I miraculously found the time to write this post today while participating at this conference in Philly, so excuse me for a second as I proceed to congratulate myself by giving myself a pat on the back.

*Pats self on back*

The conference that I'm speaking of is the annual conference held by the National Medical Association, and this one just so happens to be the 115th meeting! Talk about a legacy. I was unexpectedly invited to this conference via the Rabb-Venable Excellence in Research Program, a program whose purpose is to further the academic mission of the NMA's Ophthalmology Section by celebrating the research achievements of medical students, residents and fellows and allowing them to interact with the members of the NMA in both a professional and social atmosphere. I was invited to be an “Observer” of the program, which pretty much means that I'm here to literally observe the research projects being presented by the participants, the information being shared by various speakers in the sessions and to interact with whoever I want here at the conference. And here's the best part of all of this — everything was paid for! So I've been allowed this incredible experience at no cost to me!

I was able to recieve this opportunity by going to the SNMA Annual Medical Education Conference back in April, where I met an Ophthalmology resident who ended up telling the coordinators in the Rabb-Venable program that I was interested in this field, who in turn emailed me to invite me to the conference, all-expense paid. Go ahead and try to imagine the look of absolute surprise and obvious glee I expressed as I read the email. Mannn I tell you, connections really are a MAJOR key to success. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you'll begin to run into incredible opportunities! Boy am I glad I made the effort to go to AMEC this year, and best believe I'll be going next year as well! If you're a medical student, post-baccalaueate or undergrad student interested in the field of medicine (especially if you are part of an underrepresented population) , I STRONGLY encourage you to try and make the trip to AMEC at your earliest convenience!

I've been really enjoying my experience here in Philadelphia so far and have been making new friends & connections left and right. I've also been slipping people my newly made “Black Man, M.D.” business cards whenever I got the chance to do so, which have been getting mad love! (I decided to make them last week since I was coming to a conference, because why not? Not like I have much to lose lol.) Ever since I've arrived here last Friday night, I've been able to attend very informative sessions about various research topics in the field of Ophthalmology as well as about financial planning, the history & future of Ophthalmology, communication skills, minimizing risk and exposure while practicing medicine, and other interesting topics while at the same time learning about the lives, career goals and achievements of other program participants and physicians. I've also been able to walk around and appreciate some of the wonders that Philly has to offer, although I haven't really had the time to check out some of the city's popular tourist destinations. And since I'm going to be leaving tomorrow morning in order to finish off the last week of my Internal Medicine clerkship, there's a good chance that I won't be able to check them out in the near future. 😥 But there's always next time! Except that I don't know when I'll be in Philly again…

Speaking of my clerkship, can you believe that I'm about to finish it?? Because I sure can't! Twelve weeks really done flew by, meaning that this summer has been flying by at a similar speed. Finishing off this clerkship also means that I'll be taking my first shelf exam this Friday, which is, believe it or not, the first exam that I've had to encounter ever since taking Step 1.

In addition, it has been said that the shelf exams are typically just as hard as Step was.

If THAT wasn't enough, the Internal Medicine shelf is notoriously one of the most difficult shelf exams due to the vast amount of material that one needs to understand in order to perform well on it.

So yeah, I'm not too thrilled about having to take on this test. But I'm also not worried about it either. After having rammed through Step 1, I'm certain that I can take on just about any exam thrown at me. After I power through some more practice questions and watch a few more review videos this week, I'll be set! In regards to how my most recent week went on the wards, it was good overall. I kept up-to-date with my patients and took the opportunity to really bond with them and their families. I was also reminded of how critical it is to remember just how important each procedure is to each patient, because although ordering procedures is an everyday thing to the healthcare team and is highly important in treating the patient, these same procedures are easily seen in a different light by the patients. They are the ones who have to go through having various things done to their bodies. So although they may understand that these measures are necessary for the betterment of their health, they may still disdain or worry about having to go through a particular procedure due to the discomfort or pain that they may experience. Viewing situations in the perspective of others is very important in administering effective healthcare and highly instrumental in being an excellent physician.

That's all I have for ya! I'll probably go outside and walk around for a bit before going to the dinner sponsored by the program I'm with. Or I may just do practice questions. That would be the smarter move. Yeah, that's what I think I'll do. Then dinner. Because I'm hungry. Very hungry.

I hope you have a blessed week!

“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.” – John Wooden

– Black Man, M.D.