To Be...A Spartan MD

Second-year student and  content contributor  for the admissions office , Harminder Sandhu, is taking his experience as a current College of Human Medicine student from the page to behind the camera as he gears up to take over the college's official Instagram account . From his morning routine through class, clinics, and group study, Harminder will spend two days taking followers on an inside look of what it's really like to be a modern medical student. Follow the college's Instagram stories on Wednesday and Thursday (Feb. 20-21) as Harminder will be video streaming about his training and giving his thoughts on the benefits/challenges of medical school as well as the Shared Discovery Curriculum. Who knows? Maybe a guest or two may join. ;) Feel free to interact with Harminder in real-time and DM us your questions/comments. We'll see you then! For now, we'll let Harminder take it from here... Harminder Sandhu is a second-year  College of Human Medici

The Shared Discovery Curriculum (SDC) is a very different curriculum. Of the many ways it differs from your more traditional medical school curricula, the SDC enhances the learning-through-experience mode of training by including personal learning plans. Intersessions are one of the ways each student can customize their experience at the College of Human Medicine. A series of focused topic study courses, Intersessions provide an opportunity for students to dive into particular areas of strength, weakness, and/or interest. Each intersession schedule is tailored to the student. These four-week mini-courses fill in the gaps between the Early Clinical Experience (ECE) and the Middle Clinical Experience (MCE) as well as the MCE and Late Clinical Experience (LCE) prior to the USMLE Step 1 Exam .   Shared Discovery Curriculum Intersessions from MSU MD on Vimeo . "This is different than other medical training programs in that you get to choose what you want to tak

After receiving the acceptance phone call from Dr. Maurer, College of Human Medicine Assistant Dean for Admissions , it kind of seemed surreal that I had been accepted. That feeling could be from dreams I would sometimes have of being accepted only to wake up realizing it hadn’t happened yet. I know. The waiting game is the worst. It didn’t really hit me that I was going to be a doctor until I received my white coat. That made it real. Since the white coat ceremony, we hit the floor running since the first day of class was the day after the ceremony. There was an adjustment period trying to figure out how best to study the material. It wasn’t that the material was difficult to comprehend, it was just the shear volume! You naturally try to find a balance between personal life and school. I think I’ve developed a good balance now to keep myself sane (although I’m sure my classmates will say that’s debatable). After the first couple months of medical school, I’ve definitely le

I walked into the crowded school gymnasium. I didn’t know so many people even existed in my small California town. Yet, here they were, packed into bleachers.  I was very aware of the fresh, minty taste in my mouth—I heard chewing gum helped calm the nerves. Suddenly, the crowd went silent. Now all I could hear was the sound of my shoes, step-by-step, as I continued to make my way up onto the stage and in front of the podium's mic.   "What did I get myself into?" I thought. I had always been somewhat of an introvert. However, I desired to be more social. So what did I do? I decided to run for Class President. I had never given a speech before, let alone in front of an entire school. But here I was.  They chose me. I won. After the elections, I wondered, "Now, how did I manage to pull that off?" Good question. Several years later, I watched Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk that discussed how one should “fake it until you make it.” It really resonated with

People might think I’m crazy, but I was actually excited to move to Michigan from California. It was a nice excuse to travel and explore a new place that I might not have otherwise considered visiting. So far, I love it here. You get to actually experience the four seasons. I moved here in late July and Michigan was gorgeous at the time. I left California experiencing 110 degree summer days to temperatures in the mid-80s and 90s. Fall was also beautiful, but it was way too short! The orange/red hues from the leaves changing colors made for some pretty cool picture ops. Winter has been surprisingly wonderful. Some of my classmates, like myself, were ecstatic to see the first snowfall. This rang true for those classmates from out of state, at least. There were definitely a lot of snaps and excitement that day. I had seen a lot video posts on Snapchat of classmates walking through the snow. I was mesmerized by the beauty of it all. Yeah, it gets pretty cold, but you get acclimat

“Why did you choose medicine?” I get that a lot. In fact, these may be words that medical students and doctors hear the most. Well, maybe second only to “I was googling my symptoms and I think I may have...” I mentioned in one my previous posts that I grew up in a rural farm town in Northern California before being admitted to the College of Human Medicine . Yup, California is more than sandy beaches and a coastline. Growing up surrounded by farms meant that I was able to see the fruits ripen and flowers blossom all around me. Kiwi and strawberries in the winter/spring, peaches and plums in summer, and grapes, almonds, and walnuts in the fall. If you are a fan of the Mediterranean diet, this is the place to be. I watched as the farm workers pulled ripe fruit off trees, one by one. Many wore hats to protect themselves from sun exposure, with no air conditioning in their immediate future. Sweat dripping down their faces and clothes full of dirt, they climbed ladders trying to

How does it feel to complete the first year of medical school? I feel like I have already learned so much in such a short period of time. The year went by so fast! While it feels like just yesterday they presented us our white coats , we are now already a quarter of the way done! With a year of medical school at the College of Human Medicine under my belt, I feel a lot more comfortable knowing what is expected of me as a medical student. Beyond the training's challenges, there was also something interesting (and unexpected) that I learned in the Early Clinical Experience (ECE). Shared Discovery Curriculum ECE from MSU MD on Vimeo . One of the biggest challenges students struggled with from my perspective during first year was simply figuring out how to study. Classes weren’t too bad in undergrad—you put in the work and things went in your favor. At least, it seems that way in hindsight. For me, MCAT prep was challenging relative to undergraduate course work. It w