Through the Good and Bad! What really matters?!

With  little time to spare before finals I decided to write a little blog post about some fun and not so fun current events.  I will start off with the negative and end with the positive.  So last week Hailey and I decided to babysit my second cousins kids, the Gourleys.  This was not the negative experience. I dropped Hailey off on Wednesday night in Sunnyside, halfway between Yakima and Kennewick(Tri-cities), and was planning to meet Hailey in Kennewick Friday evening after my exams.  So I studied hard Wednesday night and woke up to a crazy ice storm.  I really wasn't paying attention to the road conditions nor the temperature outside as I drove to take my exams.  I was more worried about the nerves, blood vessels, and anatomy of the gut than I was about getting in a wreck on the slick roads.  So all was merry and bright up until the turn from University Parkway into the school parking lot.   On the entrance to the parking-lot there is a double wide sidewalk that makes up the entrance. Upon hitting that sidewalk my car decided to fling itself sideways and into the curb.  Not a good thing to happen 15 minutes before exams.  Moments later another car comes inches away from sliding into my car.  My car hit hard enough to bend my tire to the point it wouldn't turn. So I turned off my car, threw on the warning lights, and ran inside to tell security to put cones around it until I could deal with the issue post exams.  2.5 hours later I called my insurance and got things squared away.  We are still waiting on an estimate. Secretly we hope for a new car. Haha. Unfortunately that day I also broke my favorite watch, which I still need to see if I can exchange at Target. So it was not a good day/weekend for future Dr. Bennion.
After getting a rental car, I met up with Hailey in Kennewick and we had a blast babysitting the Gourley kids.  Nevertheless my luck still was looking bad. Sunday night we drove home and I felt weak and clammy.  Upon arriving at home I had to head for the toilet as I had probably the worst diarrhea I have ever had in my life, no joke. It was ironic having such bad bowel issues as we had recently studied the gut as well.  Oh man my enteric nerve system was tearing me a new one! Look that up! I have been to Peru, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina and never got diarrhea like this. I won't go into to many details, but let's just say it was bad enough to where Hailey laughed and yelled from the bedroom, "Are you for real? You are so sick." So after what felt like losing 80% of my bodily fluids, I climbed into bed at 8:00 p.m. and planned to wake up and cram for my Histology Image exam the next day, which was today. I feel lots better today, too bad Hailey is now sick!
After all this bad happened to me I realize a lot of good has also happened to me.  I passed all of my exams, kinda.  I mean kinda because I got a 67% on my biochem exam, but will most likely be curved to a C-C+ because so many people struggle with that class.  I chose to let that class slide so I could catch up on my Anatomy and that payed off as I aced that exam, which is one of the most difficult classes to do that in first year. So all in all I am passing all my classes with flying colors going into finals.  I have calculated my grades to where I only need to get 50-60% on my final exams to pass my classes.  I hope to do better of course, but that takes off a lot pressure as I am not relying on the finals to pass the classes. The histology image exam went very well today and tomorrow I have a clinical skills exam where I pretend to give a physical to a patient.  Should be fun playing doctor instead of looking at books all day.
Even after all this bad stuff happened I have a lot to be grateful for.  For Thanksgiving Hailey, Olive, and I flew to Utah due to a gracious donation from my Great Aunt Phoebe, and celebrated my Grandma and Grandpa Allen's 65th wedding anniversary.  I was able to catch up with family that I haven't seen in almost 10 years.  It was an amazing experience.  I am so grateful for family.  A lot can happen in a lifetime,  I cannot believe the amazing legacy my grandparents have created.  I cannot even imagine the joy my grandparents felt during that occasion.  I love my family and all the weirdness that comes with it.  That's what carries me through even my bad times.  I realize that I have a lot of "STUFF" that I care about like my computer, my car, my phone, my education, my goals, and the list goes on and on. What truly matters is family and people!  I love my family and I still have a family even when I wreck my car.  Hailey wasn't too happy about that, but she reminded me it could have been worse, Hailey or Olive could have been hurt or I could have been hurt. Point is, life sucks, shiz happens, and money comes and goes, what is left is family and those you love.  God is good, He tries us, and He loves us.  I can't believe I am where I am at in my life and I can't believe I have such a hot wife and cute baby.  I am living my dream and bad things happen, but I take a deep breath and say, "LIFE IS GOOD!"

 Our first family flight! Olive was a wiggle worm, but didn't even cry!

 Grandma Allen is about 85 in this pictured and Olive is 11 months! Olive and her first meeting!

Too bad neither of them will remember this day until the eternities! Haha. Sorry not that funny! Haha

 Part of family pictures! Mom and Olive look like Russians with Yak fur! Ow ow!

 Olive can now say she once met her Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen! What an amazing legacy!

Poor car! My bad!!!!!

What a $50,000/Year Eduction Looks and Feels Like!

I felt it was time I took some pictures of some of my weekly locations and class settings. I also wanted to give a quick summary of my feelings of my education so far in medical school. My educational experience here at PNWU has been amazing.  My class size is around 135 students.  Students are randomly assigned to smaller groups for clinics, labs, and other educational opportunities.  I receive adequate attention and time from professors to get my questions answered and obtain help I need for tougher classes. For example, Gross Anatomy Lab aka the cadaver lab places students in groups of four to dissect and study a cadaver.  I rotate each test block, every 4-5 weeks, between different bodies, lab sections (each have there own assigned professor), and groups of students.  This allows me to meet other students, learn from different professors, and see different cadaver body types. My other labs follow similar rotation patterns.  All in all, my teacher to student ratio is fair and manageable.  When I need help, which is not too often, a professor or tutor is just an email or hand's raise away from helping me.
As for the finances of medical school, do I feel my education is worth $50,000? I would prefer to reword the question and say should my education cost $50,000? Heck no!  All educational costs these days are extremely inflated and so many mismanaged institutions, including state and federal governement, are to blame it's not even funny. Nevertheless, I feel a medical school education is worth every penny because I want to be a physician.  I would pay more than $100,000 a year if it meant in the end I would be a successful and knowledgeable physician.  I have always wanted to be a doctor. Actually, I originally wanted to be a vet because I loved discovery channel, biology, and animals; then I learned that animals aren't as interesting as people. So technically I have wanted to be a physician since I was about twelve years old. The point is I have found what I am passionate about and so nothing will stand in my way of me doing what I want to do. Hailey, Olive, and I are poor, stressed, and happy.  We have God, food, shelter, and friends.  We are in pursuit of my/our dream and a life free of debt and full of happiness.  The journey will take while and we try to enjoy it through its ups and downs.  In the end the hard work will pay off.
Here are so pictures of my class settings I thought would be interesting. I hope it's legal for me to show them. If not I will remove them. Haha.

My Lecture Hall. Mon-Fri I am here 8am-5pm for the most part. Sometimes we have lab instead of lecture or have afternoon study time, but mostly we are in lecture. 

 My home away from home (study cubicle in study hall) 

BTW I am a hug flashcard guy and every four week go through about 300 flashcards

 Osteopathic Principles and Practice Lab

This is where I learn Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, it's like chiropractic with different phylosophy and techniques

 This is Histology Lab.  Back in the day this was studied under microscopes. Now we use digital slides to study human cells and tissues.  My professor is drawing on the projection to explain what we are looking at.  Today we studied the female reproductive system. On my laptop is a slide of a fallopian tube cross section.

Failure Is Sometimes an Option!

Exam block 3 has come to an end. I left the exam block with my brain mostly unscathed. In all my years of education I have never had a series of exams that I felt the load of material was impossible to memorize or understand.  In the past, I had failed exams because of laziness or lack of dedicated study skills. Exam block 3 forced my brain to a level I never thought obtainable and in fact was not fully obtainable.  I ended up passing 7/9 exams. On the positive side, if that was a MLB batting average I would be batting .778, which is Hall of Fame material! I had to prioritize my time in order to fail the least amount of classes.  On average I feel most  of my peers failed at least 2-3 exams. I minimized the damage to my GPA by failing the exams in the classes where exams are weighted less.
Clinical Skills and Community Doctoring have participation points, reports, quizzes, and practical exams that buffer my grade for the occasional failed exam.
For another positive note I definitely improved my physiology grade.  Physiology is one of my favorite classes, but the exams are extremely stressful. The exams have around 50 minutes to answer 40 questions.  Sounds doable and it is, but physiology exams get my pits sweating every time I click the BEGIN button on that exam.  The reason physiology is so stressful is due to the fact that we have an amazing professor who loves to challenge us.  The questions she asks are pretty straight forward, but are multilevel questions.  So knowing a complete concept and not just parts of a concept is very important.  Our topics for this exam were about blood, circulatory shock, and heart disease.
Most of my other grades remained about the same, and I continue to get mostly B's and a few A-'s in medical school, which is well above my expectations of what I thought I would be able to accomplish.
Life is pretty good now that exam block 3 is over and Thanksgiving break is the light at the end of the tunnel.  After Thanksgiving break comes exam block 4 and then finals.  Medical school is definitely feeling doable, still stressful, but doable!
Immediately after the test block, Hailey and I headed to a small retreat with some ward friends, and also distant relatives.  We went to one of the LDS camps called Camp Zarahemla by Clear Lake, WA.  We roomed in a large lodge with 4 other families and had a blast playing games, eating good food, and relaxing on couches by a large wood furnace.  Olive was not the happiest camper that night.  We probably only got 4-5 hours of sleep on and off as she was waking up and thinking it was play time. She is going through a phase where she can't sleep if someone is in the room with her and she is waking up every 4 hours at night.  We're working on that. Here are some fun pictures of our adventure.

Should Doctors be the Dealers of Death?

The past couple of weeks has been flooded by media about assisted suicide and ebola!  I will put my ebola lecture aside for this upcoming week as we are having a specific lecture covering it extensively to help educate our families and the public about it.  As for assisted suicide I felt I would lend some personal insight as to how I feel about it.
This summer my wife Hailey and I had the opportunity to serve one of the greatest families I have ever known, the family of Clyde and Carol Morgan.  Clyde and Carol were the next door neighbors to my wife growing up.  Hailey was particularly close to Clyde and Carol.  Carol became Hailey's best friend through the years and they went to movies, parties, and other events together on a regular basis.
Clyde passed away early in 2014 from complications to his lifelong battle with lupus.  His death was extremely painful for all who were deeply influence by his adventurous life, quick wit, and loving personality.
Shortly after his death Carol Morgan began to show signs of increased confusion and forgetfulness.  The onset of these symptoms was immediately attributed to the death of her husband as the symptoms became observable right after his death and funeral.  As the weeks went by we became more concerned as Carol continued to become more confused and forgetful.   One day Carol's daughter went to her home to check on her and noticed her neck was swollen. Carol was taken to her family doctor and later to the hospital due to suspicious swelling in the neck.  After a complete evaluation and through a cranial CT the doctors found cancer in Carol's brain.  Further biopsies revealed it was Glioblastoma Multiforme.
Glioblastoma Multiforme is the most common type of brain cancer.  It is caused by the over replication of astrocyte cells in the brain.  Astrocytes are a type of glial cells in brain. Glial cells are brain supporting cells. Astrocytes help to provide nutrients and structure to the neurons in the brain.  In Glioblastoma Multiforme the astrocytes multiply uncontrolled and smother the normal brain tissue killing the neurons of the brain causing a wide variety of symptoms depending on the location of the tumor.
Hailey and I were living next door to Carol when she was diagnosed with and began fighting her cancer. She started radiation and chemotherapy at a skilled nursing center.  After a month her insurance no longer covered the skilled nursing facility. With our CNA background, Hailey and I offered to step in and provide temporary 24 hour care for Carol in order to help her and her family get the best care possible until one of her children could move in with her. I don't think Hailey and I realized how difficult the struggle would be for Carol and ourselves.
Carol was such a sweetheart and the strongest individual I have ever met.  When we stepped in she was starting her first round of oral chemotherapy. The drugs made her so sick.  She would be so sick she couldn't sleep. She would beg us for over 30 minutes each night for us not to give it to her, but we  encourage her to continue the fight for her children. In the end she knew she wanted to fight for them.
Carol through all her pain, confusion, nausea, fatigue, and numerous other side-effects was always able to put on a smile each day and thank us for helping her.  Her struggle was very hard for me to watch.  I had never seen someone so close to me hurt so much and be so close to death.
The cancer was so aggressive in Carol's case, that even the oncologists stated it was one of the most aggressive cancers they had ever seen in their careers.  The combination of radiation and chemo was estimated to give her a year to live and unfortunately only gave her six weeks. After Hailey and I moved in, Carol lived for a little over three weeks. I can't even begin to explain the depth of grief I felt, let alone the grief of Hailey and Carol's family. I am so grateful that Carol fought and proved her love for life, her children, and God.
The very idea of taking a pill to end her own life was not even a consideration in Carol's mind. I am sure she knew this would be the very fight of her life, but she willing to FIGHT!  She wanted to live and enjoy her last moments.  I am sure she didn't want to spend her last moments sick in bed and fighting not only the cancer, but also the side-effects of chemo and radiation; however, she did! In so doing she demonstrated that life in the lowest of lows is worth living.  Life is a divine gift that God has given man to be stewards of.
We are stewards of our own lives primarily and then in the lives of those we love.  As a future physician my oath states "But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God."
To me, giving a pill to end a life is playing at God; therefore, against any doctor's oath to give such a pill. I feel the physicians who participate in assisted suicide are neither logical nor God-fearing men/women.  For if suicide was supposed to be a choice, why then do we not have biological mechanism for self termination? We do not.  The only options for suicide are self inflicted through external tools and instruments.
Suicide in numerous cases is due to many complications of the mind and soul, for those cases I leave judgement up to God; nevertheless, for an individual who is hoping to escape a struggle in life, I say it is cowardice.  Life is worth living in all of its highs and lows.
Having seen Carol Morgan and her divine struggle, I realize now that the fight is worth it.  If not worth it to them that struggle than worth it to those who saw the struggle.  Carol's fight demonstrated to me that God has a plan for all His children. Life is not easy! But it has purpose. Through Carol's fight with cancer I realized that I must appreciate the moments God has given me.  In the end the only things that matter are the relationships we leave behind and those we create for the eternities.
At the end of all this ranting thank goodness the judgements of all people is left up to God.  I cannot justify the actions of another person, nor understand why a person chooses things contrary to my beliefs.  I respect the choices of others when it comes to assisted suicide, but I do not condone them in the least. Sorry this post was a little long, but I felt it was a great topic for self-reflection for me and my past experiences relating to current events. Here are some pictures of Carol and her family and our experience with her. Notice she is always smiling! Love life people! Love you forever Morgan family!

                                                         Carol and Clyde at our wedding!

                     Carol in the hospital after tests and getting ready to start chemo and radiation!

                                                  Carol and her kids. Her pride and joy!

Is God in Medicine?

I sure hope God is in medicine.  In only two short years, I will be out the classroom and begin rotating between different specialties in the medical profession. Then in four years, I will be in my residency tending to patients who need physical, mental, and often spiritual help.  I can't imagine the pressure that I will face when it's my turn to save the life of another human being, one of my spiritual brothers or sisters.

I know that God is in the medicine.  For I would not be in medical school had it not been for countless divine miracles and the loving sacrifices of many, especially my wife and family.  I hear about so many who struggle to get into medical school, often applying two to four times before they get in. Through the last little savings we had, and through family loans, Hailey and I scratched by just enough to take the MCAT and apply to just four medical schools.  With the stress of a baby on the way and being the poorest we have ever been on our own, Hailey and I put all our chips in.  With some amazing letters of recommendations from professors, researchers, and a friend, I was lucky enough to get an interview and acceptance to the top school of my choice.  Some people may say I deserved it or that I worked hard to get in, but honestly getting into medical school is more than handwork, dedication, and accomplishments. I feel these things are only about 50% of the struggle.  The rest involves luck, interview skills, timing, and divine help.  Why did the interviewers feel I said something special? Why did they choose me over another kid who had better grades, scores, and accomplishments?  I feel my greatest strength comes from the truth I know about God.  That is that He is real. He loves me. He knows my struggles. He loves everyone equally. 

God knew I needed to get into school, he knew I was under a lot of pressure. I prayed for help in my interview as I struggled dealing with the anxiety and pressure of being successful for my little family.  I was interviewed only 7 days after Olive was born.  I was sleep deprived, stressed, and scared that all our hard work would have been in vain.  But as I was on my knees praying the night and morning before my interview I remember feeling peace, love, and strength from God.  I began seeing all the things He had done for me in my life.  From the opportunities I had through my education and research I was able to gain the experiences needed to become a successful physician. Through my work I gained countless hours of medical experience and met my wife Hailey. Through my study abroad for international business I found a medical research opportunity. God places people and experiences in our lives so that we can be our best selves and accomplish our goals if we are true to ourselves and what we believe.

In the field of medicine I don't believe a doctor has gone through his career not seeing a miracle.  Life contains so many questions. Science and medicine can answer so many of those questions.  But for the questions science can't explain, believing in God and Jesus Christ provides answers for me. I am a Mormon and proud to say that God is in my life and I always want him to be.

For an awesome story about surgery and prayer by one of the greatest heart surgeons of all time here are a few links:
Russel M. Nelson Bio
http://www.healthcare-administration-degree.net/20-most-innovative-surgeons-alive-today/
Story of Prayer and Heart Surgery: Begins at the paragraph heading "Personal Experience with Prayer"
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2003/04/sweet-power-of-prayer?lang=eng

Getting Ahead To Stay Ahead: Test Block #2

I completed my second round of exams better than the first.  This is great for me because as the semester comes to an end I will feel less pressure to have to ace all my finals as my grades will be high enough to buffer my grade. This test block I switched up my studying strategies for a few classes which helped give me more time to study.  For Anatomy and Physiology, I ended up skipping the majority of the lectures.  This sounds like a bad thing not going to class, but Anatomy and Physiology are pretty straight forward subjects. Learn what the structure is, why it's that way, what it does, and what can go wrong with it. The lectures have long handouts and power points that I can download and read on my own. So instead of class I would go to my study cubicle and review the material in half the time and begin memorizing the material. I did a similar strategy for Cell Biology. I feel medical school is tough, but definitely doable if it's my full time job and extra job on the side.  Lecture time is about 32-40 hours a week, which is a lot compared to many other medical schools. Many MD schools put students on self study programs or only have lectures schedule in the morning and not the afternoon. DO schools have added curriculum through Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine techniques and philosophy. So even after spending 32 hours a week in the classroom, I put in 4-5 hours a day studying on my own in order to stay ahead.

Anatomy and Osteopathic Medicine this test block focused on the anatomy and functions of the upper limb. Lectures covered the shoulder, elbow, and wrist extensively. I learned about all the nerves, arteries, veins, muscles, fascia, tendons, and bones of the arm. I also learned about how to diagnose the more common disfunctions of these joints. The hardest exam for sure was Anatomy lecture, same as last test block. Anatomy lecture tests have so much material. 

Other subjects covered topics such as regulation of the blood and circulatory system, DNA replication, and protein synthesis. Histology was also a huge subject this test block as we added an image exam to this test block.  The image exam was easier than I thought it was going to be and that is only because I studied my butt off for it. We were shown images from muscle, nerves, bone, lymph nodes, spleen, connective tissue, bone marrow, blood, and many more. We had to identify the type of cells located in these tissues. In the end I took 9 exams and I have one more exam this upcoming Wednesday.  This exam is for Osteopathic Medicine and covers muscle and fascial treatments that we have learned so far this semester. 

Let's hope I can get back in the mood to study some more. Usually after an exam block I take a few days to recoup and give my brain a break. But we will see how it goes.  

Let's Get Real!

         After a hard day of class, studying, and labs I remembered an experience I had this past June that shed some light on how little people understand about the difficulties of becoming a doctor. In June after I told my fellow CNA employees that I was quitting and was going to medical school one of them said in a rude tone, "Congrats, just don't forget where you came from!" At the moment I was caught off-gaurd by the comment and told her of course I wouldn't. After all I was a CNA, the janitor of the health care field, for over five years.  Then I put myself to thinking and I said to myself, "HOW DARE SHE SAY THAT!" Here comes my ranting, but she has no idea the stress, money, worry, anxiety, time, and dedication it takes to even to get into medical school.  Now, after my first exams and another grueling test block just around the corner I repeat, "HOW DARE ANYONE," think that a good doctor, who works his whole life to be successful, would ever forget where they came from and why they are in the medical field. If anyone or anything causes us to forget where we came from it would be from the ignorant patients and people who lack gratitude and empathy for the men and women in the medical field.
          I think my wife Hailey would back me up on this one, but it has been a long journey and we still have 7 more years. Does anyone know how many hours I usually spend with Hailey and my baby Olive a day? Probably about 2 maybe 3 hours.  So while the majority of all other college graduates have a blossoming career, a 9-5 job, and time with their families, I am still a full-time student x 2.
          I have been on the side of where I believe doctors get payed too much. In college I had a bad stomach issue and with crappy insurance I was billed $800 for a basic 20 minute visit to have the doctor tell me they would run some tests and refer me to a GI doctor. So yeah I can see why people feel doctors are in it for the money and get payed too much.
         Now that I am in the ditches and trenches of medical school I realize why doctors can be jerks sometimes, and why they want to have a nice car and big house. Because we earn it.  By the end of my medical school journey I will hopefully walk away with just under $300,000 in debt. That could buy me a nice house in Idaho or Utah. Most doctors take close to 15-20 years to finally pay off their medical school debt.  I am going to charge you and your insurance every dime I can because I need the money.   I come out of medical school and residency with so much debt that it would be equivalent many people paying a mortgage without even owning a home.  So when the Bennion's do settle down, I will be paying all the normal payments a normal person makes when they start there married post education life plus my medical school debt. My payment estimates will be around $3,000-$4000 a month! So maybe I will be earning around $15,000 a month but 1/3 of it goes toward loans. And what happens if I want to build my own practice? Oh yeah I will have to be paying for the cost of my building, the office employees, the nurses, the MA's, malpractice, and all the other associated costs. So people please open your minds as to what doctors have to pay for and why they may charge you and your insurance a couple hundred dollars for a routine visit.
        So to those who hope I never forget where I came from to you say, "Don't you forget what I am going through and the pressure of trying/learning to save lives, heal bodies, and not get sued in the process." I love medicine and for that I am striving to be a doctor.  Medicine is not the most lucrative profession, especially when looking at the amount of time and training involved in become a doctor. There are many types of doctors in the world, good and bad.  But for those who don't like a doctor or think he/she has horrible bedside manner, take a moment and reflect upon the life and training of that doctor. Gain some empathy for every physician in the medical field, even if you feel some of them are jerks.
       After stepping off my soapbox I now want to make you happy. So here are some pictures of my family at my little sister Katee's wedding. I love my family. They support me in so much! Love you all! Don't forget who you are too! HAHA

Test Block #2 Speedily Approaches

The test anxiety continues to build as the next round of tests start next Monday.  This round of exams will be a little different as we are introduced to a practical exam and a histology lab exam.  These practical exams are more intense and more hands on. The histology exam is a microscopic slide exam. The professor will show us a zoomed out picture of a particular tissue sample, then he will zoom in to higher magnification, and then even higher magnification, and then will point to a cell or structure and we will have to guess what he is pointing out.  So far we have covered well over 30 types of tissues and the different types of cells and structure in these tissue are astronomical. When I think about all the possible things he could test on, it gives me anxiety.  Luckily I have dedicated a lot of time to this class and so hopefully I will do well.  Active recall and fill in the blank tests are much more difficult than multiple choice.
I will also be having a Osteopathic Principles and Practice practical exam where I will have to demonstrate manipulation techniques to certain body parts.  Much of what we have learned so far is about manipulation of tissues, particularly the fascia.  For those who don't know, fascia is a type of connective tissue that is located in-between muscles and layers of your body.  A poor analogy of this would be if you put a piece of silk fabric between your two hands and slid your hands back and forth along the silk fabric. Your hands would be your muscles and the silk sheet would be the fascia.  Fascia is anatomically important as it helps to divide body compartments, provide circulation, support, and reduce friction to your muscles and cavities. Many studies believe that when you have a "knot" in your back, the knot is not a muscle knot, but more of a fascial knot.  So our practical exam focuses much not he muscles of the neck and back. Most of the techniques I have learned look like modified stretches and massage to joints and muscles. Later on in the year we will be learning techniques similar to chiropractors where we use quick movements to align "pop" and fix muscle/bone issues. If you want to learn more about what makes a DO different from and MD then google Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine to give you a sense of what I will be learning and what make me similar/different from MD's and Chiropractors.
The other exams are similar to last test block where the instructors force information down our throats with the hopes that we retain at least 75% of the information.  From last test block the stakes have been upped as the material has become more difficult and the information is compounding on previously learned concepts.  I feel confident in my strategies and studying plans from last test block and feel they will work in all my classes except Anatomy.  I passed my Anatomy exam but just above the lower end of the average. I hope to put in more time with hopes to make up for my lower score from last exam. The exam will be on the upper limb.  This includes lots and lot of nerves, arteries, muscles and tendons that control movement in the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand.
Anyways this is a quick update for my blog.  I will update some more when I need to take another break from my endless studying.  I feel studying serves as a good anti-anxiety drug.  The upcoming test cause anxiety and the only way to feel better is to study, study, study! My next post I will post pictures about Katee's wedding and some recent events.

Exam Block One is Done and Done

So four weeks of hard work boiled down to ten exams in two days. The experience was a mixture between an anxious nightmare and pat on the back.  The exam block, as it is called, felt like all my science finals over four years wrapped into two days. The reason things were so nerve racking was because failure in medical school is not much of an option unless you don't want to become a doctor and want to drown in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. If we fail an exam, which is getting below a 75%, then we have to receive help to make sure that does not happen again in that same class. Failure in any course at the end of the year results in failing out of school.
The exams were also a pat on the back because my hard work did pay off.  My exams included Anatomy Lecture, Anatomy Lab, Physiology, Microbiology, Clinical Skills, Osteopathic Principles, Microbiology, Cell Science, Epidemiology, and Histology. In all exams I received or felt confident I got B or better in; however, the Anatomy Lecture exam is the one I am worried about. I don't know my grade currently. The lecture material covered imaging techniques, muscle and bone attachments, muscle movement, nervous system pathways, and embryology.  The part of the exam that hurt me the most by far was embryology, and specifically the signals which make it all possible. It was rough and I hope I passed.
I learned that Anatomy Lecture exams are much harder than I expected and require ample time to prepare. The amount of material to cover is tough.  If I could take it all back, I would have subtracted some time from my Cell Science and Microbiology classes to focus more on Anatomy.  But all in all I feel if I passed 9 out the 10 exams for every test block, as long as they are different each time, I consider myself a decent medical student. Sounds bad saying a future doctor is okay with failing tests, but if you were to put yourself in my shoes I am sure you would feel the same.
In celebration of my test block success I will now eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch and watch Netflix.  Hailey and Olive flew out of the week and I won't see them until next Thursday. Which makes my celebration quite lonely. Haha. My girls flew out to see Grandma and Grandpa Harlan and then we will all reunite at Katee's wedding next Thursday. Thanks for reading my posts. I hope my family enjoys reading about my journey.  Thank for all the love, support, and prayers.

Miss my girls! Have fun in Utah and see you in Idaho!!!

Time Flies When in Love and in Medical School

Hailey and I have officially been married for over two years. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary this past Saturday and Sunday. We were married August 24, 2012 in the Provo Temple.  As medical school has begun, Hailey and I have had a lot of time apart and a lot of time with friends.  We spend 90 minutes together in the evening to eat and put Olive to bed then I don't come home until it's time for bed. This has been a huge adjustment compared to our adventures this past summer. We didn't realize how much we missed each other until we were able to go on a date with just the two of us. Saturday night we planned to go out to eat at Olive Garden and then go bowling.  The night turned out to be just us eating and talking.  We love to talk. I don't know if our friends and family realize this! Haha. Anyways I just love my Hailey! She is so fun to be around!
So we got home around eight and put Olive to bed.  We stayed up watching Parks and Rec and then went to bed.  We woke up for church at 7:30 a.m. and Hailey said, "Let's go to Mt. Rainier." When she said it I felt like we needed to take this time to go on one more weekend adventure before things got too crazy.  The next few weekends will be nuts.  This weekend I will be studying non-stop for our first test block, the following weekend Hailey leaves for Utah, the weekend after that is Katee's wedding, and after that we will be getting close to another test block.  So yeah I will miss church one Sunday to keep my marriage strong and have a fun time.  Don't judge us because we sin different from you.  But we probably should have at least gone to sacrament. Haha.
Mount Rainier was amazing. The views were incredible. From Yakima the drive to Mt. Rainier is an hour and forty minutes. We arrived at the park and did a small hike called Myrtle Falls and then took a detour to get some better views of the mountain.  Then we went on another hike called the Grove of the Patriarchs.  This post is short but here are pictures of our adventure. I love my girls!

Snowball Effect

Overwhelming, frustrating, impatient, and difficult could all be words that describe my second week of medical school classes here at PNWU. Though I sound negative I still love being a medical student. I guess I am just not used to the snowball effect and the amount of information my instructors want me to know. The most difficult part of my studies is not the material, but managing of the material, understanding the class structure, keeping all the facts straight, and figuring out how to prepare.  About every 2nd year student on campus has a different study system.  So I have chosen to appreciate their advice, but I need to build my own system.
Out of all my classes, the top two that have the most material are Histology and Anatomy.  Histology, the study of tissues, is beginning at the basics.  I think most people believe that doctors jump into medical school learning about drugs and doing stitches, NOPE!  We learn about cells, organelles, intercellular junctions, and then we combine those cells to make tissues and then organs. Then we learn about diseases to those tissues and organs.  It's amazing that all disorders and diseases happen on such a microscopic level, but when you go to a doctor he/she tells you the basics. For example they tell you, you have a asthma , and gives you a steroidal inhaler.  But maybe what's really happening is the cell protein receptors in your trachea are overly excited so you need a beta protein receptor inhibitor, albuterol or epinephrine, to turn off the activation chain of the action potential for the smooth muscle contraction.  Did I sound smart there? Maybe to an average person? But that is just the tip of the iceberg and very superficial knowledge compared to what I have to know for exams. I would probably fail an exam with that explanation.
As far as anatomy goes, the sheer load of material is crazy. Undergraduate anatomy was easy.  We only had one semester so we sprinted through the body systems memorizing all the main structures. In med school we learn every detail, including but not limited to the nerves, blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and so forth. I know it's a necessity, after all I am going to be a doctor. But my lands, it's sometimes hard to see the big picture when we start anatomy learning about the vertebral column and back. I guess we have to start somewhere.
The overall experience is a rush everyday. Time flies when anxiety distills in my gut from the pressure to study and keep up with my peers. The tough part is being away from my wife and baby.  I usually leave home around 6am and don't get home until 6-7pm.  Then I relax, give Olive a bath, play a little, and then get back to studying until late.  The time is flying by and my little girl is growing up so fast already.  Anyways this was just a little tidbit of how I feel classes are going.  Thank you all for following me.
BTW I have my first anatomy dissection lab tomorrow in anatomy. I didn't realize this before, I don't know why, but I just realized last week that I will be the one cutting into the cadaver.  We have  book that teaches us how to cut up a human body.  That is kinda morbid to think about, but I am excited for it in a non creepy way.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to work on a real human body and am grateful for the good people who donate their bodies for science.  
Thanks for the follows and reads.  I am getting back to my studies.

Orientation Done Real Class Starts

Wow, the real work is now beginning. So my first semester is loaded with all of my tough undergrad classes all thrown in to one semester. My classes include Microbiology, Cellular Science, Anatomy, Physiology, and Histology. In addition to these classes we have labs and technical training classes.  These classes cover dissection, clinical skills, osteopathic manipulative medicine, and general patient interaction scenario role playing.  PNWU is very patient oriented and so their curriculum in the technical training is based on building people skills and learning how to build patient-doctor relationships, which I feel is a much needed skill in todays medical world.
So we are in class everyday Mon-Fri from 8am to 5pm.  So far my study schedule is in the works. I am shooting for studying about 5 hours a day Mon-Fri and then hitting Saturday for about 8-10 hours so I don't have to study on Sunday.
The curriculum is system based.  So we focus on things that have to do with certain body systems at a time like the musculoskeletal system, endocrine system, reproductive system, and so forth.  Every system we cover for about 4 weeks then we take two days to take exams.  These are called test blocks.  Some test blocks we can have up to 14 exams.  All are formatted to be simulate our board exams.
Out of all the classes so far the only class I feel nervous about is Histology.  This is the study of human tissues and cells. From what I gathered from second year students here on campus, Histology is the class that takes up the majority of study time during semester one. Every week we are hit with about 50 pages of notes and about 20 pages of followup questions and answers.  Lots of stuff and honestly I did not know how I will fit it all in my brain, but obviously it is possible.
My school has a phenomenal philosophy about the success of students in their pursuit to become a physician.  About 10-15 years ago the philosophy revolved around the idea that only 2 out of 3 doctors make it out of medical school.  My school believes if they do not provide the tools for every student to become a physician they have failed.  The United States is currently facing a shortage of primary care physicians so why make the shortage worse. Now this is not to sound as if our school is lowering the bar in their training.  Currently our students have a 96% board pass rate and we score  well above the national average on our boards.
Anyways enough bragging about my university.  I am excited to be a doctor in training.  The road ahead is long, but if I put my nose to the books, I am sure it will pass by pretty quick.

This is a picture of me with my official student doctor ID badge. The feeling is still surreal being here in medical school. I think that will wear off pretty soon as the first test block is in 3 weeks.

Life After Acceptance and the White Coat Ceremony

So after such a long blog post I realized I need to shorten this next one for everyone's sake.  So here it goes. I received my acceptance letter and phone call a week after my interview in January.  From then I worked my last job as a CNA in Spanish Fork until July.  We then packed up for Yakima and moved here July 16th with some awesome, wonderful help from our Aunt Kara, Grandpa Neal, Papa Dave, and Camille.  Now we are moved in and are making this place our new home.  Rumor has it that my current class has about 36 LDS students, which is pretty amazing odds.  Just in our town home complex we have about 13 LDS couples and small families.  Our ward is amazingly outgoing and we have had non-stop love and support.
Our first few weeks here flew by as we were getting our utilities set up, applying for government benefits, and unpacking our belongings.  We also managed to fit in some fun family outings as well.
So the state of Washington has some pretty amazing government benefits due to the every growing need of immigrant workers in the fruit industry up here.  We were put on food stamps,  WIC, and medicaid in just a week. That is because my income fell to zero once I became a student. In Utah, had we signed up for those benefits, that would have taken over 2 months.  I think some people look down on us for maybe getting on benefits, but they are probably not going to medical school and are not obtaining $80,000 in debt per year including interest.  That's right, my tuition costs $49,000 a year and the addition $31,000 is taken out for living and other school expenses. So yes I will sign up for every benefit available so as to not take out more loans to live on, thank you very much.
Anyways, lets get on to the first week of school.  So days 1-5 of school was full of general orientation to technology, a service project, the class schedule, and general scare tactics that basically were, "if you don't study more than 50 hours a week on top of the 40 hours of class you will fail." So that was nice.  Then Saturday we had our white coat ceremony which included our taking of the osteopathic oath.  These next pictures are the pictures of my first week of school and the events.

Day 1                                   Orientation

White coat ceremony

Application + Ovulation Cycle

This may get a little personal, but after six months of being married, Hailey and I realized that the pill was making her crazy. So we switched our family planning methods and we found out we were fertile within about 4 months. Surprise, surprise! I was shocked it lasted that long. Anyways we were surprised, scared, and excited to be parents. Heck, when we found out we were pregnant we both sat by the bathroom and cried. We were both so emotionally confused that I do not know if we were experiencing tears of joy, fear, anxiety, or all the above. Nonetheless our baby girl was coming! We are so glad she did! Olive Rose Bennion was born toward the end of the medical school application cycle, haha, in December 2013.

So bring it back about seven months and we begin the medical school application cycle. So what is the medical school application cycle you ask? A nightmare! Before even applying it's your task to complete an undergraduate degree and all of the schools individual premed pre-requisites which take about four years to complete by themselves. They include English, biology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus, anatomy, physiology, and all the labs associated with those classes. After that is done you must prepare to take the $275 MCAT during your junior or senior year. I could spend a whole blog post talking about how much I hated the MCAT. But I will not for my sanity! I took the MCAT for the first time in June 2013. My preparation for that exam included a semester long free prep course and two weeks of self-study right after coming home from a medical research project to Peru. So of course I did not feel prepared and I entered the exam room about ready to throw up and poop my pants at the same time. Due to my stress level and lack of preparation, I did not do too well on the exam. A few weeks later I got my score, it was a 23. For those who do not know, 24 is about the lowest score you can get and still get accepted into a medical school. The national average for M.D. schools is about a 30. So I was very disappointed with my score and to show how disappointed I was, I went to my bed room and buried my face in the pillow for about an hour. Hailey tried to console me, but I told her to get away. I was so mad. The next day I came up with a new study plan. I obtained some new study materials and hit the library for about eight hours a day for the next six weeks. I retook the last available exam in September. I improved my score dramatically and proved to myself that I can work through failure.

 Just a brief exlination of the MCAT, it is a 4 hour exam that includes a physical science section, biological science section, and verbal reasoning section. The verbal reasoning section is a load of crap. You basically read passages about butterflies, crime rates, Eskimos, or whatever milarky they decide they want you to read. Then you answer trick questions about what you read in the passage. Questions sound like, "if this author were to write a passage about gun law instead of butterflies what would be the tone of his passage?" Then the answer would be something like, "Potato." It really wasn't that bad, but it kind of felt that way. The physical science section covered inorganic chemistry and physics. Which most students learn about two-three years prior to taking the MCAT. So that is a lot of review. The biological science section contains anatomy, physiology, biology, and organic chemistry. In short, the exam is loaded with tons of material and it is a horrible determinant of medical school success. Stats will tell you it isn't but I believe it is, at least in my case.

So after you are finished with all your prereqs, and taking the MCAT, now the real work begins. First you must pay to use the med school online application service. This costs about $300 for your first time use and about $30-$50 for each school applied to. With Hailey's and my great saving skills, we only had enough money to apply to about 4 to 5 schools. Most students apply to at least 15. With my own personal believes, my scores and grades, and a bunch of other factors, I thought my chances were best to apply to DO schools. They are in the long run more expensive, but they are a little easier to get into and provide great education for doctors wanting to going to primary care medicine. So I began my search for DO schools and found 4 to 5 schools I want to apply to.

My top three schools were Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Midwestern University in AZ, and AT Still in AZ. My primary application cost cost was about $600. After schools receive your primary applications and see that you meet the minimum requirements they send you a secondary application attached with another $50 to $100 fee. All of the applications include about 2 to 3 essays that are very tedious and critical, luckily I had a lot of family to help me edit and proofread my essays. 

So with all my primary and secondary application fees I ran into about $1200 worth of expenses. This is only to five schools and this does not include travel expenses for interviews. After the schools receive all my applications I then waited.  I immediately received rejections from my bottom schools. From my top two school I receive one interview and one wait list spot. The odds were not much in my favor, but I guess one in five is not too bad. A lot was riding on my interview to Pacific Northwest University.  It was a good thing I had great letters of recommendation and a friend who had connections. I received my interview in January just two weeks after Olive was born. I nailed the interview with flying colors and was accepted to Pacific Northwest University. 

The interview flight cost me about $400. And then I had to come up with $1000 deposit to hold my spot. Thank goodness for the blessings of family and tithing, or Hailey and I would not of been able to come up with the money to pay for my MCAT and medical school applications.  So all in all we dropped about $3200 in application costs. I could have paid off my car or paid for a luxury second honeymoon with that money! 

Well, I think this post is long enough. I will continue with our journey after my acceptance and our move to Yakima in the next post! Here are some cute pictures of Olive. Kinda random but I love to show how adorable she is! 

 

Post High + Undergrad

After I graduated from high school, I decided to continue my passion for baseball and went to play at the College of Eastern Utah. I play for one year, then left on an LDS mission. I served my mission in New Jersey and learned to speak Spanish. After returning from my mission, I attended my second year at the College of Eastern Utah. After tearing my lateral meniscus, ending my baseball career, and receiving my Associates of Science, I transferred to Utah State University. From there I decided to study international business and economics. My hopes for this degree was to understand how the business world, private business, and the medical field function. I was sorely disappointed as I only learned basic business world knowledge and how it functions in general. The greatest asset I acquired in my undergraduate degree was the ability to manage, cooperate, and work with people of diverse backgrounds. I also gained a passion to study abroad. During my time at Utah State, I also continued to develop my love for science through my pre-med prereqs. I graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelors in international business , a Bachelors in economics, and I minor in chemistry. I graduated in December 2013. 

Now I would be selfish if I didn't mention how, when, and where I met my wife, Hailey! She has been as much a part of my journey as I have. I began working as a CNA during my second year at the College of Eastern Utah. When I transferred to Logan, Utah, I continued working as a CNA in an assisted living home. I met my wife working as a CNA in Logan.  We were wiping bums, transferring patients, and giving bed baths together for over four months before I got the nerve to ask her on our first date, which by the way was to my fraternity's white trash dance party. The theme was white trash. We had a blast and ended up talking about some pretty deep stuff while there was Lil Jon playing in the background. We also drew figures on our arms with highlighters because we were sitting under black lights. How romantic! Anyways, long story short from that day on we pretty much spent every day together for seven months. Then we got engaged. And then we got married, typical Mormon style. We have been happy ever since, minus the stress of getting into medical school! Which will be my next post!

My Intro: The Tip of the Iceburg

I was born in Bountiful, UT in 1987.  From there until six I lived in Magna, UT.  My dad, a recent college graduate, then landed a solid job in Idaho Falls, ID. Good old Idaho Falls is where I tell people I am from. I grew up playing baseball, exploring the outdoors, and staying out of trouble. Putting all the small details aside I would say that I had a pretty regular childhood for a southeast Idaho boy, minus harvesting potatoes. Sorry had to throw that in there.
My passion for medicine actually started in the animal kingdom. Growing up I had dogs, lizards, fish, and all sorts of pets that I could capture.  I loved the living world and continually strove to know how things worked in those tiny animal bodies.  I remember on many occasions capturing spiders and cutting them up to look at them under a microscope. Kinda weird!  One of the coolest moments I remember from my childhood was when our dog Pepsi, my beloved Pepsi ha ha, gave birth to her first litter of puppies.  Though the experience was slightly traumatic to a young preteen boy, I quickly realized life was a miracle. I wanted to study that miracle.
My love for animal life put me first into the mindset to become a veterinarian; however, after I grew older and began to travel the world, I realized that I enjoy learning about the lives and science of people more than animals.  So tossing the dream of becoming a vet aside, I set my sites on becoming a physician.
Idaho Falls was luckily home to many great physicians, many of which were my friends fathers.  I loved to hear and observe the types of lives and jobs these men had.  They were men who seemed to be cut from a different cookie cutter. Their lives were lives a service and though I saw at times they were stressed and tired, I saw a sense of joy that  came from their line of work. I wanted to enjoy my work and serve others.
The past summary was just the tip of the iceberg of why I want to be a physician. I could do some name dropping and shout outs to all the people in my life who got me this far, but honestly the amount of people that influenced my life up to this point is astronomical and frankly I would probably miss someone and feel bad. In short I wish to thank every member of my family, especially my parents,who have been so supportive. I could not have made it without them. Thank you for letting me take this long, worthwhile  journey. Thank you, thank you, thank you.