Clinicals, STEP prep, & Stuff

Since we are basically mid-way through 5th term the big topic of conversation lately has been clinicals! At SGU, medical school students do 2 years (5 terms) of basic sciences in Grenada then return to the States for 2 years of clinicals- during which they visit many different areas of the hospital and gain important and necessary hands on experience.  SGU has several affiliated hospitals within the US that students can complete their 2 years of clinicals- the main clinical centers being in New York, California, New Jersey, and DETROIT (there are other placements as well with some being removed/added each term.)

Over the past week there have been numerous meetings and emails sent out regarding this process. I attended a meeting for Nick last week (good ol' SGU scheduling meetings during mid-terms week) and Nick has attended at least 1 other regarding clinical placements and 1 regarding his health verification (ie: does he have all his vaccinations, etc). The way it works through SGU is that they send out a form where each student is able to pick their top 3 clinical placement choices. There is no guarantee students will get their top choices, but the school tries to accommodate and most people we know in terms before us have been fortunate enough to end up in at least 1 of their top 3, and in most cases got their 1st choice! Nick submitted the form on Monday and obviously we are gunning for Detroit!!! It would be so, so, SO nice to be back in good ol' Michigan! Despite Detroit having such a negative stigma attached to it, we know we love it there, already know the area, Nick worked in the St. John's satellite hospital before coming to SGU, and both our families live within 45 minutes of the hospital... so fingers crossed that 2 proud Michiganders get to return home! Our 2nd/3rd choices however, were New York and New Jersey :)

More school news: Nick had mid-terms last week and crushed them! He did absolutely awesome and I am so proud of him! Another extremely successful set of exams in the books and only 2 more rounds of exams to go for basic sciences!!! Even after 5 terms of seeing his hard work firsthand, I am still so impressed by his motivation and dedication to studying and LOVE to see it pay off!

As I've mentioned before- on top of studying for his regular classes, Nick has also already begun to study for the STEP 1 exam that he will be taking in July. His schedule alone for studying for this test is unbelievable!  I've seen others go through it, heard about the intense study schedule for years now, and pretty much know what to expect in terms of knowing he will be locked away in the library for 8 weeks straight, but still seeing it in calendar form was still shocking... it is SO much work! Basically from now to mid-May he will be trying to dedicate 1-2 hours a day to Step preparation, from end of May til TEST DAY he will be dedicating at least 5 hours a day to his study program and then possibly spending another 3-4 hours or so going over areas he knows he needs to work on and doing more questions.  From now until the test he will take approximately 3,818 practice questions!!! Wowzers!!! As of right now- the goal is for him to actually take the test on July 8th (as opposed to July 15th like the calendar below indicates- but you get the general idea!)

So, anyone jealous of Nick's next 5 months?! NOT me!! Michigan friends- get ready to hang out with me- the medschool/step 1 widow- during those gross 8 weeks... oh, and pretty please help me get a job ASAP :)