USMLE Step 2 Prep...

http://www.gofundme.com/JBuschMD

In the US, there are three steps in order to become a licensed practicing physician.  For the past two weeks, I have started my prep for Step 2.  This is usually done at the end of your 3rd year of medical school, after all your core clerkships have been completed.  The importance of completing the exam before the fall clerkships is residency season opens in September and you need your scores in order to have a complete application and offers for interviews.  The score weigh heavily on if you are offered an interview. 


The good part is I feel I've gotten better at taking exams.  After every clerkship there is a NBME shelf exam that must be passed.  So, this has allowed me to deflate some my anxiety, I suffered from Step 1.  I still have yet to get over the hype of all these exams we have to take.  They are the most difficult, challenging and nerve racking part of this whole journey. All that you have done leads you to this point.  The point of no return.  It's a make or break situation...You have to do well...The interesting part of it all is, the exams literally covers every aspect of the past 3 years.  Going all the way back to your first day of medical school.


Step 2 is composed of two exam over a two day period.  The first part is Clinical Science: applying all you have learned in 12 mocked patient encounters.  A 8 hour day, you have no idea what the encounters are.  They can be anything from knee pain, back pain, pancreatic cancer, psychosis, pregnancy, domestic violence, pneumonia, etc.   You have 15 minutes to conduct the patient interview, to figure out what's wrong and to do a focused physical exam pertaining to what you think the problem is.  Then you have 10 minutes to type a flawless patient note.  In the patient note,  you must at least 3 differential diagnosis in the order of most likely diagnosis, history findings and physical findings.  This takes a lot of practice...in the beginning of this journey, it would take me over an hours just to write the patient note...So, you have to be quick on our feet. 


Part 2 of the Step is Clinical Knowledge: a 350 question exam that is 8hrs.  This is the part that makes you want to cry.  The challenging part is decoding each question...I am so amazed at the question writers...they have to be geniuses...How do you ask a question without mentioning the topic while droping the most vague hints?  And we are suppose to figure it out.  LORD HELP ME...


But, I'm ready....I have waited a life time for this...I will be ready..I will conquer...


So, as you prepare for what you have desired for a life time...go hard...and don't give up.
You will reap if you faint not...Persistence...Diligence...and FAITH!


Now, Go live your dreams!


Please don't forget to support me in my residency match fund raiser:
No contribution is too small or too large...With your contributions of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $1000 $10,000, will make this all possible.  Feel free to tell your friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc....

Click this link to donate: http://www.gofundme.com/JBuschMD

Residency 2016...Fund Raising has officially begun..Donate NOW!

http://www.gofundme.com/JBuschMD

I am on the verge of making history....as a practicing Physician (first in my family)....I always had the desire to practice medicine in my youth; But, I went a different direction...After graduating from high school at age 16...I joined the US Air Force...and life went on...However, in 2008, the urge to become a doctor came up again.  But, this time, I did not ignore it.   I decided it was time to live out my dream and actually go for it.  I had to complete several classes (15), before I could apply to medical school...which took time....In the midst of this, unfortunately, my husband became gravely ill and  passed away, 5 years ago.  It was a real stressful time.  But, I was determined to finish what I had started.  I had to schedule every aspect of my life, from taking him to  chemo and radiation appointments, managing his care, to the managing of the boys, to my volunteering, I was determined.  After his passing, I promised him that I would adopted and raise his two sons...Now, some years later, I am in medical school, my oldest is in college and my youngest is in middle school...A very hetic life.... 

Now, I'm at the door.  I can see the end of the tunnel...It's so exciting...I am entering my 4th year of medical school.

In order to practice medicine as a skilled physician, I must complete a residency program. This is a wonderful adventure of 3 to 4 years of pure torture (some say)...however, by the end of the residency, I will be considered an expert in my field of training...

Residency seasons for Match 2016 opens officially September 15, 2015 and ends Februray 2016.    During this time, I am looking to apply to many programs around the US.  However, applying for these programs comes with a hefty cost.  The approximate price for 275 programs application fees will run approximately $5500.  Why so many programs?  I will be applying to several different specialities and within those specialities I need to apply to a minimum of 50 programs...Then after I have applied, and the programs that would like a closer look at me, will offer me an in person interview at my expence.  A medical student can get up to 20 interviews...however, the average is about 11 interviews... So, that means I would have to fund the trip: travel, housing and transportation.

As with any job interview, each invitation is an honor with such stiff competition and a must to attend in order to be considered.  Match 2015 had approx. 25,000 opening with 37,000 applicants...So, the more programs applied the better the chances of matching.  Come March 2016, it will be music to my ears to hear, "Congratulations, You've Matched!" 

No contribution is too small or too large...With your contributions of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $1000 $10,000, will make this all possible.  Feel free to tell your friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc....

Click this link to donate: http://www.gofundme.com/JBuschMD

All things are possible to them that believe....

Thank you for your support...and follow me on
http://a40yearoldmedicalstudent.blogspot.com
I've been journaling my journey to and through medical school for the past 7 years....

Kindest Regards,
Joyce

Birthing A DREAM...Can be so emotional

Sunday evening I had a 4 hr talk therapy session with my with my dearest friend Lady E, businesswoman, great woman of Faith and Wisdom....She shared with me and I with her our journeys...as tears flowed from the path we took to walk in our destinies...I'm overjoyed to hear and witness how she came from 0...divorced with a DREAM in her heart that was bigger than her reality, with 3 mouths to feed, feeding her 3 children bologna sandwiches everydays, a bucket of a car that her children were so embarrassed of that they would ask her to drop the down the street from school...to starting her first group home....then 1 went 2, 2 to 3, etc...No one around her believed in her but herself...she was now in position to buy her and her children a home, then another, and another, etc...then she went from the bucket to a Maxima...then to a Benz...and then paying CASH for her BENTLEY...She was able to give her children the best education..her daughter was accepted to 3 Ivy leagues: Harvard, Princeton and Yale; graduated from Harvard...As tears flowed, she said, "Joyce, I worked hard, all had was bologna to feed my children...We were on welfare...foodstamps...People would criticized me, but I kept believing I could do it. I provide for my children with no help from their father. The man that told me for years I could never do what I AM doing."


Everyone has a story..some may judge her harshly for driving her big beautiful car around on Sundays on her way to church, taking her luxurious cruises (at time all by herself), but if they only Knew her story...if they only knew the struggles and pain she endured...




I know what it takes to birth a DREAM...even in the midst of lost and bewilderment...Having to take care of my dying husband, a man 6' 4" that went from 210 to 137lbs...Having to take him to EVERY doctors appointment, 10 months of chemo (I remember he even had chemo on Christmas Day during the time we took this picture..see picture below), 59 radiation treatments and dealt with all the side effects the treatment entailed...at the same time in school finishing my prerequisites for med school, having to schedule every aspect of my life, volunteering at Healthcare for the homeless, making sure the boys were straight, 5 years ago he succumbed to cancer on my 40th Birthday. I was left to care for two children ...I was in school full time trying to get accepted medical school...had to fight 7 lawsuits that was trying to intervene on my adoption...all the lies theses "saved" folks told in court was unbelievable...All I had by my side was my mother, the prayers of my family and The Most High God...God stepped in and His Divine Will prevailed.....




Don't judge me for my Bright Smile... My Eternally Optimistic Attitude about LIFE, especially MY LIFE...My LIFE IS FABULOUS ...and it's not about the material things I possess...My Happy, Healthy and Whole sons...because WE went through in Faith believing for brighter days were coming ...Victory Was and IS MINE, OURS...Selah...people comment all the time that, "You look so HAPPY...You HAVE A BRIGHT SMILE"...It's BECAUSE I AM HAPPY...I have The Peace of God...I Have the FAVOR of GOD and man...




R.I.P Mr. D.B...You chose the right ONE...I GOT THIS...‪#‎IGOTTHIS‬ ‪#‎IMDOINGTHIS‬ ‪#‎WithGodAllThingsarepossible‬ ‪#‎WalkbyFaith‬ ‪#‎GREATISHISMERCYTOWARDSME‬ ‪#‎A40YEAROLDMEDICALSTUDENT‬ ‪#‎ImSoEmotional‬