Spring semester is coming in 3 days. This semester I'll be taking Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, OB, and Psy. OB and Psy take place one after another, meaning half of the students take OB first while the other half take Psy first then they switched. I'll be taking OB first and do my clinical at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital with 6 other students. Other students have their clinical at Johns Hopkins Hospital, GBMC (Greater Baltimore Medical Center), etc. Pharmacology is offered both in the classroom and online. I signed up for online class because from my past experience, I learn better this way. Note that online students take exams in room 140 with everyone else. Once the semester starts, that marks the beginning of another marathon. I am kind of nervous because the semester will go really really fast and I won't have time to do anything but studying, research, and possibly working. Oooh, that's a lot to handle. Sometime I feel like they train students to be familiar with a fast-pace life style, which most nurses experience at work. hmmmmmmm! I imagine once I graduate from this program, I'll be ready for pretty much anything since I have been drilled so much. Well, that's a good thing, right?
Hmmm, what else will I be doing? I got into the Undergraduate Research Honors Program which requires at least 28 hours of research/semester. My research mentor is Dr. Sarah Szanton who focuses her research in geriatrics, which is one of my nursing interests. I don't know what I will be doing yet actually. I'm in the transition from vacation to marathon so haft of my mind is into California 75 degree with beautiful sunshine and the other haft is excited yet nervous about OB clinical. OB clinical will be awesome. I heard you'll get to do so many things, like giving shots, medications, catheterization, etc. If you're lucky, you'll get to see women in labor and giving births. What a miracle of life! I love nursing school. There is a Vietnamese idiom saying giving birth is the most painful thing and you'll hear a lot of swearing and screaming from the mother. I have never witnessed a live birth or given birth so I'm not sure if that is true. I'll post another one if I get to see one. So excitedddddddddddddd!
Oh one more thing that I need to pay attention to, that is to apply to summer internships/externship. Summer between junior and senior years is the most suitable time for this. And yes, your resume would look so much better with something like, "Summer intern at Johns Hopkins Hospital" rather than "Beach vacation in Florida and California", right? Let's see what I am looking at, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital, Kennedy Krieger, GBMC, University of Maryland in Baltimore, etc. Katie Cruit will keep you updated of whatever internships/externships she knows about. They are all over the country, even abroad. So if you want to spend the summer working in your home state, YES YOU CAN! You can also get your Maryland CNA (certified nursing assistant) after your first semester at Hopkins (considering that you pass all classes with a C- or higher. I think if you are able to get in to Hopkins, that shouldn't be something to worry about.) I personally want to work in Baltimore so I'm looking at hospitals around the neighborhood.
I hope it's not snowing in Baltimore anymore.
Waiting, waiting, waiting.......