I completed my six weeks Family Medicine core rotation at JPH and also on offsite locations.  The rotation is basically concentrated in clinical setting and also in geriatrics. I honestly did not enjoy it because I did not like working in the nursing home. I did clinic hours in the hospital but then I had to drive to over 15 nursing homes and take care of patients there. 

The rotation basically dealt with typing up history and physical notes on Practice Fusion software. I had to type it up and then the doctor would do his checkup and retype his own notes. I didn't see the reason I had to type it unless it was for my learning experience because the student's notes are never accepted.

I hated working in the nursing homes in Chicago because I felt bad for the patients there. Majority of the nursing home patients look depressed because their families dump them there and rarely visit them. Only a few of the residents are jolly because their families come often and take them on outings. One of the nursing homes was right across the street of a graveyard; that is so cruel, it's like telling the nursing home residents where they will go next. Also, in some of the nursing homes the nurses have a serious attitude issue with the students so, be aware of that and be extra polite to them.

I got an A grade out of it because it was easy in my opinion but I did not enjoy it because of seeing the condition of the senior patients was disappointing.

I conducted Pediatrics core rotation at Jackson Park Hospital with Dr. Hughes in the summer; this is a 6 weeks rotation. Dr. Hughes is a very energetic and nice pediatrician at the hospital.

There is one set of schedule during the summer and another different schedule during the school year. I had 4 days of clinic every week with 4 hours of rotations. Every other Friday I had to go to a clinic in a rural area, in Harvey, IL. Rotations are conducted in the MOB clinic on the 3rd floor. She serves as a physician at a local high school in South Side but since it was the summer time, I didn't have to go to the high school.

Dr. Hughes does a great job in teaching about pediatrics. She will help you in understanding the vaccination schedules and more. She will teach you with hands-on learning with pediatric patients to understand pediatric concepts. All the patients you will see will be outpatients so you will not see any inpatients.

For the rotation you are to do one power point presentation on a system on 3 or more pediatric illnesses and one full pediatric history & physical.

If you come from a US State where your car must pass the emission test in order to renew your vehicle registration then you should read this post.  On your license plate, on the top right, you need a new sticker every year, which represents passing the emission test.

If you have family or anyone else who can take care of your vehicle's registration from your home state then you can do your emission test here in Illinois and send the paperwork back home to get the sticker for your license plate.

For Illinois registered cars, the emission test is free but for out-of-state registered vehicles, the price is $20 in cash. Make sure you have cash because they do not accept any other forms of payment.

I went to the testing station at:
1850 Webster Ave.
Chicago , IL 60614

I went in the main office and asked for a volunteer emission test for an out-of-state vehicle, and paid $20 in cash. They went out to get my car's license plate number and the car's VIN (vehicle identification number). Then they got the rest of the information such as my house address and other minor information in my home state and gave me a voucher. Then I took my car to the opposite side of the office and gave my voucher to the person who conducts the test and got my car's emission tested; and passed.

You can find other testing locations at the Air Team Illinois website.

When it comes to getting your car maintained there will be many auto shops which will try to rip you off or try to damage your car so you will pay them to get it fixed. Usually that happens in many private auto shops. Also, if you go to legit auto shops such as Firestone, they will charge you an arm and a leg to even do a single oil change. I've been living in Chicago for a while now and I learned where to go for whatever needs I may have for my car and for any other services. I drive an old car and it drives very smoothly thank God. My friends are surprised that my car drives consumes less gas than theirs and drives without problems.

I go to Bobak's NAPA Auto Center

4955 W 47th Street

Chicago IL, 60638

Tel. (773) 585-4700

 

No matter what I need for my car, it's always taken care of by my mechanic. If they need more time to fix your car than what they promised than the auto center will pay for your rental car, which shows they care about their customers. That auto shop is always busy because their customers come back again and again.

By the way, I'm not endorsed nor being paid to write this post; I suggested this auto shop specifically because they took care of my car maintenance services.

SOLD on 2/17/14

A student near Hyde Park, Chicago is selling his black iPad 3. It is scratch fee and it comes with a cover and its original charger. He is selling it for $350 or best offer.  Apple is selling the iPad 2 for $400 so getting the iPad 3 in mint condition for $350 is a pretty good offer.  Plus the iPad 2 is not retina display, but the iPad 3 that he is selling is.  For those who do not know, retina display is like high definition for the Apple iPad displays. The student upgraded the iPad to iOS 7 so it will come with the latest software.

You can do your USMLE World question bank while you are on rotations, load PDF books, type up H&P for Internal Medicine rotations because there are not enough computers available in the day room of the second floor, and many more tasks for rotations. If you are interested then please use the contact form and I will email you his cell number so you can contact him.

The pictures are provided below:

What I love about the medical field is that the student population is ethnically diverse.  I have met students who are Jewish, Hindus, and Muslims. Most of the students I worked with in clerkships are Muslims, even the doctors are Muslims. And they only eat out to restaurants that serve "halal" meat. They will also buy meat from certain grocery stores that provides them.

Halal meat is a clean type of meat that is slaughtered by hand or machine that kills the animal in the most human way where it inflicts the most littlest pain. Halal meat also must be slaughtered in an Islamic way. Muslim students go to the north or the south because unfortunately halal meat is expensive in the Chicago city area. There is one grocery store in hyde park but it's meat is very expensive.

Usually the stores that serve halal meat have the "Zabiha" word or in Arabic (حلال). Stores that provide kosher meat have the symbols with a U or K in a circle on their packages. Apparently these symbols on packages or in menus define how the animal is slaughtered for consumption.

Halal Meat:

Valley of Jordan

1009 E 53rd St, Chicago, IL 60615

(773) 363-9810

Prices $5+/pound for both beef and chicken

Al-Amal Grocery & Bakery

7289 W 87th St
Bridgeview, IL, 60455

(708) 237-2625

10am–11pm

Prices: Around $2/pound for chicken and around $4/pound for beef

Nayab Mart

2449 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659

(773) 262-9200

Prices: Around $3+/pound for both chicken and beef

Lasani Zabiha Halal

2445 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659

(773) 761-5555

Prices: Around $3+/pound for both chicken and beef

Kosher Meat:

Next to "Little India" is also a Jewish community. So for the Jewish students you can get kosher food from there.  The following are stores that provide kosher meat:

Ebner's Kosher Meat Market

2649 W. Devon

Chicago, IL 60659

773 274-0430 or 773 764-1446

Gitel's Kosher Bakery

2745 W. Devon

Chicago, IL 60659

773 262-3701

Kol Tov Kosher Foods

2938 W. Devon Ave.

Chicago, IL 60639

773 764-1800

All the stores that offer halal meat also offers Indian spices, I mentioend it since I know half of the medical student population from ALL medical schools are from South Asian origin (Indian, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka).

I know some Hindu students don't eat meat. Most stores I mentioned above have delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes. But for groceries you can also find a lot of good stores for vegetarian dishes.

Patel Brothers

2610 W Devon Ave
Chicago, Illinois 60659

(773) 262-777

Also if you live around Hyde Park there is an India vegetarian restaurant.

Rajun Cajun

1459 E 53rd St #5,
Chicago, IL 60615

(773) 955-1145

This following post is for the students who are non-Illinois residents. For my Canadian readers, Illinois is the state that Chicago city is in, which is equivalent to your provinces. Most of us have drivers licenses from our home state so we are not eligible for a lot of benefits from the Illinois state, such as medicaid.

Parking in Chicago is a b****. You have to spend at least 10 minutes driving around to find a parking space. And it 's worse when it snows because some spaces have snow piled up and solidified so you can't drive over it. There are times when you are just 5 minutes late and you show up to the meter only to find an orange envelop on your windshield. yeah you know what I'm talking about. If you are lucky then the ticket is only $60, if you are not lucky then it's a lot more.

If you plan to stay in Chicago only for rotations then DO NOT change your car's license plate to Illinois license plate. Also, do not transfer your driver's license to the Illinois driver's license. The benefit of keeping your home state license is that if you get a ticket for the first time then you can contest it, as in you can challenge it. You have 90% shot of getting that ticket waived and so you don't have to pay for anything. Chicago police usually target people with Illinois license plate, and they are lenient on cars with out of state license plates. Also, if you got many parking tickets then do not pay it but contest it because if the records show you didn't do anything then you will get a boot on your car. A boot is this yellow metallic lock which the police will put on one of your tires and so you cannot drive your car. If you pay your ticket after you get a boot then you also have to pay extra to have the boot removed from your car.

Also, when you park somewhere, check for the sign on the side of the road. These signs specify what times the streets will be cleaned and what times it's free to park. If you park your car on the street when they are cleaning it, then you will get a $50 parking ticket.

The following is a video of Jackson Park Hospital. This is good introduction for the students in Bonaire and Anguilla. This is where you will do AICM 5th semester and possibly your core rotations if not at Mercy Hospital. In the video you will see some of the residents of the hospital whom you will meet when you do AICM or do your clinical clerkship; that is if you start by this year or next year.

I know this may be confusing to some but it’s very simple once you fully understand the difference. A hospital that has a residency for a certain program will have a green book status for that particular rotation. And if there are other rotations then it will fall as a blue book.

For example, for Jackson Park Hospital, it has a family medicine residency program; therefore, the family medicine rotation for medical students counts as a green book rotation. However, the internal medicine rotation at Jackson Park Hospital counts as a blue book because the hospital does not have an internal medicine residency program there. Other core rotations count in the same category such as Psychiatry, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, and Surgery.

If you want to go for Internal Medicine residency then you may want to do your Internal Medicine clerkship at Mercy Hospital instead of Jackson Park Hospital. Some residency programs prefer their applicants to do all their core rotations with a green book status; however it’s not universal so don’t worry about it. The reason I say this is that a lot of FMGs get residency programs in IM but they have no US clinical clerkship experiences. With SJSM you have 80 weeks of US clinical clerkships so that’s why you shouldn’t worry about it.  The same goes with other non SJSM Caribbean students, they have 72 weeks of US clinical clerships.

This post will highlight the core foundation of all the rotations in the 3rd and 4th year of medical school. Internal medicine (IM) is the rotation, which should not be taken lightly. According to a friend of mine, from Ross university medical school, and according to some doctors, the IM rotation in Jackson Park hospital is one of the best in Chicago. This does not mean that other rotations are as good but internal medicine rotation is one of the best. IM rotation is one of the most hands on experiences you will get if you are assigned at Jackson Park hospital. You will do all sorts of procedures and see so many things such as hernias, gangrenes, amputations, MRSA infections, lumbar punctures, etc. I have seen so many things and I learned a lot from hands on experiences. When I look at the lab I know what to look for and how to narrow down my differential diagnosis based on lab values and symptoms. Obviously, I’m not an expert in diagnosing patients but I learned a lot in the 12 weeks experience.

In Jackson Park hospital, the group of students is split up in six groups. Each group is assigned one of the 6 attending physicians and they rotate every 4 weeks. Each 4 weeks counts as a block and everyone has to have 3 blocks. The 6 physicians are Dr. Kumar, Dr. Murthy, Dr. Iyengar, Dr. Ali, Dr. Hussain, and Dr. Khan. You will be assigned three of the 6 doctors in the 12 weeks period.

Dr. Murthy

He is the medical education director and he gives a final say on your IM grade. It’s very important to get on his good side because of the letter of recommendation that he will give. He is not aggressive like other doctors but he can put you on the spot if you ask him to leave early. He is known to tell his students to “Google” everything. His students will have their smartphones battery drained after rounding with him because he expects everyone to look up answers to questions he asks. A friend of mine told me that Dr. Murthy had one student who didn’t have a smartphone, so for that Dr. Murthy told him to leave; lol.

Dr. Kumar

He is one of the hospital’s cardiologist who prefers to have 8 students per block. He is not the happiest physician you will meet, but he is extremely knowledgeable. Dr. Kumar will put his students down if they answer wrong questions. He is famous of making a large “0” with his fingers in front of the student when that student gets something wrong. And he will pronounce it in an Indian accent “jeero”

Dr. Khan

This guy you would describe him as a G. He’s ballin with great hair and a smooth way to talk. He didn’t even know me and he randomly sat me down with few other students and started giving me advice about life. He’s an easygoing doctor but he expects you to try to do some research when he asks you about a certain medical question.

Dr. Ali

He is a very polite and humble Indian doctor. All his students like him because of his gentle attitude. If you make a mistake, he will forgive you and advise you to try to avoid it next time. He is the most wanted attending physician in the internal medicine rotation because of his easygoing ways. However, sometimes he seems to be intimidated by multiple things in the hospital so he may mumble while he’s speaking.

Dr. Hussain

He is a polite physician but it is very irritating when he doesn’t show up on time. Dr. Hussain is not the best when it comes to showing up on time.  He wants everyone to send emails to him regarding what he taught for that day so they are on point on what they learned.

Dr. Iyengar

Rotation under this physician is new so I can’t say anything about him.

Presentations

The presentations in IM are so exhausting. We have to present to Dr. Kazmi and he is not the most polite or easygoing doctor you will meet. This doctor will come off as someone who will tear you apart on the first day but through the IM he calms down if you do your presentations on time. At the end of IM you will have to take a test on all the presentations you and your peers presented. The test is insanely hard because no one has time to study for it due to on-calls and rounds, which are tiring.

On-Calls

On calls are usually fun with moderate number of patients but other times it’s irritating when there are a lot of patients coming in the middle of the night. During the previous IM batch everyone had to do 24 hour on calls with breaks within those hours; however all that has changed with the new batch. Nowadays, there are 12 hour on calls which was changed by Dr. Kazmi. And if anyone intentionally is absent during presentations, then they are penalized with an extra or two on calls. It got brutal each time a new batch starts.

I hope this post helps in your preparations for Internal Medicine rotation at Jackson Park hospital. I wish someone had posted something like this before I started internal medicine, it would have helped me a lot.

Hello hello, it’s been a while since any posts have been made and trust me I’ve been very busy with rotations and so that’s why things are hectic. I am in rotations currently and I love it. I never thought, as a medical student, we could be as invasive as possible during rotations, but we are.

Last year when I was studying for USMLE Step 1, I always talked about what it would be like to be in the position I am right now and now here I am, thank the Almighty. It’s a great feeling that you are now considered a doctor, even though you don’t have the title, you are a doctor after passing USMLE Step 1.

When I was working at the nursing homes for my Family Practice rotations, a nurse comes up and starts off calling me a doctor. I stopped her before she can say any further and told her that I am only a medical student. She continues and tells me that it’s the same thing since we do what the doctor is supposed to do. Apparently, we spend more time with the patients than their real doctors. We medical students listen to the patients, conduct the physical examinations, and report what we find and the labs we get to our attending doctors. The doctors will then see what our finds are and spend couples of minutes with the patients and then he will make the assessments and plan for treatment.

Unfortunately, it’s heartbreaking to see the pain and suffering of the elderly at the nursing homes. The elderly are there because their own families cannot take care of them because the elderly requires oxygen and constant monitoring that they need to be there. Sometimes I think what happen to the old days of taking care of one’s parents in one’s own home. Our parents raised us from childhood and took care of us when we were young so it’s our obligation to take care of them while they are old. The ground reality is, the children of the elderly residents of the nursing homes are not from good socioeconomic places so they have to work and cannot attend to their parents.

I’m learning a lot about people and how to take care of them while being in rotations. However, it’s not helping me as much for the USMLE Step 2 CK. It’s only helping me for the USMLE Step 2 CS because we have to do H&Ps and progress notes and make diagnosis from what we find.

Coming from the South, getting used to a northern state is kind of difficult. I’m used to the relaxed environment and walking out of my house and seeing sunny weather 70% of the time in the winter. Here in Chicago it’s cloudy to snowy 70% of the time in the winter. One of my readers requested information regarding where I’m staying. I can’t give the details regarding that because of security issues but I will give a breakdown of my cost of living.

Currently, I live not too far from Jackson Park Hospital. And yes, you guessed it where I live it’s not safe to walk outside; however, I’m paying for the security. Unlike living next to University of Chicago, it’s not ok to get out 2 AM for fresh air around here. The place is located right next to Lake Michigan, which also contributes to the high rent.

I stay in a studio apartment because that's all I need for now. The apartment includes free water and sewage, doorman security, a separate kitchen, three closets with one huge walk in closet, and a normal size bathroom. On top of the rent I pay for  a parking spot in the garage, Internet, and electricity, which totals around $1000. It’s a lot but I still need time to get used to Chicago and this place’s interior has a Southern look and feel. Also, within my time period here I can look around to find cheaper places. I got it close to Jackson Park Hospital because if a code yellow is put in place then it won’t take long to go home. And I plan to do all my core rotations at Jackson Park Hospital. For those who do not know what code yellow is, it’s the hospital’s code in which all students must leave the facility. I don’t know the reason but is it what it is.

Also, I did not get a furnished apartment because it costs $200-$400 more every month. Also, with a furnished apartment, the previous tenants used the mattress so I don’t want to deal with that. I rather spend $400 one time to buy what I need because paying for a furnished apartment will add up over time.

I paid $235 for my bed set, which includes a nice queen size mattress with pillow top, the mattress box, frame, and 2-year warranty. The price includes free delivery and setup also; therefore, if you want the same deal please let me know at medstudent786@gmail.com and I’ll give you the guy’s information. From the picture you see a black headboard, which I paid $90 extra just so I can sit up and read whenever I feel like it.

Other expenses included getting a study table. I don’t need a fancy table so I went to Wal-Mart and bought a white folding table for $38. I also bought an office chair for $50 from Walmart.com. Each of the lamps cost me $9; all the other items in the apartment were from Wal-Mart or Family Dollar because that’s where I found the cheapest stuff.  The previous tenant gave me some stuff for cheap including their microwave for $20.

So that’s what’s going on and I hope you guys can settle down in Chicago better than me.  I had a rough time getting a place on time and I hope you guys can plan ahead and not go through a difficult time like me.

So what’s been happening with clinical rotations? Well, I’ll tell you; it’s not as bad as studying for the USMLE Step 1. The schedule I get depends on the attending doctor that we are under. Every rotation has a certain schedule, which is based on when and where the attending doctor show up or where he/she sends you.

For example, I did a Pediatric elective rotation and I showed up at three different clinics and a hospital. This rotation is off site from Jackson Park Hospital (JPH) so I never stepped into JPH until I started my core rotations.

The rotations are not that bad; however, it was difficult for the transition, from studying in a closed room for months to working with people in a big city.  I have not interacted with different people for a long time since I was locked up studying for the USMLE Step 1 and the first month of rotations was hard while I adjusted.

Tasks
Basically I do check up on the patients and report any findings to the attending or the physician assistant. The workload is not that much as it’s basically conducting what the doctor is supposed to do but their work in us. The workload includes doing a physical check up and doing SOAP notes on paper or on the computer, which depends on the facility.  The attending doctor just walks in the room after I do my work and speaks to the patient and overlooks my work and corrects any error and signs off our work; this entire process takes about 30 minutes. I spend majority of the time in the exam room as I conduct the work and the doctor takes only 5 minutes to do his part.

Study Time
This is where things are not so pleasing. Unless you can manage your time, studying while conducting rotations is kind of hard. If I come home at 5 in the evening then I’m tired and if I don’t have anything to eat then I have to cook so that takes more time. So at the end of the day I’m only left with 2-3 hours of study before I need to go to sleep because you need to be awake and focused to work the next day.

I’m in Chicago at the moment and I still haven’t settled down. I’m living at a friend’s place until I settle down at a place and trust me when I tell you, this is not easy. Apparently, so many try to get you to sign a leasing contract with you. I almost got myself in a mess with a bad apartment but I was glad that my friend advised me not to get it. Right now it’s December and many tenants are ending their leasing contracts. January is a great opportunity to sign up for great places because landlords and apartment management companies will be scurrying for people to sign into new contracts. The longer they wait the more money they will loose.

I was talking to one salesman in Chicago, and he said in this decade Chicago’s population decreased from 8 million to 3 million. I don’t know how much of that is true but it is believable due to the bad economy and also because of the fact that the economy hurt a lot of people. Chicago is an expensive city to live in and if people cannot afford to live here then they will obviously leave. I’ve looked at some apartments around Hyde Park and I have learned several things regarding in what to look for.

What to look for in leasing contracts?
- Heat
- Water

With your rent look for heat and water to be included. Usually, this attracts a lot of tenants as Chicago gets severely cold and so heat is a must utility t be turned on all the time during the winter.

Bonus things to look for:
- Proximity to Jackson Park Hospital
- Included Internet

Do not live very close to Jackson Park Hospital because it’s dangerous, but if you live near Lake Shore Drive then you can reach Jackson Park Hospital very quickly. Lake Shore Drive is the road that is parallel to Lake Michigan, which gives breath-taking views towards the water.
If Internet is included then that’s a big plus point; however, if it’s not included then it could work positively for you because if so many people using the same Internet can slow down the network.

There is a 99% chance electricity will never be included in any of the leasing contracts with the rent. Electricity is always an extra utility that you will have to pay for but if it was included with your rent then that’s awesome.

Parking
If you are bringing a car to Chicago then make sure you are good at parallel parking because you will need to do a lot of it. I’ve talked to several Chicago police officers and they complain that one of the biggest issues they have to deal with is parking. Parking is limited and so street parking is in majority of the places. Only in the suburbs there are parking lots. Street parking is no problem in residential areas but at places where you have to pay the meter, and then it will add up. In residential areas, street parking is free but it’s not all fun and games when it snows; you have to shovel off the snow and so it’s hecktic.

So what’s going on now with me these days? Well, I’m getting ready for core rotations aka clinical clerkships, as that is the next step. At the same time I’m trying to get the input from my senior students on what to do in studying for Step 2 CK. I’m going to most likely study the same way as I did with Step 1 but in a shorter time period because of rotations. Nowadays, my senior students talk about how they are studying for Step 2 CS and how it takes months to schedule an exam. SJSM requires 96 weeks of rotations but ACGME requirements only needs 72 weeks with 48 weeks of core rotations from ACGME approved hospital sites. Therefore, it looks as if I’m going to have to live in Chicago for a very long time. Chicago is a beautiful city but the snow is not my best friend. Whatever the case may be I have to learn to cope with in the windy city.

Image from StudentDoctor

The feeling of completing the USMLE Step 1 is exhilarating. I graduated at the bottom of my class in Bonaire for basic science, and most of the teachers did not help, but I stayed firm and continued to go through. And I will tell you this, if I can do it then you can too. I still haven’t gotten any place in Chicago so I’m still looking for a place. I looked on craigslist and staying in a descent place in Chicago costs you an arm and a leg. As you can see I’m running around taking care of things but I will make sure to update this blog often and keep reading.

As for those who are studying for Step 1, don’t worry, I will continue to write posts about Step 1 and how to overcome that test. I know what you went through and I can say that from experience.

If you go on craigslist and you may see postings and think to yourself it’s too good to be true. For example, I saw a posting of a one bedroom apartment on 71st street for $550 with no security deposit. And it’s couple of minutes drive to Jackson Park Hospital. First of all, it’s not a scam, you really could get a place that cheap near the hospital; however, you are compromising your safety and the safety of your car. Any place near the hospital is dangerous. Unless your car is in a garage, you are most likely going to have your car broken into.

If you are going to stay near the hospital, then stay above 60th street, around Hyde Park, or around the suburbs like around 85th street. If you are driving and if you have a non-Illinois license plate just make sure you don’t bring any attention to your car such as sparkling things or evidence of you having a GPS system anywhere in your car, or a phone charger, etc.

If you are taking public transportation, then it’s very important to go to the bus stop in groups; a group of 4 or 5 students is a good safe number. Muggers, even with a weapon, would not have the guts to mug anyone if they were in a group especially at night when you have on-call duty.

With this bad economy, plus Chicago being a very corrupt city, thieves are everywhere because they can’t get a job and they will hurt others to gain money. So for those who are settling in Chicago, be wise and choose a safe area even if you are far from the hospital.

I got this question via email from someone who looking to settle in Chicago.  I gave a detailed and important answer and it might be helpful to those who have never been to Chicago before.  Don't mind if there are any grammatical errors because I typed it up very quickly. 

so I'm starting to look for a place to live in Chicago. Any good neighborhoods with nice apartments or condominiums that you know of near the Jackson park hospital? 

Thanks

And this is what I replied to him:

Live in apartments near Hyde Park (near President Obama's House) or around the University of Chicago, that's where most students from University of Chicago and medical students live. Also, a warning, avoid living near the hospital, that's dangerous area. Live north of 60th street; do not live south of 60th street.

Another warning is about parking of you're going to bring your car, come around 7:30 AM to get a parking space in the parking lot in front of the hospital. The parking lot is right in front the hospital on the same side facing Stony Island Ave. Do not park in the back parking lot behind the hospital; one secured parking lot is for doctors, where medical students cannot park, and the other parking lot, across the street, is insecure but whoever parks there gets their car window broken into. In the insecured parking lot, people who have cars with an out-of-state (not Illinois) license plate are targeted.

Also, if you're going to take public transportation, do not carry a laptop bag. I suggest a book back that has a laptop pouch inside. I recommend a Targus book bag with a laptop pouch from Amazon; it's the same type that I got and it's cheap. Carrying a laptop bag in front of the bus stop is asking to get mugged at knife point. I'm telling you this because one student got mugged at knife point last year at broad daylight; however this didn't happen in front of the hospital because there are police around the hospital. The bus stop closest to the hospital is 10 minute walk away.

I know budgeting is a big factor for the MD3s, MD4s, and the upcoming MD5s. By now MD5s are probably settled, but I hope any advise I give will be helpful. Now the reason students from SJSM needs to settle in Chicago is because they need to complete 8-weeks of USMLE review and 8-weeks of introduction to clinical medicine. So those 16 weeks will be subtracted from the 96-weeks of rotations SJSM requires students to complete in order to finish the MD program.

Keep in mind, living in Chicago is expensive but if you spend smart then you will save a lot of money. The following is an idea of how much you should spend per month if you live in Chicago.

Rent, Utilities -> $600 (You will get that price if you live near Hyde Park)
Public Transportation -> $86 for Unlimited Rides for 30 days
Food -> $150

Now if you drive in Chicago then transportation will be a bit more expensive because Chicago is one of the cities with the highest gas prices in America. By this summer gas prices will reach $5.00/gallon for regular gas in Chicago. Also, most SJSM students live near Hyde Park, which is where President Obama’s house is located. Hyde Park is where a lot of students from University of Chicago stay. There is also the medical library which is free to access for SJSM students as long as they show their hospital ID. Most SJSM students study in the library because it’s clean, resourceful, quiet, and it’s free to all medical students.

Also, please include the AICM requirements of paying $180 for 3 months of a Qbank. Most students signed up for 6 months to a year because they refused to do the Qbank questions during rotations because they don’t get enough time to rest and study. Also include the $50 per NBME exam which must be taken at the beginning of AICM and at the end of AICM to measure your improvement. The NBME exams will not count for the certification to take USMLE Step 1 that SJSM requires which a score of 650 or above. A third NBME exam with a 650 or above is required by SJSM along with 75% or above in ExamMaster final. Keep in mind the ExamMaster exam is included in the tuition but not the NBME exam. So basically you will be spending $150 for the NBME exams.

So for food, living, and traveling with public transportation, a monthly expense will come out to $836; now multiply that by 4, the total comes out to be $3,344. In the 4 months of AICM also add $330 on top of the total; it comes out to be $3,674.

I know it’s a lot but if you gain a lot of connections in Chicago, your spending could be lower; good luck.

Look ma, I’m updating my blog. Yeah I know I haven’t updated anything for a while. The reason is I’m finally in the rotation part of AICM and it’s taking so much of my time. Some say it’s a waste of time but you actually see what illness people have and you learn a lot from it. I already got on-call rotation and it’s hectic.

In rotation no one will hold your hand. As in, you can do whatever you want go where ever you want and no one will keep an eye on you. However, you have to have certain papers signed by doctors and residents at the end of the week and turn it in to the administration. We also have topics to write about and present it to our preceptors. On top of rotations we have to do USMLE QBank questions and it’s just so much to do at once.

On my call I did history of a patient with few of my colleagues. We asked questions regarding their health, chief complaint, social history, family history, etc.
Right now, it really does not matter which school you went to. I’m working with students from ROSS University, American University of Antigua Medical School, International American University Medical School, and several more. The greatest part is we’re working with these students from other schools and yet we’re paying for rotations at a cheaper price than them; I guess that’s what makes Saint James School of Medicine stand out.

Also, I’m also lucky to see my old senior students from SJSM. They know me from Bonaire so they help me out; they all passed the USMLE Step 1 so they help me out of what I need to do and where I need to go.

So far, I’m enjoying the clinical setting and this is it. We are finally here minus taking the Step 1 which I will be taking soon. And when I do sit down and study for it hard core then this blog will not be updated for a long period. If you send me any email after April then don’t expect any replies until I’ve taken the Step 1, sorry but I have to do this.

It’s been a while since I wrote a post; the reason being is I just graduated basic science and I had to get things prepared for AICM once I arrived in America. I am in the January batch for AICM so I had less than a month to turn in everything and head to Chicago on time. It was a pain getting the paperwork done for the hospital; however, they were not BS papers the Bonaire government asked for. They were papers the hospital asked for such as insurance and immunization proof. The following is what I had to get or sign:

Personal Health Insurance

Immunization Proof

- MMR

- Hepatitis B Vaccination

- PPD Test/BCG Vaccination/Chest X-Ray for TB

- Vercella/Zoster/Chickenpox

Personal Health Insurance

Liability Insurance

Student Clinical Contract

CPR Certification

Police Report

Now, the AICM program is held in a Chicago hospital; I will not say which hospital for legal purposes. I don’t think it would be a problem to say which hospital but I rather be safe than sorry.

For AICM we have to get our drug test done at the hospital, which is $20. AICM is a prep course and an introduction to clinical clerkship. AICM seems to be an 8-weeks review course to prepare for the USMLE Step 1 and another 8-weeks clinical clerkship. The review course was created to help us; however, I don’t think it’s helpful. In the beginning we have to take NBME test and another one at the end of the 16 weeks. SJSM requires AICM students to pay for NBME test which is $45 per test. On top of that it’s mandatory for us to sign up for USMLE World and the lowest price is $180 for 3 months. So, we’re looking at $270 on top of the drug test. These charges and requirements were a surprise for me, but it looks like I have to do it.

USMLE Step 1 Restriction

SJSM also has set forth new restrictions for the students who graduated basic science. The teaching in Bonaire isn’t sufficient enough to get a good score in the USMLE Step 1; therefore, you need to do more in order to get a 90+ on the test. According to the new rule SJSM set, students need to get a 650 or above on the NBME exam and at least a 75% or above in the Exam Master test made by the SJSM office. I don’t know about you but 650 on the NBME is a 99 on the USMLE Step 1. The funny thing is this rule is not set in stone and it’s not written anywhere.

I made a mistake for signing up for the AICM so early. If I took AICM at least 4 months after basic science then it would give me enough time to study and so I would be fully prepared to get a 650+ on the NBME exam. If you get a chance to delay taking AICM I advise that you do so. Take the extra free time and study for the USMLE Step 1.