Pre-Clinical Years

I didn’t go into full-on detail on this page about my pre-clinical years because August 2012-June-ish 2014 in this blog pretty much outline that. :O (You can also check out my pre-clinical years tag, which covers snippets of the first two years of my life in med school while I was surviving through it.)

Pre-Clinical Years

Some boards study motivation from High Expectations Asian Father.

I adopted the “HBL” approach after my second course in med school; “HBL” stands for “Home-Based Learner,” so yes, it meant that I never went to class unless it was required. My school didn’t have an attendance policy, and generally speaking, only the Case Openings/Closings and labs were mandatory. Since I realized that I didn’t get much out of passively listening to someone talk about a subject, I spent the rest of my first semester studying with my favorite neighbor. During second semester and throughout my second year, I holed up in the catacombs and went over all the material by myself before enlisting my study buddies (HBLers + 1, but usually Mike) to quiz each other over the material.

My hope is to eventually have resource pages on applying to medical school, med school study aids/resources/recommendations, tips/thoughts/reflections throughout the application process, whilst slaving through my pre-clinical years, as well as through my clinical rotations!

You’ll likely have to bear with me on this because I unfortunately don’t have as much free time as I’d like. It’ll forever be a work in progress!

Study Aids

Brachial Plexus (A graphic I made that simplifies the brachial plexus as much as possible)

Brachial Plexus study material that I made for the first-years.

1st-year Anatomy Review (A document I put together for the first years that covers an overview of the upper + lower limb!)
Cranial Nerve Table (A chart I put together for the first years that covers the 12 cranial nerves)
Salter-Harris Fractures (Simpler way to remember the different types of Salter-Harris fractures)
HPI, FHx, SHx, ROS (History of Present Illness, Family History, Social History, Review of Systems)
OMT: Sacrum (Several OMT treatments for the sacrum)
OMT: Pelvis (Several OMT treatments for the pelvis)
OMT: Chapman Points (Memorize the chart for easy points on the COMLEX!)

Medical Service Trip to the Dominican Republic

Class Schedule

My [winning] t-shirt design for our 1st-year t-shirts!

OMS-I

Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine
Skin
Musculoskeletal
Head/Neck
Cardiovascular
Respiratory
Renal
GI
Endocrine
Reproductive
Blood & Lymph
Clinical Skills I Lab
Osteopathic Principles & Practice I Lab
Early Clinical Encounters

Tracheotomy lab.

Mini Med School for the community.

Extra-Curriculars

Health Fair at a local elementary school.

Summer (Last One Ever!)

- Spend time with + visit friends/family.
- Eat everything in the world.
- Explore CA
- Gym! Pole! Dance! Silks! Yoga!
- Some boards prep
- Volunteer at PHAC!