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Thank You

Lurking Shadow, who writes on the SJSM blog medstulife.com, registered his domain recently and I was planning to register my domain after passing Step 1. However, it was very tempting to register right away because of the new 2012 year.  Also, the timing is perfect because the domain will not be randomly be registered in the middle of the year; it will be renewed at the end of the year.  So from now this site is on MedicalSchoolMemoirs.com and also the old address, imgstudent.blogspot.com, will be redirected to the new domain.

It’s been almost 28 months (2 years and ~4 months) since I started my journey to get my MD and this blog has come a long way. This site has become very successful over the years with significant readership growth. My readership has grown exponentially with as high as 129 visitors per day and growing. It would grow further if I write more posts but with my busy schedule I only find 20-30 minutes to write these posts once a week. Since this site has an official domain now, I plan to write every day while I’m in clinical clerkship so you’ll get the most detailed information for every subject possible.

This is supposed to be a motivational post because that’s all everyone needs in order to be successful from Bonaire/Anguilla and also in Chicago and elsewhere. When you find something very tough, don’t give up because it’s hard, the words “give up” should not even be in your vocabulary if you’re a medical student.

If you think about it, when you set your mind on something and be passionate about it then your body will shape your actions to reach that goal. The keyword in the last sentence was being “passionate”. People who are passionate in what they do are the successful ones. For example, the late Steve Jobs who died recently, was passionate in creating innovational products and he created very successful products like the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad.

If you think about something in your past, there was something you always wanted and you kept on thinking about it and you wanted that something really passionately and eventually you go it. Now think, how is that any different than getting and MD, or a residency of your choice? It’s not; it’s the same concept and by following that concept is how I survived Bonaire. In my mind my goal was to pass all my classes in Bonaire and get out ASAP, and that’s what I did.

What I’m trying to say is you want something really badly then you will willingly and passionately work for it then eventually you will get it, God willing. A normal person has the mental and physically capacity to reach his or her goals regardless of what they are. And make sure you set your goals very high because if you work harder then you are supposed to then the results are satisfying.

I decided to go to mdsalaries.blogspot.com and I found that the blog was deleted. That blog is very popular and I love reading about the enormous amounts of money different physicians earn in USA compared to other countries.

Should I continue what that site started?
As a medical student I don’t have that much time but I’m always interested in writing about new topics. I always love reading about physician salaries and perhaps I should continue what that site started. If you are a regular visitor you should know by now that this blog has a lot of useful information about studying at a Caribbean medical school. Not only that, I do my best to keep it updated every month. Last month, I didn’t get a chance to write anything because I was leaving Bonaire and therefore I was running around getting things organized and chasing after my landlord to get my deposit back.

Anyways, since the Bonaire chapter is done and closed and a new chapter of clinical clerkship started I will write about the salaries physicians earn and how to be one. I only do so, not to copy mdsalaries blog, but for my own information, so I can have a database to refer to in the near future. Whenever I get a chance I will write about the salaries for certain physicians and how to get into their respected specialties.

Now that basic science is over, all the information I write from now on will be useful for all medical students from different medical schools. Where you do your basic science classes differentiates you from medical students of other schools; however, clinical clerkship is the same for everyone.

1. You’re the happiest person on the plane when you're leaving Bonaire, and all the tourists think you’re CRAZY!
2. When the electricity goes out, the class is over.
3. Between classes you go to Spankhoek across the street for a BEER.
4. Milk costs more on the island than the COW it came from!
5. The same lame people drive in their lame cars back in forth from Karal’s to city cafe for the entire night, because it’s COOL.
6. Your professors actually party with you!
7. You have to take pictures of your grades when they are posted because they MAGICALLY change at the end of the year.
8. You think that KARALS and CITY CAFE are CLUBS!
9. SERO still talks about himself in 3rd person. (Sero says, " Sero likes fast cars, Sero will fix that, Sero very good handyman."
10. The library is never open! And it’s full of engineering books.
11. You know that all your teachers are brown and so are your CADAVERS!!
12. You think that Della is the nicest local on Bonaire.
13. You call BONAIRE... BONER...
14. You tell everyone you’re going to a Caribbean School and they think you are the luckiest person ever!
15. The prices of the same Subway sandwich changes everyday depending on the mood of the cashier.

I found some of these from FaceBook and few I added myself.

Happy 4th of July fellow Americans at home and abroad. I’m in Bonaire and obviously there is no such thing as 4th of July here, but we can still be thankful for being part of the greatest country in the world, the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. Without America I would not have the same opportunities as I do today or have all the luxuries that most people in the world cannot have.

Everyone is in the FIFA craze. Some students even skipped school just to see the game of Netherlands vs. Brazil. Of course as we know now Netherlands won against Brazil and the streets of Bonaire went crazy. Netherlands fans were honking their horns every street they turned. Of course since Bonaire is a Dutch colony we have Dutch people everywhere and they made sure their victory is known. Watch the video below.

I have finished with the new look upgrade for this blog in my study breaks. As you can see it has a lot more features in terms of accessing more information. And this new design does make this blog look a bit more professional. I think I’ll permanently keep this design as it is very useful in organization.

I’m hoping I can gain more readerships day by day. Getting more readers to read my writing does get me motivated to write more even with my busy schedule. Of course most of the material I write is basically for SJSM students until clinical clerkship. In clinical clerkship my information will be helpful to all Caribbean medical students and other foreign medical grads. Clinical clerkship will be done in America so I will be working side-by-side with students of other medical schools.

It's Friday, and it's the day to go to the mosque and read Jummah prayer.  Today is a national holiday in Bonaire so school is closed.  It's really amazing to find an actual mosque with an onion dome here.  I woke up in the morning and did a little studying and waited for my room mates to get up.  One of them did the kutba at today's prayer, and he did a good job.  Today is just another normal day and I suppose this is how it'll be until I finish up basic sciences on the island.  We went to to the grocery store after prayers and we bought about $100 worth of groceries, which we are expecting to last for 3-4 weeks; it could last less than that if my roommate works outs more often since he has to eat more.  I want to work out; the gym is 2 minutes walk from our house but apparently it bothers me if I take more than 30 minutes break from studying and I do take my time in the gym.