Missionary Orthopod in the Making

My fiancée received an interview invitation from Howard!!!!!!!!!! I know that this really may not amount to anything because its so late, but it is still exciting because that means I could possibly come home for medical school if she gets accepted!!! Her interview is on March 6 (while we are home for spring break), so we will be hoping and praying that everything works out. You know, life is interesting. In fact, this whole medical process is interesting. There are joys, pains, crying, uncertainty, moments of confidence, humbling experiences, etc. I know that I am more than blessed to have received scholarships from Maryland and LLU. But neither of those doors seem open right now, and Meharry has mentioned nothing about any money lately. I’ve realized that this medical school application process requires a ton of WAITING. Waiting for interview invitations, waiting for acceptances, waiting for scholarships, waiting for rejection letters, waiting for waitlist letters, etc. For a while, I was waiting for a response from Meharry about how the conflict with Meharry’s early start time with our wedding would be worked out. This is what was written back to me:

I spoke to the course coordinator for the MAPS program and obtained the following dates:

MAPS Program starts June 18th thru July 27th
Break: July 30th – Aug 5th
Classes start at 8:00 am Aug 6th

Dr. Williams will not be able to discuss “special” arrangements until you are enrolled. Her office has reported this to me.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
Allen D. Mosley

And below is an e-mail I received back from a current 1st year at Meharry after I had asked her some questions:

Well, missing two weeks of the program will not hurt you. Like she said, the first couple of days are orientation things. The way they did it for our class was the Biochemistry did not count towards anything. It was just time to learn the fundamentals. To me it was a re cap of the whole year of information that you would have learned in Biochem at Oakwood. The anatomy class was the upper limb block. The teacher didn’t decide that it was going to count until the last couple of weeks before the end of last semester. So I don’t know if he has changed how he is going to do things or what his exact plan for this summers maps class will be.

But their is a girl who missed the summer program (which is mandatory for medical students by the way) and she felt it hurt her when it came to finals because she never really had a chance to fully learn the leg. You are correct in saying that the information is not repeated and it is included in block and final exams which is why they deem it mandatory for us. But you can always call and ask questions to see what can be worked out. I don’t think it would be smart to miss the whole program, it will put you behind in the fall semester work.

So basically this means that we actually have no idea whether things will be worked out for our wedding until May 15, when we have to officially choose a school. This means that we wouldn’t be able to go on the mission to Zimbabwe, we would have to drive home and get more wedding planning done, drive back down to Nashville to start the MAPS program on June 18, fly back home a couple of days before our wedding on July 8, skip the honeymoon [to avoid missing class], and come back to school. It isn’t exactly the ideal situation I pictured when I thought of my wedding, but I guess that’s life. Even if the administrators there are able to work out special arrangements for my fiancée and I and we were allowed to go on our honeymoon, we would still be missing a least a week of class. Now I know that when I missed a week of class due to med school interviews I was set back pretty seriously. I don’t even want to know what missing a week of medical school would do to me. So yeah, we are very thankful that we are accepted someplace together, but Meharry’s early start date is looking a little scary for our wedding plans.

With my fiancee’s recent interview invitation to Howard, my dreams of going to the University of Maryland have been slightly rekindled. I began to do some searching, and I found the current class schedule for their first year class. Check it out http://medweb1.umaryland.edu/medscope.net/schedule.aspx?200702,1. I’ve just never seen a nicer schedule than this. Basically you have freedom after 12 noon, and you can use that time to study or something else that you are interested in. Comepare that to LLU’s schedule: LLU SCHEDULE, and you can see how much more free time that you have. So yeah, if LLU doesn’t come through for my fiancée, but Howard does, then I would go to Maryland, she would go to Howard, and we would buy a house in the middle. But at this point, the only open door is Meharry, so that is where I’m headed.

P.S.- I’ve decided that after every post, I’m going to have a little Bible verse. I hope it encourages some folks.

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In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9
A man’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way? Proverbs 20:24

So I was sitting in my chair around 7:18 p.m. when my cell phone rang with a 909 area code. I look at my phone puzzled, because I didn’t know anyone from that area code, but I was talking to my fiancée so I decided not to click over. I checked my voicemail and learned that the person calling was Dr. Nyirady from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine…he said that he had something important to tell me. So I called him back, and I get the bloody answering machine! “Freakin no”, I yell out loud, because I know that LLU is 2 hours behind Alabama, so they might have just left work. I say a quick prayer, and I call again and Mrs. Edwards picks up. She puts me on hold because Dr. Nyirady is on the other line. So now the bloody classical waiting music is playing and I’m twiddleing my thumbs, heart beating fast, and pacing in my room. Dr. Nyirady clicks over and makes some small talk with me. Almost in passing he mentions that the scholarship committee has just met and that I’ve been awarded a $27,750/year scholarship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy freakin cow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You all may not understand, but this is like an answer to prayer. I wasn’t praying for a scholarship, but with LLU deliberating on my fiancée I’ve started to loose faith that LLU is where the Lord is directing. This scholarship has renewed my faith that things are going to work out. LLU fully and completely knows that I’m coming as a couple, so would they offer the money without thinking that they will accept her too? I can’t answer that, but I know that I just have to wait, have patience, and pray….all of which are hard for me to do. So yeah, tuition is like $35,000/year, so a significant chunk was knocked off.In others news; I was talking with Mr. Mosely (the Admissions Director) at Meharry, trying to figure out how the dates were going to work for our wedding and starting school there. The Lord is amazing with His timing, because I had called Mr. Mosely. Anyway, he told me that he had actually forgotten about our special situation, but that didn’t matter because he was actually on his way to talk to the Dean of the medical school; the person who he would have had to talk to anyway about our situation! Furthermore, he also told me that within 10 days, the scholarship committee for Meharry is meeting and that I am on the top of the FREAKIN LIST!!!!!!!! All I can say the Lord is true to His word. In Psalm 84:11 it says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Now I’m not saying that I’m perfect…I am FAR FAR FAR from it, but I truly believe and am a living testimony that if you strive to be true to Him, He will withhold no good thing from you. Just test Him!

As you all know, I took Gross Anatomy last year, which allowed me to become a lab instructor for the class. Well, I also lucked out and was able to become the tutor for the class. I know what you are thinking… “Why would you need a tutor for Gross Anatomy?” You techinically don’t, but what I do is created “clinical-case” questions, to steer their mind away from rote memorization, and more towards application. So yeah, I decided to posted some of the questions I’ve made while tutoring. I believe I truly have a gift in figuring out how something horrible can happen to someone, lol. Anyway, see if you can solve them (there may be some typos, but bear with me). A man was walking across a busy street, and unfortunately, he tripped and fell in the street in the prone position. He was killed when cars began to roll over him. When the coroner examines his body, which side of his body will contain tread marks from the tires?
a) posterior
b) anterior
c) frontal
d) two above are correct

Dr. Kennedy, a forensic scientist was scouring the swamps of Huntsville, investigating a missing person’s case. Under some branches, she found a vertebral bone with a bifid spinous process. What kind of vertebral bone was this?
a) coccygeal
b) lumbar
c) cervical
d) thoracic

Bobbie Valentino was shot in the shoulder while participating in mob activities. Surgeons removed the bullet, but a week later, Bobbie still had no ability to move his arm. When surgeons revisited the site they operated on, they found severe scar tissue on the nerves of the brachial plexus. What condition did Bobbie have?
a) neuralgia
b) neuroma
c) neuroplasia
d) neuropraxia

It was winter time in Maryland, and Michael slipped and fell on his back due to black ice. When got up, he could not feel any sensation in his pinky finger, or his medial hand and forearm. What spinal nerve(s) was damaged during his fall?
a) C4-C7
b) C8
c) T6
d) C1-C3

Jonathan came into the hospital complaining of a loss of sensation in his posterior brachium and antebrachium. Sensory nerves supplying these areas are branches of which nerve?
a) median cubital
b) median
c) radial
d) ulnar

Alicia, a freshman, was attempting to sneak out of Carter Hall by jumping out of her 3rd story window. Alicia began to lose her grip and when she was about to fall, her roommate grabbed and held onto her right arm, and after much effort pulled her superiorly back into the room. However, after the incident, Alicia’s hand was frozen in the claw form. This was probably due to an injury to her inferior brachial plexus causing:
a) Erb-Duchenne palsy
b) Bryhert’s paralysis
c) Klumpke paralysis
d) Wingier palsy

John, a professional weight lifter and a steroid addict was attempting to bench press 700 lbs. He was only able to lift the weight halfway before he felt a searing pain in his left chest. The next day, he noticed that his left pectoral wall had a large bulge in it. When he went to his doctor, the doctor knew immediately that what had occurred?
a) avulsion of his pectoralis major muscle
b) avulsion of his deltoid muscle
c) lesion of his long thoracic nerve
d) avulsion of his pectoralis minor muscle

Dr. Brooks, a world renowned surgeon is trying to listen to a patient’s breathing sounds. The area that he would place his stethoscope to listen is bounded by all of the following structures except what?
a) rhomboid minor muscle
b) trapezius muscle
c) scapula bone
d) latissimus dorsi muscle

An HIV positive patient entered the hospital complaining of distinct swelling from his scrotum to his lateral thoracic wall. A biopsy and examination revealed purple, blistering skin, and group A streptococci that had infected his subcutaneous tissue, but not his muscle tissue. Surgeon’s proceeded to remove the patient’s subcutaneous fascia from his scrotum to his lateral thoracic wall. What condition did this patient have?
a) necrotizing fasciitis
b) pectoral edema
c) scrotal cancer
d) parasitic infection

Hulk Hogan, a professional wrestler, has Jake the Snake in an arm hold, and is attempting to twist his arm laterally until the wrestler gives in. Which ligaments are preventing Jake the Snake’s arm from extreme lateral rotation?
a) superior glenohumoral ligament
b) inferior glenohumoral ligament
c) middle glenohumoral ligament
d) all of the above
e) none of the above

Tina noticed a large lump on her breast, and went into her doctor to get it examined. Her doctor performed a biopsy, and they found that it was an extremely malignant tumor. During the radical mastectomy performed, the surgeon unknowingly severed Tina’s long thoracic nerve. What can result from this severance?
a) impaired abduction of arm
b) edema of pectoralis major muscle
c) tachycardia
d) winging of scapula

A patient entered the hospital complaining of not being able to move their head or neck. An MRI was performed, and it was seen that there was a lesion to the nerve supplying the multifidus and semispinalis muscles. Which nerve has a lesion?
a) thoracoacromial nerve
b) dorsal scapular nerve
c) accessory nerve
d) dorsal primary rami of spinal nerves

Chad from San Bernadino was surfing when suddenly a shark, mistaking him for a seal took a bite out of Chad’s inferolateral back. In the surgical recovery unit, doctors were attempting to save Chad’s life but he was having serious trouble breathing on his own. What muscle injured in the shark attack could cause this?
a) trapezius
b) serratus posterior inferior
c) latissimus dorsi
d) longissimus

Lauren Alexerson, was camping at the rock quarry when a bear attacked her. The bear latched onto her arm, and was trying to rip it off. What structure (s) are mainly keeping her humerus attached to her glenoid cavity?
a) glenohumoral ligaments
b) rotator cuff muscle
c) teres minor muscle
d) brachial plexus

Trina, a phlebotomist is drawing blood from a patient. What would be her normal vein of choice to draw the blood from?
a) cephalic vein
b) median cubital vein
c) basilic vein
d) axillary vein

James Bond was brought into the hospital after being shot in his shoulder. In order to operate on the damaged brachial plexus, the surgeon, Dr. Brooks cut into Bond’s axillary floor which is formed by the axillary fascia. This fascia is continuous with the fascia surrounding which muscle?
a) serratus anterior
b) subclavius
c) pectoralis major
d)external oblique

Dr. Brooks, a world renowned neurosurgeon, was operating on a patient who had severe head trauma due to a car accident. As he was operating, trying to stop all of the bleeding vessels, who came upon an area bounded by the rectus capitis posterior major, obliquus capitis inferior, semispinalis capitis, and longissimus capitis muscles. Which structure below can be found in this area?
a) axillary artery
b) medial nerve
c) subclavian artery
d) subocciptal nerve

The average resting heart rate for a man is 70 beats/min. Which type of nerves control this constant beating of the heart?
a) lymphatic
b) autonomic
c) somatic
d) sensory

Suzie was rushed to the hospital after passing out. World renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Ruglass, discovered that Suzie had a bacterial infection of her central nervous system (CNS). Which structures could the bacterial infection possibly be found in?
a) motor neurons in the hand
b) spinal cord
c) median nerve
d) brachial plexus

Dr. Brooks, a world renowned surgeon, also happens to be a handy man around the house. He is screwing some screws into the wall to hang a painting on that his wife bought. As he is making the turning motions with his arm while screwing, what is the principal muscle that is allowing supination of his arm?
a) long head of triceps brachii muscle
b) latissimus dorsi muscle
c) biceps brachii muscle
d) coracobrachialis muscle

A patient entered the hospital, complaining of not being able to move his arm. The examining physician found that the patient could not flex his arm at all. Which muscle is definitely not causing this lack of flexion?
a) triceps brachii
b) biceps brachii
c) brachialis
d) coracobrachialis

Trent broke his wrist after dunking on Gerard during a basketball game. At the emergency room, the physician noticed that his flexor retinaculum was completely torn. What fascia forms this retinaculum?
a) clavipectoral
b) brachial
c) pectoral
d) antebrachial

Lauren, a housewife, started to act up, which caused her loving husband to slap her a couple of times. The pain caused by the slap of her husband was transmitted to which part of Lauren’s spinal cord?
a) dorsal root neurons
b) dura matter
c) ventral root neurons
d) two above are correct

A woman was involved in terrible car accident, and was rush into the emergency room. Upon examination, the trauma surgeon saw that the woman was leaking CSF from her head wound. Which layer surrounding her brain must be perforated in order to leak CSF?
a) dura mater
b) arachnoid mater
c) pia mater
d) two above are correct

A gang member was stabbed in his back, at the level of his filum terminale; permanently paralyzing his legs. The filum terminale is an extension of which layer surrounding his spinal cord?
a) dura mater
b) pia mater
c) arachnoid
d) none of the above

Alex Collins, a NBA basketball player, was mugged and beat by a female gang, while walking to his car. When he entered the hospital, the doctor asked Alex to abduct his arm, while the doctor pushed in the opposite direction. Alex couldn’t abduct his arm; which nerve was damaged during the mugging?
a) suprascapular
b) axillary
c) dorsal scapular
d) thoracoacromial

Dr. Brooks, a world renowned surgeon was operating on Ms. Hamilton to fix her carpal tunnel problem. As he opened the patient’s carpal tunnel, what nerve did he find traveling through it?
a) ulnar nerve
b) radial nerve
c) median nerve
d) musculocutaneous nerve

Ronnel proposed to Telissa at their college banquet. When Ronnel went down on one knee, Telissa’s heart rate increased 10 fold. Which autonomic system decreased her heart rate once the whole proposal was over?
a) parasympathetic
b) sympathetic
c) two above are correct
d) none are correct

Alex Goodman ran into some money problems, and took a loan from the Huntsville mob. When he couldn’t repay the loan, the mobsters put a bullet into his elbow. Which of the following are proximal to his injured elbow?
a) phalanges
b) metacarpals
c) glenoid cavity
d) hook of hamate
e) two above are correct

Little baby Zavier was born with a protrusion of his spinal cord and meninges. As Dr. Collins is writing up his notes on the baby, what should he call the condition that the baby has?
a) meningitis
b) meningocele
c) avulsion of meninges
d) meningomycele

Keisha came into the hospital, after being mauled by a rabid dog. The dog chewed through most of her forearm, and at the hospital the orthopedic surgeon was attempting to save it. Keisha’s radius was only being held onto the ulna by a thin sheath of connect tissue called?
a) antebrachial fascia
b) brachial fascia
c) interosseus membrane
d) extensor retinaculum

Jack was lifting a 400 lb. drum of Vaseline onto a truck when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. He went to the doctor, and the doctor x-rayed Jack’s back. The doctor found that Jack has a slipped disk. What is happening?
a) annulus fibrosus is protruding through the nucleus pulposus and compressing the spinal cord
b) spinal cord is protruding into the annulus fibrosus
c) nucleus pulposus is protruding into the annulus fibrosus, and compressing the spinal nerve root
d) two of the above are correct

Christopher was diagnosed with thyroid cancer by world renowned oncologist, Dr. Limerick. The cancer is survivable, but his survival rate will significantly decrease if the cancer metastasizes into the nervous system via what structure?
a) axillary lymph node
b) abdominal aorta
c) vertebral venous plexus
d) brachial plexus

Ms. Merriweather went to her doctor because she thought she might have carpal tunnel from constantly typing. The carpal tunnel is formed by what two structures?
a) carpals, extensor retinaculum
b) metacarpals, flexor retinaculum
c) carpals, antebrachial fascia
d) carpals, flexor retinaculum

Dr. Brooks just bought his 2013 BMW 760Li. As he was waiting at a light, another driver rear ended Dr. Brooks, causing Dr. Brooks to have severe whip lash. The junction of which spinal nerves was most likely injured during the accident?
a) C2-C3
b) C7-T1
c) C4-C5
d) C1-C2

Dr. Brooks, a world renowned surgeon is teaching an anatomy class at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. As he is helping a student dissect, he finds an artery, accompanied by a nerve piercing the trapezius muscle and supplying the posterior scalp region. What artery is this?
a) dorsal scapular
b) occipital
c) axillary
d) thoracoacromial

Mr. Boston was checking out a girl on campus with an appealing, protruding, gluteus maximus. In reality, her gluteus maximus could be protruding due lordosis, which is an exaggeration in which vertebral curvature?
a) cervical
b) lumbar
c) thoracic
d) coccygeal

John Gotti, a mobster, paid a visit to Alex who had not paid up on his loan. To show Alex how serious he was, he put a bullet into Alex’s elbow. What type of joint did John just destroy with his gun?
a) pivot
b) ball and socket
c) hinge
d) saddle

During a practicum test a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the teacher had an individual deltoid muscle sitting on the table, with its muscle fibers intersecting with the its tendon at an angle. What type of shape is this?
a) flat
b) fusiform
c) pennate
d) quadrangular

A drive-by shooting occurred on Jordan lane. A patient came in who was hit by a bullet. Upon examination, the physicians observed that the bullet had completely shattered his clavicle. What structure is deep this his shattered clavicle?
a) trapezius muscle
b) subclavius muscle
c) subscapularis muscle
d) manubrium bone

Johnny was born paralyzed from his waist down. When a computed tomography (CT) scan was performed, which vertebral curvature was not present?
a) cervical
b) lumbar
c) thoracic
d) sacral

A local gang member was rushed into the hospital after being assaulted with a bat. Upon examination, the doctor discovers that one of the bat blows shattered the gang member’s scapular spine. What does this spine separate?
a) Subscapular fossa and supraspinous fossa
b)Supraspinous fossa, and infraspinous fossa
c) infraspinous fossa and inferior border of scapula
d) infraspinous fossa and subscapular fossa

1) A man came into the hospital after getting his arm caught in a train and being dragged for a considerable distance. His shoulder was dislocated, so doctors put it back in place. Immediately the arm popped back out of the socket. What muscles were damaged during the horrible accident?
a) infraspinatus, subscapularis, teres minor
b) infraspinatus, teres major, deltoid
c) infraspintaus, supraspinatus, rhomboid major
d) subscapularis, deltoid, teres minor

2) A man fell from his roof onto his back and was rushed to the hospital. A prick test was down with a needle and it revealed that the patient had no sensation on his scapular regions. Which vertebrae and their corresponding nerves may have been damaged during the fall?
a) C1- C3
B) T7-L1
C) C4-C8
D) C3-C4

3) A diabetic woman’s scapular muscles have atrophied due to lack of blood supply. Which artery if damaged could affect the blood supply of all of the scapular muscles?
A) Dorsal scapular
B) Thoracodorsal
C) Suprascapular
D) Axillary

4) Suzie is a track runner, but one day she forgot to wear her sport’s bra. As she was running, her coach noticed that Suzie’s breast where bouncing more than usual. What gives Suzie’s breast the freedom of movement?
A) Pectoralis major muscle
B) Breast tissue
C) Retromammary space
D) Clavipectoral fascia

5) A woman came into the hospital complaining of pain in her breast. Upon examination, the doctor finds severe edema of her breast. What structure is malfunctioning?
A) Retromammary space
B) Lactiferous ducts
C) Nipples
D) Areola

A patient was rushed to the emergency room after being shot in the shoulder. Before surgery the doctor examined his arm and they found that the patient could feel them every time they pricked his arm with a pin. But when they asked him to move his arm, he couldn’t do it by himself. The branches of what nerve area has been damaged?
a) apical nerves
b) brachial plexus
c) spinal nerves L1-L3
d) posterior humeral circumflex

11) A bacterial infection has taken control in Suzie’s breast tissue. Antibiotics were given, which travel through the blood stream. If the antibiotics are traveling through the axillary artery towards the breast, through which arteries in the breast will they diffuse out of to reach the bacterial infection?
a)Lateral thoracic artery
b) anterior circumflex humeral artery
c) thoracoacromial artery
d) Two above are correct
e) None above are correct

6) Quantasia got into a major car accident but escaped without any bruises. Later that day as she was performing a self-breast exam, she noticed that as she palpated her breast that there was no sensation at all. What spinal nerves may be have injured during the car accident without her knowledge?
a) C1-C5
b) T7- T12
c) T4-T6
d) C6-C7

7) Janice was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Which system, if affected by the cancerous cells, will significantly increase her chances of the cancer metastasizing.
a) endocrine
b) skeletal
c) lymphatic
d) epithelial

8) Dr. Brooks, a world renowned surgeon is performing a mastectomy on a female patient. In mastectomies, it is common to remove the underlying pectoralis major muscle also, to prevent the spread of cancer. As Dr. Brooks is removing the pectoralis major muscle he sees two nerves piercing it. What are these nerves?
a) lateral and medial pectoral
b) thoracoacromial and posterior humeral circumflex
c) dorsal scapular and lateral thoracic
d) lateral pectoral and thoracoacromial

9) Dr. Brooks, a world renowned surgeon is still performing his mastectomy. He realizes that the pectoralis minor muscle is also at risk for becoming cancerous, so he decides to remove it also. But first, he has to remove the dense fascia covering the muscle; what is this fascia called?
a) deltopectoral sheath
b) clavipectoral fascia
c) thoracoacromial endomysium
d) pectoral fascia

10) After a drive by shooting, a patient entered the hospital, with a bullet lodged in his chest area. The world renowned surgeon, Dr. Brooks, removed the bullet making sure that he didn’t cut the nerve supply to the pectoralis major during the surgery. What nerve was he making sure not to cut?
a)lateral pectoral
b) axillary
c) medial pectoral
d) two are correct

11) Dr. Collins, a world renowned orthopedic surgeon receives a patient that was hit in the chest with a bat. He notices that the patient’s scapula isn’t being held snug to the posterior ribcage. What muscle was damaged during the bat accident?
a) teres major
b) serratus anterior
c) pectoralis major
d) subscapularis

Jared developed localized necrotizing fasciitis in his femoral sheath. After about 2 days all the tissue and structures that the femoral sheath surrounded had become necrotic. Which structure below would still be viable after the disease had run its course?
a) femoral nerve
b) femoral artery
c) femoral vein
d) femoral canal

Lauren Pedersen-Buck-Alexander was skiing in the French Alps with her rich husband when slammed into a tree, shattering her femur at the neck. As the orthopedic surgeons operated on her leg, they noticed two arteries traveling around the neck of the femur and anastomosing with each other. Which arteries were these?
a) external and internal pudendal
b) lateral and medial femoral circumflex
c) superficial and deep iliac circumflex
d) medial and lateral profunda femoris

Donnell was undergoing a vasectomy surgery, due to the large about of kids he had already. As his surgeon was cutting through his inguinal ligament, he noticed a nerve traveling underneath the inguinal ligament, just medial to his ASIS. Which nerve was this?
a) anterior cutaneous branch of femoral nerve
b) lateral gluteal cutaneous nerve
c) sciatic nerve
d) lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh

Lauren was attempting to shave her pubic hair with a razor. As she shaved her inner thigh, her hand slipped and the razor plunged into her thigh. At the hospital the surgeon noticed that she had severed the cutaneous nerve traveling between her adductor longus and brevis muscles. Which nerve was this?
a) cutaneous branch of obturator nerve
b) saphenous nerve
c) lateral cutaneous branch of obturator nerve
d) lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh

Gerard awoke one morning and realized that he didn’t have any sensation over his anterior scrotum. He frantically went to see his urologist; after a series of tests, the urologist discovered that he had lesion on which nerve?
a) inguinal nerve
b) anterior scrotal branch of femoral nerve
c) genital branch of gentofemoral nerve
d) 2 of the above

Morgan was fishing off the side of her boat when she decided to cool her feet in the surrounding water. As her feet dangled over the side of the boat, a great white shark chomped her right leg, completely detaching it from her body. At the hospital, doctors noticed that the only ligament still intact at her hip joint was “Y” shaped. Which ligament was this?
a) pubofemoral
b) ilofemoral-
c) ischiofemoral
d) combination of two above

Through attachments of the sacrospinous ligament to the _________ , the greater sciatic foramen is formed, in which the sciatic nerve travels to enter the gluteal region.
a) pubic symphsis
b) ala of ilium bone
c) ischial spine
d) lunate surface of acetabulum

Which of the following nerves do not supply the gluteal region?
a) sciatic-
b) inferior clunial
c) nerve to the quadratus femoris
d) nerve to the obturator internus

Kedon, a hot-shot motorcyclist, was riding in the mountains when he lost control of his bike. He slid on his gluteal region for several hundred ft. before he finally came to a stop. At the hospital, the surgeon noticed that Kedon has completely lost the ability to laterally rotate his leg. What is the innervation of the muscle that was damaged during the accident?
a) superior gluteal nerve
b) sciatic nerve
c) posterior circumflex femoral nerve
d) inferior gluteal nerve

Carolyn developed a nasty itch on the dermis surrounding her intergluteal cleft. Which cutaneous nerves allow her to feel the inflammation in her intergluteal cleft?
a) lateral clunial
b) medial clunial
c) medial gluteal cutaneous
d) superficial circumflex humoral

Julian was excreting urine in the woods during a road trip, when he was suddenly castrated by a black bear searching for food. Which of the following arteries supplied the area that was now part of the bear’s lunch?
a) artery to the obturator internus
b) superior gluteal
c) internal pudendal
d) artery to the quadratus femoris

Trent was playing Donell in a game of one on one basketball. Trent crossed Donell so quickly that Donell avulsed his iliotibial tract from its distal attachment point. What is this attachment point?
a) tibial tuberosity
b) lateral condyle of tibia
c) medial condyle of tibia
d) supracondylar ridge of tibia

Right before I bought my fiancée’s engagement ring, in December of 2005, my Aunt was walking around the house, when she almost tripped over herself because her head felt funny. When she went to the hospital, the doctors found out that that funny feeling in her head was actually one of the worst types of tumors to have in your brain. She died yesterday, after a year of chemo and pain. I don’t really know what to think about her death. The odds of her surviving the cancer that she had were slim, but in a small number of patients the tumor could be destroyed using chemo; so what do you choose….certain death….or a few more years of life? Of course they chose the chemo, and part of me is struggling with whether this was the right choice or not. The chemotherapy made her extremely weak, so much so that she could hardly walk; her hair which was pretty long for an old gal was now a little longer than mine; the chemo, since the body considers it a poison, caused severe vomiting and horrible nausea; and finally, a side-effect of the chemo is that it destroyed the lining of her intestines causing severe and almost unbearable pain every time food passed through or gas. What did the treatment give her and her family? One more year of hope? Was it worth it? I can’t be sure how I would respond if my soon to be wife had the worst type of brain tumor. Would I want her to be in kind of chemo induced pain that my aunt was in, or should she just deal with the pain from the tumor? I believe that the American healthcare system focuses too much on life, and not enough on quality of life. Sure we can keep someone alive with our machines and attenuated poisons, but does that person even enjoy a second of that life? Would healthcare for all Americans be possible if we didn’t spend millions of dollars a year keeping people alive for one more year? I don’t know…I guess I have more questions than answers.

Besides that sad news, my future wife and I have both sent off our $300 deposits to secure our positions at the Meharry Medical College. Although our hearts are still with Loma Linda, I personally can’t continue to mentally dwell on that. In my mind, we are going to Meharry until the Lord brings something else up. I still have no idea what Meharry is going to do with us and our situation. Their mandatory pre-matriculation program begins around June 19th, and we get married on July 8. More than that, we will be on our honeymoon from July 9-22. School doesn’t actually start until August, but I’m not sure if they will work something out for our situation. If they do allow us to skip out on the pre-matriculation program, then things will go smoothly, but if they don’t then we will probably have to defer a year.

In excitement, my fiancée and I were looking at different apartments in the Nashville/Meharry-Vanderbilt area. I personally prefer to live in their new renovated on campus apartments for a couple reasons: 1) the rent is cheap being around $519 for a 1 bedroom and $625 for a 2 bedroom 2)We will probably be spending a significant time in anatomy lab, and it would be much easier to just walk home than to have to COMMUTE home 3)Someone living just 8 miles away from Meharry told me that it could take them around 30 minutes to get to campus, so the traffic must be pretty slow on the highway 4) I love saving gas. When we are sure that Meharry will be our school, then we will drive up to Nashville to actually check out different places.

With attending Meharry becoming more certain, day by day, I’ve been inquiring of Vanderbilt to see how I can get off of their waitlist. I honestly care more about lack of debt than prestige, so if Meharry gives me more money, I’ll be there, but I at least want to know how much money I can get from Vandy, and there is no way I can know that if I’m still on the waitlist. Meharry and Vanderbilt are 1.3 miles away, so it wouldn’t affect my fiancée if she went to Meharry. I’ll keep yall updated on that process.

One more semester to go before I am finished with college!!! I know people say it all the time, but the time has truly flown by. You know, I recall sitting on my bed with the Oakwood College course book, trying to figure out what classes to take. I remember people telling me that in this one teacher’s class no one had received an A for like 3 years. I remember people telling me that Organic Chemistry was impossible and that I would be lucky if I received a C in the class. I remember my uncles and upperclassmen telling me that entering college with a girlfriend was stupid and that I would break up with her after 1 month of class because of the beautiful girls at Oakwood. I also remember receiving a handwritten letter my freshman year from my roommate’s grandmother who didn’t know me from Adam. She encouraged me to work hard in college and more importantly than everything else, to seek God in all that I do and acknowledge Him in everything that I do. For those highschoolers that read my blogs who are slightly apprehensive about how college will work out for them, just remember what my roommate’s grandmother told me and you will succeed in EVERYTHING that you do. Being a premed, especially a premed with a science major is challenging. The journey to medical school is filled with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but you always have to keep in the forefront of your mind that people have done it before, so it must be doable. You may get a 98% on an Organic Chemistry test one day, and then a 45% on a Genetics test the next, but never feel like your dreams to become a doctor must end. So many people have had up and down semesters like that, and the are now successful physicians. In my previous post, I talked at length about my Biochemistry final, and how I was just praying for a B in the class because I didn’t get to do the buffer PH questions at the end of the test. Well, the Lord truly truly blessed. I believe that a combination of a lot of folks doing horribly on the final, along with the PH problems not counting for too many points, along with the grace of God allowed me to get an A in the class!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is how my second to last semester went:Desktop Publishing for Graphic Design:A-
Histology:A
Biology Seminar:A
Biochemistry:A!!!
Racquetball I:A
Weight Training:B+
Athletic Injuries:A

With the semester finally finished, I’ve had time to just plan for the wedding and chill out. My jobs for the wedding are to get all the addresses for the guest list and to work on the invitations. Planning a wedding is exciting in spurts; personally I’m excited until I have to sit down with her and her parents, then it gets stressful. Otherwise, everything is cool. Truly, I can’t imagine myself being any happier than being married while in medical school. Speaking of medical school; I was called by Loma Linda on Friday so I’m in!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now my fiancée hasn’t gotten the call yet, so we are still headed to Meharry. There is a high chance that we will take a year off before we go to medical school to do more missionary work, but I’ll keep you posted on that. I’ll write again soon!

These past couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. This past week was the worst week of my life. Finals week is next week, but most of my teachers decided to give me finals this past week which really turned up the pressure. The most important test I had was Biochemistry. This class scares me the most because she only gives us a midterm and a final and not only is the information challenging to wrap your mind around, but she changes her testing style for each test. Our midterm was a beast of a test, and I do have to admit that I didn’t prepare as well as I should have, so I got a 67/100 on the test. I know that sounds low but most of the people in the class got around 40/100, so it kind of makes me feel a little better. Anyway, it is still bad, and I was determined that for the final I would rock this thing, because I have never really really really studied for a test in college and not rocked it. Well this test rocked me; I knew the information, I really did, but I just didn’t have enough time to finish it, which is worse to me than attempting it and getting it wrong. I got caught up on a stupid problem talking about Vmax and Km, and I didn’t realize that the multiple choice questions were really only half of what I had to do. I should have flipped to the back of test to see what else she wanted us to do; if I did, I would have seen that she wanted us to draw the Fisher and Haworth projections, as well as the chair conformations for A LOT of carbohydrates, and she had a lot of fill in the blanks and a good amount of pH problems. I didn’t finish the very last part which dealt with pH problems, and I was really really kicking myself about that. But you know what, the Lord has blessed me on so many other tests. If this is the class that I get rocked in, I’ll just have to accept it and move on. I’ll be ELATED if I get a B in this class, so we will see. Other than that stuff, I got a letter today inviting me to join the 2007 entering class of the Morehouse School of Medicine. So that brings the acceptances to 4!!! I’m excited but since they haven’t updated my fiancée on anything, I’m really not thinking twice about attending. For right now our eyes are set on Meharry since we both been accepted, and if Loma Linda accepts us, then we will definitely be going there. We should hear from Loma Linda by December 18, so keep us in your prayers, because that would be a dream come true.

I’ve truly, truly realized that the wedding day is for the woman, and that most opinions that I have about it should be kept silent, just to keep the peace. Now that I’ve realized that, wedding plans are going well. We are going home to Maryland this Christmas break to make sure all the plans are in place for the big event. I’m in charge of the guest list and the invitations (but as any guy who has gotten married before knows… I’m not really in charge in the end). I do know one thing that is all mine, and that is the honeymoon. I’ve had a lot of fun planning it and I’m really counting down till I can finally be married.

I’m still really tired from that Biochem test, so this post won’t be too long. I’ll post again soon once I get some strength back.

So I had my interview at Meharry on Monday, November 13, 2006. We decided to drive up from Huntsville that morning; so to make sure we beat traffic we ( my fiancé and I) woke up around 3:30 a.m. and left for Nashville around 5:30 a.m. We arrived there around 7:15 a.m. and prepped each other with interview questions. The day overall was a lot more organized than I expected for Meharry (I had heard a lot of bad reports about the school). They provided us with breakfast and lunch which was a first for any of the schools I had interviewed at. During the breakfast we got a chance to meet the other interviewees. There were about 4 black people and 4 non-black people, so overall, the Meharry interview had the most diverse interview group. There was a small part of me that had a problem with non-black people applying to Meharry since they have 122 non-black schools to choose from, but that is all foolishness. They have every right to apply to Meharry if they believe in Meharry’s mission. There were two people who had already graduated and were doing research at the NIH in Maryland; and there was an Asian guy from UMich; and there was a white girl from the University of San Diego, and there a tall black guy from UMiami, my fiancée and I from Oakwood, etc.

After breakfast I had my interviews…all THREE of them. I was a little intimidated by the 3 interviews at first, but it was absolutely fine. My first interview was with Dr. Ballard, a well known Pathologist in the States. He was very knowledgeable, and very easy going. He just wanted to get to know me, basically asking me why Meharry, why medicine, why Oakwood, and where do you see yourself in 10 years? We also talked about malpractice and possible solutions to fix the rising healthcare costs besides moving to a universal healthcare system. My second interviewer was African, so that was nice because I had the opportunity to talk about my missionary work in the UN refugee camps. He really basically asked me all the questions from a list I guess the Admissions office gave him, so we didn’t really get into any good conversations, but it was a pleasant interview overall. My 3rd interview with a East Asian guy who was a Urology attending. This interview was the shortest one I had lasting for like 12 minutes. It seemed to go well so I didn’t worry about the short time.

After my interviews we had a financial aid session and the lady was very knowledgeable. She gave us all the basic information that I needed to know. She mentioned that the Admissions office has about 5 full scholarships for applicants, so hopefully I can qualify for that.

Overall I learned that Meharry students match into very competitive residencies in great places like orthopedics at Hopkins and Neurosurgery at Columbia. I also learned (from a doc that had been there for awhile) that Vanderbilt was like the last med school to integrate their class so it kind of makes you wonder about their dedication to diversity. I’m not knocking them, because I would still like to attend Vandy, but it kind of makes you wonder. I asked my normal gamut of questions about the amount hands on activity that 3rd year students get at Meharry, and as is the case with most black medical schools and affiliated county hospitals, you get more hands on experience than you can handle sometimes; case in point: that same day, I ran into an MS-3 Oakwood grad who had delivered a baby that day (pretty hot huh?) I really like how Oakwood is represented at Meharry also; the CEO of the Nashville General Hospital is an Oakwood grad, as well as the chief of their Emergency Medicine department is an Oakwood grad too. Meharry is a great school, and you can be whatever doctor you want if you work hard there.

And so to end it all, my fiancée and I both received this e-mail from Meharry last night (11/18/06):

Dear Future Meharrian

I am pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the first year medical class of Meharry Medical College that begins in June 2007. We sincerely hope that you will accept our invitation to obtain your medical education at Meharry and we look forward to having you join the 2011 class.

To reserve your place in this class, we must receive written notification of your intent to accept our invitation. In addition, a certified check or money order in the amount of $300 payable to Meharry Medical College. The payment must be received within 30 days of receipt of this notification. Mail the certified check or money order to:

Office of Admissions
Meharry Medical College
1005 Dr. D. B. Todd Jr. Blvd
Nashville, TN 37208-3599

Please check one of the following when you reply to this e-mail:

___I will accept your position and send my deposit.

___ I am no longer interested in attending Meharry Medical College; please withdraw my application. I will be attending ____________________________________.

Other comments (enter here)_________________________________________

Full Name and Phone #__________________________________________________

Please know that your acceptance as a member of this class is contingent upon receiving transcripts from all Colleges attended and a physical health exam must be forwarded to the Office of Admissions as soon as possible.

Your official letter of offer from the Dean of the School of Medicine and additional information concerning our Freshman Orientation, Financial Aid, Student Services and other areas of interest will arrive in the mail shortly.

If there are any questions, please feel free to contact Ms Deborah Davis in the Office of Admissions at (615)xxx-62×3. Allen D. Mosley, Director of Admissions

So we are IIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!! This is the first place that my fiancée and I have both been accepted to, so I am exceedingly happy!!! The Lord answered my prayer exactly, and I just want to testify because He can do the same for everyone. I prayed that both my fiancée and I would be accepted, and that we would find out that we had both been accepted before we flew home for Christmas break; and the Lord answered in remarkable time. He interviewed on 11/13 and heard on 11/18!!! So until we hear from Loma Linda (which is our first choice) we are headed to Meharry!!!!!!!!!!

PERSONAL STATEMENT WORKSHOP II So, we all agree that your personal statement should be written and proofread before your Junior year is complete correct? Or for those people that are non-traditional applicants, your personal statement should be written before April of the summer you are submitting your AMCAS application. So…what do you write about? Generally, the personal statement is supposed to answer the question “Why Medicine”, or what experiences in your life have lead you to pursue a career in medicine. You could give your whole life story, in chronological order showing the different experiences you have had in your life that have solidified that medicine is the career you. Or you can focus on one small experience in your life in your PS. Medical schools get THOUSANDS of applications every year with people that have great ECs, amazing grades, and high MCAT scores, so the PS allows them to see what makes you unique. Now, you don’t have to have experience in United Nations refugee camps delivering HIV+ babies with no gloves to show that you are passionate about medicine. Also, not everyone has that “Ah Ha” turning point where they realized that medicine was their destiny. Many people just think that it’s a cool field to go into. But you still have to have interesting experiences that can somehow, by some stretch be associated with medicine. I’ve even heard of premed collegiate athletes who wrote a PS that metaphorically described medicine as they talked about their sport. Generally, my tips for writing a PS is:

1) Always make your first sentence or first paragraph catchy. Make it an attention grabber. It makes them actually want to read through the whole thing.
2) Start your PS with a story, quote, or something to lead into your answer to “why medicine”
3) Make an outline before you actually write your personal statement (a very bare outline), and then when its time to write, just write to your heart’s content. When you are done, you should have many more characters than the 5,300 character limit, which is alright, because they you can whittle it down.
4) You can be creative, but don’t be too creative. Medicine is still a very conservative profession.
5) DO NOT MAKE YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT A REITERATION OF YOUR WORK & ACTIVITIES SECTION OF YOUR AMCAS APPLICATION
6) I know I said this before, but at the most have only 2 people read your personal statement. I would recommend a professor (with a PhD) who is used to either writing essays or writing research grant proposals. If your parents don’t know the difference between a cell wall and a ribosome, they probably won’t be all that knowledgeable about writing a PS for medical school. Pick professionally applicable people to read and edit your personal statement. The only person I had was a very thorough science professor, I didn’t need an English professor. But if having an English professor edit it makes you feel better, then go for it.
7) Avoid the “I want to save the world one hug at a time” theme when writing your personal statement. If that is what you want to do, then fine, but keep your personal statement realistic and not too idealistic.
8) Don’t sound cocky. Consult others to figure out whether your personal statement has a cocky tone.
9) Always make sure that your closing paragraph ties back into your opening paragraph. It brings closure you to personal statement.

I’m sure there is more but that is all I can think up. Also, do not copy your PS straight from Microsoft Word into your online AMCAS application, because the formatting will be jacked up. Copy it first to Notepad (to get to notepad, go to start, then programs, then accessories). When you copy it into notepad, make sure that the word wrap feature it turned off (you will know its turned off if you cant’ see your whole PS on the main screen. Once your PS is saved in this format, then you can copy it to AMCAS without any problems. Remember that the character limit is 5,300 CHARACTERS not words, and that includes spaces; so every space between a paragraph counts as 2 characters (I think). That is pretty much all I have on personal statements. Like I said before, I’m not an expert, but I’m will to help those who need help.

Because the research I did this summer was paid by a grant, I have to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Anaheim, CA. We leave tomorrow, so I’ll be gone for a little while. I’ll post about my experiences when I get back.

Welcome to DoctaJay’s Personal Statement Workshop!!! (Part I) Now I’m in no way an expert on personal statements, but I believe I can provide some helpful advice here and there.1) When should you write your personal statement?Please please please please please write your personal statement your Junior year of college. The last semester of your Junior year is good too, but by the time that year ends, it should have already have been written and proof read. I have a good amount of friends who waited until their senior year to write their personal statement which causes unneeded stress. Also, because you then have to submit your AMCAS application later, it puts you in an AMCAS verification pool which may take up to a month to get through. Also, since teachers will be very busy at the beginning of the school year it may be harder for you to get your personal statement (PS) read, which brings me to my next point…2)Who should proof read my personal statement?

Choose two good people and stick with them, and them alone. If you e-mail it to your parents (who have no idea what all this is about), your grandma, all your professors, and your friends who are English majors and pre-law majors you will get just as many different opinions as to what needs to be changed on your PS. Too many chefs can ruin the pot, and the same occurs with your PS. I only choose one professor actually to proof read my PS, and no one else. She read it for grammer and content and after about 5 sessions, whittled my PS down to something half-way acceptable.

3) How many drafts should I have?

This truly depends on you. I had a good amount, but it is better to write WAY over the AMCAS 5,300 character with spaces count and then whittle it down than to struggle to get close to 4,000 characters. I’ll continue the rest of this later, but below are all of the drafts of my PS in chronological order, starting with the first and ending with the final. This should show you how much editing is sometimes needed for a PS. I’ll post part Ii of this later with much more advice than was in this one:

FIRST DRAFT
I’ve already graduated from medical school; I’m just reapplying to freshen up on some things. I know it’s hard to believe, because no one really wants to relive the stress of medical school, but I just don’t remember everything I learned. My mother was about 7 months pregnant with me, as she walked across the stage to accept our diploma from the Howard University School of Medicine. Needless to say, I don’t remember much because I was confined to her womb, but I am determined to catch up on all the pertinent information I missed.

When I contemplate the question of, “Why Medicine”, I realize that it can only be answered by explaining a combination of experiences that I’ve had. Ever since 1990, when my dad brought home our first personal computer, I’ve been a computer geek. By the time I got to high school I was teaching myself how to program, building computers, dabbling in amateur robotics, and looking into colleges with good engineering programs. I in no way contemplated medicine, because my mother was a doctor, and I wanted to be unique and I figured that I was better at computers than science. It all began with a summer program called MITHS at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. It was a program that was supposed to attract minorities into the health field. For three weeks, we took medical school classes, and learned as much as we could. I was absolutely hooked by this program, and returned from California with a second love, medicine.

I was thinking of majoring in biomedical engineering, but I decided to keep the computer side of me a hobby and major in biology at Oakwood College. It turned out that I was actually pretty good in science, and my first year was very successful. During my freshmen year I joined a mission group called the National Association or the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). It was in this group that I realized how satisfying it was to help someone without expecting anything in return. The smiles of gratitude I received were worth more than any grade or accolade I’ve earned. One experience in particular really solidified my desire to be a doctor. When I was in Zambia, Africa with NAPS, we were working in a United Nations refugee camp filled with refugees from Angola. About 60% of the kids there had ring worm, and it really broke my heart, because that is so easily treated if there were the funds to do it. The sand is very deep there and most of the kids don’t own any shoes. One day, as we walked to the Zambezi River with 150 people that wanted to be baptized, I saw one little boy fall to the ground in pain. Of course he didn’t have shoes, and he stubbed his toe very badly on a tree stump hidden by the sand. His toe was split open pretty badly, and was bleeding a lot. All I had was a Wal-Mart first-aid kit, so I took it out and start to clean his toe first with alcohol. He winced slightly, but then signaled with his eyes that I could continue. I cleaned everything off, and put a nice big band-aid around his toe. He tried to thank me in Portuguese, but when he realized I didn’t understand, he smiled, and that told me more than any words could. As he ran off towards the Zambezi, I sat there in awe. I realized that that was what it was all about. I wasn’t a big time surgeon yet, but I took the time to stop and help someone. As I walked away I realized that I wanted this feeling everyday. I wanted to wake up every morning whether it is in the rough streets of Baltimore or the plains of Africa, knowing that I could help someone that day.

That same summer, after Africa, I went to the University of Cincinnati to conduct research. The research was very exciting, and although I didn’t publish any papers, I did win 1st place in the category of Neuroscience for my poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, the largest research conference for minority students in the world. I gained more than research experience at the University of Cincinnati; I was given the opportunity to shadow a surgery resident on the trauma part of his residency. He truly became a mentor to me and allowed me to see what the life of a trauma surgeon was really like. I saw gun shot wounds, stab wounds, car crash victims, emergency thoracotomies that couldn’t save the patient, suicide attempts, etc. I was also given the opportunity suture the chest of a patient that couldn’t be saved with a ED thoracotomy, I was taught out to anestisize a gun shoot wound, I was taught how to pull a chest tube, I assisted in the amputation of a car crash victim’s leg, I was shown how to remove scar tissue in laparoscopic surgery, how to check for a cardiac tamponade, how to examine a chest x-ray for signs of a pneumothorax, and a myriad of other things. Needless to say, my experiences in the hospital were quite a bit more exciting than sitting in the research laboratory. Because all the doctors I shadowed were surgeons, I took quite a liking to them, and even started to walk like them! In all seriousness though, the clinical experiences at UC further reinforced my desire to become a physician, and sparked my interest in surgery.

All of these experiences have shaped me into the person I am now. The mission work has had the biggest effect on me, and I’m sure it will influence where I decide to practice. Medicine appeals to me not only because of the possibility of helping someone every day, but also because it presents intellectual and technical challenges every day. Also, as I’ve seen so far, doctors get to play with lots of computers and technical equipment, which rekindles the computer geek inside me! Apart from being academically qualified, I believe that my passion for mission work will make me a very caring physician; a physician that views their patient as more than a case, or a leg, but a person. I know that medicine is the only field that fits for me, and once I go back to medical school to relearn some things, I know I will do the field justice.

SECOND DRAFT
I have already graduated from medical school; I’m just applying to freshen up on some things. You see, my mother was about 7 months pregnant with me as she walked across the stage to accept our diploma from the Howard University School of Medicine. Needless to say, I don’t remember much because I was confined to her womb, but I am determined to catch up on all the pertinent information I missed.

When I contemplate the question of, “Why Medicine”, I realize that it can only be answered by explaining a combination of experiences that I have had. Ever since 1993, when my dad brought home our first computer, I have been a computer geek. By the time I got to high school I was learning how to program and build computers. In the summer of 2002, my interest in medicine was sparked with a program called MITHS at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. The program’s objective was to attract minorities into medicine. For three weeks, we took medical school classes and we learned how to speed read. It was there that I found out how much I loved learning about the circulation of the heart, the anatomy and physiology of the brain, and many other aspects of the human body. When I received Rohen’s Color Atlas of Anatomy for making the highest grade in anatomy class, my newfound desire to pursue medicine was solidified and I sought out colleges with good biology programs.

In high school I found my love for the human body, and at Oakwood College, my passion for helping others was formed. My freshmen year I joined a mission group called the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS), in which I have had many experiences that have truly strengthened my character and changed my focus. In the summer of my freshman year, I went on a mission to Zambia, Africa with NAPS. In Lusaka, the capital, we visited an AIDS clinic. Seeing hundreds of babies, children and their parents lying in cots dying changed everything. I now realized that my place was also there with them, and I resolved that when I became a doctor, I would come back and help prevent AIDS from destroying more lives. While there I began my future work by helping to build the NAPS AIDS Prevention Center and by participation in a march against AIDS in Zambia’s capital. At our final destination, the United Nations refugee camp in Nangweshi and Kanja, I had another experience which reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor. After working for almost six weeks feeding children and preaching, we were on our way to from the Kanja camp to the Nangweshi camp with about 150 refugees who wanted to be baptized. Sadly, many of the children did not have shoes, and the sand was very deep there. While walking, I saw a little boy on the ground crying in pain. His toe was bleeding profusely after stubbing it on a tree stump hidden by the sand. With a Wal-Mart first-aid kit I bent down to see what I could do. After I got the bleeding to stop, I began to wipe his toe with alcohol; he winced in pain but signaled me to continue with his eyes. When I put a big band-aid on his toe, he looked up and started to thank me in Portuguese; when he realized I couldn’t understand he just smiled at me, which told me more than words ever could. He got up and ran off and I sat there with a feeling I had never had before. I wasn’t a doctor, but the little I did made him feel better…I helped him. This experience reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor, so I could have this feeling every day.

We also did relief work here in the U.S. When Hurricane Rita hit, I along with 30 others NAPS members left school and drove down to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The area we happened upon looked more like a third world country than an American city. Many of the older people and those in poor neighbors couldn’t leave before the hurricane hit, and were trapped inside their houses. We cut numerous trees off houses, teamed up with the Convoy of Hope to pass out ice, and distributed hundreds of pounds of food, water, hygiene products, and other necessities. This, and many others experiences with NAPS formed my passion to help others and have reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor to help the underserved, especially those dying of AIDS around the world.

After Africa, I went to the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine to conduct research. The research was very exciting, and I ended up winning 1st place in the category of Neuroscience for my poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, the largest research conference for minority students in the world. Aside from research, at the University of Cincinnati, I was given the opportunity to shadow a surgery resident on his trauma rotation. While shadowing, my love for surgery was formed. On top of participating in numerous procedures, I realized that surgery suited me perfectly by satisfying my instant gratification personality while permitting substantial patient contact.

All of these experiences have shaped me into the person I am now, and have led me to the field of medicine. No longer confined to my mother’s womb, I am excited about the prospect of returning to medical school to learn everything I missed. I truly desire to serve others, especially the under deserved, and I intend to dedicate my life to that task.

THIRD DRAFT
I have already graduated from medical school; I’m just applying to freshen up on some things. You see, my mother was about 7 months pregnant with me as she walked across the stage to accept our diploma from the Howard University School of Medicine. Needless to say, I don’t remember much because I was confined to her womb, but I am determined to catch up on all the pertinent information I missed.

When I contemplate the question of, “Why Medicine”, I realize that it can only be answered by explaining a combination of experiences that I have had. Ever since 1993, when my dad brought home our first computer, I have been a computer geek. By the time I entered high school I was learning how to program and build computers. However, in the summer of 2002 my interest in medicine was sparked through the MITHS program, sponsored by the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. For three weeks, I took medical school classes and learned how to speed read. It was there that I discovered how much I loved learning about the circulation of the heart, the anatomy and physiology of the brain, and many other aspects of the human body. By the end of the program, my interest in pursuing a career in medicine was solidified, and I sought out colleges with good biology programs.

In high school I found my love for the human body, and at Oakwood College, my passion for helping others was formed. During my freshmen year I joined the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). NAPS emphasizes a lifestyle of service to others, and this emphasis has truly strengthened my character and changed my focus. My 1st mission with NAPS occurred in the summer of 2004. Early in the mission, I visited an AIDS clinic in Lusaka, the capital city. As I observed hundreds of babies, children and their parents slowly dying while lying on cots, I realized that I had to help. I resolved that day that I would use my medical training in Africa to prevent more diseases like AIDS from destroying more lives. While there I helped build the NAPS AIDS Prevention Center and participated in a march against AIDS in Zambia’s capital. Our final destination, the United Nations refugee camp in Nangweshi and Kanja, is where I had another experience which reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor. After six weeks of feeding children and preaching, we were on our way to from the Kanja camp to the Nangweshi camp with about 150 refugees who wanted to be baptized. The sand was very deep there, and unfortunately few children had shoes. While walking, I saw a little boy on the ground crying in pain because he had stubbed his toe on a tree trunk hidden by the sand. His toe was bleeding profusely but after I got the bleeding to stop, I used my first-aid kit and I began to wipe his toe with alcohol; he winced in pain but signaled me to continue with his eyes. After placing a band-aid on his toe, he looked up and started to thank me in Portuguese; when he realized I could not understand he just smiled at me, which told me more than words ever could. He got up and ran off and I sat there with a feeling I had never had before. I was not a doctor, but the little I did made him feel better…I helped him. This experience reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor, so I could wake up every morning knowing that I was going to help someone that day.

I also did relief work here in the U.S. When Hurricane Rita hit, I along with 30 other NAPS members left school and drove down to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The area we happened upon looked more like a third world country than an American city. Many of the older people and those in poor neighbors couldn’t leave before the hurricane hit, and were trapped inside their houses. We cut numerous trees off houses, teamed up with the Convoy of Hope to pass out ice, and distributed hundreds of pounds of food, water, hygiene products, and other necessities. This, and many other experiences with NAPS formed my passion to help others and has reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor to help the underserved, especially those dying of AIDS around the world.

After working with the people in Zambia, Africa I was given a special native name that I truly cherish. The name is Mutanga, and it has two meanings, warrior and servant. Interestingly, these two meanings completely describe my character. With every task or problem that I am confronted with, I attack it swiftly and thoroughly, much like a warrior on a battle field. In addition, when someone needs help, seeing how I can serve them is my first basic instinct. I was named Mutanga perhaps purposely. The Zambians noticed these two traits in my character, and it is these two traits that I want my patients to notice also. My patients will know that like a warrior, I will fight to get them healthy again, and they will also know that as their doctor, I’m there to serve them.

Although I have dedicated my college life to serving others, I know that becoming a physician will significantly increase my ability to help more people in need. No longer confined to my mother’s womb, I am excited about the prospect of returning to medical school to learn everything I missed. I truly desire to serve others, especially the under deserved, and I intend to dedicate my life to that task.

FOURTH DRAFT
I have already graduated from medical school. You see, my mother was about 7 months pregnant with me as she walked across the stage to accept our diploma from the Howard University School of Medicine. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much because I was confined to her womb, but I am determined to catch up on all the pertinent information I missed.

When I contemplate the question of, “Why Medicine?”, I realize that it can only be answered by explaining a combination of experiences that I have had. Ever since 1993, when my dad brought home our first computer, I have been a computer geek. By the time I entered high school, I was learning how to program and build computers. However, in the summer of 2002 my interest in medicine was sparked through the MITHS program, sponsored by the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. For three weeks, I took medical school classes and learned how to speed read. It was there that I discovered how much I loved learning about the circulation of the heart, the anatomy and physiology of the brain, and many other aspects of the human body. By the end of the program, my interest in pursuing a career in medicine was solidified, and I sought out colleges with good biology programs.

In high school I found my love for the human body, and at Oakwood College, my passion for helping others was formed. During my freshmen year I joined the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). They emphasize a lifestyle of service for others, and this emphasis has truly strengthened my character and changed my focus. My first mission with NAPS occurred in the summer of 2004. Early in the mission, I visited an AIDS clinic in Lusaka, the capital city. As I observed hundreds of babies, children and their parents slowly dying while lying on cots, I realized that I had to help. I resolved that day, that I would use my medical training to prevent diseases like AIDS from destroying more lives in Africa and in other underdeveloped nations. During the mission, I helped build the NAPS Centre of Hope for AIDS prevention and I participated in a march against AIDS in Zambia’s capital. Our final destination, the United Nations refugee camp in Nangweshi and Kanja, is where I had another experience which reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor. After six weeks of feeding children and preaching, we were on our way from the Kanja camp to the Nangweshi camp with about 150 refugees who wanted to be baptized. The sand was very deep, and unfortunately few children had shoes. While walking, I saw a little boy on the ground crying in pain because he had stubbed his toe on a tree trunk hidden by the sand. His toe was bleeding profusely but after I got the bleeding to stop, I used my first-aid kit and I began to wipe his toe with alcohol; he winced in pain but with his eyes he signaled me to continue. After placing a band-aid on his toe, he looked up and started to thank me in Portuguese; when he realized that I could not understand he just smiled at me, which told me more than words ever could. He got up and ran off and I sat there with a feeling I had never had before. I was not a doctor, but the little I did made him feel better…I helped him. This experience further confirmed my desire to become a doctor, so I could wake up every morning knowing that I was going to help someone that day.

I also did relief work here in the United States. When Hurricane Rita hit, I along with 45 other NAPS members left school and drove down to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The area we happened upon looked more like a third world country than an American city. Many of the older people and those in poor neighbors could not leave before the hurricane hit, and were trapped inside their houses. We cut numerous trees off houses, teamed up with the Convoy of Hope to pass out ice, and distributed hundreds of pounds of food, water, hygiene products, and other necessities. The Huricane Rita mission and many other experiences with NAPS has formed my passion to help others and has confirmed my desire to become a doctor to help the underserved.

After working with the people in Zambia, I was given a special native name that I truly cherish. The name is Mutonga, which has two meanings, warrior and servant. Interestingly, these two meanings completely describe my character. With every task or problem that I am confronted with, I attack it swiftly and thoroughly, much like a warrior on a battle field. In addition, when someone needs help, my first basic instinct is to see how I can serve. The Zambians noticed these traits in my character, and it is these traits that I want my patients to notice also. As their doctor my patients will know that like a warrior, I will fight to get them healthy again, and they will also know that as a servant, I will attend to their needs with compassion and humility.

No longer confined to my mother’s womb, I am excited about the prospect of returning to medical school to learn everything I missed. I truly desire to serve others, especially the underserved, and I intend to dedicate my life to that task.

FINAL DRAFT!!!
I have already graduated from medical school. You see, my mother was about 7 months pregnant with me as she walked across the stage to accept our diploma from the Howard University School of Medicine. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much because I was confined to her womb, but I am determined to catch up on all the pertinent information I missed.

When I contemplate the question of, “Why Medicine?”, I realize that it can only be answered by explaining a combination of experiences that I have had. Ever since 1993, when my dad brought home our first computer, I have been a computer geek. By the time I entered high school, I was learning how to program and build computers. However, in the summer of 2002 my interest in medicine was sparked through the MITHS program, sponsored by the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. For three weeks, I took medical school classes and learned how to speed read. It was there that I discovered how much I loved learning about the circulation of the heart, the anatomy and physiology of the brain, and many other aspects of the human body. By the end of the program, my interest in pursuing a career in medicine was solidified, and I sought out colleges with good biology programs.

In high school I found my love for the human body, and at Oakwood College, my passion for helping others was formed. During my freshmen year I joined the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). They emphasize a lifestyle of service for others, and this emphasis has truly strengthened my character and changed my focus. My first mission with NAPS occurred in the summer of 2004. Early in the mission, I visited an AIDS clinic in Lusaka, the capital city. As I observed hundreds of babies, children and their parents slowly dying while lying on cots, I realized that I had to help. I resolved that day, that I would use my medical training to prevent diseases like AIDS from destroying more lives in Africa and in other underdeveloped nations. During the mission, I helped build the NAPS Centre of Hope for AIDS prevention and I participated in a march against AIDS in Zambia’s capital. Our final destination, the United Nations refugee camp in Nangweshi and Kanja, is where I had another experience which reaffirmed my desire to become a doctor. After six weeks of feeding children and preaching, we were on our way from the Kanja camp to the Nangweshi camp with about 150 refugees who wanted to be baptized. The sand was very deep, and unfortunately few children had shoes. While walking, I saw a little boy on the ground crying in pain because he had stubbed his toe on a tree trunk hidden by the sand. His toe was bleeding profusely but after I got the bleeding to stop, I used my first-aid kit and I began to wipe his toe with alcohol; he winced in pain but with his eyes he signaled me to continue. After placing a band-aid on his toe, he looked up and started to thank me in Portuguese; when he realized that I could not understand he just smiled at me, which told me more than words ever could. He got up and ran off and I sat there with a feeling I had never had before. I was not a doctor, but the little I did made him feel better…I helped him. This experience further confirmed my desire to become a doctor, so I could wake up every morning knowing that I was going to help someone that day.

I also did relief work here in the United States. When Hurricane Rita hit, I along with 45 other NAPS members left school and drove down to Lake Charles, Louisiana. The area we happened upon looked more like a third world country than an American city. Many of the older people and those in poor neighbors could not leave before the hurricane hit, and were trapped inside their houses. We cut numerous trees off houses, teamed up with the Convoy of Hope to pass out ice, and distributed hundreds of pounds of food, water, hygiene products, and other necessities. The Huricane Rita mission and many other experiences with NAPS has formed my passion to help others and has confirmed my desire to become a doctor to help the underserved.

After working with the people in Zambia, I was given a special native name that I truly cherish. The name is Mutonga, which has two meanings, warrior and servant. Interestingly, these two meanings completely describe my character. With every task or problem that I am confronted with, I attack it swiftly and thoroughly, much like a warrior on a battle field. In addition, when someone needs help, my first basic instinct is to see how I can serve. The Zambians noticed these traits in my character, and it is these traits that I want my patients to notice also. As their doctor my patients will know that like a warrior, I will fight to get them healthy again, and they will also know that as a servant, I will attend to their needs with compassion and humility.

No longer confined to my mother’s womb, I am excited about the prospect of returning to medical school to learn everything I missed. I truly desire to serve others, especially the underserved, and I intend to dedicate my life to that task.

Interview invite from Cincinnati!!! That is the last possible interview I can get and I”m quite happy!!! I have a Histology test on Monday and a Bichemistry MIDTERM on Tuesday, so this weekend won’t be fun at all. I’ll try to write when something else interesting happens.

Today I had mixed emotions. I had 2 letters in my mailbox, one from Vanderbilt and one from Howard. The Vanderbilt one was a skinny little envelope, and the Howard letter was a humongous packet. Of course, the Vanderbilt letter wasn’t an acceptance. They waitlisted me. The Howard packet was an acceptance!!! I have mixed emotions because I got so so so so so many good vibes from my interviewers and everyone I met. I was almost sure that I was in, but I think that maybe I was trusting too much on myself and not where God would get me in. But then I’m also accepted into Howard, a school that I respect alot. What can I say…maybe the Lord is actually answering my prayers. I’ve been praying to the Lord every day for Him to close doors that need to be closed and open doors that need to be opened so that my fiancee and I can get into the same medical school. Maybe Vanderbilt is a door that needed to be closed. Who knows, lol. All I know is that its the Sabbath, and the week is over; so I’ll count my blessings and continue to wait for the open doors.

I’m going to be a DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. Now that I’ve slightly calmed down. Just a couple of minutes ago, I got a call congratulating me for being accepted for the class of 2011 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol, I just praise the Lord that I have a little peace of mind early in the school year. They only mail the acceptance letters to your permanent address, so my parents will have the mail the letter to me at Oakwood. There is no deposit fee so all I have to do is sign the letter and mail it back and my spot is secured!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, now I’ll try to go back a concentrate on Biochemistry….

	School App Fee 2º App Received 2º App Complete 2º App Mailed out LORs sent Interview Accepted? Total 1st Year Costs Howard University $45 X X X X X 10/3/06   $24,498 University of Maryland $70 X X X X X 10/2/06 X 10/16/06 $31, 765 Morehouse University $50 X X X X X 10/6/06   $51,645 University of Cincinnati $25 X X X X     $65, 117 Vanderbilt University $50 X X X X X 9/26/06   $51,050 Emory University $90 X X         $60,222 Loma Linda University $75 X X X X X 10/13/06   $49, 465 Meharry Medical College $60 X X X X X 11/13/06   $30, 660 SECONDARY TOTAL: $ 465 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Pro. 3:5,6 (NIV)

I know some time has passed since my last post but the last two weeks have been an absolute whirl wind!!! Last Friday, I had my interview at Morehouse. The first thing that struck me about Morehouse was the security. At Howard, Vanderbilt, and the other medical schools, I really just walked right onto their campus; but at Morehouse, there are like only two entrances that you can actually get in by car or by foot, and there are guards at both. So I got in, went into the parking garage, and waited for an officer to let me into the medical school (all the buildings are accessed by key card). By far, Morehouse is the most organized black medical school. When I got into the medical school, the people in the admissions office knew my face already and called me by name. I was given a name badge and sat with the other interviewees. It was kind of cool too because one of the girls I saw sitting there was at the Howard interview I was at 3 days before…lol, it was almost like were good friends. Anyway, we couldn’t go into the first year medical school class because they were having a test, so we waited for the Director of Admissions to come a get us. I really enjoyed his presentation, because it was straight to the point. He realized that we had probably seen a bunch of medical school presentations at previous interviews so we just cut to the point and he answered frequently asked questions about Morehouse like Step 1 board passing rate, match list, curriculum, etc. He could really connect with us because he was actually an M.D. who had taken a break from his residency. We had a tour by some medical students and I was really impressed by the school. They have a lot more new facilities than Howard, and they have the nation’s only National Primary Care Center. Also, their students have the opportunity to rotate at Grady Hospital, and as the Director of Admissions was saying; there just aren’t enough doctors and nurses to handle the patients, so medical students really really really get their hands dirty during their rotations. Also, their class size is the smallest (I think) at around 54 students. They basically have a mission like the other black medical schools, which is to serve the underserved. Now my interview was pretty rough; not in that the questions were hard, but it was hard because my interviewer really had no idea how to interview. He had a sheet which was visible to me entitled, “Commonly Asked Interview Questions”, and he asked me all 70 of them!!! So yeah, my interview lasted for like 1 hour and 30 minutes, but he was a nice guy. Would I go to Morehouse if my fiancé and I were accepted there? I’m not sure; primarily because they start school like in the 1st week of July, and I’ll be getting married on July 8th; and NO MEDICAL SCHOOL WILL INFRINGE ON MY HONEYMOON TIME. 🙂

This past Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Dr. Nyirady, the Dean of Admissions at the Loma Linda School of Medicine was on campus to conduct medical school interviews. It’s kind of nice being a sister Adventist institution because we don’t have to fly out to California to interview. In fact, he interviews every senior that is interested in applying to LLU, even those that haven’t submitted their AMCAS application yet! So yeah, my interview was on Thursday, and it went very well. We talked about my upcoming wedding, some awards I received at Oakwood, and for the most part the mission work opportunities at LLU. He kind of made it known that I had a great chance of being accepted (praise the Lord) and he told me that he couldn’t imagine why I wouldn’t be considered for a scholarship. Honestly, LLU is my #1 choice because of their opportunities for mission work. To me, becoming a physician is a means to an end, and that end is point others to Christ. I can be a world renowned surgeon, saving dozens of lives everyday, and they could all die later and go straight to hell. There is a song by Kim Burrell, and in it she says, “Only what you do for Christ will last”, and I truly believe that. I really want to be able to incorporate ministry with my practice, and I believe LLU will train me best to do that. I don’t view myself as that academic surgeon on the faculty at Hopkins. I either see myself in an inner city or overseas in Africa. Dr. Nyirady said that their first admissions committee meeting is in December, and if I’m accepted then I’ll receive a call from him. Some other pros about LLU is that they have a systems based curriculum, and Pass/Fail grading. Also, they have an amazing fitness center.

A couple of hours after my LLU interview, both my fiancé and I received an e-mail from Meharry inviting us for an interview on November 10!!! This is the first opportunity my fiancé and I have to interview together! Unfortunately, we will be at the ABRCMS research conference during that time, so we’ll have to reschedule for later, but I’m still excited!

As for classes, they are going fine. I’m enjoying histology to a point, but I believe that our teacher is going about the wrong way for our lab. In medical school, for Histology, basically you look at slides on a microscope or on a computer screen and you identify the tissue. In our lab, we look at the tissue on PowerPoint, and then we have to draw and color it on paper??!!! Very stupid and very time consuming, but whatever, I guess that’s life. Biochemistry is actually going pretty well. I’m understanding it, and keeping up alright. I just have to make sure that I study consistently instead of trying to play catch up in the end. As you all know, I’m a lab instructor for our Gross Anatomy class at Oakwood, and we finally got 3 new bodies. One is an absolutely humongous Asian male, and the other two are petite Caucasian women. Because of the delay in receiving the new bodies, we have to dissect like crazy to get them up to the point where the students are in their Grant’s Dissector text book. I’m really starting to retain this stuff as I help students learn it. Hopefully this will help me to rock anatomy in medical school. That’s all that is going on for now. Talk to yall later.

My interview at Maryland went really well. My schedule for the day was: 8:30 a.m.- 9: a.m.: Arrive on Campus
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Interview with Dr. Christenson, Ph.D (Pathology)
10:00 a.m. -11: 00 a.m.- Interview with Dr. Jacobs, M.D. (Urology)
11:00 a.m. – 11: 30 a.m.: Financial Aid Session
11:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.: Orientation with Dr. Foxwell
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.: Lunch with medical students
1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.: Campus Tour with Medical students

So I woke up at around 5 a.m. and left the house around 7 so I could get to Baltimore by 8 a.m. I walked in and the other interviewees were already there. I was the only minority there, and at the time, the only male also. Maryland did their interviews a little differently, and basically we were shown on a map how to get to our interviewers place, and we had to walk there ourselves. There weren’t any escorts like at Vanderbilt. When I got to my first interviewers building it was interesting because it was a research lab, so basically everyone looked up and was wondering why some tall guy in a suit was there. Anyway, they directed me to Dr. Christenson’s office, but he wasn’t there, so I waited outside until he came. He was really a very very very nice guy. He didn’t really seem to care about my academic accomplishments at all; he just wanted to hold a conversation with me. He had certainly read my personal statement and was really interested in my work in the projects and overseas. We talked about that for most of the interview. Some questions I can remember are:

1) Have you been to any other interviews?
2) Why don’t you look at the business side of medicine so instead of being that one doctor that does overseas missions, you can fundraise and employ thousands of doctors to do the work?
3) Why Maryland?
4) What do you think is keeping these kids from leaving the projects?
5) Why did you go to Oakwood College?
6) Did you play any sports in high school

There were other questions, but that was the bulk of it. We really just had a normal conversation, and I was completely put at ease.

Next I went to my interview with Dr. Jacobs, and he as an absolutely hilarious guy. Our interview basically consisted of us talking about surgery (my shadowing experiences), other medical schools and his opinions about them, Jews, Muslims, coffee, medical school debt, etc. He was adamant about me going to the medical school that cost the least, which ever one that was. We talked about the hard time primary care docs are having making money, and a lot of other stuff. Overall, he just wanted to hold a conversation with me, and I was completely put at ease.

Our group session with Dr. Foxwell was pretty cool. He is a down to earth kind of guy—very professional—but definitely down to earth. While we were going around the table introducing ourselves a girl said her name, and Dr. Foxwell asked her if she was Greek. When she confirmed that, he mentioned that his 1st wife was Greek and that her family didn’t like him for the first 2 years so they spoke around him in Greek. All you could do is laugh at that. Things he mentioned that I like is that Maryland students are only in lecture for 2 hours a day, and all the lectures are video taped, and the video and the PowerPoint lectures are available online. He also mentioned that Maryland really doesn’t care too much about GPA and MCAT because that doesn’t make a good doctor. He said that they do have a cut off point for it, but after that it depends on extracurricular activities that you have done.

After him, we had a lunch chat with medical students there, and they basically exclaimed how they loved the school. I talked to a 4th year Maryland resident and she said that she will graduate with about $150,000 worth of debt. That is a little higher than I really wanted to have. The tour of the medical school was really great and I saw all of their new facilities (they’ve renovated a lot), and their hospital which is really beautiful. I would definitely attend the school, so now I’m just waiting to see where the Lord sends my fiancée and I.

I have my interview at Howard tomorrow, so I’ll just add my experiences with them on this post after its done. I’ll do the same with Morehouse on Friday…so this post will be pretty big. Below is a video of one of their lectures in their brand new lecture hall. And don’t forget to check out the pictures to the right.

[Show as slideshow]

So I just came back from my interview at Howard and it started off extremely bad, but it turned out good in the end. Howard is in the heart of D.C., so I knew that the traffic was going to be bad. I wanted to leave the house around 7 a.m. to beat any bad traffic and make it there early enough to sit in one of their classes. Well I woke up at 5 a.m., and woke up again at 6:57 a.m. So I was already flustered as I was leaving out the house at 7:45 a.m. Of course this was prime time for traffic and there was traffic from the entrance of my house to Howard…bad traffic. So I got there late, around 8:50 a.m., and I tried to find parking; PARKING IS HORRIBLE AROUND HOWARD, so that made me even more late. I walked many blocks to Howard and I finally found my way to the admissions office. On the way there, I walked down a hallway that had pictures of each graduating class. Out of curiosity I looked for the class of 1985, which was the year my mom graduated. It was so cool to see her, and her hairstyle back then; also I saw my play aunt, who I guess she became friends with at Howard because they had the same last name.

Howard did their interview day a little differently. They had the general and financial aid information sessions, along with tours and sessions with med students before our interview. It was kind of cool that way because we got a chance to get a good sense of what Howard was like before our interview. So basically I came away with a lot of good impressions. Howard is definitely the school for you if you are interested in serving in underserved communities. One thing I really appreciated was that all the students we talked to weren’t afraid of completely telling us what they liked and disliked about Howard. More than any other school, Howard truly had the most laid back students. They really seemed like a family. And believe it or not, there was a good amount, probably like 20% of their 2nd year class that was not black. Their new library is DA BOMB, and although their facilities are quite old, they are slowly renovating, which is impressive for a black school (I’m just being honest). I was nice to be with interviewees that were of my race for a change, and they were all very desirable applicants. Oh yeah, Howard requires that you get a laptop, but as a computer geek, I can attest that these computers are nice!!! They are all tablet laptops, meaning that you can writing on the screen with a special pen. They also have lectures, and audio of lectures online. And just this year they started video taping lectures.

One tidbit of information is that for the first time in Howard history, and actually in the history of a lot of majority schools, around 6 people in their class scored ABOVE the 90th percentile on their Step 1 USMLE boards. This is mainly due to the fact that classes before hand had been giving suggestions to Howard’s curriculum committee on how to better prepare their students for the test; Howard listened and the results can be seen. This tells me a couple of things; first, Howard’s administration listens and implements the suggestions of their students, and second…you can go to Howard and still blow the Step 1 boards out of the water. While I was there, I ran into a second year student who graduated from Oakwood…and he also happens to sit on the admissions committee!!! Hopefully all works well for my fiancée and I.

Overall, I liked the school. Would I attend Howard over other schools?….it really all depends on the money. Right now I love all the schools I’m applying to, so it just depends on who gives me the most money. I fly back to Alabama tomorrow morning, and my interview is at Morehouse on Friday, so I’ll have to make that 3 hour drive Thursday night.

A video of their [Howard’s] lecture is below.

Everything with my Vanderbilt interview was absolutely perfect. I drove up yesterday and arrived at my student host’s house. He was a great guy and he allowed me to exhaust him with questions about Vanderbilt. He gave me a great perspective on what its like to be black at Vanderbilt, and everything I heard I liked. He let me in on some cool info. Basically, almost every minority that gets into Vanderbilt gets a full tuition scholarship, meaning that the only debt you come out with is living expenses which is like $55,000 after 4 years. A lot of medical students I talked to turned down acceptances to Washington University to go to Vanderbilt. Most of them said they like Vanderbilt more because of the friendly atmosphere, and I could defiantly see it. Everyone was just extremely nice, and it wasn’t because they had to be. Even the first year students who had just finished taking their first anatomy exam were greeting us in the hallway. I keep hearing that Vanderbilt is ranked #1 for medical student satisfaction but I don’t know where those numbers are coming from. Before my first interview I sat in neuroscience class for second year medical students and it was pretty cool. The teacher seemed very animated, and into what she was teaching. I left to catch some breakfast at McDonalds, and then I decided to do some exploring. I went upstairs and found Vanderbilt’s Global Health Institute, where they do some amazing international work and research. I saw a paper a med student had written on circumcision and its affects on the spread of HIV and AIDS. That is exactly research (if any) that I want to do. I ended up getting lost and had to ask a doctor for directions back to the medical school (somehow I ended up in the hospital). He told me to follow him and while I talked to him, I found out that he was a professor of anesthesiology at Vanderbilt. He had transferred from UCSD Medical School about 4 years ago and he said that he liked Vanderbilt more, because the teachers really seem to go out of their way to help students, which he didn’t see at UCSD. He just liked the friendly atmosphere.

I met with the Dean of Diversity at 9 a.m. and he was a cool guy. He basically just got to know me and he told me that he sits on the admissions committee. He asked me some common interview questions, and then he asked me what questions I would be asking my interviewer. So I told him, and he schooled me on what I should and shouldn’t ask, which was helpful. I made some obvious mistakes while talking with him, but it was a less formal interview, so hopefully that won’t adversely affect me when he inputs his thoughts about me during an adcomm meeting. The whole interview day was very organized. After my interview with him, I was escorted by two ladies to Dr. Price’s office for my main interview. She was a very nice lady. Before we started, she explained to me that by the time she is done with my interview, she will have to type an essay about me, for the admission committee. She also let me know that any thank you letters or anything I send her, will be forwarded to the admissions office. I had prepared for the interview using the SDN Interview Feedback site, and basically every question she asked was on my list like:

1. Why Vanderbilt?
2. Why Medicine?
3. How would your friends describe you?
4. What is your strongest character trait?
5. Tell me about your research?
6. How would you handle a leadership situation when you had a clear slacker in the group, like lets say in a group that your teacher assigned you to in medical school?
7. Why did you choose to go to Oakwood College?
8. What’s a weakness that you have?
9. What does your mom do for a living?
10. What does your dad do for a living?
11. What do we have to do, to get you to come to Vanderbilt?
12. Do you have any questions for me about Vanderbilt?

In reference to that last question, I asked her questions mostly about the structure of the 3rd and 4th years of medical school (I got the idea from a post on SDN Forums. If you want I can put up the link). She seemed very impressed when I asked her these questions, and she told me that most students ask about 1st and 2nd years when they are honestly the same everywhere (except Duke), just with different packaging. I asked her questions like (and once again, I didn’t make these up myself):

1. What is the role of a 3rd year medical student at Vanderbilt? Meaning; do they get opportunities to get their hands dirty, or do they basically watch what the resident does?
2. How much “scut work” (be careful with that term) do 3rd year students end up doing at Vanderbilt?
3. How do Vanderbilt students do in the match?

The interview was extremely laid back, and I was really put at ease. After that, I was escorted (yeah, the actually walk you everywhere you need to go) back to the admissions office. There I saw all the other students that were interviewing that day. At first I felt awkward cause I was the only person of color there (out of 9), but we struck up some conversations and got to know each other, so it was cool. They escorted all of us to a conference room where we had presentations on the new curriculum, financial aid, what 3rd and 4th year is like (from a 4th year medical student), and what 1st and 2nd year is like at Vanderbilt (from 2nd year medical students). The 2nd year medical students then took us on a tour of the medical school. It was pretty cool, and they are renovating a lot of places to make it look newer. We came back and ate after the tour (the food was bangin’). Then we were taken on a tour of the Children’s Hospital which I must admit was (and I don’t use this term often) breathtaking. You can see the movie theater in the children’s hospitals on the pictures section of this entry, to the right.

Much more happened, but overall it was a great experience and I would go to Vanderbilt in a bloody heart beat if I knew that that was where the Lord wanted me to be. They said that we shouldn’t call them about our status until like 6 weeks, but we could find out as early as October 15th. From what my student host said; every minority that is recommended to be interviewed by the Dean of Diversity is usually accepted, so hopefully everything works out for me. I fly out for my Maryland and Howard interviews on Friday, so I have to go and catch up on the work I missed. Oh yeah, below are some videos I took while sitting in the neuroscience class.

[Show as slideshow]

Hey everyone…I’m scared. I’ve been waiting for this for like 4 years, trying to get the highest grades possible, aiming for great research opportunities, participating in extracurricular activities that I love, all to get an opportunity to go to medical school, and now that its finally here, I’M SCARED. What have I gotten myself into? My fiancé has grilled me on commonly asked interview questions at Vanderbilt, but I still feel like I’ll get in there and be an embarrassment to like my whole race, lol. From reading interview feedback on SDN, it seems like the atmosphere at Vanderbilt is pretty laid back, so hopefully I won’t be too nervous. They e-mailed me a week or 2 ago, notifying me that I’ve been scheduled to meet with Dr. Hill, the Dean of Diversity at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. I guess they realized I’m black, so they wanted me to meet with him; I’m not exactly sure what I or he would gain from our meeting, but I’m willing to go for it. Vanderbilt, also e-mailed me the bio of my interviewer, and she is some serious stuff. Look below: Ann H. Price, M.D.
Executive Director
Dept. of Medical Alumni Affairs,

A native Nashvillian, Dr. Price received her BA from Vanderbilt in 1971. While at Vanderbilt she played #1 singles and #1 doubles for the Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis Team and made two round of 16 appearances in the Women’s National Collegiate Tennis Tournament. She received her MD from Vanderbilt in 1978, where she received the Up John Achievement Award, the Janet M. Glasgow Award of Achievement, and the Founder’s Medalist for Academic Achievement. Dr. Price trained in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt and was the Chief Resident in Internal Medicine for St. Thomas Hospital (a Vanderbilt teaching affiliate) in 1981. Following training, Dr. Price worked in the private practice of Internal Medicine. From 1990-94, she worked at Vanderbilt where she headed the Occupational Health program, started the Employee Health initiative known as HealthPlus, and served as the first Medical Director for the Vanderbilt Health Plan. After working in the corporate sector with physician networks and utilization management, she returned to Vanderbilt in September 2003 and now serves as the Executive Director of the Department of Medical Alumni Affairs. Dr. Price is married to Scott Todd Price, a local attorney. They have two children, Patrick and Rachel. She has served on numerous community boards including the Canby Robinson Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Association, the Blakeford Board, and the American Heart Association Heart at Work initiative. Outside activities include work with her church and the Spina Bifida Association of America. In March 2006, Dr. Price was inducted into the Metro Nashville High Schools’ Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of her achievements in basketball, track, and tennis. Her athletic passion remains tennis.

So far, the only thing I have in common with her is that I aspire to be a physician like her, and I play racquetball, which is kind of similar to tennis. I really like the fact that Vanderbilt is so organized; it really makes everything run much smoother. They e-mailed me a parking decal, so when I get up there my car won’t get towed…you know, it’s the little things that can make you like a school. Also, I’ve been APPROVED FOR STUDENT HOSTING!!! While I was signing up for it online, they asked me if I would prefer to stay with a minority, and I said yes, so they put me with the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) president for this year. I think that is pretty tight! I called him up, and he sounds like a pretty good guy. I’m going to leave tomorrow afternoon around 2 p.m. to get to Nashville around 3:30 p.m. So my day on this upcoming Tuesday will go like this:

I know I haven’t been talking too much about what is going on in school but really nothing is happening. The only thing I can say about school is that these interviews really cause you to miss a lot of school. Anyway, I’ll post again after my interview!

The Lord has really blessed me. I currently have 5 interviews at medical schools!!! I know I don’t deserve any of this, so all I can do is thank God. Planning the interviews has been my primary goal for these past couple of weeks. As you can see below, my first interview is at Vanderbilt on the 26th of this month. I applied to stay with a student host, but I highly doubt that will happen. I will probably just stay at the house of a former Oakwood student who is at Meharry, and then drive over in the morning. To prepare for the Vanderbilt interview I plan on reading their website, and I have already scoured SDN’s Interview Feedback page and compiled a list of questions that they tend to ask. My fiancée and I plan on going to the mall sometime this week to find a shirt and tie I can wear with my suit. If any of you all meet me, you’ll realize that I would rather wear scrub pants and a t-shirt then nice clothes. So yeah, going to shop for a shirt and tie is a big step forward for me. I plan to get my fiancée to ask me the interview questions so I can have an idea of how I want to answer them. I got an e-mail from Vanderbilt the other day, basically telling me that I’ve been scheduled to meet with the Dean of Diversity like an hour before my actual interview. I guess they realized I was black, so they set that up. Hopefully it’s a good experience! You all already knew about the Maryland interview. Well, I knew that I didn’t have the funds to fly up to the MD/D.C. area twice, if Howard ended up giving me an interview, so while I was on the phone with the admissions folk at Maryland, I asked them if it would be ethical to call Howard, tell them about my interview at Maryland, as ask if they could offer me one while I’ll be up there. They said it was completely fine, and so I e-mailed Howard this e-mail: Hello Ms. Walker. My name is DoctaJay (AAMC# XXXXXXXX), and I received an e-mail saying that I was complete. I’ve received an interview invitation from the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, for October 4, or possibly October 2. I go to school in Alabama, and I really only have enough money to fly once to the Maryland/DC area. I was wondering (if HUCOM decides to grant me an interview at all) if it would possible to schedule my interview around the same time that I will be at my Maryland interview. This will decrease the amount of class I miss and incurred costs of plane tickets. I know you are very busy, and I want to thank you for reading this e-mail. Well it worked out that Howard thought that was fine, so they scheduled me in for October 3rd for an interview. So my Maryland interview is on 10/2, and my Howard interview is on 10/3. That means that I can fly home the Friday before and fly out after the Howard interview! Praise the Lord for a little vacation in the middle of school.

Once I fly back from the Howard interview on the morning of the 4th of October, I have to gear up that Thursday night to drive to Atlanta, for my interview at Morehouse on the 6th. I guess I’ll drive back from there that weekend, and then on October the 12th, the Dean of Admissions at Loma Linda is coming to Oakwood to give interviews, so I have to gear up for that one too. I’m appreciating being busy rather than not, but I can see how this whole process can really throw you off track in your classes.

So, now I’m waiting for an interview invite from Cincinnati and Meharry. I know I said before that if I was accepted into Vanderbilt, that I wouldn’t go to the interview at Meharry, if I received an invite, but I’ve realized the error of my ways. I have similar stats to a girl I know that got a FULL SCHOLARSHIP at Meharry, so it would be stupid to miss a chance at a full scholarship.

Classes are going fine, and so is wedding planning, but it is really hard to balance everything, especially with the onset of senioritis. But I know everything will work out.

School is really starting up now. Our Histology teacher has been out of the country because his brother is dying, so we’ve had a sub. He’s a physician, which is kind of cool, but I have absolutely no idea where the guy is coming from when he gives us quizzes. He’ll choose the most minute tidbit of information, and ask you an in-depth question on it. How can you study for that? Anyway, it is slowly setting in that this is my last year at Oakwood College, and I’m getting sad. I’ve made it a point to try to participate in all the school events I missed while studying. I can go down .07 in my GPA and still be summa cum laude, so I have some breathing room. I’m gearing up for my first interview at Vanderbilt by looking on the Interview Feedback section of SDN. I’m going to compile a list the of the kind of questions they ask, and get friends to ask them to me. And I guess I’ll go over my AMCAS application and reread my personal statement. Nashville is an hour and a half drive from Huntsville, AL, so I’ll drive up the night before, stay at a friend’s house, and drive to Vanderbilt the day of the interview. If I get accepted to Vanderbilt, I’ll probably decline the interview for Meharry. For some updates, I have new interviews at the University of Maryland and the Loma Linda School of Medicine. Since Loma Linda is also a Seventh-day Adventist institution, we don’t actually have to fly to Loma Linda for an interview. Dr. Nyirady, the Dean of Admissions at LLU actually flies to Oakwood, and interviews every senior that has submitted a secondary application. So we are at least guaranteed interviews from LLU, even if you have a 2.6 GPA and a 19 MCAT. Praise the Lord for that!!! I’m really excited about the Maryland interview, and I just can’t wait to see where the Lord wants me to go. Oh yeah, and Howard sent me an e-mail saying that I’m complete. I’m going to try to call them and tell them that I’ll already be in the area for Maryland’s interview, and see if they will offer me one around the time I’ll be up there. I don’t want to fly up there twice, and even though they haven’t offered me an interview yet, I heard that mentioning that you already have an interview in the same area can help them hurry up and give you an interview invite. So below is where I am in the whole process; I’ll write more when things happen:

So yeah, things have been going well lately. We have started school and my schedule is pretty light. I truly believe that that is how senior year should be. Kill yourself your first 3 years and coast your senior year because its senior year that you will be planning for graduation, going to interviews (meaning missing classes), and in my case planning for a wedding. Here’s my schedule: Biochemistry w/o Lab
Histology w/ Lab
Weight Training
Raquetball I
Biology (Seminar)
Desktop Publishing for Graphic Design
Athletic Injuries

So that is a grand total of 14 credits which is just where I want it. I decided not to take the lab of Biochemistry because why stress myself out more. Yes people have told me that it helps you to understand the class more, but the way I look at it, pretty much everything that I learn in college science classes, the teacher will probably cover within the first 2 weeks of class. Then they move on with medical school stuff; so as long as I have a understand of what is going on in the class, the lab is meaningless. The athletic injuries class is for PE majors, but I took the class because it sounded cool, and that is something I advise all premeds to do. After you destroy your brain with all these science courses, by the time you get to your senior year, you should have time to take a couple of fun classes, that spark your interest.

So yeah, the same day I got the letter from Vanderbilt, inviting me to fill out their secondary application and inviting me for an interview, I got an e-mail from Morehouse inviting me for an interview…so I’m on cloud 9 right now :-). I called Vanderbilt today, and schedule my interview for September 26, and they told me to come at 10 a.m. Nashville is only 1 ½ hours from Huntsville, AL so I think I’ll drive up there on Monday night, and stay at someone’s house. Then that morning I’ll drive to Vanderbilt and try to get there like around 8 a.m. so I can tour the campus a little before my interview. Overall I’m quite scared now that its really time to interview. I’ll prepare as best as I can by looking at the medical school interview feedback section on SDN, and I guess by reading their website. In the letter it told me that the interviewer will only have my AMCAS application, so that’s good, but I have to tell you, that secondary application was a absolutely TERROR.  I actually had a headache after I finished. I had to write more words for their secondary than my personal statement! Anyway, Morehouse didn’t give me a choice of dates to interview, so my interview day is October 6, at 11:30 a.m. Atlanta is about an 3 hour drive from Huntsville, AL so I’ll drive up on Thursday night and stay with some family, then drive to Morehouse in the morning. I’m a little concerned though, because Loma Linda University School of Medicine always comes to Oakwood in October to interview people for medical school, and they just may come on the same day as my Morehouse interview. If there is a conflict though, I will call Morehouse to see when I can reschedule. And believe it or not, Howard actually did finally release their secondary application, so I finished that and mailed it out a couple of days ago. And yeah, I don’t have the money to apply to Emory, so I’ll just be happy with Morehouse. So in summary, here is where I am at in this process:

When Vanderbilt sends you a request to fill out a secondary, that means they also have requested you to interview, so I have my first interview!!!! Time to celebra…..never mind, school has started.

So I’m back at Oakwood College now, and I have been frequenting Wal-Mart to make my new apartment look and feel cozy. As I drove into Huntsville I started to get sad…not because school was starting again, but because my time at Oakwood is almost over. Now there are some bright sides because the end of my Oakwood experience results in my getting married, graduating, and going to medical school, but it is still kind of scary. When a freshman asked me what my classification was, and I told them “Senior”, I had to pinch myself. When I think of “Seniors” I think of people that pretty much know it all, that have it all together, are older and mature, etc. I don’t feel like I fit any of those categories; I still feel very young…not like an almost 21 year old. Ok, so now that I’m done with my early midlife crisis venting session I can move on. This upcoming year is looking like a doozy (is that a word?). I’m president of the Oakwood Bio-Medical Association this year, so I have to get the schedule ready, so the medical and graduate schools can decide when they want to come. It is very weird being in such a leadership position, but hopefully it will teach me how to be more organized.

Here is my current medical school application status:

As you can see, I’m complete at all but 3 schools. Howard has yet to release their secondary to anyone…that is really annoying. If they wait much longer, I’m not going to feel like filling out that thing. If they aren’t pressed about getting new students, then I’m not pressed about applying. I’ve done everything I need to do for Emory, except send them my LORs and pay the secondary fee. Money has been looking EXTREMELY tight lately, so I’ll defiantly have to hold off on that application. If anything I may ask my grandma (gotta love her) for some help in paying the $90 secondary fee, because I think I might really like that school. And finally, I haven’t passed the screening process yet for Vanderbilt, so we will see how that goes. It feels good to be complete at most of the schools I want to attend. Some people I know haven’t even finished their AMCAS yet, which is really crazy to me. But I think it just all plays into the reasons why African Americans don’t get accepted to many schools. For some reason we like to do things late. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard friends say to me that they submitted on time because they got their secondary in before the deadline date. They truly don’t realize that people are submitting their secondary applications 1 week after they are first available. I truly believe that if most African Americans applied to schools like most neurotic premeds on SDN do, our acceptance rate would be much higher.

Wedding planning is rolling along quite nicely, and I’m really excited about it all. My mom told me that I’ve wanted a wife since I was 4 years old, and I’m glad that the Lord allowed me to get married so early. I’ve never liked the whole dating scene…there are too many ups and downs, and they usually end down. My parents met when they were 16, and got married when they were 20, and have been happily married for 25 years, so I know it is possible. A lot of my friends have told me that they are too young to settle down, and I don’t really understand that. What more is there to do, that will be hindered by being married? Is it traveling the world, bedding as many women as possible, enjoying the club scene, or becoming financially stable? All of these seem like lame excuses to me and for some people I think I know the real reason. For a lot of kids, their idea of what marriage is supposed to be like was formed by observing their parents completely dysfunctional marriage. Many times marriages like those end in divorce, which I believe drives the kid to believe that marriage really can’t work, or if it does work then there must be constant turmoil and fighting. Now I’m not Dr. Phil, but I believe people can gain confidence in marriage by observing the ones that work…well. I learned somewhere that the institution of marriage was set up to remind us of our relationship with God…so take that for whatever it is worth.

So, I’m making some progress as you can see from the table below. I submitted the secondary applications for Cincinnati, Maryland, and Loma Linda. To be honest, I’m hesitating submitting to the black med schools because I’ve had my black school experience since kindergarten. High school was the first time I had ever been in a school with a white person, but the school was still mostly black, and then I ended up going to a historically black college. I wouldn’t mind going to a black medical school, but I kind of like the idea of trying something different. Anyway, I’m still going to apply, but what I’ve done is I’ve made sure that I have an alternative medical school for every state that contains a black medical school. For Howard, I have University of Maryland (not the same state but close enough, lol), for Morehouse I have Emory, and for Meharry, I just decided to add Vanderbilt. Now if Meharry gave me a full ride and Vanderbilt gave me nothing, then I’d be headed to Meharry, but it just feels good to have options. Now I don’t want to get flamed about me being anti-black. I’ve just had my HBCU experience…since kindergarten, and it would be nice to actually study with people of other races. So yeah, below is the final list of all the schools I’m applying to:

I’ve called Cincinnati and Maryland and I’m complete at both schools, so now all I have to do is wait for the interview call. Howard hasn’t even attempted to post a secondary yet, and Vanderbilt only gives out secondary applications to those whom they actually plan to interview. I like that method because if I get rejected, at least they would have had the chance to interview me first. I added the column of total 1st year total costs because that is important to me. Like I said before, my goal is to get out of medical school with little to no debt, so its good to see how much I’ll probably be paying in addition to tuition.

Like I said in the previous post, I truly want you all to feel the same pain I felt while I was filling out these secondary applications, so here are the questions on the secondary app I filled out for the Loma Linda University School of Medicine:

1. Describe the extent and source of your knowledge of Loma Linda University (LLU) School of Medicine. (750 characters max)
(2) What makes LLU School of Medicine particularly attractive to you? (750 characters max)
(3) What traits make you a desirable candidate for admission to LLU School of Medicine? (750 characters max)
(4) Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day Adventist institution. The curriculum integrates ethical and relational issues from a Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Weekly chapel services are part of this program. How would this relate to your personal educational and career goals? (750 characters max)
(5) As a Seventh-day Adventist institution, LLU has lifestyle expectations which include abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs/substances in all forms while enrolled. During the past year, have you used any of these substances? If so, which ones? (250 characters max)
(6) If you are accepted to LLU School of Medicine, are you willing to abide by the lifestyle policies of the university while enrolled? (250 characters max)
(7) Describe your involvement with your religious group (750 characters max)

Here are the answers that I settled with:

1. I began to learn about the LLU SOM in high school when I was accepted in the MITHS program. For 3 weeks I toured the campus, met medical students, took medical school classes, and generally got the chance to experience life on Loma Linda’s campus. Also at Oakwood College, I’ve been present at least 6 times when Dr. Hadley and Dr. Nyirady have presented information about the LLU SOM. From those presentations I’ve learned about LLU’s dedication to service for others, their deferred mission appointment program, their missions trips that are taken during the school year, SIMS, and many other aspects of the school. Most importantly I’ve learned of LLU’s dedication to produce physicians that are witnesses for Christ.
2. The LLU SOM is attractive to me primarily because of the vast amount of opportunities it gives me to go on medical missions. I want to be a medical missionary one day and with the combination of the many medical mission trips taken during the school year and the deferred mission appointment program, LLU provides the most opportunity for me accomplish my goal. Other attractive aspects of the LLU SOM include the Adventist atmosphere, the camaraderie of Oakwood graduates who are currently students there, LLU’s USMLE Step 1 board passing rates, and their success in beating all the other southern California medical schools in clinical skills for the past 12 years.
3. I believe I am a desirable candidate for the Loma Linda University School of Medicine because of my humility, my passion for helping others, my dedication to excellence in academics, and my desire to serve Christ in everything that I do.
4.
The curriculum and chapel services would only enhance my personal educational and career goals. As a future Christian physician, it is very important to understand my patients not just on a medical level but on a spiritual and cultural level also, all of which I know the LLU SOM teaches. Also, as with any Christian, I desire to have a closer relationship with Christ, so the weekly chapel services would hopefully only make that more possible.
5. No.
6. Yes.
7. I am a junior deacon at my church in Ashton, Maryland. Also I have been a member of many different choirs at different Adventist churches. And finally I have traveled the world baptizing people into the Adventist church with the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation, which is a missionary group based at Oakwood College.

I must admit that it was a little easier to answer the LLU questions became I am Adventist, but overall it was an alright secondary to fill out.

I have completely finished by research poster, but now I have to make a slide presentation to present in lab on Wednesday. I actually should be working on that right now, so I’ll write some time in the future.

I’m currently typing this from the library at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, in the Bronx, NY. Lol, no I didn’t get an interview here, I’m just visiting my fiancee, who is doing summer research here. From face value, there are ALOT ALOT ALOT ALOT of Asian doctors, med students, etc., here. This is not a bad thing, but from the name of the school I just expected for there to be alot of Jews here. So yeah, besides that there is alot of construction, but overall I’m realizing that I don’t like the hustle and bustle of the city life. I could be a little biased due to the hardship I had getting from Maryland to the Bronx by bus, but its just not for me. There are too many people, too many offensive smells, etc. I would still practice in the city, but not live there. I realized that I’m seriously doing you all a disservice by not letting you feel the pain of filling out secondary apps. Here are the different questions I had to answer for Maryland. I’ll put the other schools questions in later entries. (i’ll put my answers too, so you can see what professional BS is, lol, j/k):

University of Maryland

1. Briefly describe your most important exposure to clinical medicine. (200 word max.): My most important exposure occurred when I had to opportunity to shadow a surgery resident on his trauma rotation. The resident really took me under his wings and I had to opportunity to suture closed a deceased man’s chest, who had an emergency thoracotomy done to save him from a bullet wound; I was given a trauma pager, I was given the opportunity to pull a chest tube, to scrub in on a leg amputation, and to locally anesthetize a bullet wound on a 16 year old. In addition to procedures, I experienced the human side of medicine when a girl my age came in with her forehead lacerated down to her skull. While the surgeons were suturing her forehead closed I held her hand and talked to her to take her mind off of what was going on. I also had the opportunity to sit in on multiple Morbidity & Mortality meetings, as well as be on call with the surgeons for their 36 hour shift. There were many more experiences at Cincinnati but overall I was given to opportunity to experience what the life of a surgery resident was like, and I loved it.

2. Briefly describe your most satisfying experience related to community service. (200 word max.): When Hurricane Rita hit Louisiana, I left school with about 40 other people and we went done to Lake Charles, LA to help. As usual, the lower income neighbors were the last to be helped so we went there and cut numerous trees off of trailer homes and houses, teamed up with the Convoy of Hope to pass out hundreds of pounds of food and water, and passed out donated toys and hygiene products to families. One of my most touching experiences while there occurred after we had cut about 5 trees of a Baptist preacher’s trailer home. When we were done he along with his wife and children stood in their lawn crying because they just couldn’t believe that a group of college students all the way from Alabama came to help them. Knowing that we had made such a difference in their lives really touched me and made me realize how fulfilling helping others is.

3. What does it mean to be entering a profession? (300 word max.) (this was the hardest question to me): Entering a profession is more than simply getting a job. Entering a profession requires dedication to your career, not simply to get a paycheck, but because you know that this profession is what you were made to do. Entering a profession also requires adherence to the moral practices and integrity of the profession. It is important to learn these things when entering a profession to ensure a continuity of the profession’s moral and ethical standard. Entering a profession entails embarking on a new way of living, thinking, and interacting with others. Also, as the UMB School of Medicine teaches, entering a profession requires humanism, ethics, life-long learning, humility, cultural and social sensitivity, and respect.

4. Please describe your long term career goals. What has been the major influence in your life that has led you in that direction? (300 word max.): My long term career goals include graduating from medical school and entering into a general surgery residency. Upon completion of my residency I desire to work in hospitals in underserved areas serving patient populations I can relate to. Along with all this it is my desire to complete medical school and residency with little to no debt. This will give me the financial freedom to not just serve the underserved in the United States, but the seriously underserved internationally. My future goals have been influenced by the domestic and international relief work I have done while at Oakwood College. My experiences during Hurricane Rita and in the United Nations refugee camps in Africa have shown me the need for willing surgeons not just domestically but around the world. After serving in the United States and around the world, it is my desire to start a special surgical fellowship in missionary surgery, where surgeons would learn how to operate with little to no technological equipment that is usually found in hospitals. From this, I would hope that many surgeons would use these skills to serve Americans during natural disasters or refugees overseas where there is no immediate access to hospitals.

My strategy with these secondaries has been to finish them the same day I receive them, because its so easy to procrastinate on the essay parts. I also plan to submit the Maryland and Loma Linda secondaries on Monday, since those are the two schools I’m most interested in getting into. I’ll submit the others later as the money is available. I received Mayo Clinic’s e-mail basically telling me that I need to mail them a $75 check before they will look at my AMCAS app. For a school that only accepts like 30 students, I think I’ll pass and use my $75 for school books. Anyway, I’m going to see what there is to do in NY. Next time I post I’ll put up another secondary.