Yay for Taster’s Day! - theauasga.org€¦ · Yay for Taster’s Day ... quired copies of the histology shelf, ... We may miss entirely different questions on an exam but somehow

Yay for Taster’s Day! Multiculturalism represents the openness to experienc-ing and celebrating cultural differences within our AUA com-munity. Multiculturalism is inclusive of all peoples and respect-ful of the rights of individuals and groups to maintain and prac-tice their cultural heritage, distinctiveness, growth and evolu-tion. Not only does it recognize the richness and strength of ethnocultural diversity but it also builds a sense of community by encouraging people to share, learn, appreciate, respect and accept. Taster’s Day has always been about coming together to celebrate the diversity within AUA. The name itself, Taster’s Day, offers an insight as to just how much we here at AUA ad-here to our standard of “tasting” one another’s cultures. Taster’s Day, as we all know, has always been organized by AUA’s very own student body, who not only show the courage and strength to organize the event but to keep on top of their studies as well.

But what really makes Taster’s Day memorable is the mouth-watering food students prepare to share with oth-ers. Recipes from home, and even ingredients brought back from the homeland, are used for the careful preparation and planning for the right presentation. The “coup de grace” of the entire event is when all that food comes together and everyone has the chance to sample such foreign succulent delicacies. But if you think the night ends after the hearty meal, then Taster’s Day has something up its sleeve that will put a smile on anyone’s face. Taster’s Day is not only

about cuisine, but in fact, it would be incomplete without talented perform-ances by none other than AUA students them-selves. Students from all different back-grounds including Indian, Nigerian, African, Latino, Spanish, Middle Eastern and many more come together to share their diversity while leaving their audience in awe, respect and with a little more knowledge than they came in with. Overall, Taster’s Day is an event that everyone looks forward to for a night full of delectable food, entertainment, and dancing!

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ANTIGUA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

1

What’s Inside?

Yay for Taster’s Day...........................1Gooooodbyeeeeee...........................2Student Spotlight...........................3-4Faculty Spotlight............................5-6Counseling Corner...........................7Ribbon-Cutting..............................8-95th Semester Site Reviews.....10-13New Faces..................................14-15Closing A Chapter..........................16

By: Vik Walia - Med 4Taster’s Day Coordinator

Good bye to the weakest linksIt seems to have become an AUA Pulse tradition of sorts that, rather than writing a fond and uplifting farewell at the end of each term, I am instead so annoyed by an ongoing problem that I feel compelled to address it in these pages. And so, although I truly did want this time to be different, the semester has unfortunately been all too famil-iar in the aforementioned respect. So be it. Here goes my final parting shot...

Truth be told, the AUA faculty and administration will breathe a collective and well-deserved sigh of relief when the current Med 4 class is safely out of their lives and off this island for good. As most readers already know, our batch has acquired a reputation as being the most troublesome and hyper-critical group that AUA has ever seen. And upon examination of our past history, it is pretty easy to see why. ...We are the class that caused the anatomy department to give our lab exams in the dark because of rampant cheating. ...We are the class that somehow ac-quired copies of the histology shelf, thus forcing the administration to inform the NBME. ...We are the class that brought a student’s scorned ex-lover, accusations of floating copies of the biochemistry shelf, and Dr. Bell together in the same room. ...We are the class that made Dr. Bharati cry. ...And now, we are the class that has caused a well-qualified and well-intentioned new professor to seriously question why he ever took a job with AUA in the first place.

Maybe it’s just the holidays, but the people primarily responsible for our sour reputation remind me of my perpetu-ally drunken uncle, who once brought a random cocktail waitress home for Thanksgiving dinner and proceeded to embarrass the entire family. Seriously, if any of you happen to run into the joker(s) who filed a formal complaint that our recent exam was un-proctored for all of three and a half minutes (which incidentally was due to a legiti-mate student emergency), do me a huge favor and throw a few hundred chicken burgers at them. With cheese.

In any case, I address the following remarks to the remainder of my class:

In this final month, let’s work a little harder at being good students. If we choose to attend classes, let’s try a little harder to participate and pay attention. Let’s turn off the ichat and gchat and xyzchat and spacebook and myface and whatever else and simply stay focused on the in-formed professionals who can generally be found moving their lips near the front of the room. In many cultures, it is considered basic common courtesy to sit still and look up while someone is delivering a verbal presentation, regardless of whether that person is your own personal favorite lecturer. Five straight hours of classes is a lot to sit through, granted, but I also know it’s not unreasonable to ask most of us to take our lis-tening and participation skills up a notch. And let’s show the new faculty members some support from time to time. Things can be rough here for them as well. ...In other words, let’s try to reverse some of the damage that has been done and prove by rising above the pettiness that we don’t deserve to be defined by our weakest links.

...And then...let’s wave goodbye...!!

FROM THE SKY !!


2

By: Katie Schmitz - Med 4Editor-in-Chief

Student Spotlight On... Mark & Rachel Russel!

Early background / How did you meet?

Mark and I were both born and raised in Colo-rado. However, Mark was raised in the country whereas I was raised in the city. Mark went into the marines after high school whereas I went to work for a large sport supplement company, EAS. I managed around 45 service representatives who were responsible for helping everyone from pro-fessional athletes to the average Joe with their training, nutrition and supplementation programs. I specialized in taking the language of sports sup-plements into layman's terms for the general pub-lic and was part of the research and development team.

While I worked for EAS, I valued practicing what I was preaching to my customers and drastically transformed my own physique. I was close to 200 lbs when I started with the company and left 6 years later at a very lean 130 lb. Mark ironically grew up on the opposite side of the spectrum. He graduated high school as the scrawny kid at 150 lbs (he is 6'4) and returned home from the marines at around 230 lbs.

When I left EAS I decided to move to the country and go back to school, and that is when I met Mark. He had just returned home from the Marines and I had just moved to the area to go to school. I met him on my first time into our college gym when I was applying for the yoga instructor position. At the time, I was training to do my first natural bodybuilding competition and was instantly attracted to him. I happened to notice he was carry-ing a gallon jug of water around which was ironic since I also carried a gallon jug. I told my friend after I saw him that I was going to marry him. So, I guess you can say it was love at first sight.

It wasn't until few months later that I found out that he was also interested in natural bodybuilding and had competed in the same show I was preparing for. He ended up training me for my first competition in which I took home the overall title. Even though I was the one who knew right away that we would be married I refused to date him for almost 6 months. I was very focused on my training and school and he was the one who kept pushing that we should date. I finally agreed and we have been married now for over 2 years.

What has been your favorite class at AUA and why?

Well, we differ on our responses here as I love Histology and Mark loves Anatomy. Dr. Singh is a brilliant pro-fessor and I admire his witty personality. Mark is all about attending Dr. Amaralli's lab lectures. We both appre-ciate Dr. Amaralli's structure and teaching style as he preaches hard-work and dedication to get what you want.


3

What is your daily routine generally like?

We are at Jabberwock by 5am every morning to take our dog on a morning beach walk/jog. Then we make sure we spend the next 2 hours working on the online classes that we are taking back home. On our lunch break from school we hit the gym and after class we take a second walk and then begin our nightly study rou-tine. Basically, I quiz Mark while he cooks dinner and all our meals for the upcoming day (he is a much better cooker than I am). He then quizzes me while I get the fun job of clean-up duty. We are a very nerdy couple and try to keep our routine as strict as possible so that we can be sure we are giving intense focus to both body-building and our studies.

What are your preferred study methods?

We practice repetition with the material. We try to read through the material five times prior to the exam and then simply practice buzz words and practice questions.

What type of doctor do you want to be and why?

We are both pursuing our medical doctorates in hopes to specialize in interventional endocrinology. Since many diseases involving hormones can benefit from a healthy diet and lifestyle we want to be able to show our clients that we are a product of our profession by being role-models to our patients for healthy living. I am fas-cinated with anti-age medicine and feel that it is imperative to lead by example.

How has having your spouse pursue a degree with you affected your medical school experience?

Since we did our pre-med at AUA, we have had a year to really get used to studying as a team. We both came from different levels of schooling so it was difficult at first to adjust to each other's strength's and weaknesses. Oddly, we have entirely different strengths. Mark is great with numbers, dates and names whereas I am much better with conceptual concepts. We may miss entirely different questions on an exam but somehow we end up scoring the same marks. However, I truly love having him here as it really brings out our competitive nature. We have managed to turn every thing we do into a competition from who can drink their gallon of water first to who can score higher on an exam.

What is your favorite way to relax?

Both Mark and I took 2 years off of competing in bodybuilding so that we could pursue this dream of becoming medical doctors. We just recently decided to begin training again for another show so most our free time is spent at the gym. However, we do try to kite-surf once a week and enjoy riding our bikes around Antigua. We spend every Sunday at the beach where we study and take breaks by swimming.

Any advice for incoming students?

Be in love with your time here. You can make this experience truly amazing by finding love in everything you do in a day. Ask yourself at the end of every day if you really feel that you gave enough effort for that day, and if not give more. Never settle with meritocracy for your life or your school work and keep a positive attitude.


4

By: Vaseem Ahmed - Med 4Assistant Editor-in-Chief

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT ON... Dr. Krishnanand !

What is your early background? I grew up learning many languages and thus gain-ing insight into different cultures – thanks to my dad’s transferable job. His job took us to Mysore, Hubli, Davanagere, Sagar, Honavar, Shimoga, Bellary, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Kochi, Udupi, and Manipal. In Honavar, I stayed with my maternal grandparents. I was pampered but had to study using kerosene lamps as my grandparents could not afford electricity bills. I was 11 years old then and this experience would later help me face chal-lenges head on.

What is your educational background?I graduated with a B.Sc. degree from Veerashaiva College, Bellary where I majored in Zoology and my minors were Botany and Chemistry. This was in 1972. I then joined S.S.L. Law school in Gul-barga and completed my first year. I gave up studying law after joining M. R. Medical College in Gulbarga and completed my MBBS course – this degree being equal to the MD degree of USA. I worked as a house officer in a private hospital in Kochi, for two and a half years. This was one of the best phases of my life and I gained rich clinical exposure. I joined the residency program in pathology at KMC Manipal in 1982 and since have been learning and teaching pathology.

Why did you choose pathology as a specialty?I applied for residency in many subjects. I was short-listed for pathology, as seats were filled up in the other subjects. I preferred to do pathology. No regrets whatsoever.

How long have you been at AUA and what courses do you teach?I joined AUA on the 15th of April 2005. I have decided to stick to teaching pathology although a section of students wanted me to teach microbiology at one point of time. I refused this request politely. I had a genuine interest to teach pharmacology. As a medical student I had scored good grades in pharmacology and my interest in pharmacology was still intact when I landed in Antigua. As a student, I had devised study strategies to remember and recall generic names and that was very helpful. Finally I decided to teach what I am officially qualified to do - teach pathology.

How has AUA changed since 2005?AUA has better facilities offered to students and faculty. We now have more faculty members joining AUA and with the commissioning of the new campus, positive changes are expected. This is good for the institution. The most challenging aspect of working in AUA is working against odds and continuing to work despite facing constraints. I ended up teaching late into the nights and had to hold examinations at odd hours as it hard to find lecture rooms during day time to accom-modate all students. I personally consider repeating the lectures to be truly challenging. When you have admirable faculty


5

support (as in Manipal, India) repeating a lecture will not affect teaching dynamics. Understaffed as we are, teaching a course with 14 credit hours, spread over two campuses, repeating a lecture would certainly affect the quality of teaching. Other than this, double lecturing always drained us of our energies. I decided to continue with double teaching to avoid even one student being left unattended. I hope Dr. Bell is reading this!

AUA indeed is showing signs of progress. Next generation of administrators I am sure, will turn AUA College of Medi-cine into a formidable force to reckon with in this part of the world. Mark my words. AUA will have most of the required accreditations met with. This is my vision. AUA has to succeed

Any advice for AUA students?Well they have to keep studying at all times. Sooner or later AUA students will have to compete, perform and work with medical graduates from several well known medical schools from the mainland USA. So why waste time? Stay focused and this strategy will pay off.

What is your favorite chapter in Robbins and how do you memorize all of those page numbers??I am comfortable teaching any chapter. For example, pathologists all over the world are not happy teaching Immunology or Genetics. So I end up teaching Immunology and Genetics. My favorite chapter however is Neoplasia because of the prevalence of cancer in the society, the diagnostic challenges it offers to the pathologist, issues related to biological typing of tumors, and the recent advances that have helped us understand the molecular basis. These aspects make teaching Neo-plasia very challenging. I teach Neoplasia in about 8-10 days. I know this is inadequate. But then we handle a 16-week course. Regarding remembering page numbers - I believe when you teach concepts with commitment and passion, you don’t have to put in extraordinary efforts to remember or recall. It just happens and facts stay with you for the rest of your life. I be-lieve in the optimum use of textbook of Robbins. It is my professional Bible. Memory is something that can be trained. I don’t have special talents. If I have a desire to remember and recall I will do so. As I am stubborn on this issue, probably I am able to recall better on occasion.

Any favorite hobbies or outside interests?I used to play shuttle badminton and table tennis (ping pong). I was a very aggressive badminton player and I did reasona-bly well. But now there is hardly any activity. I am planning to improve my swimming now. Between the semesters when we have a short vacation, I and my wife Dr. Geetha visit nearby islands. We have been to Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Mont-serratt, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Tobogo, St. Vincent, Barbados, Grenada and St. Marten. I always make it a point to visit medi-cal schools if they have one, and check out how we can learn from them. When I visit these medical schools I always in-teract with students and faculty. I go around and check how we can bring back some good points and implement them at AUA. All Medical schools I visited had plenty of their own problems, but still there were good points with each one of these schools. The experiences were priceless.

Finish the following sentence: “Don't leave Antigua before..."Completing the rainforest zipline adventure tour!

Who has been the most inspirational / influential person in your life?Well, there have been many. My dad taught me the benefits of reading daily newspapers. This improved my general knowledge. As a medical student I was fascinated by my anatomy professor Dr. Subash Deshpande. He was a walking Gray. In Kochi, it was Dr. T.L.P. Prabhu. I have been impressed by the honesty, integrity, sincerity and dedication of peo-ple like Ratan Tata of TATA group, Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of Reliance group and Narayan Murthy of Infosys Tech-nologies. When I was young I had the opportunity to speak and listen to Dr. T.M. A. Pai at least twice a year, as he used to have official meetings with my dad. He was my first role model. He was a visionary. His son, Dr. T. Ramdas Pai, is the chancellor of Manipal University and has continued from where Dr. T. M. A Pai left off. The credit for the massive expan-sion of Manipal group and Manipal’s global presence goes entirely to him. I developed a keen interest in pathology thanks to Dr. Ravikala V. Rao. She was the Chair of Pathology and goaded me to sharpen my skills. My wife Dr. Geetha has put up with me for 27 years. Without her by my side I wouldn’t be where I am today.


6

On Personal and Professional Responsibility - Part II

By James M. Rice, RhD

This is the second in a series of two articles discussing common counseling issues we see here at AUA. Two issues ago we discussed the problem of needing to leave the island unexpectedly because of a medical emer-

gency, family illness, or death in the family. The point I was attempting to make was that there are situations outside of our control that require us to change our plans. By making Student Services and University Counseling Services aware of these issues, we may be able to help you.

The issue I want to bring up today also focuses on communication--or the lack of communication--between you and your faculty. So the issue we are discussing this month is more academic than interpersonal.

I find it astonishing that, at a time when technological advancements permit almost instantaneous communication between us, that much of the time we are simply not listening. Maybe that’s the problem. Perhaps we are so inundated by cell phone calls, e-mails, instant messaging, and text-mails that we cannot differentiate or discriminate the salient communication. In other words, is there just so much noise in our world that we can’t hear the person talking right in front of us?

So what has this got to do with counseling? Well…without trying to sound too parental or authoritarian (remember how I try to avoid that?), many students are simply just not listening. And the consequences for not listening can be significant. What do I mean? Here are some examples and some suggestions:

1.Students do not read their email. Or if they do read them, they do not read them thoroughly or accurately. This may sound trivial, but it is not. Exam dates, cancelled classes, review classes, lab times, etc., change frequently and you have to change with us or suffer the consequences. You are responsible for checking your AUA email frequently. I would recommend you check it twice per day. (By the way, checking your AUA and your personal email thirty to forty times per day is also NOT a good idea. This becomes excessive and a distraction. You have more important things to do.)

2. Students do not utilize office hours. This is an opportunity for you to have one-to-one communication with your professor. When I meet with a student who is struggling academically, one of the first questions I ask is if they have made an appointment to see his/her professor or stopped by during office hours. The answer is frequently, “No”.

3.Students do not attend lectures. Perhaps the biggest opportunity to communicate with your professor is to attend the daily lectures…and really listen. Guys, I have heard it all. This professor is “boring”, or, that professor “just reads his powerpoints”, or (my personal favorite), “It is not a ‘high-yield’ activity.” My response to all of this is sim-ple—you are in no position to determine what is “high-yield”—but your professor can help you with that. Your pro-fessor may not be the most stimulating or exciting speaker, but it is not our job to entertain you. It is our job to edu-cate you. Now, I am sure we can do better, and I don’t recommend reading our powerpoints to you. But remember, lecture is an opportunity to communicate with you, and for you to communicate with us. The purpose of lecture is to discuss important points and issues you are seeing in your assigned readings, and to provide additional information not in the book or the powerpoints. So, to quote Mark Twain, “Don’t let school interfere with your education.” Don’t let a professor you think is “boring” or not “high-yield” enough interfere with what you are here to do—learn the basic sciences, move on to 5th Semester, pass Step 1 and become a physician. Take advantage of all the resources offered to you at AUA, including lectures, office hours, Educational Enhancement, etc.

It is my hope that you will accept this feedback in the spirit it was provided—to try to help you communicate more effectively with us—and us with you. We all benefit when that happens. And we can all work on minimizing distractions, hearing better, and really, really listening.

See you next semester!


7

James M. Rice, RhD

Associate Professor & University Counselor

The

Counseling

Corner

“Counseling issues and some

solutions #1”

A Long-Awai te d Vis ion . . . . . . .


8

Neal SimonPresident of AUA

Winston Baldwin SpencerPrime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda

Dr. T. Ramdas PaiChancellor of Manipal University

Dame Louise Lake-TackGovernor General of Antigua & Barbuda

. . . . . .Be come s A Re a l i t y !AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ANTIGUA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

9

Photography By:Michaela A. Martin - Med 1Incoming Editor-in-Chief

Dona Hasou - Med 3AUA SGA Executive President

Dr. Seymour SchwartzProvost of AUA

Dr. Peter BellAUA Executive Dean

Neal Simon and Winston Baldwin Spencercutting the official ribbon

Editor’s Note: I am profoundly delighted to take this opportunity to announce Michaela A. Martin as the incoming AUA Pulse Editor-in-

Chief. A talented and dedicated photographer as well as a writer, Michaela has been an invaluable asset to the Pulse team this semester and I have no doubts that her stellar performance will continue to impress us in those to come.

-KS

Please describe your average day and week at this site:

Well Atlanta is a unique site in that it alternates between a didactic and a clinical week. In the didactic week we attend class from 9-1 (M-F) and 2-4 (Tues-Thurs). This week consists of an ICM portion and review of all of basic science. Clinical week varies from clinic to clinic, some students go from 8:30 am to 1 pm and others 8:30 am to 7 pm. (Keep in mind that traffic here is crazy and depending where one lives, all times must be adjusted by an hour). In the clinic all the attendees have a different mindset and goals for their students. So some doctors donʼt allow the students to do anything but observe, while others honestly teach their students. So the clinics have no set curriculum and they vary from doctor to doctor.

Do you feel this site provides adequate time & educational preparation for the USMLE Step 1?

Yes and No. During your didactic week Dr. Suleiman teaches a Step 1 preparatory course. He is a licensed professor who runs a private USLME tutoring program. He is AMAZING!!! All the things that were not clear on the island he can definitely clear them all up. In class he provides a constructive learning so after class all one has to do is questions. But unfortunately, as of right now he is no longer teaching and we are not sure if this portion of the program will still be of-fered. The major downfall with this program is time. This semester they added an ICM portion which still needs a lot of work because it offers little to students, but consumes a lot of time. But attendance at this site is mandatory, so you must be present. The ICM portion ends at 4 pm three days out of the week, making these days long and exhausting. During the clinical week, depending on your doctor, students are also faced with the same problem.

Please describe your best & worst experiences at this site:

My best experience has to be sitting in Dr. Suleimanʼs class and actually being able to finally put all my information to-gether. The worst is the mandatory attendance requirement placed on the ICM class, because the class was not planned and executed properly.

How much is your average cost of living?

The average cost of living varies from $500 - $1200. In Atlanta the main question is how far are you willing to drive.

Any advice to those considering this site?

The advice I would give all students is to research what they really want from their 5th semester site. This is not a time to play or catch up with old friends. As a matter of fact, many students will be shocked when they finally assess their level of expertise and realize it is not even close to passing Step 1. If you are looking for a site that is fun, with excellent clinicals, and a lot of free time, this is not the site for you. This site takes a serious student who is willing to learn and put forth the work asked of them. Main theme of the site is time management, if you donʼt have it then donʼt come.

Please rate the site out of five stars (1 being terrible and 5 being amazing)

3 out of 5 stars

~ Khrystal Boone - Med 5


10

Please describe your average day & week at this site:

Every week we rotate through different department so the amount of time spend in the hospital changes constantly. Some times I go to the hospital just one day a week and other times it is 9-4 for four days a week (Monday thru Thursday). On an average I would say about 9-2 for four days a week with lectures on Thurs-day from 3-5, case presentation on Friday from 12-1 and a one hour didactic session on Saturday. Do you feel this site provides adequate time & educational preparation for the USMLE Step 1?

I love this site mainly because I felt that I had plenty of time to study for Step I. However, as far as educa-tional material goes it is mainly geared toward Step II and clinical rotations. Nonetheless, because I have enough time I am studying for the Step on my own.


My best experience (out side of the hospital) is the willingness of the faculty to help. For example we had asked the case presentation teacher to change the class timings to allow us more time to study and he granted our request. My worst experience (again outside of the hospital) is the teacher who has taught my class the majority of H & P sessions (Dr. P). He doesnʼt know his information well and most of the time he provides the wrong information. After being told there were four vena cavae in the human body (and many other mistakes that he made that I knew about) I have learned to double-check every thing he mentions in his lectures (in case he makes another mistake I donʼt know about). This is good because it forces me to study more and it is bad because it takes a lot of time to check everything he says.


Including everything (Rent, electricity, gas and food) I would say about $1100 a month.

Any advice to those considering this site?

Miami is a very nice city and the site or the hospital doesnʼt require you to study extra. As a result it is very easy to develop a false sense of security and forget about the Step I. My advice would be to remember that we still have to take the step and to take advantage of all the free time that is available to you to study for the step instead of extra partying. Also, recently we had many students leaving their rotations early (or not showing up) because they didnʼt think that the clinical coordinators knew, and as a result they got in trouble so please donʼt do that. Please rate the site out of five stars (1 being terrible and 5 being amazing)

If it wouldnʼt be for Dr. P (the H & P teacher who teaches us wrong information) I would rate this site 5 stars. However, because of him I will rate it 4.5 stars.

~ Aisha Waheed - Med 5


11


Monday through Thursday we have rotations and Fridays we usually have a lecture class. The rotations change every 2 weeks (Radiology, ER, Hematology, etc) and usaully are from 9 am to 1 pm. Fridays we have a lecture from 1 pm to 3pm.


I think you have adequate time to prepare for the step everyday. I live an hour away from the hospital and get home no later than 2 pm and still manage to put in about 4 to 5 hours of studying daily.


To be honest with you, I have not yet had any negative experiences in this hospital. I think the site is well or-ganized and many of the physicians here are very nice and will take the time to explain things to you.


Well, I live with my parents, but i spend about $450.00 a month on tolls and gas.Any advice to those considering this site?

Well, if you don't want to spend the money on tolls or gas and also the time sitting in traffic, I would get a place by the hospital. Even though it might be expensive, if you can share with someone to split the cost and it would be worth it.


I would rate this site a 4.5 out of 5

~ Vladimir Shamalov - Med 5

Editorʼs Note: This review is in reference to the Staten Island site. Unfortunately, the AUA Pulse did not re-ceive a site review from Brooklyn. -KS


12


My average day is that I have rotations on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and sometimes Tuesdays and Thursdays and on the rotation days, I have to be there by 7:00 A.M, and I am usually done at 1:00 P.M. Some-times it is later, but usually I get out around 1:00. Also, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have our class lecture (which is like an ICM but in a little more detail) from either 8:00 A.M until 11:00 or 1:00 P.M until 4:00 P.M. It just depends on the professorʼs schedule. Also, the groups for rotations are assigned randomly at the beginning. There are 16 of us and we are partnered up with only one other person. My partner and I are assigned to Pe-diatrics, OB/GYN and ER/Clinic. Other people have different rotations though such as Surgery and Clinical. It is all randomly based. So far, I had Pediatrics rotation at the beginning which lasted 3 weeks, and then OBGYN which lasted three weeks. After that, I will go to the ER/Clinic for 6 weeks and that concludes the rotations.


I definitely feel that the site provides adequate time and educational preparation for Step 1, because I have the afternoons to study, since we start early and get out early from our rotations.


So far, my best experiences at this site is that the information I have learned in basic sciences, I have been able to apply it in real life situations with the patients. It is on thing to read about a certain disease in the book, it is another to apply it to real life situations which I have been doing. The worst experiences at the site would be that the attendings think we are residents numerous times and forget that we are medical students, so they will grill us with some tough questions and most of them being that we haven't learned it, so we have to keep up on our studies.


The average cost of living for me I can't really say, because I chose this site so I can commute from home to save money since I am from Michigan. I do know that there are great facilities right by the hospital in Auburn Hills, Michigan and people are paying anywhere from 500.00-800.00 a month rent.Any advice to those considering this site?

The advice that I could give students who are considering this site is to know your basic sciences, especially your pharmacology, pathology and physiology, because the residents and attendings esepecially love to grill us on these three subjects. Also, make a plan to study for the Step as soon as you get home from the hospital so there will be structure.


I would rate the site 5, because I have talked to numerous people from the other sites offered and I truly feel that we have the best site.

~ Heather Hamood - Med 5


13

A Few New Faces...AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ANTIGUA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

14

Dr. Sudha Kannavar is an associate professor in AUA’s department of Clinical Medicine. She is an MD graduate in OB/GYN with honors from Kuvempu University in India with 14 years of clinical experience as an OB/GYN consult-ant. Dr. Kannavar has been trained as an extern in the Department of Hemato-oncology at Indiana Cancer Hospital, USA. She also has additional training in specialties of Internal Medicine, Family Practice in New Jersey. She has served as a clinical research associate in oncology and endocrinology clinical trials at New Jersey. She is an active member of The Federation of Obstetric Gyneco-logical Societies of India, Breast-feeding Promotion Networking of India (BPNI), the Association of Clinical Research Professionals of United States (ACRP) and a member of the Foreign Medical Graduates of United States. Awards include: District Coordinator of Breast-feeding Practice, National Insti-tute Award, Outstanding Resident Award, Kuvempu University, India, and Swimming - Karnataka State championship Award, India.

Before I came here, I was teaching Pharmacology as an associate professor back in KMCIC, Manipal for the last two years. I reluctantly agreed to come here after much coaxing and cajoling by the authorities there. My trip was not a pleasant one. My flight from Mumbai to London developed a technical snag mid-air. They had to dump all the fuel into the sea and make a emergency land-ing in Mumbai. It’s been a month now, and I can say that I like Antigua and the students of this college.

Regards,DP Sapalya, MDAssociate Professor of Pharmacology

Dr. Alla Heikes, an assistant professor in AUA’s Anatomy department, graduated from the Medical State University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where she earned her Mas-ter’s of Science in Dentistry. After post graduate training in Human Anatomy, she earned her Doctor of Philosophy in the same subject. Her thesis was devoted to the structure of teeth in young people. Her research career includes more than 20 publi-cations in the field of human anatomy and dentistry, and she has 10 years of experi-ence in academics and research.

Dr. George Gorgon graduated from Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland and worked in different hospitals in Europe before completing his residency in pathology at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY. After residency, he com-pleted a fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. His professional interests include molecular pathology and bioinformatics.

His message is: “I received an unforgettable welcome from the Med 4 stu-dents as they re-defined the word 'complaint' for me during my first weeks on the job... Things have improved since I have brushed up on my devel-opmental psychology skills since the start of the semester and I have come to enjoy Antigua and my job here.”

...Spotted on CampusAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ANTIGUA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

15

Dr. Chobanyan graduated with an honors M.D. degree from Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia, a Ph.D. from I.M. Sechenov Moscow Medi-cal Academy in Moscow, Russia, and a Doctor of Medical Sciences degree from All-Union Cancer Research Center of Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia, after completing pioneering research identifying hyper-androgenemia in breast cancer patients under the age of 35. In addition, she has more than 50 publications and more than 20 years of practical experience including surgical oncology, medical oncology, diagnostic and internal medi-cine, as well as providing healthcare in rural and under-served communities. She continues to serve as chief medical advisor to organizations in Europe and the United States. She recently joined the Clinical Medicine faculty here at AUA. Her message to students is that you will reach your goals if you are willing to put in the work!

I'm a physician microbiologist from Mangalore, India. I studied for my undergraduate and graduate medical degrees at Kasturba Medical Col-lege, Mangalore, a medical school under Manipal University. I gradu-ated with an M.D. in 2004 and have been into diagnostic microbiology and undergraduate teaching ever since. After I graduated, I worked at A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore for almost five years, where, besides working in diagnostic microbiology and teaching, I also worked a core member of the hospital infection control team.

On the lighter side, I love listening to music, rock and heavy metal in particular. I am also a amateur web programmer, and enjoy dabbling in computers. I have moved 99% of my work to the Linux platform, which is free and open-source, and I believe, will be the platform of the future. In India, I was actively involved in promoting the use of free open-source software among my students, and hope I will be able to do the same here. There are a number of tutorials on my website, http://www.neville.in and come to me anytime in case you get stuck. One word of advice: Before you install Linux, back up your data! When it comes to sports, I avoid contact sports; I've got a repaired ante-rior cruciate ligament, but I do enjoy swimming. I also love science fiction movies, especially Star Wars and Star Trek.

Dr. Neville Fernandez Microbiology department

This fall, AUA SGA recently welcomed its inaugural medical interest group organization, The Emergency Medicine Interest Group at the American Uni-versity of Antigua. The founder and president, Alexander Simakov, elicited the help of his close friends and colleagues, Adonis Directo, Joseph Mathi-as & Vinil Sidhpura, with a vision to institute a newfound organization here at AUA. With similar experiences, varying talents and a deep-seated interest in emergency medicine, the founders and constitutive members feel this new organization has great promise and rising potential. Interested in finding out more about this organization? e-mail one of the founding officers or check out www.aua-emig.org

http://www.neville.in

http://www.neville.in

http://www.aua-emig.org/

http://www.aua-emig.org/

Outgoing SGA Board Members


16

SGA Exec: Andy Brouwer (VP), Dona Hasou (Pres), Radhika Patel (Secretary), Don St. Jean (Treas), Dapo Illuyomade (Sgt-at-arms)

Med 4: Andrew Chacko (Pres), Osama Zaghmout (VP), Nadwa Ibrahim (Secretary), Joel Alicea (Treas), Jasmine Sawhne (Class Rep)

Med 3: Carlos Diaz (Pres), Maria Espinar (VP), Anil George (Secre-tary), Nadeem Khan (Class Rep), Nikhila Anchala (Treasurer-absent)

Med 2: Neil Patel (Secretary), Omar Taha (Pres), Beatrice Delponte (Treas), Vijay Ramnauth (VP), Samir Narang (Class Rep)

AICASA (Pre-med): Lokesh Bhatt (Pres), Melanie Chan (VP), Kimberly Kuo (Events Coordinator), Adeel Ahmed (Treas)

Nursing: Adeyinka Adebisi (Outreach Coordinator), Ophalyn Gariando (Treas),Shaquawna Braddock (Pres), Rebekah Solomon (Secretary),

Shalini Tiwari (VP)

Not Pictured: Med 1 Board: Jason Brown (Pres), Basil Taha (VP), Lauren Sequeria (Secretary), Ankita Patel (Treas) and Jasmine Vincent (Class Rep)

Clos ing The Chapter. . .“I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” Philippians 4:13

Whenever I think about the journey of my life for the past fifteen to sixteen months, the above verse keeps coming to mind. I honestly would not have been able to do it if it had not been for God who was on my side.

Thank God for the completion of another stage in my life. Words alone cannot describe the excitement bubbling inside me, knowing the journey is almost coming to an end…the journey of completing a hard-core accelerated basic science medical program. One might say, “Medical school itself is not over yet”, or “You are yet to write the USMLEs and be placed into residency,” etc. Those are true, but I am just glad to be done with the first two years…a definite show that I am on my way to being a doctor.

So, how was life in Antigua? Life in Antigua was not as bad as many made it out to seem. The frequent lights-out, lack of water supply, expensive groceries, “unique” attitude of the people, and so many other things definitely had their ways of getting to you. But, there were many pluses to living in Antigua such as enjoying the tropical weather compared to the cold climates, and visiting many beautiful sights that many spend a whole lot of money to do.

How about life in AUA? There were times in between when I almost gave up. There were times when I wondered and questioned what I was doing in medical school, especially AUA where nothing is really organized. I remember the first semester, anatomy days. I was absolutely clueless on what to do and how to study. Then came second semester also known as the “weeding-out” semester with the “block parties” that took place every three weeks. I remember taking all four classes and working really hard to pass all four, especially genetics. Thank God for seeing me through. Third semes-ter was a little relieving at the beginning before the micro quizzes took over. Now, in fourth semester, everything all comes together meaning that the workload is more than doubled.

Through it all, God saw me through and is still seeing me through. Coming out here, away from family, friends and the world I knew, took me on another very important journey, a spiritual journey. Coming out here and participating in Doc-tors for Christ (DFC) drew me closer to God in ways I cannot explain and enabled me to learn a whole lot more about Him. Through my involvement with DFC, I have been able to serve God, my fellow students and also the community I have lived in for almost sixteen months now. An example is by volunteering at Amazing Grace Foundation, a non-profit organization that caters to the needs of severely disabled people.

How to keep your sanity? I will say open your minds. For as long as you’re here in Antigua, try as much as possible to make it your home. Make the best out of every situation you face. Even as an AUA student, find your place, your own footing. Make your own decisions, your own schedule, have your own opinion about everything even the professors and stick with it. Above all, find God. The most important relationship that ever exists is that with God and if you are miss-ing it, you are missing out on a lot! Yes, there is a lot to do, a whole lot of study-ing and preparing for exams and attending T.A. sessions and…a whole lot of things that may make you think you have absolutely no time for God and fellow-ship. The only way a person can find their purpose in life and excel at it is by being in tune with the one that created them. John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” In Christ and with Christ, we can do anything and eve-rything we put our minds to, including medical school.


17

By: Tola OyesileMed 4

Documents

Yay for Taster’s Day! - theauasga.org€¦ · Yay for Taster’s Day ... quired copies of the histology shelf, ... We may miss entirely different questions on an exam but somehow