YL5 Week 5 part 1: Day by Day of SLICE week Going to try a new format of shorter, daily, updates through the 5th week at ASMPH, 4th week of cell module. It wasn't as hectic a week as last week so I can go into more depth about ASMPH as I did in week 1.  This is part 1 which documents in continuity of last Saturday's topics on cell to the first exam and SLICE activity this Wednesday (for me, others have other days spread through the week). The spiritual reflection will likely come this weekend as it's a superstar pack of feast days– St. Lorenzo Ruiz, Archangels, St. Jerome, St. Therese of Lisieux, and Guardian Angels (Tuesday, to Saturday, respectively). Monday: ZooMonday This was a very long day and could be the very definition of zoom fatigue. I woke up at 7:30 am to get ready for virtual consultation (fancy term for office hour) for our TeamBasedLearning (TBL) class at 8:30. This was followed shortly by the TBL itself at 10:00-11:00. Our topic was on DNA replication and...

  The 4th Week of 3 Exams (Prudent Prognosis) Late posting this week but for good reason. We had a week of exams on the cell module. Again, it likely isn't any different from any other medical school though I'm not sure if the 4th week having 3 exams (2 of which were split into two exams) is standard. By the way, did you know that 4th type of Ehlers Danlos-syndrome is a mistake in type 3 collagen? Well now you know.  Either way, it was a turning point for me in terms of thinking about priorities. I'm the kind of person who really only studies when he enjoys studying. Studying medicine is like a full time job, it is true. So I always try to work on motivation and long term learning rather than grades. Though I am grade conscious insofar as it is a kind of test on whether or not I am actually meeting the learning goals. There are so many things to learn and so little time. I don't think I'll have a separate spiritual reflection and will just weave it in this time. Hon...

YL5 Week 3 @ASMPH: The Inner Cell-f The week has come and it has gone; as always, scroll down and skip the summary and addendum below to get started with my reflection  the Cell of Faith . A quiz to start the week, two team based learnings mid week and a quiz to end it. It is quite what I expected to experience graded assessments every other day. If anything, it helps keep me on my track to treat the material as seriously as I have made the commitment to pursue medicine. The first exam was based on a the cell we started last week– histology and parts of the cell (both lab and lecture). We then moved on to carbohydrate structure and metabolism, protein structure and metabolism and nucleic acid structure for the last quiz, with team based learning on the electron transport chain and the krebs cycle interspersed in the middle of the week. Today (Saturday) we had an orientation on research methodology and did an afternoon module on fatty acid metabolism– which is in preparation for our...

YL5 week 2 @ASMPH: Public Health to the Private Cell Public Health to finish off Principles and Perspectives The 2nd week in was a kind of transition in itself. The first half of the week was spent studying the public health module that will be included for the exam. Since it's quite over, I will just briefly summarize for the sake of memory rather than study. If you're interested in the reflection essay only, scroll down to  The Malaise of Medernity . The public health module talked about WHO approach to health systems as well as the Filipino's Fourmula + one project. We also had to learn about the top leading 10 causes of mortality versus morbidity. Really in this "principles and perspectives" module, the point is to appreciate them as they contextualize the learning of medicine. What stands out in studying medicine at ASMPH is what's different that surrounds the studying of medicine common to other schools?  Another difference was the MBA part of the MD/MBA...

YL 5 Week 1 @ASMPH + The Doctor as a Watchman This is my first week officially studying at ASMPH, the Philippine Jesuit college that promises to teach the next generation of physician-leaders through its MD/MBA program with an emphasis on Public Health. I won't speak about the transition semester as there wasn't that much studying but may refer to it throughout this project. Though I will say that there is a requirement on performing the Jesuit "Examen", perhaps emphasizing the "studious" nature (study yourself too!) that hinges on Jesuit philosophy– faith and reason ideally does not contradict, and pushing reason at least may leave the door open for faith in people's hearts later on. A long and risky game indeed.  We started off, as all Jesuit institutions do, with the Mass of the Holy Spirit and Opening Ceremonies. The Mass was presided by our president, a Jesuit himself. It is unfortunate to report that many had wanted to skip it. I am rather concerne...