Schedules and Handouts

I find myself with a windfall- a predictable schedule and time to breathe, catch up with life, and make handouts.

I am doing something that was unthinkable a few months ago when my schedule was up in the air (literally) due to traveling and interviews. That is, I am making plans. With interviews tucked away, I am slowly filling in my calendar days with long overdue dinner dates with friends, dental appointments (finally), gym visits with my gym buddy, midday swims, shopping trips to update my wardrobe, and weekend trips. Although I always strive to be more spontaneous in my life by relying less on schedule, I am finding a schedule is exactly what I need to structure my life.

Outside the scheduled events, my calendar mirrors that of a second year medical student as I go back to the basics. My official title is medical student intern (which is an oxymoron if you get my drift). In essence, I am a glorified teaching assistant during the life cycle (reproduction and embryology) block. My job is multifaceted, and involves facilitating small groups, making handouts, revising course materials, holding office hours, and attending lectures (for the second time).

From attending lectures, I am quickly learning how hard it is to learn. It's amazing how little one can retain, even the second time around. I have learned that the key to maximizing retention rests in minimizing distractions, which includes laptops with Internet access and iPhones. Wifi is truly a mixed blessing in lecture halls.

While I am blessed with this schedule, I daresay, I will try to complete a couple of essays I have been working on. At this point, revision represents the bane of my existence. While I await for creative juices to help me with revisions, I have also been able to make handouts, an old talent from my teaching days as a second year medical student.

I have included a screen shot of an algorithm to secondary amennorhea that I created, in case you were interested...