"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?

"Finding Family in Friends," by MSIH December blogger of the month Tamara Kliot

Studying medicine abroad is exciting! There are always new places to explore, people to meet, languages to learn, cultural norms to adapt to, and things to discover. The opportunities to procrastinate studying for biochemistry or immunology are abundant. However, with the ending of classes and beginning of exams, there has been a noticeable shift in how people are allocating their time. Priorities are shifting as that list of important information to review continues to grow.

While having fun and taking “mini-vacations” are important stress relievers, it is easy to lose sight of that when you are in the thick of studying. It is easy to isolate yourself in a study fortress and spend your time surrounded by books and watching videos on metabolic processes. It is easy to forget to be a human and spend time with friends and talk to family.

I was reminded of this when my Israeli neighbor wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. He was the last person I expected to hear those words from, but he forced me to stop and think. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it's an opportunity to spend time with family and reflect on the things we are grateful for. Living in Israel, it would have been easy to forget to celebrate or even acknowledge Thanksgiving. It is just another day in Israel and in many other countries for that matter. We had had a busy week, multiple quizzes to study for, and a paper to write; the last thing on people’s minds was Thanksgiving.

But as Thanksgiving continued, it was not just another day in Beer Sheva. Some of our classmates had the forethought to organize a dinner at Butchery to celebrate the end of first semester classes and well… Thanksgiving! It was a fabulous time with delicious food (tons of meat!) and amazing company. It was fun to see our non-American classmates get in the spirit of Thanksgiving as well! The night was filled with stories, laughs, and celebration (we did just finish one semester of classes!). I learned so many new things about the awesome people I am lucky enough to call classmates. It was a great way to recharge from a long week and reminded me that I do in fact have a family here in Beer Sheva, people I call friends and accomplices in this adventure we call medical school. 

My New Golden Rule, by MSIH's first year blogger of the month Jay Berkes

Procrastination is usually pretty fun.

That’s what I was thinking this morning when I was riding through the hills outside of Beer Sheva on one of the many mountain bike trails that surround the city. I should have been studying for the upcoming microbiology quiz. Or the upcoming histology quiz. Or the upcoming immunology quiz. I probably should reviewed gluconeogenesis for biochemistry, and I definitely should have looked back over my notes on recombinant DNA technologies for molecular biology.

But, procrastination is fun, so I kept riding. And after our two week break for the Jewish High Holidays, I’ve rediscovered the importance of little vacations like that.

Nitzanim Beach Weekend

---

When you imagine your own personal getaway, the one in the forest, or on the beach, or in the city you’ve always wanted to visit, you do it for the solitude. Your own kind of solitude. You might do it for peace and quiet, or you might just do it for the difference that isn’t in a daily grind. It’s a grass-is-always greener thing, and it’s usually hyperbole. But hyperbole, like procrastination, is fun.

For me, solitude used to be the promise of efficiency; a window of opportunity. “If I can just get away, I’ll finally catch up.” It’s probably why I spent three weeks in a cabin in the mountains of southern Colorado studying for the MCAT. Or why I regularly spent my summers during college 1200 miles away from home…sorry, 1931.21 kilometers away from home. It might even be why I moved to Israel to attend medical school. But my break from school over the last couple of weeks has helped me understand what I really need out of little vacations.

---

As one of the many non-Jewish students at MSIH, with no previous links to Israel, this is my first time experiencing the High Holidays. In the days leading up to our break they were explained to me as a new year celebration in September (Rosh Hashanah), a day where no one eats or drives (Yom Kippur), and a week where everyone eats their meals in little wooden dwellings outside of their houses (Sukkot).

After being welcomed with open arms into a Jewish household for a Rosh Hashanah feast, talking with new Israeli friends about the importance of self-reflection during Yom Kippur, and seeing little beautifully constructed huts pop up throughout my neighborhood I began to get a little more perspective on the traditional undercurrent of the High Holidays. Specifically, the concept of teshuva (תשובה), which literally means “return.” In respect to the High Holidays it means repentance, and the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are especially focused on teshuva.

I’d never heard the word before a couple weeks ago, and I’m still a little fuzzy on the details, but I understood it as a kind of returning to your original nature, or refocusing on your real self. Personally, I’m no longer a practicing member of any religion, so I applied this idea of returning to your original nature and refocusing on your real self to the primary religion in my life: med school.

---

Mountain biking north of Beer Sheva

Moving to a new country is jarring. So is starting professional school. Put the two together, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Our first 6 weeks included an accelerated emergency medicine course, hours upon hours of studying Hebrew, being introduced or reintroduced to some heavy scientific topics, and the many tedious details of securing housing, utilities, groceries, and school supplies.  Throughout those 6 weeks, the holiday break became more and more of grass-is-greener type of window of opportunity; a promise to catch up on the growing list of “things to review.” By the time the break arrived, though, that list had grown so long that it became its own source of stress. I was overwhelmed with class, and I was overwhelmed with break…Until this concept of returning or refocusing started weaving its way through my mind…On one bike ride it reminded me of how inspiring the desert scenery is around Beer Sheva. On one hike it reminded me of how the challenges of medical school are easily trumped by the excitement of learning. And when I shadowed one of the orthopedic physician assistants in the emergency department it reminded of how rewarding patient interactions are.

Nico and Raphy duking it out in Krav Maga. 

My true nature, and my real self, is the reason I came to medical school. Whenever the stressors get too great and I begin to lose sight of that reality, I’ll just need to make use of little vacations to help me return to that reality. Whether that means doing an extra Krav Maga session with my classmates, camping out on the beach for a weekend, or taking the occasional nap, I know that returning to my original self will help check things off my list much more effectively than worrying about how long it’s gotten. And I have my first High Holidays to thank. 

My new golden rule for the next four years: Plan to Procrastinate.

Our First Friendsgiving! by blogger of the month, Jixi He

Preparation!

The third Thursday of November 2014 is not Thanksgiving, neither in Canada nor in America. It is nevertheless the Thanksgiving for this group of people in Beer Sheva, Israel: the MSIH Class of 2018.

It wasn’t very realistic for us to get a turkey because in order to get one you would have to order 2 turkeys from Tel Aviv and someone would have to spend a whole day cooking it. So we decided to go with chickens instead, a brilliant alternative. There were garlic chicken, beer can chicken, and chicken drum sticks. It was a potluck dinner at our classmates’ apartment. I brought crackers and a bowl of pumpkin spice dip, which was described as “orgasmic” by a fellow classmate. But don’t get full on the crackers; there’s more to come!

Brian and Shauna playing Shesh Besh

I wish I had fasted before the dinner when I saw so much delicious food made by my talented classmates: 3 different types of chicken, sushi, Israeli couscous, spicy Indian dish, sweet potato with marsh mellows, pumpkin pie, gluten-free diary-free nut-free chocolate cake, apple pie, and more unlisted. I’ve never been in a class as small, close and intimate as this one where we treat each other like brothers and sisters, even without the sibling rivalry part. There are only 29 of us, small enough to put all of us in one apartment. We tend to each other’s needs like it’s our own—evidence shown as below: the massage train! Who doesn’t love a nice shoulder massage, especially when you can get one in return too?

The night ended with most of my classmates going to watch The Hunger Game. I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving. Even though we’re at a place away from home, we are spending it with our classmates that are just like family.

                                                                                                             

Beer can Chicken

Everyone!  almost....

Kristina makes the best sushi

That's just round 1

Pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream

Massage train!

Our kitty guest

                                                                                                                - blogger of the month, Jixi He