"Surviving Exams" by MSIH first year blogger Tamara Kliot

We finished our first semester exams and are currently on break. As I flew back home, I couldn’t help but think, that means I’m 1/8 an MD! For many of us, this day felt so far away. Exam grades are trickling in and second semester of medical school is becoming an approaching reality.  I have been able to reflect on this past semester with some distance between those intense weeks of eat, sleep, study, exam, repeat. Here are a few tips to survive first semester exams (to future 1^styears)!

1.      Draft a Supportive Team

The amount of information you are expected to know come finals is well, to say the least, a lot and a bit overwhelming. It is close to impossible to catch all the important details mentioned in class and studying this vast amount of information is much more fun when you are around other people. Find a few people in class that you can study with, be it talking about material you don’t understand, reviewing the stuff you know, teaching each other concepts, or just sitting next to each other while you each work in complete silence. Exams can be overwhelming and isolating, but it doesn’t have to be if you find the people you work best with and develop a plan. Check out this fun picture a friend drew while I was studying immunology! I will never forget the unique mechanism Tuberculosis uses to evade the immune system.

2.      Visit the Shuk Often

It’s really easy to fall into unhealthy eating habits during finals. I don’t know why, but I’m always craving large amounts of sugar and salt when exam time rolls in.  Cooking becomes more of a hassle and vending machines seem like a good alternative. Going to the Shuk is an awesome way to fill your refrigerator with brain food. With tons of fruits, veggies, and meats there is bound to be something you will want to eat. Going to the Shuk is also a great way to stay connected with reality, since its always bustling and full of life on Friday mornings. There’s no better snack then fresh strawberries from the Shuk to jumpstart your studying, I’m mean just look at them.

3.      Take Breaks, Unplug, and Recharge

You can’t study all the time. You’ll burn yourself out at some point. Take some time to “do you”. Be it hosting a meal with friends, having dinner at your favorite pizza place, playing bananagrams (my personal favorite), going to the gym, running  through the Narnia of Beer Sheva, or taking a trip to Jerusalem to learn more about infectious disease control. Figure out what you need to do to recharge before exam day and make time for it. Check out everyone’s’ smiles on a mandatory study break our class had in Jerusalem.

4.      Find a Good Study Spot 

When classes end and self-structured studying becomes your 9-5 (or much later) job, its important to find a place where you can focus and work, a place that fits your study habits. For some, studying at home is great, but for others leaving the distractions of their apartment is important. If you like to draw things out, find a classroom. If you like to talk it out, find a public space or coffee shop. If you like complete silence, check out the libraries on campus. You might have to get a little creative during Shabbat (as the library and many other places close), but finding a place you can study consistently is crucial for exam success.

5.      Practice, Practice, Practice

No matter how well you think you know the material, practice is key. We have a lot of NBME (National Board of Medical Education) style final exams and there are loads of practice questions you can do that are written like the ones you’ll see on the final and again on the Step 1.  The only way to stay calm and destroy finals is by knowing your enemy (the exam) really well. Don’t be scared and throw yourself into questions as early as possible. You’ll be thankful you did later.

"I get by with a little help from my friends," by MSIH blogger Tamara Kliot

With classes done and exams in full swing, we have an opportunity to reflect on what has happened over the past 5 or so months. We have learned about the important enzymes that allow us to metabolize nutrients and sustain life, the battle that occurs inside us every time we are invaded by foreign pathogens, the intricate design of cells in different parts of the body, the bacteria we should love and hate, the true meaning of statistical significance, and ethical dilemmas physicians face on a daily basis. It has become pretty apparent to me that the fact humans function so well on a daily basis is a miracle. While it’s crazy to think we have learned all this in one semester, I knew I would be studying these subjects. This is medical school after all.

I knew we were complicated creatures, but I have witnessed another level of our awesomeness these past few weeks. Finals are not the most relaxed time for students. The elevated cortisol levels tend to bring out the worst in people. However, that has not really been the case for my class. It was clear from the beginning of school, that people were interested in collaborating. Classmates would share resources they were using, notes they had compiled, or Anki flash cards they had made with other classmates frequently. When classes ended and exams began, I assumed people would be MIA and only surface on exam days, like any other exam period I had experienced in undergraduate.

Since classes have ended, I have been blown away by the amount of generosity that has gone on. People sharing notes, resources, and uplifting videos in our Facebook group. I am constantly getting notifications about this new resource or PDFs or question banks or YouTube videos or outlined notes. While it’s hard to keep tract of what I could be using at times, but its comforting to know we are all working toward the same goals together. In addition to sharing resources, people have also been sharing their time. Classmates have made a concerted effort to check in with each other to see how

people are handling the stress of finals. It’s pretty amazing to see how invested people are in our success as a group, not just the individual.

I’ve been told going into medicine is like running a marathon. You cannot sprint, you have to pace yourself. Even though running and taking exams are individual sports, they are much easier when you have a team of individuals to help keep you honest with your training.  With four exams down and one more exam to go, there is an end in sight. We are about to cross our first finish line in a series of many races and I am incredibly grateful for the team I have here in Beer Sheva.

I mean, how hard can crossing the finish line be when you have people like this in your life?

A reflection on the first year of medical school: A dedicated professor, small class size and themed dress by blogger of the month Maia Reiley

Today was our last exam. Goodbye to the 6^th floor of Soroka, goodbye to Caroline House, goodbye to the hallways of Deichman, until we start (or technically, continue) 2^nd year in the fall (well, late summer)! The last few weeks, we have been studying hematology with Dr. Moser. He is a very dedicated professor and also a bit of a hero. Shortly before we began our hematology block, he returned from a mission to supply medical care to people in Nepal who had been affected by the earthquake. One day during lunch, he was kind enough to give us a presentation on his time there and field all sorts of questions about the reality of being on a mission. When he is not giving a lecture, he often sits in on other professors so that he can use our classroom time more efficiently when we have a session with him. He is also a vocal supporter of problem based learning, so here is some visual documentation of students teaching students.

One of the nice things about having a small class is that when you walk out of an exam, there is always someone waiting outside. Although most people will say they don't like to talk about the exam once it is over, I think we all benefit from a feeling of solidarity. Even if you are the first one out of the room, there is usually a professor or a proctor who will ask you how it went, what your next block is, or where you are going for the summer. Generally, we all wait outside and chat, then head off to celebrate or pick up whatever we dropped when we entered exam mode. Some people basically had their bags packed and headed to the airport after the test, so today's post-exam hangout doubled as a time to give out hugs and promises to catch up when we see each other in August.

At some point during the last semester, the class go-getters decided that we should have themed dress up days. Yes, this is medical school. Obviously, for our hematology final, we were all supposed to wear red (get it, red like blood?)

Here we are, a little over ¼ of the way to being licensed doctors...

Taking time to enjoy the sights, and the cats, amidst the crunch of finals, by Blogger of the month Maia Reiley

That dazed feeling of being nearly done with 11 months of what you always wanted to do…

We have one more week of class before our final final, and I know that the collective sigh of relief our whole class breathes will be tempered, at least from my corner, by a tinge of sadness. I will be grateful not only that it will be over, but also that it will have happened.

Back to the present moment, though. It is springtime in Beer Sheva (well, high summer by any normal person's thermometer), and there are a thousand kittens to mark the season. Leaving the hospital, going to the SuperSal or the vegetable stand, I will infallibly be surprised by some tiny cats making tentative steps from under a ramp or behind a railing. This type of unsolicited cuteness exponentially increases the amount of time I spend running errands.

Here is an example:

In other news, we took a trip North and saw some very pretty sights, including the Baha'i gardens in Haifa and the ruins of Caesarea. Although I love living in Beer Sheva and the unique perspectives it offers, seeing a beautiful city on a hill overlooking the ocean reminds me that I eventually want to move back near the water.

As an illustration of why, here's a throwback picture from Passover. We took a few buses down to Dahab on the Sinai coast to learn to scuba dive. The Sinai is basically a barren wasteland, in which I wouldn't want to wander for 40 minutes, let alone 40 years, but the Red Sea is a miraculous paradise full of beautiful life forms. As this year wraps up, I am already looking forward to returning to the Sinai and planning new adventures in this amazing part of the world.

But for now, back to the coagulation cascade.

"Every day is Valentine's Day at MSIH", by blogger of the month Shauna Dunton

Valentine's Day

The middle of February marks our 6th month of attending the Medical School for International Health, of living in Be’er Sheva, Israel, of knowing and growing very close with our classmates, and of being far away from our loved ones at home.

Our time here is truly flying by.  We have learned so much and we have gotten so close to one another in such a short time.  In fact we have become so close as a class that we find any excuse to spend more time with each other which is quite incredible considering we spend eight hours a day with each other at school already, not to mention that most of us live together. For example, we recently celebrated Valentines day together as a class by having a “breakfast for dinner” Valentines Day Feast complete with card signing for each and every student in our class. There were heart shaped pancakes, french toast dyed pink, and loads of loving glances at one another as you might expect at such an event.

In other news, this past Thursday, two of our classmates played in Light Opera Group of the Negev’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. It was an amazing production and about half of our class came out to support them in this great endeavor. The acting and the dancing were spot on and I know we’ve all got those catchy tunes still stuck in our heads a week later.

Fiddler on the Roof

Last but not least, on Monday night a group of woman from all years of MSIH put on a spectacular production of the Vagina Monologues. I had watched a production of the monologues performed at Colgate University where I went for undergrad, but as another student in our program pointed out, it was quite powerful to see this production done by an array of multi-talented women that are all going to become doctors.

Vagina Monologues

You might think at this point in my blog post that we may not realize that we are here to study medicine, but believe me, we do! I will elaborate on all the things we are doing in the classroom in my next blog post.

Until then, lehitra’ot!                                                 - Shauna Dunton, 1st year blogger of the month

Exam week trivia, by blogger of the month Jixi He

I thought I might not have much to say for this last week of blogging due to the exams. We had a bacteriology exam and Hebrew final on Sunday, and biochemistry final on Thursday. However I realized that the excitement of life doesn’t go away during exam’s week as long as I keep my eyes open. Hence I’ve slowed down to smell some roses and gathered some trivia from the past week that’s not related to biochemistry. You know how hard it is:

Photos:
1. We finally got our ASRAN cards – proof that we’re medical students!

















2. My desk before the biochemistry final. Yes, I was multitasking all those books.


















3. Can you guess what is this strange looking UFO building, where I spend most of my daytime before an exam? I bet our library is cooler than yours.















4. The library’s got a great view too: the helicopter pad. A helicopter landed one morning and some soldiers came down with a stretcher just like in a movie. What better place to learn emergency medicine than in Israel?















5. Before the biochemistry final, I spotted the most beautiful sunset on my way to school. Thanks to our NBME exam time (5pm in order to be in sync with North America) I was able to witness this beauty of nature that not everyone can see everyday.

6. After the biochemistry final, my breath was again taken away by the mesmerizing sky with the cotton candy like clouds and an almost-full moon.

7. I found this Chinese rice snack I had always loved as a kid in a nearby supermarket. The excitement was comparable to seeing a long lost childhood friend on a lonely island, and knowing that my friend now speaks Hebrew too.

       8-10. A Shabbat dinner with Chinese food is the best! I’m pleasantly surprised after coming to Israel that I’ve had way more frequent Chinese food gatherings in the past 6 months than my past 6 years in the US. We have much less Chinese students here but probably also because of that; we are a much tighter community. Whenever I get to taste Chinese food I feel like I’m on an express plane back home.