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Don’t Look in the Rear View Mirror

Posted on July 17, 2017Leave a comment

Hey yall! Guess who passed the COMLEX Level 3 board exam last month and is now eligible to be licensed in the state of Georgia? Yep, me! God is so good! So let me back up and tell you the story, before I get carried away.

I took my exam at the beginning of June. I had to really put in work and manage my time wisely while wrapping up first year of residency and studying for boards. I studied using some of the methods I talked about in a prior blog post (check it out here). I also had one of my attendings and my advisor hold me accountable and check in with me weekly to discuss my studying progression. Overall, I knew I put in the time and work while preparing, but I was still nervous. I always get nervous before big exams, and I will admit that I have test taking anxiety. I have a routine on exam days where I get up early, call my parents who pray with me, and then put on my pre-exam music playlist to get my mind right. So the time came, and I sat down at the computer to tackle this 8-hour exam ahead of me. I said another quick prayer, and got to work.

Things started off pretty well during the first sections. When I got to section 4, right before the lunch break, I hit a brick wall. I quickly realized that I had taken too much time in the prior sections and was running out of time. Each section has 50 questions, and I got to about question 30 of the fourth section and only had 10 minutes left. There was no way in the world I’d be able get through the remaining 20 or so questions in 10 short minutes. I have never had a panic attack before in my life, until that moment. My heart started to race, I had trouble breathing, my mouth was dry, and my hands and legs were shaking uncontrollably. I tried to calm myself down and use visualization techniques to get it together. However, the more I tried to close my eyes and focus, the more my eyes drifted to the ever-winding clock. I came up with a quick strategy, and with about 2 minutes left on the clock, I planned to go through the remaining questions and just randomly choose B for each answer. Unfortunately, I still had a few questions at the end of the section that I did not get to answer. Alas, the clock went to 0:00 and it was time for lunch.

I pushed myself up from the chair with my sweaty, shaky hands and wobbly legs and staggered to the break room. My heart was still pounding out of my chest and I felt like I needed an inhaler, and I don’t even have asthma. At this point, I had no appetite, but knew I needed to eat something to make it through the 4 hours after the lunch break. I called my mom, who immediately sensed that something was wrong. I told her what happened and she calmly said, “Jay, listen to me. Don’t look in the rear view mirror.” I knew exactly what she meant. Early that morning before she and my dad prayed with me on the phone, she said the same thing, “Don’t look in the rear view mirror.” I had struggled with standardized testing before and had a habit of dwelling on the past. The anxiety and fear that came when taking board exams stemmed from my previous failures (more about that here ). Once you fail a board exam, you always have that experience in the back of your mind. My mother told me to forget about the things in the past, and focus on what was in front of me. As I sat in that break room, my mother’s words soothed me. I was reassured that everything would be okay. I went on to eat my lunch and reaffirmed God’s promises to me as I prayed in my head.

As I re-entered the testing room and sat at my computer, I took a deep breath and started the next section. I kept reminding myself not to look in the rear view mirror and not to focus on what happened before lunch. I went on to finish the rest of the exam without any issues with time. I was relieved that the exam was finally behind me, but I also was up against the month long dreaded wait for my exam score.

Fast forward to last week. I got the email that my score had been released. I was excited and a tad bit scared at the same time. I logged in to my account and scrolled down to see the words: PASSED. Can I tell you, how I almost rearranged my living room furniture from shouting?

I had spent a little over a month anxiously waiting, and even had a nightmare about this day. (I had a dream a while back that I failed.) The first thing I did was thank God! I could not stop saying, “Thank you Jesus,” because I knew it was only Him that brought me through that exam. The next thing I did was call my parents. They were just as excited as I was. I then texted/called my friends and attendings to share the good news.

My purpose in sharing this very personal story with you is simple. No matter what you happen to face in life, and no matter how difficult or impossible that situation may seem, DON’T LOOK IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR. It’s okay to reflect on how far you’ve come, but do not dwell on previous failures. The Apostle Paul said it best: “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” -Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)

-thedoctorjb

From Rejection to Promotion

Posted on November 29, 2016Leave a comment

About 4 months ago, I sat down and talked to my fellow Louisianan, Danielle Ward, a 3rd year medical student. We chatted about her journey to and through medical school thus far. She has overcome many obstacles and is such an inspiration. Watch how this single mom, went from rejection to promotion, and is now the National President – Elect of Student National Medical Association for the 2017 academic year. Check out her story below:

From Rejection to Promotion from thedoctorjb on Vimeo.

Be sure to follow Danielle on Twitter @minoritydoctor, on IG @LSUsweetheart and visit her blog at www.aspiringminoritydoctor.com!

-thedoctorjb

Before You Re-apply…

Posted on September 12, 20162 Comments

You’ve worked hard and spent money on review courses, and you still didn’t get in to medical school? No need to stress out. Make sure you complete this checklist before you re-apply. Similar principles hold true when applying for residency programs. Contact me here for more information, individual questions, and other tips. I’d be happy to help.

-thedoctorjb

IN CASE OF FIRE, DO NOT USE ELEVATOR!

Posted on September 4, 20164 Comments

“In case of fire, do not use elevator.” Every time I see one of those signs, I think, “What are the chances that I get stuck in a burning building.” I hope that never happens; however, I was thinking about life and the phrase took on a new meaning.

Since I moved for residency, I haven’t seen my friends much. Today, one of my good friends came to visit, along with her husband and son. We always end up in passionate, thought provoking conversations that challenge me to be better and do better. At some point today, our conversation shifted toward the reason for struggles in our lives. Let me just pause and say that both my friend and her husband have powerful stories of things they have gone through in their lives. They both have a gift of touching others through their stories, and they always encourage me.

Shortly after they left, I continued to think about certain things that I’ve gone through and I could just picture the elevator sign in my head. Elevators are very convenient and quick ways to move from one level to another; however, the stairs demand more effort and take a bit longer. Now add fire to that, and you get heat, smoke, and an even harder climb. I’m not on the level in life where I want to be just yet, but I’ve moved up by taking the stairs. It has taken me longer than expected and has required more hard work than I had ever imagined. From not getting accepted into med school on my first attempt, to not passing board exams on my first attempt, I can truly relate to taking the stairs opposed to the elevator in life. I’ve gotten short of breath while taking the stairs and had to take a few breaks, like taking a leave during my third year of med school. But I never lost sight of my destination and matched at my number one choice for residency. Now that I am a physician, I’m still taking the stairs, and sometimes the temperature gets really hot. For example, on my first day of inpatient medicine, I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. It took me forever to get my notes done, and navigating the EMR to put in orders was so frustrating. On top of that, I had not slept well the night before and was exhausted all day. By the time I got in my car to go home, I broke down in tears. But the next day, I woke up ready to tackle the day like yesterday had not even happened.

Needless to say, I am so grateful for those flights of stairs that have made me the young doctor I am today. I take joy in waking up at 5:00 am to get ready for work. I love learning from my patients who challenge me to be a great physician. It brought tears of joy to my eyes when a Black patient encouraged me as I walk out of the room by saying, “Keep up the great work. We need more doctors who look like us.” All of the stairs that I have climbed, while battling the heat that life throws my way, have made me stronger and taught me patience. They’ve also helped me to appreciate the work that it takes to reach new levels.

Like my friends who touch so many lives with their stories, my desire is to help someone else through my story. When you’ve gotten tired of taking the stairs I encourage you to take one more step. And when you take one more step, take another…and another…and another. You may get short of breath, but keep going. Know that others have taken those same steps and there are others behind you, as well.

Keep climbing!

-thedoctorjb

COMLEX/USMLE Preparation and Test Taking Tips

Posted on April 24, 20163 Comments

It’s that time again, I know all of you 2nd year medical students are probably freaking out right now because your board exam is right around the corner (if you haven’t already taken it). I have put together a list of tips that helped me along the way. Now, I don’t claim to have the BEST suggestions, but given the fact that I had to take that stupid exam more than once, ya girl can tell you a thing or two. By the way, I only took the COMLEX exam and not the USMLE, but I’m sure there is some general overlap in the way you would prepare.

1. Probably the most important piece of advice: FIGURE OUT WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!

People learn in different ways, so know that what works for your friend may or may not work for you. I fell into the trap of asking all of my classmates and upperclassman their study strategies and tried to make them my own. Some of their tips work and some didn’t. Just keep that in mind moving forward with this list.

2. Manage your time wisely.

Create a study schedule and stick to it as closely as possible. I’m an Excel person, so I made a spreadsheet. I allotted a specific number of hours for each subject, giving the most time to my weaker subject areas. Regarding your study schedule, do not set yourself up for failure. Allow yourself some time to do things that you enjoy. For example watch your favorite 30 minute TV show (no binging though) or work out. Trust me, if you don’t have some sort of balance you will go coo coo for coco puffs.

3. Don’t use too many resources.

I found, through trial and error, that when I was using too many resources I became overwhelmed and actually was studying less efficiently. After narrowing things down, this is what I used for Level 1:
–First Aid for the USMLE
–Doctors in Training (DIT)
–COMBANK and COMQUEST question banks
–OMT Review by Savarese (the green book)

I would advise going through First Aid multiple times. It’s pretty much the Bible for board prep. I took mine to my local office supply store and had them cut off the binding and put spiral rings in it. That make it easier to navigate. DIT was helpful, but I only used it for Level 1. Some of the videos are a tad bit corny, but hey, the info sticks. I really like the study guide workbook that comes with it. Now for my osteopathic people, there are multiple articles and reviews all over the interwebs that list the advantages and disadvantages of COMBANK and COMQUEST. I used them both for Level 1, but only COMBANK for Level 2. I like them both, but for different reasons. Here is a good in-depth review of both from Alex at Medical School Success. To the USMLE folks, I can’t give my two cents about Kaplan question banks but I did use UWorld for Level 2 (but only for a few weeks). In my opinion, the questions are good for reinforcing general clinical knowledge, but if you are using UWorld to prepare for COMLEX, they way in which the questions are asked is not a good reflection of how they are asked on the COMLEX. Regarding OMM on the COMLEX, if you go through the OMT Review book and do multiple runs of the OMM questions from your question bank of choice, you will be fine.

For Level 2 CE, you will be learning on rotations so study and review for whatever rotation you have that month. I used Step Up to Medicine and Master the Boards. I also did an OMT refresher with the Savarese book and used COMBANK again.

4. Do as many practice questions as possible.

Once you complete all of the questions in a particular question bank, do them again. Repetition is key here. When first starting off, I did questions to coincide with the topic I was studying. Later on, I did them in random mode. As test date approached I used the timed mode to get used to going against the clock. When reviewing the questions, I strongly recommend that you go over every single answer choice for each question, no matter if you answered it correctly or not. Trust me, it helps. Additionally, take a few practice assessments before the real exam. You can buy the COMSAEs from the NBOME website or purchase the assessments from COMBANK. It’s cheaper to use the latter.

Note: The following applies to preparing for the COMLEX Level 2 PE:

5. Practice your history taking, physical exam, and OMT skills with classmates/friends.

I used the COMLEX Level 2-PE Review Guide and went through all of the clinical cases. I also wrote a practice SOAP note for each case and did it timed on the NBOME website here. I made a habit of typing the assessment and plan first, before typing anything else. That way, if I ran out of time typing, at least I would have that filled in. This came in handy when I took the real exam. For OMT, I focused on mastering a couple of techniques from each body region. Again, repetition is key so once you do the same techniques over and over while practicing with someone you will be fine.

Now, a few tips for test day.

6. On the night before the exam, relax and get a good night’s rest.

Yea, it’s common sense, but you do NOT want to be tired during an 8 hour exam. By relax, I mean don’t spend the final 3 hours before bed studying. Do something to ease your anxiety, like watch your favorite movie before bed.

7. Eat breakfast on test day, and bring lunch.

Be sure to eat a good breakfast, but don’t go to IHOP and get a stack of pancakes before heading to the test site. You don’t want that postprandial sleepiness (aka food coma) to kick in while you are only 2 hours into the exam. Bring something light for lunch for the same reasons as above. Additionally, don’t drink too much water because unscheduled bathroom breaks will take away from your test-taking time.

8. Don’t spend too much time on one question.

If you are unsure of an answer, choose something, mark it, keep moving to the next question and come back to it later. You still have a chance of getting points if you guess correctly. That’s way better off than leaving an answer blank then possibly running out of time to come back to it.

9. If you fail it’s not the end of the world.

Trust me, I know. If you find yourself in this situation, do a self evaluation to figure out what went wrong. See what subjects you performed poorly in, and get back in the saddle. Start to prepare to take the exam again, and be confident.

10. When you pass the exam celebrate and know that your hard work paid off.

beyonce spinning gif

-thedoctorjb