One Step at a Time

Right now, I find myself in the middle of the 4th term of this year (out of 5 total). This means that since August, I have gone through 3 sets of finals and I have 2 more to go. Only 2 more, in fact, before my daily class-attending academic career is over. After that, I am planning a 2-month preparation for Step 1, the first in a triplet of exams that will officially (and globally) assess the state of my preparedness to become a physician. I have just selected a specific date to take this exam (which I will not disclose here, just in case I decide to change it later), which puts a specific slot (an 8-hour one, to be precise) on my calendar, and a very tangible deadline to work towards.

This standardized test will examine all that I have learned in class until now, especially in the last two years of medical school. At the same time, this single exam will also partially determine the nature of my entire medical career, as it is essential for the residency applications – that is, where and in which specialty I will continue my medical training after medical school. After completing this first boards exam, most medical students start with clinical work, i.e. they start learning how to actually treat patients by laying their hands on them – and that is why Step 1 usually concludes one’s diurnal lecture attendance.

In my case – once I recuperate from this unique (hopefully I won’t need to retake) summer experience – the next step (ha, ha) will be a little different: I will join a lab for my second PhD rotation, after which I will pick one lab to spend the next 4 years in, working on my thesis. Just recently, I have met with Dr. Jane Hill of Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, who is looking for an MD-PhD student to join her lab and work on one of her very interesting projects in the field of translational medical research. I am very excited about this project and am seriously considering to join her lab this summer and possibly beyond.

As the above indicates, there are some big events coming up in my studies, and so wish me good luck so that I glide through them gracefully and successfully. During my next check-in, I will update you on my preparation progress, as it will be released just shortly before the exam.