Today is Saturday, but not for much longer. A few hours ago Zack, Mark, Khevna and I ventured to find to Yelp-renowned Pho Xe Lua in Fishtown. Well.....I assumed it was Pho Xe Lua. It was Pho-Something-Something. Totally specific, no room for ambiguity.
Back in California, post-post-bacc and pre-PCOM, I lived about 3 miles from Little Saigon (Westminster, CA). PHO IS EVERYWHERE. There was pho literally outside my house. I walked there probably/unfortunately/shamefully about 3 times a week. There was pho by UC Irvine. There were pho establishments next to pho establishments that differed by one number. My favorite place to date is still Pho 54. Closely followed by 79, 71, etc etc.
Aside: if you aren't familiar with Vietnamese phonetics, pho is pronounced "fuh." Like...you know.
I construct most of my food adventures under the auspices of Yelp. I had been to this place once, with a mediocre date, and all I could remember was how amazing it was, and that they took debit. Immediate Viet win. So off we go, into the city, risking our lives as we drive through China Town and...nope. Pho Xe Lua is not the right Pho Xe Lua.
"This isn't it."
Poor Mark. We make him drive us everywhere and yet it's never to a definitive place. I really need a car.
"I don't know, how many pho places can there possibly be in Fishtown?"
For the record, there's a lot. Like...Little Saigon-concentration-a-lot.
Pho Ta. Pho Hoa. Nam Phuong. Pho Cali (what?) Pho 75.
THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE.
I give a nondescript account about how it was definitely in a parking lot. There were definitely some seedy stores nearby with/without English advertisements. There is definitely a set of crack-house looking lofts that could be nice but not quite directly adjacent to it.
PHO HA: We find it. 45 minutes later and with a mandatory ATM withdrawal, nonetheless. But we found it.
This isn't a food blog, so I won't write frivolously about the epicurian meal we just had with some highbrow company. It's Pho: rice noodles, broth that probably has a ton of MSG, meat of choice (chicken or shrimp is probably safest if you're a gumshoe of Vietnamese dining), bean sprouts, random basil/lemongrass/onion/mint foliage assortment, tons of Siracha (if you're like me), medium-tons of Hoison sauce. Add a Vietnamese coffee or Thai Iced tea and you've pretty much obtained your Pan-Asian dining badge of honor. Order in Vietnamese, really blow my Mexi-Canadian socks off and I may just tell you Tôi yêu bạn".
Behold, our riches and spoils of Pho Ha (Washington Ave and...something else. It's by Penn's Landing, if that helps).
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| A wild Zack in his native habitat foraging for Pho. |
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| Mark is too cool for blogs. |
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| Walrus or DO. Walrus, DO. |
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| Khevna lost her Boba Virginity today. I enthusiastically coached. |
The other day, I did that thing that I thought I wouldn't do, which was pay a visit to the incoming class of 2018 Facebook page. I mean, I'm not an M1-to-be, I don't really have business there. I solicit all my used books and stuff to ebay, people somehow buy it. But I remember that feeling of ..."uh, so yea. Med school. What do I do when I get there?" Perusing ensued. The concerns were ubiquitous, general excitement evident, the questions pretty standard. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized a lot of the things I wish I had known were actually questions that had not been thought to be asked. Moreover, I realize now in retrospect that while I was provided an infinite amount of resources, plenty of academic support, and lots of tangible how-to-guides....not many people really address the underlying, maybe even more integral component of your M1 survival guide: how to deal with the feeling of med school.
Essentially, I copied and pasted what I put on the Class of 2018 Facebook page, so for those of you who've seen this twice, I've taken out some colorful metaphors and made it a little more family-friendly. (Kudos to you if you caught the Mister Spock reference). As my friend used to say, if it wasn't for your sailor's mouth, you'd merely be an encyclopedia.
So, whether you're a new PCOMer or otherwise, here is the Veronica Manifesto of First-Year-isms. I hope it helps you. Have a great year. It goes by so, so, so unbelievably fast.
M1's
(soon!) of '18: When I started med school, I moved here from
California and didn't know jack about this song and dance. I'm
definitely procrastinating studying for finals right now but thought
about the things I wish people had told me before school began. It's long, but hopefully it helps ya out. -Vee
1)Don’t buy everything under the sun.
….unless you want to! Everyone has their own method. People will say, “Use pathoma! It’s the greatest. Use First Aid for the USMLE as you study! It’s the greatest. Use Robbins and Guyton only! They’re the greatest. Use only this size 10 font chart with 12098310238 columns someone made from 2002! IT’S THE BEST.” You get it. I’d say, more importantly than impulse buying as suggestions come and getting inundated with a bunch of crap you don’t really need, ask 2nd years with similar learning styles what they used. For example, OMM makes a lot of sense to me. I don’t know why, it just does. But CMBM made me feel clinically retarded. Seriously, it was so hard for me. So I just asked my peers or 2nd or 3rd years who had similar issues (rote memorization, a weak background in the sciences, etc) how they did it. Trust me, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and $$. You don’t need an app for everything, but you may find a method or four that really works for you.
I like books, but that’s because I seriously don’t focus well off of a computer screen. Also I was born in 1820.
2) Per a previous post I creeped on…yea, I get it. The shameless plugs for “buy my stuff” get really annoying. But FOR REAL. When your loan money disbursement starts to dwindle you will wish you were that person to go pick up that ikea couch. And then, one day, you too will be a 2nd year trying to sling your stuff to incoming 1st years like yourself. Take as much cheap junk as you can so you can spend your money on beer and other important things.
3) Don’t buy your blood pressure cuff from the bookstore. Just…don’t. I use my crappy EMT one that was like 20 bucks and it works.
4) Some professors will throw you ridiculous hints in class as to exam material (cue: Young). Others will not. THAT SAID: I still stand by the fact that if you don’t understand something, or if you’re like me and every test is like “holy sh*holy sh*I have a 71 in the class and can’t fail an exam holy sh*” just ask them what they like to focus on. They may roll their eyes at you/secretly voodoo curse you if you just ask “what’s on the test.” Trust me, no sucking up required. When I REALLY struggled, I went to professor office hours. Sometimes it was just 5 minutes, sometimes more. If you need help understanding a concept, phrase it intelligently and politely. I know this should seem obvious but my advisor/boss is one of your soon to be professors, and trust me, nothing agitates them off more than some arrogant gunner who cited WebMD and wants to challenge their PhD, on top of trying to solicit answers. In sum: just be polite. Don’t burn bridges. Blah blah blah.
5) FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BE A NORMAL HEALTHY HAPPY HUMAN BEING. Sounds easy, right? Just wait until test one (which isn’t that bad-don’t worry). I’ve seen more people cry and crumble to pieces in med school than in a psychiatric ward. It’s really freaking hard but dangit, it’s not THAT hard. Take time for yourself, socialize, eat good food, go to the gym, be friendly to others. It’s hard to avoid the inevitable stomach-ulcer inducing stress…especially if you ain’t doing so hot in a class. But having seen it and experienced it, make sure you keep yourself sane. It will fare you very well in PCS, standardized patients, and of course, clinical years.
6) Don’t get too psyched out about other people’s grades. People will talk about a test ad nauseum (guilty). People will tell you about how they “wish they could have gotten that 90 percent instead of that godforsaken 82”…meanwhile you stuff your face with a gallon of ice cream because your grade is barely a C. Don’t worry about them. Worry about you. Whether the folks that do this are conscientious of it or not, it can shake your confidence and it’s kind of a jerk move. So if those people freak you out and give you needless anxiety…study with nicer ones! Or just run as fast as you can to your car/house after each exam. It helps. Really.
7) Don’t blow off OMM and PCS entirely. (you’ll see what I mean soon). Lest you forget, whether it was your first choice or not, you are at an OSTEOPATHIC school that teaches OSTEOPATHIC principles. Be proud! I am amazed at how many times I hear that people just didn’t go to their SP, or blew off studying for PCS documentation writing because of insert-other-class here (btw…that stuff count’s for like half your grade at the end of the year OSCE). I know, it can sometimes appear a joke the way curriculum gets structured or scheduling gets impacted, especially during exam weeks. It’s often lengthy and fluffy. But…dude. It’s essentially the class entitled “HOW TO BE A DOCTOR FOR REAL IN THE CLINICAL SETTING” and yet everyone’s like….psssh, it’s not important. It doesn’t carry the same weight GPA wise, correct. But if you fail it, you still have to remediate it. So make sure you at least prepare a teeny tiny itty bit. It will make all of the clinical faculty hate you less.
8)ENJOY YOUR SUMMER. DO NOT STUDY. DON’T. IT WON’T MATTER. YOUR MIND WILL BE BLOWN BY WEEK ONE ANYWAY. Just eat everything and drink everything you can and tell your significant other it’s been real (just kidding). Alright, have fun!Really, have all...the...fun.
xoxo,
Vee
1)Don’t buy everything under the sun.
….unless you want to! Everyone has their own method. People will say, “Use pathoma! It’s the greatest. Use First Aid for the USMLE as you study! It’s the greatest. Use Robbins and Guyton only! They’re the greatest. Use only this size 10 font chart with 12098310238 columns someone made from 2002! IT’S THE BEST.” You get it. I’d say, more importantly than impulse buying as suggestions come and getting inundated with a bunch of crap you don’t really need, ask 2nd years with similar learning styles what they used. For example, OMM makes a lot of sense to me. I don’t know why, it just does. But CMBM made me feel clinically retarded. Seriously, it was so hard for me. So I just asked my peers or 2nd or 3rd years who had similar issues (rote memorization, a weak background in the sciences, etc) how they did it. Trust me, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and $$. You don’t need an app for everything, but you may find a method or four that really works for you.
I like books, but that’s because I seriously don’t focus well off of a computer screen. Also I was born in 1820.
2) Per a previous post I creeped on…yea, I get it. The shameless plugs for “buy my stuff” get really annoying. But FOR REAL. When your loan money disbursement starts to dwindle you will wish you were that person to go pick up that ikea couch. And then, one day, you too will be a 2nd year trying to sling your stuff to incoming 1st years like yourself. Take as much cheap junk as you can so you can spend your money on beer and other important things.
3) Don’t buy your blood pressure cuff from the bookstore. Just…don’t. I use my crappy EMT one that was like 20 bucks and it works.
4) Some professors will throw you ridiculous hints in class as to exam material (cue: Young). Others will not. THAT SAID: I still stand by the fact that if you don’t understand something, or if you’re like me and every test is like “holy sh*holy sh*I have a 71 in the class and can’t fail an exam holy sh*” just ask them what they like to focus on. They may roll their eyes at you/secretly voodoo curse you if you just ask “what’s on the test.” Trust me, no sucking up required. When I REALLY struggled, I went to professor office hours. Sometimes it was just 5 minutes, sometimes more. If you need help understanding a concept, phrase it intelligently and politely. I know this should seem obvious but my advisor/boss is one of your soon to be professors, and trust me, nothing agitates them off more than some arrogant gunner who cited WebMD and wants to challenge their PhD, on top of trying to solicit answers. In sum: just be polite. Don’t burn bridges. Blah blah blah.
5) FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BE A NORMAL HEALTHY HAPPY HUMAN BEING. Sounds easy, right? Just wait until test one (which isn’t that bad-don’t worry). I’ve seen more people cry and crumble to pieces in med school than in a psychiatric ward. It’s really freaking hard but dangit, it’s not THAT hard. Take time for yourself, socialize, eat good food, go to the gym, be friendly to others. It’s hard to avoid the inevitable stomach-ulcer inducing stress…especially if you ain’t doing so hot in a class. But having seen it and experienced it, make sure you keep yourself sane. It will fare you very well in PCS, standardized patients, and of course, clinical years.
6) Don’t get too psyched out about other people’s grades. People will talk about a test ad nauseum (guilty). People will tell you about how they “wish they could have gotten that 90 percent instead of that godforsaken 82”…meanwhile you stuff your face with a gallon of ice cream because your grade is barely a C. Don’t worry about them. Worry about you. Whether the folks that do this are conscientious of it or not, it can shake your confidence and it’s kind of a jerk move. So if those people freak you out and give you needless anxiety…study with nicer ones! Or just run as fast as you can to your car/house after each exam. It helps. Really.
7) Don’t blow off OMM and PCS entirely. (you’ll see what I mean soon). Lest you forget, whether it was your first choice or not, you are at an OSTEOPATHIC school that teaches OSTEOPATHIC principles. Be proud! I am amazed at how many times I hear that people just didn’t go to their SP, or blew off studying for PCS documentation writing because of insert-other-class here (btw…that stuff count’s for like half your grade at the end of the year OSCE). I know, it can sometimes appear a joke the way curriculum gets structured or scheduling gets impacted, especially during exam weeks. It’s often lengthy and fluffy. But…dude. It’s essentially the class entitled “HOW TO BE A DOCTOR FOR REAL IN THE CLINICAL SETTING” and yet everyone’s like….psssh, it’s not important. It doesn’t carry the same weight GPA wise, correct. But if you fail it, you still have to remediate it. So make sure you at least prepare a teeny tiny itty bit. It will make all of the clinical faculty hate you less.
8)ENJOY YOUR SUMMER. DO NOT STUDY. DON’T. IT WON’T MATTER. YOUR MIND WILL BE BLOWN BY WEEK ONE ANYWAY. Just eat everything and drink everything you can and tell your significant other it’s been real (just kidding). Alright, have fun!Really, have all...the...fun.
xoxo,
Vee
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