This has been such a rejuvenating month for me.

Ever since my last post, I’ve continued to take advantage of all the free time that has been allotted to me on my radiology rotation while continuing to get a better understanding of how to read radiologic images of different areas of the body. While there was no way that I was going to get through all of the many modules and resources that I’ve been equipped with on this rotation (there is just SOOO much information), they will most certainly serve me well moving forward as I take on the rest of my PGY-2 year and beyond.

In addition to sharpening my radiology skills, I was also granted a week-long break form work where I simply just relaxed at home and made time for myself because we all know that self-care is important. It would have been nice to travel somewhere, but to be honest, I was perfectly fine and content with my staycation. I watched a ton of shows and movies, slept A LOT, had an amazing Valentine’s Day with my fiancée, did a lot of wedding planning, got a good amount of work done on the blog, continued to prepare for this year’s Desire To Inspire Scholarship, and even attended a very interesting two-day virtual conference hosted by the American Academy of Pediatrics that focused on harnessing the power of media to positively influence the public’s perception of healthcare and medicine. This was a conference that I had been looking forward to attending for quite a while now, especially since it had been pushed back a couple times ever since I first heard about it last spring. So you can imagine how excited I was to finally get the chance to hear what all the speakers had to say about this topic! I was impressed with the quality and quantity of information shared with us, and was ultimately inspired to get serious about integrating media opportunities into my medical career in order to effectively combat the spread of medical misinformation, to educate the public about various medical topics that they may find complex, and to serve as a role model for young people (especially URM students) who are potentially interested in pursuing a career in healthcare.

I also spent some time talking to hundreds of prospective high school students who are planning to attend my alma mater, the University of Miami, via a virtual open house event that the school was hosting. I was invited to sit on a panel with several other current students and alumni, where we got the high school students excited about attending the institution. I must say, I was quite envious of the fact that those students were getting ready to embark upon one of the best times of their lives. I felt incredibly nostalgic as I watched the intro slideshow and promotional video the students were being shown. Maaannn, I need to go back and visit Miami sometime soon!! 😩😭

Outside of my break and my radiology education, I continued to engage in the various research and QI projects that I’m working on with other colleagues. I was also invited to serve as the Keynote Speaker for the 13th Annual Pre-Health Student Conference that was hosted by the SNMA chapter at the Wake Forest School of Medicine! I delivered my speech yesterday after spending a good amount of time working on it, and I’m glad to say that both my story as a pre-medical student and my words of wisdom were well-received by the audience! 😄

All in all, I’ve had a fantastic and relaxing experience this month. But alas, it will all be coming to an end tomorrow. I will be starting my next rotation on Tuesday, which will be an inpatient experience at a community hospital where I’ll be one of the senior residents supervising the team caring for the children in the hospital. I’m expecting it to be a challenging yet rewarding experience, and I’m sure that I’ll grow quite a bit as a physician during my time there. As senior residents, we are given a level of independence that is unparalleled to our experiences at our other two clinical sites, which can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. While it may end up being a tough adventure, I know that I’m more than capable of getting the job done there. Plus, I’m just glad that this rotation isn’t a Q4 rotation (24-hour shift every fourth day) like it used to be prior to this year; I only have one 24-hour shift to look forward to as opposed to the 7-8 24-hour shifts that residents in previous years had to deal with. THANK GOD. 🙏🏿

That’s all I got for you today! Can you all believe that it has been a WHOLE YEAR since the pandemic officially began?? So much has happened since last March and SO MANY LIVES have been unnecessarily and tragically lost. I am hopeful that these vaccinations can ultimately put an end to this pandemic once and for all, and get us all back to lives that are relatively more normal than the ones that we’re currently living. I sincerely hope that you all continue to take care of yourselves and continue checking in on family, close friends, and other loved ones. Hopefully we are heading towards the end of these tough, uncertain, and unprecedented times!

I hope that you have have a phenomenal start to March! I’m sooo looking forward to the start of Spring!

“If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race.” – Oprah Winfrey

– Black Man, M.D.

P.S. – After a two-year wait, we will FINALLY get to enjoy the glory of MARCH MADNESS ONCE AGAIN!!! I don’t know about you all, but I’m super pumped for it, even though it has been an extremely unusual season!