Author: Anum

Eid celebrations! 

Anum2 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all having a great weekend! Yesterday we celebrated the end of Ramadan with Eid-ul-Fitr and it was really fun (but also really exhausting..). In the morning we woke up and got ready for Eid prayer. Since the Muslim community has grown so much in the past few years, we’ve started having the prayers at the park across the street from the mosque. This year there were approximately 5,000 people at the prayers! It was suuuuuuper hot and we were out in the sun for the whole thing but it was still really great.

After we finish the prayers, we usually try to find the rest of our family and friends and wish them “Eid Mubarak” and there’s lots of hugging involved. This is a part of my clan:

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Eid goodies: chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

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Ramadan is coming to a close and that means it’s time to prepare for Eid celebrations! When we were younger, my friends and I used to give each other gifts but that tradition kind of phased out as we got older. Now I’m in this in between land of being a kid and an ‘adult,’ which means that some family members now expect gifts from me and my husband. They’re, of course, mostly joking but I still wanted to do something nice for the family without breaking our budget. Eid is a very food-centered holiday (yes, we do realize the irony of that after a month of fasting…) so I decided to bake something sweet. Hubby and I have been trying to modify our recipes to make them a bit healthier so I thought I’d try chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. We already had most of the ingredients at home so I just did a quick grocery run to get walnuts, oats and some things for the nachos I’m making for dinner tonight.

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date night 

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Finally had the chance to do a date night with hubby in what feels like forever! It’s definitely difficult to juggle both our schedules plus other family engagements but you gotta make time for what’s important. We went to one of our favorite seafood restaurants in our city. Hubby isn’t a fan of sushi so the only time I get to have any is when I go out with friends or we go to a restaurant that serves other things as well so this place is a great compromise. Although I do end up getting tempura so that he can enjoy it a bit too (yes, I know I’m so considerate…). Read More »

advice for incoming first year medical students

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Congratulations to all you incoming first years!! It really is such a great accomplishment that you’ve made it this far. Welcome to the beginning of your professional career! It’s going to be quite a ride and you’ll probably go through an entire spectrum of emotions on a daily basis but it really is all worth it if you’re here for the right reasons.  Below I’ve included some advice on how to prepare for the first year of medical school.

Some resources I found to be really helpful were:
  1. First Aid – It helped me put everything into the context of the “big picture.”
  2. Essential Anatomy – The app is really helpful for visualizing the muscles and studying origins/insertions/function/innervation/irrigation, especially when you’re not physically in the anatomy lab.
  3. Notability or OneNote – Most of my classmates used either Notability or OneNote for taking notes but I’m not that tech savvy and I learn most when I write things out. And since most of our lecturers used PowerPoints or PDFs of the lectures, I took notes directly on those in class and made one page handwritten outlines for each lecture at home afterwards.

The best way to figure out study methods/materials is to talk to second years in your program. Study methods vary greatly depending on if you’re on a block schedule or if you’re taught by subject. Remember that what works for someone else may not work for you and that’s completely okay. And also remember that there will be times (sometimes every day) when you feel like everyone knows everything and you’re the dumbest person in the class. Let me tell you a secret: everyone in your class feels that way, even the gunners. Don’t let it freak you out. Just do you and help out your classmates when you can. Ask for help when you need it. There’s no shame in needing others. Most medical schools are very different from the “every person for themselves” mentality that most of us are used to from undergrad. Sure you’ll have a couple of those annoying people but for the most part you work as a team so learn to lean on your cohort when you need it.

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anatomy lab reflections part one: “Mr. Williams”

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This is the first in a two-part series of reflections on my time in the anatomy lab during my first year in medical school. It was written after my first day in anatomy lab and reading it even after all this time, and having finished my first year, I can still feel everything I felt on that first day. I’ve had quite a love-hate relationship with the anatomy course this past year but reflecting back now, I know that it has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life. I can say with full confidence that it will allow me to become a better healer in the future.

To those who donated their bodies so we could learn to become better healers: thank you for this selfless and final sacrifice. You have all been the best teachers about both life and death. And for that, I will always be grateful and indebted to you. Thank you.

“Now I am a student of medicine, a field with its own great paradoxes. The first of these I encountered in the anatomy class and is still one of the most powerful: that you begin to learn to heal the living by dismantling the dead.” – Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab by Dr. Christine Montross

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finals attire

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Firstly, I just wanted to share with you all that I passed my exam!! I’m officially a second year medical student!! Thank you so so much to all of you who reached out with love and support. It truly means so much and I’m so grateful. And so excited to finally enjoy summer!

Before moving on, I just wanted to quickly share what I usually wear to non-clinical finals/exams. The name of the game is definitely comfort in these instances because you don’t want anything to cause you to lose focus. I purchased this t-shirt from an online Islamic clothing store called 5ivepillars a few months ago and have worn it to every final ever since. Actually now that I think of it the only time I forgot to wear it was the musculoskeletal exam and I failed that one, so…

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finals woes

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Why does ugly crying have to be a part of every finals week ritual? I mean, I know it’s good for you and helps relieve stress because you’re not just holding everything in. But just once it would be nice to feel like “Yeah! I got this!” It’s the same story with every set of finals: a cycle of doubt, hope and more doubt. Doubt about whether I can do this or if I even deserve to be here. Hope that things will be okay because I’m doing all this with good intentions: to help God’s people heal.

“Inspire me with love for all Thy creatures. May I see in those who suffer only the fellow human being.” – Oath of Maimonides

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outfit for a cloudy day 

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I’ve been pretty cooped up at home studying for the past few days but one of my good friends was visiting from abroad and I’m so glad I got the chance to catch up with her for a few hours! Hanging out with people in Ramadan can be a tad awkward since “hanging out” is usually a food/drink centered activity and we’re fasting, so… But we found a shady spot and just sat and caught up after not seeing each other since December and it was really great. And since I was actually leaving the apartment, I had a reason to put on real clothes.

The weather has been so strange here in SoCal. It’s summer so it’s pretty warm but it’s also been overcast and humid. The weather was giving off a fall vibe so I went with it.

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Ramadan diaries: where is your heart?

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The best Ramadan I think I ever had was the summer before I started college. I had just graduated high school, was pretty much free the entire summer and could devote myself completely to worship. Since then, I have not been lucky enough to have such an opportunity and if I’m being honest, I probably never will again. As I stated in my previous post, I’m currently studying to retake an exam I did not pass earlier this year. There’s a lot of pressure associated with studying for this exam because if I don’t pass I’ll have to repeat first year, which I would of course like to avoid if possible. So needless to say, my main focus these days is studying the musculoskeletal system and unfortunately Ramadan has been on the back burner.

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