combo meal: "hindi ako mag-reremovals"

The second helping of what we like to call the exam COMBO MEAL will be served tomorrow. For the third year students, Pedia and Internal Medicine (the components of the COMBO MEAL) are the subjects that have a high mortality rate, that is, they have the greatest number of students who take the removals and fail the subject.

“Hindi ako mag-reremovals” has been my mantra for the whole week and tomorrow’s exam in Internal Medicine will test the power of my silly compulsion.

We often joke that this week is actually just the pre-finals week and next week’s removal exams are really the finals. In a way, we’re not really studying for the finals, we’re studying for the removals. Of course, I would like to believe this is untrue.

I am currently agonizing over failing grades in Cardiology (and here I am wanting to be a cardiologist). I initially wanted to be a pathologist, but my less than desirable grades/class standing immediately made me reconsider.

What to be? What to be?
A while back I answered a Medical Specialty Aptitude Test by the University of Virginia Health System to determine what specialization I was best suited for. The results were surprising:

Ranked 1st on the list of specialties was Allergy and Immunology, which I actually abhor not necessarily because I have a lot of allergies myself, but I hate having to remember immunoglobulins, hypersensitivity reactions, and also the blood components and cytokines involved in the immune response.

Number 2 on the list was Emergency Medicine. Go figure. I suppose it has something to do with my ability to remain calm and appear unperturbed at all times.

Although general internal medicine is ranked 4th on the list, cardiology is way below at no. 13. Another initial interest, Infectious Disease, is at number 10.

There are however a few things I’m sure are not amiss: Surgery is at number 30 and oncology is 34. Although I never thought that family practice would not be suitable for me it appears so as it is at the very bottom of the list at number 36. Again, go figure.