MD-Bound

-tales from the road to med school-

[thursday]

[md-bound]

“So When Do You Find Out If You Got Into Medical School”

Whenever I’m asked by family/friends and I don't want to explain how the application process works for the 20th time.

[fyeahadventuretime-blog]

[md-bound]

Applications Are a Marathon

So over the past ~2 months, I have been working on applicants for medical school. Honestly, the primary application was not that difficult at all and I’m starting to appreciate it more and more as I complete secondaries. Secondaries themselves aren’t that difficult either, although they begin to become stressful when schools start sending them out... all at once. Of course, the first few are a breeze, but if you’re like me, you’ll start to feel burnt out once you’re in the double digits. Sure, you can save your answers for other schools, but each application has slightly different questions, character counts, etc. 

Admittedly, I kind of have an appreciation for the application process at the same time. You really get to learn more about yourself in the process. 

Now that I’m at the end of all my secondaries, I’m not sure which is harder, completing all of them or waiting to hear back from schools.

[princesconsuela]

[mylifeasamedstudent]

My first year of clinical medicine was my favourite year of medical school. Medicine felt like nothing more than lectures and PowerPoint slides until I found myself in the hospital. Initially, I felt like I’d learnt nothing in my first few years. I...

[md-bound]

Course Review: General Chemistry I

One of the things I wanted to do from the beginning was provide everyone with some information on what to expect in undergrad, from classes to friends, social life and even studying -- anything really! I received some pretty good grades throughout my classes, so I feel comfortable sharing my overall impressions and tips. So here’s one to kick it all off, with my thoughts on a very important class.

Ah yes, general chemistry brings some great and no-so-great memories back to my mind. Does the periodic table ring a bell? You’ll be very familiar with it by the end of this class. Honestly, not one of my favorites, but still a solid intro-science class.

If you didn't know, gen chem, like many classes, is a year long and is divided into two semesters. The class itself is designed to survey the general properties of matter and why the world just doesn't fall apart. The first semester focuses on the foundation of chemistry and basic chemical principles while the second takes this foundation and has you applying it to more complex principles. This post will focus on the first semester.

In the first semester, expect atoms and chemical bonds, states of matter, balancing equations, and stoichiometry. The most importing thing during the first semester is probably stoichiometry and thermodynamics (the study of the flow of heat/energy). If you took high school chemistry, the material is basically the same, but crammed into one semester. There is a good amount of math that is involved, especially later in the semester. Sorry to say, but you need to be somewhat proficient in your math skills to do well in this class, even with a calculator.

Tips for success: This is very much a foundation class. The concepts should not be too abstract or difficult to understand. The math will come with practice. Seek help early in the beginning if you are having some trouble, because the class only builds as it goes on. One thing that really helped me was taking high school chemistry. I found that the material was easier to grasp the second time around since I already learned it once before. If you can, I would recommended looking into one at your high school (chemistry was optional at mine) if you are interested in the premed track.

[md-bound]

Ahem, Hello!

Hi world! (that seems like an appropriate greeting for the inaugural post). Welcome to the blog. I’m happy you found you way over here. There’s not much right now, but here’s some info below to get things rolling!

The who: I am a brand new graduate of a university in the United States currently in the process of applying for medical school. This is my first time applying so I’ll have a year off until when I [hopefully] begin medical school in 2016. Aside from academics, I am a 20-something year old male whose hobbies include watching Friends and Adventure Time re-runs, pop culture, and napping.

The why: This blog is intended to be a resource that I wish I had while I was an undergraduate student. I’m hoping to provide advice/resources to other students who are going through similar experiences. Also, I realized that this would be a great opportunity to reflect on my past, current, and future experiences as a premed and [eventually] a medical student.

The you: You can expect occasional updates that I hope will be helpful if you are along the premed/med track as well!

So follow along, it’s bound to be an interesting ride :)