A Christmas Miracle!

I got the best news ever yesterday from Facebook- of all places-. . . . WE HAVE LOANS!!!!

I began my journey with UMHS in 2010 and they had student loans available at that time. In my first semester of ARP Citibank canceled their contract with UMHS in light of the student loan situation in the states. I was devastated. I ask my (at that time) husband and he suggested I continue- he could help to support me with tuition and living expenses and I could work a masters degree to fill in the gaps.

We divorced. The gap became larger. The task of paying tuition was monstrous. I was devastated, but committed.

Many of our students went seeking other schools that had loans. I stayed. I had faith. I had spoken on numerous occasions with Mr. Ross and his family and they were all very reassuring that we would get loans again. They were very helpful and I believed that Mr. Ross would work tirelessly until he came through for us- the students.

Three years later, I had not given up hope. I have been at home with my children, and a new baby for the last year. I have been studying for the Step 1, but mostly I just had not felt the timing was right to take it.

Just recently I began feeling that I had to take the step by the end of December. I just knew that this was it. I have scheduled my test date - again!- but this one I am feeling much more optimistic about. I know that this is the date that I have been given to write my exam and I am so excited that the news of student loan availability came only two weeks after sending my notice to UMHS that I had an exam date scheduled.

Once I get my test results back I can immediately begin my rotations. Money is no longer an issue! I am screaming hallelujah. A huge prayer has been answered, not just for myself but for so many UMHS students and future students.

Do I recommend UMHS?  A resounding HECK YEAH! Would I have recommended them even without loans, yes indeed.

I have so much respect for the Ross family and for what they have been able to accomplish. I am honored and blessed to have been chosen by them for my medical education. I have never regretted a moment of caribbean medical school. I have never regretted not applying to US medical schools. I highly recommend UMHS. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about UMHS.

Missing my island friends quite a lot. Hugs to the bookstore women- and the library ladies- I miss you all tons and I wish I were there to hug you and jump up and down and celebrate with you.

All the best,
Amy Jones

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Quick Update

A quick update-

All apologies for not updating you all sooner. I am sure you all were wondering if I passed the exit.  It is challenging to come from studying for two years and then study harder ( trust me it is much more intense than studying for that final block exam or even more intense than studying the first block exam in Med 1.) than you have ever before.

I have been asked multiple times for advice about the exit. Here is my advice. Refer back to this post for my thoughts on advice. Take away what you want.

• I went to all of the ICM classes. 

• These are really good for helping to make the information that we learn on the island tangible. The information becomes a little more 'real', if you will. So some of the cases, especially the one where I didn't get the correct diagnosis has burned primary adrenal insufficiency into my head. I didn't really understand it completely before my virtual clinic case. 

• I went to all of the ICM lectures and small groups. 

• These are great for learning the labs. I never knew enough about labs, and it is more memorization than concept in some cases. Each small group discussion will be different, but for me it was fantastic to have that interaction. I used that information for my virtual clinic patients. I tried to ask myself "what labs should I order to confirm my diagnosis?" and "what would I expect the results to be?". These lab values can be very helpful when studying pathologies that have minute differences where the lab values can be a very quick way to differentiate between two different diseases.

• I went to grand rounds.

• Lets face it, no one really wants to go. Sometimes the discussions are interesting and useful. It is also good practice for the future. As a physician we should continue to learn and be well educated in medicine and health care. The best way is to read studies and keep up with research. That is basically what grand rounds help to do for physicians, residents, and medical students. 

• I enjoyed virtual clinic.
 

• Virtual clinic is the place where you get to practice doing what most of you will probably be doing for the rest of your life. Obviously there are branches of medicine where you may not see your patient alive or in person-pathologist and radiologist-are the two that come to mind. I used that time as a time to understand how all of the systems work together which gives me a fuller understanding of the process of disease. Also, writing the SOAP notes helps to show illustrate where some improvement could be made. Getting first hand feedback from a physician was priceless for me. In most cases it was confirmation that I was created to be a physician. 

• I tried each Kaplan professor and attended the classes that I felt would be most beneficial to me.

• I decided to take control of my life and make a choice. I went to most of the Kaplan classes, but there were a few where after I attended the first lecture I knew that I could read the book myself in shorter time. I made a decision based on what my midterm score said I needed to study and based on the amount of time I had left. I don't regret my decision. I am not suggesting you do this. Many of kaplan instructors will help you decipher which information is tested every exam. That is a good way to make sure you know the basics and the most important facts. I have began my intense board exam study now, and I make sure to highlight those and at the very least have a list of "I know that if I get a question on this subject matter I will get it right". 

• I studied my weakest subject the most and for every organ system. 

• Phsyiology. It was my weakest subject area, so in the beginning when we did organ systems, I read my physiology BRS for each organ system as we covered it in ICM. I tried to link physio with every other subject during Kaplan. For example: in biochem we discuss metabolism which deals with hormones and control of metabolism. I reviewed the endocrine physiology behind the secretion of these hormones. I believe that made a huge difference. 

• The night before my final exam I read up on the subjects that we had not covered at all. 

• We did not discuss embryology or behavioral science or anatomy. So I read First Aid for those subjects. I just read. I didn't make notes. In fact, I was in my bed relaxing trying to fall asleep. 

• Plus I made sure to do all of what I did for the midterm as far as sleep and food and breaks. 

Clicking the end test button was somewhat forced and if it had not been, I am not sure that I would have ever clicked it. I signaled for the proctor to come over to ask a question which was interpreted as I was finished (my test was complete). She went to get my score sheet, so I had to click the button which would reveal my fate.

I had a complete Sympathetic (ANS) reaction. My heart was racing and my blood was pumping. You can figure out all of the other actions of the sympathetic nervous system, suffice to say it was a very intense moment.

And then I saw my score - 53%.

I had passed the exit. I would be allowed to sit for the USMLE Step 1 as soon as I felt ready. I was deemed competent and in that moment, the grade confirmed that I had some small gift, talent, or knowledge that would allow me to become a doctor one day.

For those of you who are in Maine now, I know that this post is a little late, but perhaps you can glean something from it.

To all of the Med 4's still on the island and coming to Maine next semester, I wish you all the best.


Until next time,
Amy

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Money,the root of all of my problems

I have a wonderful life. I have four beautiful, well-behaved children, a wonderful suportive husband, and a nice home in the states. My home is not expensive and does not abound with interior decorator style, but I think I have made it pretty nice. I enjoy decorating and I have done what I could with the money that I have had available. "Money I have had available" is the key phrase.

I have not had an enormous or even piddly amount of avaiable money. My checking account is usually overdrawn and I can't go buy new makeup or clothing whenever I want. In fact I can never buy those things without taking it out of the budget from somewhere else. I wanted to change that for my children and my husband and myself. I went back to college to get my degree which started out as an education degree so that I could teach. The problem was that I was going to have so much debt that I would not be able to pay my student loans back on what I would make as a teacher. So, I began as a biology major (again, my first love and major). I had chosen not to do biology b/c it requires so much extra time out of class. Most of the medical school prereques were the only classes I lacked for graduation so not only did it allow me to do what I wanted to do when I was little girl it also allowed me to graduate two years earlier than an education degree would. Little did I know at that time that teachers would suffer the greatest job loss they had seen in decadeds. It was nice to know that I was not trying to get a teaching position at that time. In my excitement to get started with medical school, I began looking into medical programs and how to apply, etc. Imagine my surprise when I learn that I have to pay 255 dollars to take the MCAT. Then imagine my surprise when I realize that I also have to pay 160 for the first medical school application and 60 for the rest AND that they will most likely all send me a secondary which will ask more questions AND cost me 75-100 dollars more. Then I read that Kaplan suggests you apply to ten or twenty schools if your GPA isn't stellar (3.5-4.0). I am a mother of four children with bills to pay and my husband has a great job but it isn't THAT great of pay.

I couldn't afford to do pay that for medical school applications. There was no way. OH. I forgot to mention that most applicants use Kaplan study prep and that course is $2000. Again out of the question.

So I apply to caribbean medical schools. Most of which do not have federal loans. Most of which in fact have no loan program. Then I come across ____ which has a loan program although it is not Federal funding it could work in my somewhat desparate situation. The medical program is comparable to the states and the campus was beautiful. I was super excited to begin my term at ____.

I was accepted to a preview semester where I would have to pay my own way, but I could take online master's class to help with living expenses and my husband could help with incidentals along the way. It would seem that everything was going to work out.

Until yesterday, the school announces that the previous loan program is not an option. I was a little panicked. Ok, I was a lot panicked. So now I will have to work with the directors to come up with a creative way to finance my time here or return home and use the davenport living money to help me take the MCAT and apply medical school.

____ has been very helpful in working with me and speaking to me. I know that this situation is absolutely the worst for them as well. This semester was pegged to be the biggest class of students enrolled and without loan money some students may plan to wait which . . . well you get the point. . . . it isn't a good deal for anyone.

So now I have to study. I am going to try to do my very best on the tests that I have on Monday, but with all of this stress these may be my lowest scores yet which would cause further insult to injury.

If I had a million dollars I could fix all of my problems and my life really would be something to envy. I would donate the left over after funding my family's education, oh wait there would be nothing left over if I paid off all of my student loans and my husbands and put back money for all of my children.

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