Some facts of med school....once you're in that is

Okay, so while I was stressing out yesterday about some things, I couldn't help but think about some things that my wise friends have taught me (thanks Shannon and Justin!). Here are some things to remember when you are in med school:

Priority of importance for gaining that desirable residency spot (least to greatest):

3. Grades (surprise, surprise, but yes, grades don't matter as much as they did in undergrad. For Pete's sake, if you can make it to the end, and you're the last in your class, you'll still be a Dr!)

2. Board scores - whether it's USMLE or COMLEX, these will be the real test of what one's mental capacity is.

1. PERSONALITY and ability to GET ALONG with your peers and superiors - no one is going to give a residency to someone they don't think fits or is a pain in the gluteus maximus! To quote one of my most favorite movies, "So just play nice!"

Priority of importance for other things while in medical school:

1. GOD - all too often, it becomes way to easy to stop going to church, praying, or doing devotions in order to study more or whatever! He is such an important center for realizing what is important and what is not so much.

2. Family - keep up with them! Call them, text them, email them, whatever! I have found (yes, it's been only one week, so I'll have to keep you all posted on how this goes) that they are my encouragement outside of the heavenly help.

3. Friends - it's hard to keep up with everyone, but think about those relationships that you really cherish and try to keep in contact with them.

4. Mental Health - this ties into all three of the above things (how I love OMM! It not only helps with physical manipulations of the body, but also mental ones. We are multi-faceted beings and each part needs to be cared for.)

5. Physical health - to quote the Dean of Students at OSU COM, "Eat healthy, excercise, and get alot of sleep." Hard to always do this, but students who tend to have meltdowns are usually missing out on one part of this list.

Okay, back to studying anatomy. Those are my pearls. Cast them not before swine:-)