Happy Thursday everyone!
I'm very sorry about not writing in the last little while. I've had so little time the last few weeks its crazy, but its all worth it now. Med1 is officially complete and I couldn't be happier. Exams officially ended yesterday. This post will probably be a longer one because I have a few different things to talk about.
So what was happening around here for the last two weeks you ask? Well lets start from the beginning. The first thing of importance would be our anatomy final presentation. My group presented on the last day, which I wasn't too happy about, but the presentation itself went really well. A few days before we were to present we all started working on a presentation and then got together as a group and made a final copy with everyone's suggestions. Like I was saying before, the presentation really isn't too bad. Its around 10 minutes total and all you have to do is review the body systems of your cadaver and report any interesting findings. The idea is that at the end of the semester you will be able to come to an accurate cause of death. I'm happy to report that we predicted the age within 5 years, but didn't get our cause of death spot on. The coroners report was chronic emphysema. We certainly reported that she did have emphysema but too us her lungs looked to be at an early emphysemic state at best. So while we did comment on her emphysema we didn't report that it was actually her cause of death.. But that really doesn't matter. At the end of the day you get marked on your ability to think and make conclusions based on what you saw. It was a good experience. Anatomy was awesome.
The next important thing that happened was completing our very first exam!! The first one for us was PD practical and it was quite a bit earlier then our other exams. I really enjoyed PD as a class and though that the practical exam was pretty cool. So how it works is that you are assigned a time slot and a day to arrive. I was the very last time slot on the first day. I was glad to get in over with on day one, but wasn't sure how great it would be to go last. So when you arrive you get assigned two professors, so essentially two stations that you have to rotate too. Once you arrive at the prof, they will instruct you to perform a certain exam. The school arraigned to have locals come in and act as our patients. 80% if your grade was being able to perform the exam correctly, and 20% was your ability to answer questions afterwards. When I did my exam I was assigned respiratory palpation and vitals assessment, both of which were fairly easy compared to other exams. The thing about it is that you have no idea what you will have to do until exam day, so when you practice you have to master everything. It almost feels like a let down when you know all these things and only get tested on a small portion of it. But either way I was happy with what I got. The questions I received were also quite easy. This is where things were a little funny. Some people were asked extremely difficult questions and some were not. I'm not sure how the profs decided who they would ask the hard questions too but it seemed to be a little unfair for certain people. I think maybe if you showed that you were nervous they made it harder? Or if you did something wrong maybe they would ask you a bunch of questions to try to redeem yourself? I have no idea. As an example, someone may have been performing a hand exam and afterwards was asked what specific muscles are atrophied when someone has carpal tunnel syndrome, what 9 tendons pass under the flexor retinaculum of the hand, and what specific nerves are affected when you have carpal decompression and which nerves are still intact to give you specific cutaneous sensation over the palm of the hand. I mean this question is not that difficult when you are prepared for it, but when you have no idea that they are going to go that deep and you are asked a question like this it throws you off. In PD we didn't even talk about this stuff. We were expected to draw from our anatomy knowledge from three months earlier to answer the questions. My questions were questions that could have been predicted so they didn't throw me off guard so much. I got asked about orthostatic hypertension, conditions which cause the trachea to deviate, and reasons for altered tactical vocal fremitus. When you get here and are nearing the end of PD and anatomy, I promise that these things will seem easy and perfectly fair. So all in all, PD was a good experience for most. Interesting at least.
The next exam we had was our PD written exam two days later. The good thing about that was that if you studied enough for the practical you really didn't need to study for the written. I think most people thought the written was good. It was nice to be completely done with a class and not have to worry about it moving forwards.
After the PD exam is when the real fun began... Classes were over at this point and all we had to do was study. When I mean study its not like how studying has been for the past few months. Most days you would finish class around 530PM and after dinner you would have around 4 hours to study before the next day. This was the usual thing for most people during the semester. When we finished our PD exam Thursday morning I didn't stop studying except to sleep until Tuesday night. I would wake up and hit the books nonstop until I went to bed. I would pole my head outside to see the sun go down and then back to studying. Our next exam was anatomy and since it was an NBME it was the one most people were most worried about. I had Anatomy Monday, Histology Tuesday, and Cell Bio Wednesday, so I had to make sure I studied a bit of each class every day. I will say that the weekend studying was very much weighted towards anatomy though. We learned so much material over the last few months that even reviewing everything superficially took forever. As an example, I started studying for the cell bio exam on the Monday the week before. It would take me the better part of the day to get though one block worth of material. What I did was pull out the slides I knew I wanted to look at once more before the exam and made a separate powerpoint. So essentially when it came to the last day before cell Bio all I would do was go through that master powerpoint as well as study the 16 pages of diseases and drugs we had to know. The system seemed to work for me. I will admit that while the last few days were not fun, it made finishing the semester so much better. I felt more accomplished finishing one semester then I ever did finishing anything during my undergrad. I wont get into too much about how I studied for the other courses because everyone is so different. What I will talk about is the NBME and what exactly it is.
NBME stands for National Board of Medical Examiners and sets out to provide standardize assessments of medical professionals. For us, normally once a semester you will have a class that is scheduled to be taken as an NBME exam. Semester one was Anatomy. From my understanding they normally rotate the courses that have NBME exams every two semesters. This semesters NBME was Anatomy, Biochem, Pharmacology, and I cant remember the other tbh. The NBME is a way of ranking our school against all the other American students and Caribbean students out there. Since it is a standardized test throughout the country, whoever chooses to participate can get a feel for where they stand with the rest of the country. For us it is a great way to prepare for the USMLE, especially since the NBME exam is composed of retired USMLE questions. At our school I've been told that the profs get to decide if we take a full NBME or a handpicked version. What this means is that the professor can deicide to not look at the questions beforehand or can go through and select which questions they feel are fair. The problem is that every med school has a slightly different curriculum and therefor certain students will be at different levels of their education when taking these tests. Since we do anatomy in first semester, we don't have the physiology background and some of the more advanced classes to draw from in order to answer questions. Im not 100% sure if our exam was unedited or not, but I have a feeling that it wasn't because there were a few questions about things that we definitely are not supposed to know right now. Surprisingly though you can work your way through some of them. One thing to get straight is that this exam is not supposed to be easy. Our exam consisted of 125 questions in two hours. The exam is fully computerized and has very strict guidelines that must be followed for a school to be allowed to administer the exam. While some people complain about having to write these exams, take it as a valuable experience to prepare yourself for the types of questions on the USMLE. Also, being able to see where you stand with the rest of the country is huge. One of the most important things for us. So for those of you coming next semester, you will write the NBME for anatomy as well. Don't worry too much about it as if you work hard during the semester it wont be an issue at all. Like all things, look at it as a benefit to your education that you get to write it. Imagine if during your undergrad you got to write a practice MCAT section as part of your exam grade. When it came time to write the MCAT for real you would likely be more prepared and less nervous. So that's all I'm going to talk about with regards to exams and what not. All I can say here is that its a whole different ball game here and it will only get more intense as time goes on. You will have to work so much harder then you ever imagined but at the end of the day, ask anybody who survived the semester if they could imagine themselves doing anything else and they will say not a chance. (maybe wait to ask them until at least a day after their last exam) :P we all got through and are choosing to do it all again in three weeks. Its a ton of work but one of the most rewarding experiences ever.
So aside from school, I don't have too much to talk about with regards to fun island stuff. The truth is that in the last two weeks we haven't had the opportunity to do anything aside from school. Most people have a day or two befor they go home and are taking advantage of the free time to relax on the island. Yesterday after the exam me and a few people headed to Frigate bay to hang out on the beach and sit by the pool. It was so nice being able to relax guilt free. We ended the night with a bonfire at a friends place. Today it 3 o'clock and I haven't done anything. I slept in and have been relaxing most of the day. Some people headed off to Nevis this morning but I wasn't really feeling it. Tonight Star Wars comes out on the island so a bunch of people will be going to see that. I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan so I'm not sure if I will see it or another movie. Chances are I will still go to the movies though. If I can clean up the house a bit today, tomorrow I plan on doing a hike. Not sure exactly which one I want to do, but ill let you know when I decide. After that I leave! Saturday is the day. I am extremely excited to head home and see everyone. I was really looking forward to arriving in Ottawa and it being winter, but the last few days have been really warm. Unless something amazing happens, I will likely head back to SK without seeing any snow whatsoever..... Fingers crossed for a white Christmas.
While most people are heading home for Christmas, there are a few who have decided to stay. Some students here have families so they are not as eager to move around the country. Also there are a few students who have family coming down here for Christmas. I think at this point, Im ready for a quick break. A nice change of scenery.
Another thing I wanted to talk about for a while now is the food situation on the island. I figure the best way to do this will be to separate by location.
School/Camps/Mattingly
-So for food on campus and the surrounding areas, school is one of the places to get food. They offer lunch everyday during the week and some Saturdays. In addition to the meals they cook, they will also have pizza almost everyday and subway the occasional times. They don't really have much in the way of dinner food except for around exam time. So if you have to take the bus to school and like studying into the evening, be sure to bring some food. Alternatives to school food during the week would be from just across the street. There is a guy name Vern who sets up BBQ Tuesday-Thursday outside of school. At least those were the days this semester. There is also a lady who sells bubble tea almost every weekday in the same spot. I just learned that most Fridays she also sells Rotti! Ive yet t try it but I will next semester. The next closest place for food in this area is a place called Nevills. It is a burger type joint about 10 mins walk from school. They sell burgers, hotdogs, fried chicken, fish, salad etc. Its a great place to go for some food. They aren't normally open during the day, they only open up in the evenings. They are also closed Sundays. Right across the street from Nevills is the move theatre. There are a few places to get food there. There is a Chester's Chicken, Dominos, and frozen yoghurt place. Those are really the only places within walking distance of school.
Royal / Marriott
There are quite a few place to grab food in this area, but the prices are a little higher. If you live at the Royal there are two main places to eat. (at least that I know of). There is a place call Tiranga which sells Indian and Chinese food. I've had the Indian and it is pretty good. Prices for food aren't horrible. There is also a place called Dolce Vida within the Royal too. Its a bar and restaurant. Ive never eaten there but the food has always looked good. They sell typical things you would find in a restaurant / bar. Prices are also reasonable. Right across the street from the Royal is the Marriott. There are a few hotel restaurants there but be prepared to pay quite a bit. There is also a café in the hotel that I have eaten at. Students will often sit there and study. The food is good but a little pricey. Not too bad though. About 5-10 minutes down the road there are a few more restaurants. There is an Italian place called Ciao which has great food, but not somewhere you can afford to eat too often. All these places are in the touristy area so they will naturally be more expensive. There is also a place called Rituals café which is a popular spot amongst students especially for breakfast. Lots of good food. Right next door is Rituals restaurant. This is a sushi / Vietnamese place. I've eaten there once, but I found it a little pricey for what you get. If you really crave sushi its a great place to go however. Right next door there is another Indian food place called Bombay Blues. This is one of my favorite places to eat. Not too cheap but I find its worth it. In the same area there is also a Pizza place called Pizza boys. The next closest place to eat would be at the strip which is another 5-10 minutes walk from Bombay blues. There are a fair number of places to eat there but normally only around dinner time and into the evening. I've eaten at two places and the food was okay. You will likely spend some time there during orientation and can try a few of them out.
Downtown
There are a bunch of restaurants downtown but I haven't been to any of them so I cant give you much insight here other than there being a few options. The is a Subway and a KFC downtown as well. If your adventurous, you can find BBQ all over the place on SK. Friday-Sunday and random time during the week there will be a bunch of BBQ stands set up all over the place. I've eaten from them a few times and its always been delicious. Also some of the least expensive food you will find.
Delivery
There are a few places that do delivery. Chester's, Dominos, Indian, Chinese etc. I'm not sure of them all because I've only really ever gotten Dominos delivery because they have 2 for 1 deals on Tuesdays :P
That's really all that I know with regards to food. You will likely discover a few more once you get here, but just for those who worry about the types f food you will eat, there are lots of options aside from your own cooking. No need to worry.
One last thing I wanted to talk about was TA positions. Each class will have one or more TA's which offer TA sessions and office hours for those who are interested in attending. After each semester, if you fulfill the requirements you are welcome to apply to whatever positions you want. Each position will give you anywhere from 500-2000$ off of your tuition as a credit depending on the TA position and the requirements. The school will review all the applications and you will normally hear the week before the next semester stars if you were successful. It is a great opportunity and comes with some nice perks for those who are eager. For me, I wanted so bad to be an anatomy TA but decided in the end that my MED 2 schedule would not allow enough time for me to do it.. It was a huge factor in deciding if I wanted to stay with MED, but I figured I could always TA another class in MED 3 when the schedule is not so intense. So good luck to all those who applied!
Things I have learned recently
-We had to pay tuition when the Canadian dollar was the worst it has been in 11 years.. Gotta love it.
-A Swiffer is much easier then a mop
-I have to start binge listening to Christmas music or something. I have 2 days to get myself into the Christmas spirit.
-After 4 months of listening to Kittitians speak I am no better at understanding them. I had to ask someone to reapeat themselves 3 times when all they were saying was Merry Christmas..
-Just because you let a bottle of coke sit for 3 hours doesn't mean it wont explode all over the classroom and your bags and your laptop when you open it.
-I have to go downtown SK before I leave to see the Christmas lights
-Its going to be weird going home and driving on the right side of the road again. I'm so used to it the other way.
-Surround yourself with good people. It makes the journey so much easier and far more enjoyable:)
Well that's all I have to say right now. Just a huge kudos to everyone here who finished the semester and I look forward to seeing you all again shortly! Also a big happy welcome to the new incoming January students! You're in for quite the adventure and I mean that in the most positive way ever. Enjoy your time at home and remember to start the journey with a smile knowing that your taking one of the biggest steps on your path to becoming an MD! And its not even that bad ;)
Cheers,
Mike
I'm very sorry about not writing in the last little while. I've had so little time the last few weeks its crazy, but its all worth it now. Med1 is officially complete and I couldn't be happier. Exams officially ended yesterday. This post will probably be a longer one because I have a few different things to talk about.
So what was happening around here for the last two weeks you ask? Well lets start from the beginning. The first thing of importance would be our anatomy final presentation. My group presented on the last day, which I wasn't too happy about, but the presentation itself went really well. A few days before we were to present we all started working on a presentation and then got together as a group and made a final copy with everyone's suggestions. Like I was saying before, the presentation really isn't too bad. Its around 10 minutes total and all you have to do is review the body systems of your cadaver and report any interesting findings. The idea is that at the end of the semester you will be able to come to an accurate cause of death. I'm happy to report that we predicted the age within 5 years, but didn't get our cause of death spot on. The coroners report was chronic emphysema. We certainly reported that she did have emphysema but too us her lungs looked to be at an early emphysemic state at best. So while we did comment on her emphysema we didn't report that it was actually her cause of death.. But that really doesn't matter. At the end of the day you get marked on your ability to think and make conclusions based on what you saw. It was a good experience. Anatomy was awesome.
The next important thing that happened was completing our very first exam!! The first one for us was PD practical and it was quite a bit earlier then our other exams. I really enjoyed PD as a class and though that the practical exam was pretty cool. So how it works is that you are assigned a time slot and a day to arrive. I was the very last time slot on the first day. I was glad to get in over with on day one, but wasn't sure how great it would be to go last. So when you arrive you get assigned two professors, so essentially two stations that you have to rotate too. Once you arrive at the prof, they will instruct you to perform a certain exam. The school arraigned to have locals come in and act as our patients. 80% if your grade was being able to perform the exam correctly, and 20% was your ability to answer questions afterwards. When I did my exam I was assigned respiratory palpation and vitals assessment, both of which were fairly easy compared to other exams. The thing about it is that you have no idea what you will have to do until exam day, so when you practice you have to master everything. It almost feels like a let down when you know all these things and only get tested on a small portion of it. But either way I was happy with what I got. The questions I received were also quite easy. This is where things were a little funny. Some people were asked extremely difficult questions and some were not. I'm not sure how the profs decided who they would ask the hard questions too but it seemed to be a little unfair for certain people. I think maybe if you showed that you were nervous they made it harder? Or if you did something wrong maybe they would ask you a bunch of questions to try to redeem yourself? I have no idea. As an example, someone may have been performing a hand exam and afterwards was asked what specific muscles are atrophied when someone has carpal tunnel syndrome, what 9 tendons pass under the flexor retinaculum of the hand, and what specific nerves are affected when you have carpal decompression and which nerves are still intact to give you specific cutaneous sensation over the palm of the hand. I mean this question is not that difficult when you are prepared for it, but when you have no idea that they are going to go that deep and you are asked a question like this it throws you off. In PD we didn't even talk about this stuff. We were expected to draw from our anatomy knowledge from three months earlier to answer the questions. My questions were questions that could have been predicted so they didn't throw me off guard so much. I got asked about orthostatic hypertension, conditions which cause the trachea to deviate, and reasons for altered tactical vocal fremitus. When you get here and are nearing the end of PD and anatomy, I promise that these things will seem easy and perfectly fair. So all in all, PD was a good experience for most. Interesting at least.
The next exam we had was our PD written exam two days later. The good thing about that was that if you studied enough for the practical you really didn't need to study for the written. I think most people thought the written was good. It was nice to be completely done with a class and not have to worry about it moving forwards.
After the PD exam is when the real fun began... Classes were over at this point and all we had to do was study. When I mean study its not like how studying has been for the past few months. Most days you would finish class around 530PM and after dinner you would have around 4 hours to study before the next day. This was the usual thing for most people during the semester. When we finished our PD exam Thursday morning I didn't stop studying except to sleep until Tuesday night. I would wake up and hit the books nonstop until I went to bed. I would pole my head outside to see the sun go down and then back to studying. Our next exam was anatomy and since it was an NBME it was the one most people were most worried about. I had Anatomy Monday, Histology Tuesday, and Cell Bio Wednesday, so I had to make sure I studied a bit of each class every day. I will say that the weekend studying was very much weighted towards anatomy though. We learned so much material over the last few months that even reviewing everything superficially took forever. As an example, I started studying for the cell bio exam on the Monday the week before. It would take me the better part of the day to get though one block worth of material. What I did was pull out the slides I knew I wanted to look at once more before the exam and made a separate powerpoint. So essentially when it came to the last day before cell Bio all I would do was go through that master powerpoint as well as study the 16 pages of diseases and drugs we had to know. The system seemed to work for me. I will admit that while the last few days were not fun, it made finishing the semester so much better. I felt more accomplished finishing one semester then I ever did finishing anything during my undergrad. I wont get into too much about how I studied for the other courses because everyone is so different. What I will talk about is the NBME and what exactly it is.
NBME stands for National Board of Medical Examiners and sets out to provide standardize assessments of medical professionals. For us, normally once a semester you will have a class that is scheduled to be taken as an NBME exam. Semester one was Anatomy. From my understanding they normally rotate the courses that have NBME exams every two semesters. This semesters NBME was Anatomy, Biochem, Pharmacology, and I cant remember the other tbh. The NBME is a way of ranking our school against all the other American students and Caribbean students out there. Since it is a standardized test throughout the country, whoever chooses to participate can get a feel for where they stand with the rest of the country. For us it is a great way to prepare for the USMLE, especially since the NBME exam is composed of retired USMLE questions. At our school I've been told that the profs get to decide if we take a full NBME or a handpicked version. What this means is that the professor can deicide to not look at the questions beforehand or can go through and select which questions they feel are fair. The problem is that every med school has a slightly different curriculum and therefor certain students will be at different levels of their education when taking these tests. Since we do anatomy in first semester, we don't have the physiology background and some of the more advanced classes to draw from in order to answer questions. Im not 100% sure if our exam was unedited or not, but I have a feeling that it wasn't because there were a few questions about things that we definitely are not supposed to know right now. Surprisingly though you can work your way through some of them. One thing to get straight is that this exam is not supposed to be easy. Our exam consisted of 125 questions in two hours. The exam is fully computerized and has very strict guidelines that must be followed for a school to be allowed to administer the exam. While some people complain about having to write these exams, take it as a valuable experience to prepare yourself for the types of questions on the USMLE. Also, being able to see where you stand with the rest of the country is huge. One of the most important things for us. So for those of you coming next semester, you will write the NBME for anatomy as well. Don't worry too much about it as if you work hard during the semester it wont be an issue at all. Like all things, look at it as a benefit to your education that you get to write it. Imagine if during your undergrad you got to write a practice MCAT section as part of your exam grade. When it came time to write the MCAT for real you would likely be more prepared and less nervous. So that's all I'm going to talk about with regards to exams and what not. All I can say here is that its a whole different ball game here and it will only get more intense as time goes on. You will have to work so much harder then you ever imagined but at the end of the day, ask anybody who survived the semester if they could imagine themselves doing anything else and they will say not a chance. (maybe wait to ask them until at least a day after their last exam) :P we all got through and are choosing to do it all again in three weeks. Its a ton of work but one of the most rewarding experiences ever.
So aside from school, I don't have too much to talk about with regards to fun island stuff. The truth is that in the last two weeks we haven't had the opportunity to do anything aside from school. Most people have a day or two befor they go home and are taking advantage of the free time to relax on the island. Yesterday after the exam me and a few people headed to Frigate bay to hang out on the beach and sit by the pool. It was so nice being able to relax guilt free. We ended the night with a bonfire at a friends place. Today it 3 o'clock and I haven't done anything. I slept in and have been relaxing most of the day. Some people headed off to Nevis this morning but I wasn't really feeling it. Tonight Star Wars comes out on the island so a bunch of people will be going to see that. I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan so I'm not sure if I will see it or another movie. Chances are I will still go to the movies though. If I can clean up the house a bit today, tomorrow I plan on doing a hike. Not sure exactly which one I want to do, but ill let you know when I decide. After that I leave! Saturday is the day. I am extremely excited to head home and see everyone. I was really looking forward to arriving in Ottawa and it being winter, but the last few days have been really warm. Unless something amazing happens, I will likely head back to SK without seeing any snow whatsoever..... Fingers crossed for a white Christmas.
While most people are heading home for Christmas, there are a few who have decided to stay. Some students here have families so they are not as eager to move around the country. Also there are a few students who have family coming down here for Christmas. I think at this point, Im ready for a quick break. A nice change of scenery.
Another thing I wanted to talk about for a while now is the food situation on the island. I figure the best way to do this will be to separate by location.
School/Camps/Mattingly
-So for food on campus and the surrounding areas, school is one of the places to get food. They offer lunch everyday during the week and some Saturdays. In addition to the meals they cook, they will also have pizza almost everyday and subway the occasional times. They don't really have much in the way of dinner food except for around exam time. So if you have to take the bus to school and like studying into the evening, be sure to bring some food. Alternatives to school food during the week would be from just across the street. There is a guy name Vern who sets up BBQ Tuesday-Thursday outside of school. At least those were the days this semester. There is also a lady who sells bubble tea almost every weekday in the same spot. I just learned that most Fridays she also sells Rotti! Ive yet t try it but I will next semester. The next closest place for food in this area is a place called Nevills. It is a burger type joint about 10 mins walk from school. They sell burgers, hotdogs, fried chicken, fish, salad etc. Its a great place to go for some food. They aren't normally open during the day, they only open up in the evenings. They are also closed Sundays. Right across the street from Nevills is the move theatre. There are a few places to get food there. There is a Chester's Chicken, Dominos, and frozen yoghurt place. Those are really the only places within walking distance of school.
Royal / Marriott
There are quite a few place to grab food in this area, but the prices are a little higher. If you live at the Royal there are two main places to eat. (at least that I know of). There is a place call Tiranga which sells Indian and Chinese food. I've had the Indian and it is pretty good. Prices for food aren't horrible. There is also a place called Dolce Vida within the Royal too. Its a bar and restaurant. Ive never eaten there but the food has always looked good. They sell typical things you would find in a restaurant / bar. Prices are also reasonable. Right across the street from the Royal is the Marriott. There are a few hotel restaurants there but be prepared to pay quite a bit. There is also a café in the hotel that I have eaten at. Students will often sit there and study. The food is good but a little pricey. Not too bad though. About 5-10 minutes down the road there are a few more restaurants. There is an Italian place called Ciao which has great food, but not somewhere you can afford to eat too often. All these places are in the touristy area so they will naturally be more expensive. There is also a place called Rituals café which is a popular spot amongst students especially for breakfast. Lots of good food. Right next door is Rituals restaurant. This is a sushi / Vietnamese place. I've eaten there once, but I found it a little pricey for what you get. If you really crave sushi its a great place to go however. Right next door there is another Indian food place called Bombay Blues. This is one of my favorite places to eat. Not too cheap but I find its worth it. In the same area there is also a Pizza place called Pizza boys. The next closest place to eat would be at the strip which is another 5-10 minutes walk from Bombay blues. There are a fair number of places to eat there but normally only around dinner time and into the evening. I've eaten at two places and the food was okay. You will likely spend some time there during orientation and can try a few of them out.
Downtown
There are a bunch of restaurants downtown but I haven't been to any of them so I cant give you much insight here other than there being a few options. The is a Subway and a KFC downtown as well. If your adventurous, you can find BBQ all over the place on SK. Friday-Sunday and random time during the week there will be a bunch of BBQ stands set up all over the place. I've eaten from them a few times and its always been delicious. Also some of the least expensive food you will find.
Delivery
There are a few places that do delivery. Chester's, Dominos, Indian, Chinese etc. I'm not sure of them all because I've only really ever gotten Dominos delivery because they have 2 for 1 deals on Tuesdays :P
That's really all that I know with regards to food. You will likely discover a few more once you get here, but just for those who worry about the types f food you will eat, there are lots of options aside from your own cooking. No need to worry.
One last thing I wanted to talk about was TA positions. Each class will have one or more TA's which offer TA sessions and office hours for those who are interested in attending. After each semester, if you fulfill the requirements you are welcome to apply to whatever positions you want. Each position will give you anywhere from 500-2000$ off of your tuition as a credit depending on the TA position and the requirements. The school will review all the applications and you will normally hear the week before the next semester stars if you were successful. It is a great opportunity and comes with some nice perks for those who are eager. For me, I wanted so bad to be an anatomy TA but decided in the end that my MED 2 schedule would not allow enough time for me to do it.. It was a huge factor in deciding if I wanted to stay with MED, but I figured I could always TA another class in MED 3 when the schedule is not so intense. So good luck to all those who applied!
Things I have learned recently
-We had to pay tuition when the Canadian dollar was the worst it has been in 11 years.. Gotta love it.
-A Swiffer is much easier then a mop
-I have to start binge listening to Christmas music or something. I have 2 days to get myself into the Christmas spirit.
-After 4 months of listening to Kittitians speak I am no better at understanding them. I had to ask someone to reapeat themselves 3 times when all they were saying was Merry Christmas..
-Just because you let a bottle of coke sit for 3 hours doesn't mean it wont explode all over the classroom and your bags and your laptop when you open it.
-I have to go downtown SK before I leave to see the Christmas lights
-Its going to be weird going home and driving on the right side of the road again. I'm so used to it the other way.
-Surround yourself with good people. It makes the journey so much easier and far more enjoyable:)
Well that's all I have to say right now. Just a huge kudos to everyone here who finished the semester and I look forward to seeing you all again shortly! Also a big happy welcome to the new incoming January students! You're in for quite the adventure and I mean that in the most positive way ever. Enjoy your time at home and remember to start the journey with a smile knowing that your taking one of the biggest steps on your path to becoming an MD! And its not even that bad ;)
Cheers,
Mike