famous Pinnacle Diving, Checking out the craft work of Saban laces.
By Benji Ho - December 4th, 2010 | Updated March 25th, 2011
It has been a bittersweet two semesters as a Head TA in anatomy lab. There were ups and downs, collaboration and conflicts amongst my team members. Despite some of the difficulties Haley, Arif, and I struggled as a team, I hope overall we made the Anatomy lab a positive, meaningful, and smooth learning experience for students. Overall, the Head TA…
By Benji Ho - December 3rd, 2010 | Updated February 22nd, 2011
Today is the day Haley, Arif, and I step down as the Head Teaching Assistants of the Anatomy department of the past two semesters and hand over our titles to a brand new set of bright and enthusiastic students. After a whole semester of observing, training, and talking to many qualified candidates, we finally held interviews last week for the…
By Benji Ho - November 28th, 2010 | Updated March 5th, 2014
It’s often frightening to go somewhere you’ve never been before, especially to a foreign country with a different system, by yourself. Luckily, for first-time arrivers to St. Maarten, getting to AUC is rather easy. There are many options for new students coming to AUC to get to campus after arriving at the airport. Here, I will describe four.
1. School …
By Benji Ho - November 27th, 2010 | Updated March 25th, 2011
Last semester in July, the internet had been pretty decent, fast enough for Skype and YouTube. However, this semester, I noticed that the internet speed had slowed down a lot, due to the increase in number of students on campus this semester, and unfortunately, the unfair hogging of the internet by the several individuals who have found ways to breach…
By Benji Ho - November 24th, 2010 | Updated April 18th, 2014
This past Saturday at 7:30 in the morning, my fellow students and I at AUC sacrificed our Saturday morning sleep-ins for a special mission. It was Community Action Day, a student-run event held every two semesters where we volunteer our time and efforts to give back to the island community that hosts our school. With over 200 of us signing…
My name is Benji Ho and I am a family physician and 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 / 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!
The 2010 USMLE Step 1 results statistics for AUC are out! This past year, 94% of AUC students who took the exam for the first time passed. In comparison, the average was 94% for US MD schools and 81% for US DO schools (2009 statistics). The average score for AUC jumped two points from 215 in 2009 to 217 in…
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Benji