Hi, I’m a student at Metropolis Med.
I write about medical school. This blog is partly intended to be an absurdly long answer to the question “What’s med school like?”, and partly intended to be a way to store any and all the mnemonics and resources I’ve found helpful so far. Hopefully they’re useful. (And if not useful, I’ll settle for entertaining.)
It’s also intended to be the small commitment that keeps me writing during med school. This is probably the goal that’s worked out the best.
Of course, nothing I write here is intended to be medical advice. You probably arrived at that conclusion on your own by noting that I draw pictures like I’m 7 years old, and may in fact actually be a 7 year old masquerading as a medical student on the internet. So I clearly can’t help you there.
But I could definitely have a drink with you and discuss exciting types of transcription inhibitors, or the latest episode of Community. I’m good for either.
Hi AP!
My current A&P course is truly testing my abilities to tap any learning resource I can find. Even if it means sending random emails to the creators of my favourite med blogs! Do you have any tips for memorizing origins and insertions? I’ve searched for mnemonics but not finding much. To give you an idea of the level of complexity, (or not, since you are way ahead of me), for example I need to remember that the pectoralis major originates from the medial half of the clavicle, body of sternum and cartilages of ribs 2-6, and inserts into the greater tubercle of the humerus.
I’d love to get any advice. For some reason this aspect isn’t reaching my long term memory.
Thanks!
Hey Nikki! Yeah, sounds like your teacher is asking you to memorize them at a medical school level of difficulty (is it med school? If it’s undergrad and you’re pre-med, you’re going to own medical school anatomy when you take it.) Haha, and flattery is always appreciated!
I have advice, but it ended up being way too long to fit in this space, so I’m just going to post it as a blog entry later today if that’s cool with you. (It might also be too long for a blog entry, but oh well, I’ll throw some pictures in there and call it good.)
Aww, you’re awesome. I couldn’t find a direct link to your email so I feel kind of bad for shoving this into your “about” page.
This is A&P that I’m taking as a prerequisite to apply to nursing school. And, wait for it……this is at a community college! There is nothing “community college” about it. Well, except for the lack of cadavers which I think is a major fail in preparing students, but that’s a rant I could go on all day about.
So Glee, huh? It’s good to know med school isn’t killing your Glee time! (By the way, I’m one of your subscribers.)
Haha, thanks!
Hey A+P – I’m officially obsessed with your site and I’m not even in med school. But it’s really funny and relatable and I am actually working with someone who wrote a book about med school that I’d love your thoughts on. Could you shoot me an email if you’re interested? marni@sneakattackmedia.com
Thanks!
Marni
Thanks! My anonymized e-mail has been acting up lately, so I sent you an e-mail from my regular address – just thought I’d confirm it’s from me.
Good job. Impressive and keep up the good work. Don’t get medical life ruin your interest in writing
Hello,
Great site! Thanks for taking the time to post despite your hectic schedule. I have a request.
You refer to your study habits in a few different posts. Your method for taking notes in class, revision of those notes, summaries, whiteboard diagrams, &c. Could you post the patented AP Study Method? I am just finishing a Social Sciences degree and beginning a heavy anatomy degree (undergrad). From what I have seen ahead of time I will need definitely need to change my current study process!
Thanks again,
S/
Hey S., sorry this is so late! I’ll try to address it in a post soon!
One of the most unique and fresh voices I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long time — regardless of the genre, online or not.
Thanks for the wonderfully human and honest writing.
This comment made my day. Thanks so much for the compliment.
I hate to seem like a needy reader, but do you by chance have a twitter feed so that I know when there are new posts? Or have I just missed the obvious and there is a giant button labeled “FOLLOW ACTION POTENTIAL HERE” somewhere?
Good point! I’m @medinmetropolis. I’ll try to plug my blog entries more often there.
Hullo, AP!
(btw, I’m a neuroscience major, so this fills me with quite a bit of glee)
I actually have a pre-med question to ask you, and I was wondering if there was a way I could contact you? Would you even be comfortable with/have the time for that?
Hello!
Sure, you can contact me at webmaster@action-potential.org.
Hullo, AP!
I just wanted to give you an update (erm, I’m the same person who wrote that comment last year…and it’s a GOOD NEWS UPDATE)… But I couldn’t email you at the same email address! (It said “Delivery failed”… ) Did you change contact emails?
The TL;DR to my email is…I basically got into medical school with a scholarship, haha (but the email has more ‘thank you’s!)..
Great blog – on my list to follow! Thought you might be interested in my blog wellnessrounds.org
Have to say it… Your blog is the best med student blog I’ve found! Great writing style, interesting topics and a perfect blance between medicine, fun and everything in between
I tried to e-mail the address you provided above, but it wouldn’t work so here it goes (airing my life out in public, yikes)
As the subject reveals, I just read your article (http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/07/medical-student-anxiety-depression.html) today. It was rather serendipitous, to be honest. I am a first year junior in college. I have had “becoming a great physician” at the top of my life goals for about 4 years now. I have also been struggling with finding myself to be ‘mentally interesting.’ These mental quirks as they were have, however, really tried throttle my medical school ambitions. I am terrified of talking to a physician about my problems. I am afraid of needing a ‘crutch’ to survive the rest of college, medical school (if I got in) and the rest of my life, possibly. I try to convince myself at every opportunity that I’m just melodramatic. But the truth is just thinking about certain events make my hands sweat profusely. I get so panicky I can’t think, I start crying, I lose control over my mind and body. I have “toughed it out” as it were for years now, mostly since I started college. I am afraid I can’t do it any longer. I feel like a failure for even thinking about getting “help.” You managed to get into medical school before finding what worked for you. Does this mean I am just not up for it? I have tried to avoid this question for several months now. I really want to go to medical school, but my thoughts are “How can you possibly survive medical school when you have these anxiety problems NOW?” I was just curious as to your thoughts on my situation, if you have any words or advice for me, I would really appreciate it.
I’m sorry this e-mail was so stream of consciousness, but I’ve had this urge to get this all off my chest for awhile and no one that would listen. Not that you’re guaranteed to read this!
-Someone ‘mentally interesting’.
P.S. Thank you for your wonderful article, It gave me a little hope to know that there are people with anxiety/depression that are conquering medical school as I type.
Thank you for writing this, it means a lot to know that my article got to the sort of person I was hoping it would get to.
I have an awful lot to say about this, so I’m going to address this comment in a post tomorrow, if that’s all right with you.
That would be perfectly fine by me, I am very interested in what you have to say! Can’t wait to read it.
Thank you for your time!
hey, I am a first year medical student suffering from depression. It got so out of hand last year, that right after the first semester, in which I did well, I had to take a leave of absence and I will be continuing the second semester of first year in january. The problem is, although I feel better, I am scared of falling back into the same pattern when I go back in January, plus the fact that I havent studied for more than 9 months scares me a lot. I do not exactly know what I want to get out from writing to you, but I guess it would be nice to hear from someone that has been challenged in this way and is coping with it. Thank you (btw, my first language is not english, so sorry if there are any mistakes)
Hey! I’m just a undergrad student but I really enjoy reading your blog & find everything you say to be insightful & wise beyond measure. Plus it gives me a sense of hope. Thank you for letting me know that despite my preliminary setbacks making it is not as impossible as it seems. (ps. would you mind if I shared you on my personal blog?)
Hey!
I’m in my fourth year right now, and blogging for my poetry mostly. But medschool being the old man from the Sindbad story, it’s pretty much grabbed on never to let go. Your blog is so, so reassuring! Omg another person! Who’s studying and writing and freaking out!! And over caffeinated too! It’s like a revelation lol.
Also your blog is incredibly hard to follow, for some reason. There’s no links anywhere and I went and liked someone else’s blog, just so I could find the follow on yours. Or maybe my blood caffeine levels are below the legal limit.