Mexico Medical Student |

You thought this series was done, eh? Well, the part about my problems at school is, with this post. The reason it has been so long that I posted an update on my situation is because it took over a week-1/2 to get this point because the dean, Dr. M., was on vacation. All-in-all, though, a lot of what I posted before regarding the school standing in my way, halting my progress, etc. was in fact more miscommunication than malice of intent on the part of the school. To that end, I reposted edited versions of the previous posts (for those that notice a change), that still capture what I was feeling at the time for posterity, but responsibly taking out those things which were later found to be untrue. (of course I kept the originals )

Namely, the big miscommunication was that 1) Dr. M. never said “we didn’t have an agreement,” and 2) I could have taken the segundo exam whenever I wanted, not having to wait until the next exam period (week of July 9th). It was his error in not telling me #2 when we had our meeting, but beyond that (and looking past the ridiculousness of the punishment in the first place), he pretty much only was trying to help. Other staff, including the aforementioned secretary, were grossly negligent in how information was relayed to me. Saying #1 above clearly would leave me with the impression I was duped, but it was compounded by not telling me that I could take the exam at my convenience and that taking it would have allowed my application to have gone through. Important piece of information, but the attitude was more like, “Well, you didn’t ask…” Others simply said they didn’t know what the arrangement was, and that I needed to talk to Dr.M. when he got back from vacation.

To be fair, I bear responsibility as well. If I wasn’t so downtrodden, so at my wits end with so many things not going right in my life, with the universal pre-boards stress on top of it all, I probably done what I normally would have done–hopped in the car, driven to the office, and have been prepared to open a can of whoop-ass on any who dared mess with my future; I’d then find out about all the above that should have been relayed, and prompt resolution would have probably followed. (To survive here, BTW, you have to constantly overlook the fact that such measures shouldn’t even have to be taken, but going down that path every time will just lead to either insanity or assault.) Feeling a shell of my normal self, I simply caved in on the weight of my own problems, and by the time I “came to” about the situation, Dr. M. was already on vacation. I know he left someone in charge, but knowing who that was (and I was right), I’d have rather licked a car battery than deal with said individual. Again, I could have overcome this if I had more reserves. I didn’t.

I took the punishment exam this last Monday, easily passed it, but didn’t do stellar. Not surprising, since I had only the weekend to study the entirety of systemic pathology. USMLE prep helps in a broad and shallow way, but these random-ass questions are notoriously detailed, pulled from various sources so as never to really know how to prepare for their exam. Most people do well because they study old exams, knew in advance (usually by luck) the sources they were getting the questions from, or the like. 2.5 days is not enough time to do that, and quite frankly, I didn’t care. At all. I just needed to pass, and that’s what I comfortably did based on existing knowledge and a half-ass reading of Robbins and Goljan review texts. With this, my 2nd year is NOW officially over in spite of the early celebration I felt so good about before. Better late than never.

So at this point, with no single point of failure, I can’t really go postal on the school, yet everything I was working so hard for is shot (for now). Taking the test during the semester will suck, royally, as soon-to-be-forgotten details compete with new information coming in, not to mention the time competition with all the work required for both tasks. Even though this is precisely what I wanted to avoid, I could be in worse positions. Part of me feels cheated, though, not having some single point of failure to blame, and I have this anti-climactic feeling about the whole mess. All for the ridiculous reason of fucking absences–absences that due to my life circumstances got the spotlight, while others skipped along to their vacations with similar numbers, untouched. Such is life at the UAG.

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P.S. More proof my blog makes the administrative rounds: When I was last in the office, verifying my USMLE authorization was sent, the secretary said, “No es por flojera que no mandamos la carta,” (”It wasn’t because of laziness that we didn’t send the form”). Now you tell me, since I hadn’t said word one to this lady, how would she come to this conclusion? If you knew her boss, that’d be all you’d need to know. Enjoy this entry too, guys! Pathetic.