Emergencies on airplanes

I've slowly been writing about my experiences over the summer and the following occurred on one of my flights. This post was originally written in response to a thread about helping in medical emergencies as a doctor and if such interventions make a difference in patient outcomes:

About half an hour into the flight they asked for a doctor, nurse, or anyone with medical experience. A little while later the plane took a hard left to divert for "an unexpected landing" as they called it.

(This was a foreign airline so most announcements were in a language I didn't understand with English translations lasting a fraction of the original announcement. So I only have a bare-bones understanding of what really occurred.)

Either no one was available to help or no one volunteered because the flight attendants were the only ones providing medical care to the passenger. I was asleep and awoke to the sudden turn and "unexpected landing" announcement, which scared the crap out of me because I thought we were going down, until I saw the oxygen tank attached to an unconscious dude being carried down the aisle.

All in all, I don't think a doctor or medical professional would've changed the outcome for the passenger since the guy was hooked up to an AED ("No shock advised" numerous times) and CPR was being performed with an hour still left to our emergency landing (we were over water). At that point, the flight attendants were doing all that could be done with the limited resources found aboard an airplane and more training on their end wouldn't have made a difference.

I'm applying to med school now thus I'm not a doctor but I've been in EMS for 6 years so I'm familiar with emergencies in weird places. I like to think I would've volunteered had I been awake and no one else had been available. But I don't know.

What's worse is that the guy didn't suddenly die. He had some sort of medical emergency that eventually led to cardiac arrest so maybe even my basic assessment could've helped him in some way. And had this happened on land, with the 30 minute lag between the first signs of medical trouble and cardiac arrest, he maybe would've made it.

But since we were airborne, there's really not much anyone could've done in that situation with such few supplies and such a long transit/landing time to higher level care.

In short, a plane over water is most definitely the worst place to have any kind of medical emergency.

Stressing out

I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those neurotic pre-meds during the application cycle but I've turned into an unrecognizable ball of stress. I'm riling myself up to the point of getting sick days before my next interview, and I absolutely NEVER get sick normally. I didn't even fall ill in the days leading up to the MCAT. And I stayed healthy while waiting to get my MCAT scores when I was pretty sure I had scored sub-30, which would have been the death of my chances to get into medical school this cycle.

Not hearing back from my dream school when I know a good chunk of others have already gotten in is the source of most of this stress. I know they will continue reviewing my file until March but if they didn't love me this time, what's going to change between now and then? I have nothing more to give.

It also doesn't help that at this point I thoroughly believe I bombed the interview. Every time I go over the answers I gave, the worse they seem to be. Or at least only the low points stick out in my mind right now. Maybe I should've smiled more throughout the day (I remember being exhausted), or channeled my enthusiasm towards "Why medicine?" instead of only perking up at the mention of broomball (and the prospect of an ethics question...I did get visibly excited when that came up). Or perhaps I should not have challenged my interviewer with an emphatic, "I know." But I really did know, and it seemed like the appropriate response at the time.

I like to worry and work myself up about things. Take this and this and this and this as examples, and I can provide many more. I used to be really good about letting things go but I feel like my admission into this school is still somewhat within my control. And that's why I just can't ignore the silence and simply wait for some form of communication from them. I feel like I need to DO something.

In addition to all that, not only do I REALLY want to get into this school, but it's also the only one at which I have a decent chance of getting into. I've only received two interview offers total this application season (thus far, of course, but it doesn't look like any more are coming along) and the other school is very hard to get into as an out-of-state applicant. So if I can't get into my local school, who else is going to take me? The thought of going through this again is absolutely sickening.

Honestly, I don't know what the point of this post is, besides maybe to vent. But writing this all out has helped me realize that I really need to chill out and enjoy this year off, because it'll be a while until I have this much free time again.

And in that respect, I really have taken preventative measures to minimize thinking about this process. I've blocked the friends who are also applying this cycle from my Facebook feed, I've cut myself off from SDN (again), and I've told my family not to mention medical school applications to me even just to inquire about how it's going. I'll update them if/when something changes.

The final step is finding a new hobby that will take an inordinate amount of time and has nothing to do with medicine whatsoever. Underwater basket-weaving, perhaps?

No news and interviews

Birthday week has come and gone and still no news. I'm sure you figured that out from my silence because I would've announced an admission to the world. I guess that post will have to wait for another day.

That's not to say I have an admissions post written by any means. I am not that ahead of myself. Right now I'm brainstorming a letter of intent to my dream school in case it comes to that.

Speaking of the dream school, I'm pretty sure the admissions committee met sometime last week because my status on their website changed during that time instead of directly after my interview like it normally does. I'm still not too concerned because few people get in during the first post-interview committee meeting or even the second, with most people hearing back in late February/early March. I really don't care when I hear back from them, although the sooner the better. I just hope I get in at some point this cycle.

Anywhos, for now I need to focus on my upcoming interview and get prepped for it like I was for the last one. I will let you know in vague detail how that one went when I get back from it.

Birthday week news?

I have this weird feeling (or is it a hope?) that I will get tremendously awesome news on my birthday this week. It's happened before with a job offer so I'm not completely going crazy, I swear.

The admissions committee for the school I interviewed with last month supposedly meets sometime in the next couple of days and not only do they email acceptances but the dean of admissions also calls each accepted student.

So my secret hope is that he realizes it's my birthday this week and waits to call me with great news on that particular day.

One can dream, right?

Interview recap

My first interview was a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely exhausting. I think most of that exhaustion stemmed from having to get up at 5:30 am to get to the interview site on time, but being "on" for whole hours on end drained me.

The day consisted of an introduction in the morning by the charismatic dean of admissions followed by two 30-minute interviews. With my group assignment, I had half an hour before my interviews began to hang out and talk with everyone else in my group and we were a pretty jovial bunch. We stayed away from the "How many interview invitations have you gotten?" questions and instead talked about where we were from and what we were doing in life.

Since this school is very non-traditional student friendly, the stories of my fellow interviewees were interesting and engaging so time flew. Next thing I knew I was headed to my first interview.

My first interrogator was a surgeon (Dr. S) who was in private practice and was not affiliated with the medical school at all. Her style of questioning was more conversational and she seemed to honestly want to understand my thought-process and decision-making regarding choosing medicine as a career, especially after giving up on it in undergrad. She asked questions very specific to my application and only threw in one ethical question that was super easy and had an obvious correct answer.

The interview was also being "observed" by a second year medical student (Mr. M), and I put that word in quotations because he did ask me a few questions instead of just seeing how to conduct an interview.

At the end of my interview, I struggled to find questions to ask Dr. S because she had nothing to do with the school. Eventually I figured out that she had done her residency here and so I asked what had brought her out here. That's all I had for her and then I turned my attention to Mr. M who was very helpful in explaining his opinions regarding the unique curriculum. I hope not having anything for Dr. S isn't going to hurt me too badly but I really couldn't come up with anything.

Overall, I think I did well enough. I definitely didn't knock it out of the park because I could've answered some questions better, either stated things more concisely or made my point clearer. But I also didn't do poorly so really I have no idea how to grade myself. I found Mr. M much easier to read with regards to how I was doing than Dr. S but since I don't think his opinion carries any weight I'm in limbo about this one.

My second interview was with a different M2 (Ms. T) and it had the standard, "What are you strengths and weaknesses?" questions. Essentially the whole thing was like that. There was one mention of something on my application but the rest of the questions were incredibly general, especially "Tell me about your clinical experiences." What about them? Can you be a bit more specific? Haven't you read my application?

In the end, I was able to emphasize the one point I wish I'd done better on in the first interview so hopefully that'll help. I think my answers were sufficient but definitely not ones Ms. T would mention as memorable.

And by that I mean, I don't think either interviewer will say that they really enjoyed talking with me. That doesn't mean the conversation wasn't enjoyable because it was, especially with the first one, but I don't think it stuck out to them as awesome. There were a couple times in the first interview when I felt Dr. S wanted to call me out on my bullsh-t but thought better of it (for example, she thought I had no idea what I was talking about, which I did but whatever). Or that could just be my insecurities rearing their ugly heads.

Anywhos, I handed each interviewer an update letter to take to the admissions committee that discussed my recent research accomplishments (poster presentation at a major conference in my field and submission of a paper for publication) and wished them a good day.

The rest of the day included a lunch with current medical students, more presentations, a tour of the campus, and a Q&A with even more medical students. No one really had any questions for them because we were completely drained, and also because the presentations and other opportunities to speak with students had answered all of our questions.

Honestly, after my interviews I just wanted to go home. This is my local medical school and I've heard their spiel many times before. It's my absolute top choice and if I get in then I am definitely going here. No doubts. So the rest of the day seemed almost like a waste of time to me mostly because I was tired and wanted to go home, but I had to put on my happy face and look excited.

Overall, I have no idea what my chances are at this school right now. The dean of admissions said that those invited for interviews have a 2 to 1 chance of getting in, so I like my odds. Also, if you assume they offer 2 spots for every 1 in-state person that matriculates, then my chances go up to > 75%. I like those odds.

The school is pretty quick about sending out acceptances post-interview if they really like you so I guess I'll know soon enough. But plenty of people don't get in until mid-March, meaning this application process could just drag on forever.

If I don't hear back by early January, I will send a letter of intent that further elaborates on my strengths, my commitment to medicine, as well as my huge desire to go there. So there are options.

I plan on fighting for this school with all my might.

Another interview invitation

As I was powering off my phone on the airplane to fly to Mexico last week, I noticed an email from an admissions office inviting me to interview*. In the text of the email it said I had seven days from the date of the invitation to schedule said interview, which wouldn't exactly work since I'd still be out of the country.

I called the admissions office as the plane doors were closing hoping to be able to do it quickly right then, but the lady who schedules the interview was at lunch. They asked if I could call back in an hour. Umm, what part of "The plane doors are closing and can't you hear the flight attendant in the background", do you not understand?

Anywhos, I wasn't able to book the interview before we took off and they said they don't book them over email (I tried), which led to me using Skype over our very shaky internet connection. Lots of, "Can you please repeat that?" and "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you" comments later, I was booked for an interview in a couple of weeks.

I won't be able to attend the first date they offered (early next week) because I'll be at a conference presenting a poster, so instead I'm scheduled for one that is 10 calendar days and 5 interview dates later. Not ideal, but that's just the way it worked out.

I also emailed other schools in the pseudo-area telling them I'll be there during that time and that if they were to offer me an interview I'd appreciate it if it could be while I'm around. So far I haven't heard anything, but then again it's technically only been two business days since they got that email. I'll give them another one and if I don't hear back by tomorrow I'll book the flights for just this interview.

Lastly, I will post an interview recap of my dream school interview from last week in the coming days. In short, I don't think I killed it but I didn't do badly either, so I don't know how that'll affect my chances of acceptance. We'll find out soon enough since the admissions committee meets at the end of this week and/or beginning of next week.

In the end, everything worked out wonderfully with scheduling my first interview as well as being able to enjoy my vacation. All in all, I got to have my cake and eat it too. Now if I could get an acceptance on my birthday next week, that'd just be the icing on that most delicious cake.

---
*This is at the school that just recently marked me as "Complete" after sitting on my application for three months, and then invited me for an interview not even a week after that. Black Magic, I tell you. Or different schools have different versions of what it means to be complete. Whichever.

Black Magic

That's how I believe medical school admissions operate.

Today I got an email stating that I was finally complete at a school whose secondary I submitted in mid-August. My letters of recommendation were ready before I even submitted that so I have no idea why it took them this long to mark me "Complete".

It's not like this is Jefferson or Boston University that each get 10,000 applications a year. WTF.

Reality check

My mock interview with the Pre-Health Office went very well on Tuesday. I don't know why, but when I talk with medical people my answers get twice as long. With Career Services, I was able to communicate my path to applying to medical school in 4 minutes, while in both Pre-Health interviews it was on the order of 10 minutes. No bueno. I need to stop rambling!

Other than that, the practice interview wasn't nearly as dreadful as I had anticipated. I know what to work on and how to improve my answers and disposition so rocking the real interview is entirely doable. And the adviser assured me that it's completely normal to be rejected from the schools that I've been rejected from.

So far, I've been rejected from mostly reach schools, ones I have very little chance of getting into based on my overall GPA or my out-of-state status. So it makes sense and I shouldn't stress out too much about it.

If all else fails, she gave me pointers on what I should do to improve my application for next year in case I have to reapply. I can't really improve my GPA or MCAT any more than I already have so the next step would be getting more recent clinical experience in the form of a clinical research position.

I'm hoping I get into the school I'm interviewing with next weekend (it's my state school and I have the best chance to get in there) so I don't have to worry about balancing my current job with a clinical research position an hour away from where I live. Also, I REALLY don't want to have to rewrite all my essays for another application cycle.

Practice interviews and more news

My first medical school interview is in a week and a half and to prepare I've been taking advantage of the practice interviews offered on the campus at which I did my post-baccalaureate studies.

Last week I did a mock interview at Career Services, which was helpful in answering general questions such as the loaded "Tell me about yourself" or "Describe a time when you have failed." It was nice to hear how to structure my answers and also to see how I come off to someone who doesn't know me. It's crazy how much the interviewer could deduce about me just from a general description I gave of myself.

Tomorrow I have another mock interview, this time with the pre-health office and I'm looking forward to it but I'm also a little terrified. I've never seen this adviser before so I don't know if she'll be like the one who crushes my dreams or the nice one who's always excited to see how I'm doing. I've heard she's pretty hard during interviews, which is honestly what I need to prepare for the real thing.

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to practicing medical school specific questions such as ones dealing with ethics and the healthcare overhaul. I don't like answering those sorts of scenarios because I'm pretty middle of the road and I don't feel like it gives the interviewer a good opportunity to get to know me. But there's a good chance these will come up so I'd like some feedback on my answers.

All in all, I'm not too stressed out about this interview thing. I feel like I know myself and my reasons for pursuing this path well enough to speak about them with confidence. And as long as I can communicate those things effectively, I think I will be just fine. At least that's what I keep telling myself every time I think how important this interview is for my future. Because when I focus on that, I start to freak out a little.

On the responses from medical schools front, I got two more rejections (one pre-secondary and one post-secondary) on the same day that I passed the initial screening at another school bringing me one step closer to getting an interview invitation there. I honestly don't know how many people are in this "small pool" and how rigorous the screening for it was, but a significant amount of people have been rejected before reaching this pool so it must be something.

I'm not reading too much into these things because there is no way of knowing how each school does their admissions. And I can't control getting an interview invitation at this point. It's completely out of my hands now.

In short, I need to focus on rocking this interview and enjoying the freedom of having too much time on my hands.

This does not bode well for a career in medicine

I recently began refereeing rugby because I know my days as a player are limited and I need another way to stay involved in the sport.

Yesterday, I helped with an all-day tournament during which I refereed 14 games of 14 minutes each (7s, for those who know rugby). I left home before sunrise and got back well after sunset. By the last game of the tournament, my back hurt, my legs were sore, and I was in a generally foul mood.

It was simply exhausting, and a day later I'm still feeling the effects. I dragged myself out of bed this morning at 10 am just so I could fall asleep tonight. I spent the rest of the day in the hammock reading and now I'm waiting for it to get late enough so that it's acceptable to go to bed.

I don't remember tiring so easily last year when I had so much on my plate. I got a lot more accomplished with a lot less sleep and rest. So I'm hoping this is just the vacation version of me being mad that it had to do something, and now needing some time to recuperate.

Because if spending an entire day on my feet wipes me out for the entire next day, I am so screwed in medicine.