Mad Jack's 4th Year AMA Thread

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Mad Jack said:
Without a doubt it did. Got zero interviews in NYC or Boston, even at less competitive places.
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:wow:
Not a single one? Damn! And I thought psych was DO friendly!
And I've definitely seen at least a couple of DO's in Boston ( now that I've started paying attention).
 
Can you give me a paragraph of what a typical day is like for you? I'm particularly interested in morning routines.
 
Cpt Ahab said:
Can you give me a paragraph of what a typical day is like for you? I'm particularly interested in morning routines.
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Wake up an an hour and some change before my rotation begins, brush my teeth, shave, shower, skin care, Dunkin Donuts for a large coffee with cream no sugar and an egg white veggie omelette sandwich, listen to music at deafening volumes and nom on my sandwich as I drive, park, throw on white coat, tie my tie, begin my shift.

I have the most boring, uncomplicated morning routine in the world. It's basically just a mindless going through the motions.

My day depends on my rotation.

My evenings I mostly go out with friends, hit the gym three days a week, and go on random bull**** adventures that are generally ridiculous. I watch way too much Netflix and play too many video games. I have trouble keeping my social life together because I have too much of it going on sometimes and some friends end up on the back burner too long.
 
Mad Jack said:
Wake up an an hour and some change before my rotation begins, brush my teeth, shave, shower, skin care, Dunkin Donuts for a large coffee with cream no sugar and an egg white veggie omelette sandwich, listen to music at deafening volumes and nom on my sandwich as I drive, park, throw on white coat, tie my tie, begin my shift.
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This thread was going so well until the bolded was said.
 
If you knew everything then that you know now would you still go to med school?
 
Cpt Ahab said:
If you knew everything then that you know now would you still go to med school?
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Oh god yes, it has been a great experience overall. The process of medical school has made me a legitimately better person and helped me face many of my fears head-on and come out on top. Like, I can't imagine a better pressure cooker for personal growth.
 
Which DO school do you go to (do not have to answer if you want to remain private). Did you feel well prepared for boards?

Was it difficult to study for both COMLEX and STEP1?
 
Could one have a solid social life as long as their study habits were decent?

Does dating classmates in med school work?
 
MareNostrummm said:
Which DO school do you go to (do not have to answer if you want to remain private). Did you feel well prepared for boards?

Was it difficult to study for both COMLEX and STEP1?
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I'd like to retain some anonymity by not putting all of my personal info in one thread. But I was prepared well for boards, though I will say no school really prepares you, it's mostly in the self-study. No matter what curriculum you've got, if you go into the boards without UW, FA, and a few other basics you are going to get a terrible score. I just studied for the USMLE then took a week to do OMM questions and then took the COMLEX. I scored okay on the USMLE but did very well on the COMLEX (percentile wise I was mid eighties for L1, mid 90s for L2) so I'd say just focus on the USMLE with some OMM supplementation.
 
altblue said:
Could one have a solid social life as long as their study habits were decent?

Does dating classmates in med school work?
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Yes, absolutely. I maintained a very healthy social life as did many others. Dare I say some people had the best social life they'd had up to that point in their lives.

Dating classmates can work, several long term relationships and engagements have come out of it in my class. But when it fails it can fail big. The ones ego had the most trouble were the ones that were playing the field or cheating, generally. Most people didn't have those sorts of experiences though, and had normal, often successful and happy relationships.
 
Mad Jack said:
I carry a diagnosis for ADHD, I'd recommend anyone else to use meds. I refused to use them because I knew if I used meds I'd always doubt my ability to function off of them, and would take them for basically the rest of my life. Don't know how the average person should approach things, unfortunately.
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I find this choice curious -- Do I understand you correctly that for your STEP1/COMLEX studying period -- the most long-term intense, high-stakes, ADHD-challenging phase of your life -- you chose to forego medication to treat a legitimate medical condition with which you have been diagnosed?

Basically just to be sure you could do it without 'crutches'?

As a future psychiatrist, I find this an especially interesting choice.
 
DokterMom said:
I find this choice curious -- Do I understand you correctly that for your STEP1/COMLEX studying period -- the most long-term intense, high-stakes, ADHD-challenging phase of your life -- you chose to forego medication to treat a legitimate medical condition with which you have been diagnosed?

Basically just to be sure you could do it without 'crutches'?

As a future psychiatrist, I find this an especially interesting choice.
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So here's the thing- I wanted to know, for myself, that I can function well without medication. Because if I couldn't, then I would be obligated to be on medication for the rest of my life for the sake of my patients. It forced me to develop coping skills and management strategies that I would not have otherwise had, and I performed quite successfully albeit with much difficulty. I do believe there is a certain subset of individuals that require medication to function, for which coping skills and management strategies would always fall short, but I have been able to make it this far foregoing medication. I stopped taking it in college, despite the fact that it resulted in a few Ws early on, I ultimately managed a very respectable GPA. This was less because the medication was a crutch and more because I didn't like the way it affected my personality- I become a but of a humorless zombie on meds. Hence why I knew it would be very challenging and I had that easy out that brings my performance up substantially, but I chose not to go that route because to do so would mean doubting my abilities off of medication for the rest of my life. And that would mean staying on meds for the duration of my career, and the associated personality changes that would come along with that, which I found highly undesirable.
 
Mad Jack said:
So here's the thing- I wanted to know, for myself, that I can function well without medication. Because if I couldn't, then I would be obligated to be on medication for the rest of my life for the sake of my patients. It forced me to develop coping skills and management strategies that I would not have otherwise had, and I performed quite successfully albeit with much difficulty. I do believe there is a certain subset of individuals that require medication to function, for which coping skills and management strategies would always fall short, but I have been able to make it this far foregoing medication. I stopped taking it in college, despite the fact that it resulted in a few Ws early on, I ultimately managed a very respectable GPA. This was less because the medication was a crutch and more because I didn't like the way it affected my personality- I become a but of a humorless zombie on meds. Hence why I knew it would be very challenging and I had that easy out that brings my performance up substantially, but I chose not to go that route because to do so would mean doubting my abilities off of medication for the rest of my life. And that would mean staying on meds for the duration of my career, and the associated personality changes that would come along with that, which I found highly undesirable.
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Thanks for sharing that -- So you knew, due to your success in college unmedicated, that you would be able to achieve, if perhaps not your absolute best, at least 'good or better' results.

Wishing you all the best --
 
Mad Jack said:
Oh god no. Psych wasn't even on my radar, I thought I'd be a self-hating intensivist or an anesthesiologist. But my perspective changed when I realized how much psychiatrists could do for their patients in comparison to many other fields. I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed the surgical fields, though with my wrists as wrecked as they are procedural fields were sort of out of the question, so that surprise might sneak up on a few of you as well. Psych though, it just kind of hit me like a calling
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So how come your wrists are shot?
 
parslea said:
So how come your wrists are shot?
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Video games were what I've believed it was for the longest time, but I'm starting to get pure tendonitis in both wrists and my ankles in patterns that just would never fit that, so I'm looking at a rheum workup and a Lyme test to find out wtf is going on. Ah, the wonderful and numerous ways your body can fail you are truly something to behold.
 
MareNostrummm said:
How effective is electroconvulsive therapy as a treatment modality?
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It's the gold standard for refractory depression and catatonic states. Literally nothing works better, but the idea of ECT tends to freak people out because of the way it is portrayed in movies and on TV. In reality, it's much more benign, with the only real downsides being some amnesia surrounding the procedure on occasion.
 
1) How much longer do you plan to post on SDN for?

2) Do you feel some level of competition in remaining a top poster?

3) Why is your username Mad Jack?

4) Do you have any idea about what kind of practice environment you want to practice in (private practice, academia, rural, urban, etc.) and why?
 
1) How much longer do you plan to post on SDN for?

Forever, probably. There's a deeper layer of SDN that some of us get sucked into, I've got friends and social connections here that I mingle with in real life at this point. Plus it's nice to be able to help people become doctors like this place helped me.

2) Do you feel some level of competition in remaining a top poster?

I'd hardly call myself a top poster, I'd say that honor goes to the actual heroes of SDN (@Goro @Catalystik @LizzyM @gyngyn @gonnif and the like). I hope to match their level of content someday when I'm higher up in the medical hierarchy.

3) Why is your username Mad Jack?

Online I've always gone by Jack, and the day I made my account I just decided to go by Mad Jack. There's a lot of famous Mad Jacks throughout history, so it's kind of a nod to some of the greatest, craziest human beings to ever walk this earth.

Badass of the Week: Jack Churchill
Meet Mad Jack

^Two of my favorite Mad Jacks

4) Do you have any idea about what kind of practice environment you want to practice in (private practice, academia, rural, urban, etc.) and why?

I really don't know. I'm torn because I like the control offered in private practice over the way that I can care for my patients, but I enjoy the challenge of inpatient psychiatry and the camaraderie of working in teams. I'm really open to anything, but plan to stay in New England for sure, as this is my home and I'm not keen to leave it. I think it's exciting to find out what fellowship I'll ultimately pursue and where I'll end up settling along the way, it's a nice little adventure.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Are you ****ting your pants waiting for match day?
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I go back and forth. Yesterday I was a mess, today I'm fine. Tomorrow, who knows! To be honest I should probably be more worried than I am, but I'm so burned out from worrying over the last few years that it's not something I feel much of anymore. That's actually one of the best things about medical school, at least for me: it really teaches you to handle stress, because there's so much of it you have to learn to deal. A lot of my classmates are freaking out tho
535.gif
 
Mad Jack said:
I go back and forth. Yesterday I was a mess, today I'm fine. Tomorrow, who knows! To be honest I should probably be more worried than I am, but I'm so burned out from worrying over the last few years that it's not something I feel much of anymore. That's actually one of the best things about medical school, at least for me: it really teaches you to handle stress, because there's so much of it you have to learn to deal. A lot of my classmates are freaking out tho
535.gif
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Are you worried about matching at all, or just about where? It’s pretty unlikely you’ll have to scramble, no?
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Yeah, I guess everyone's different. My wife and I have enjoyed moving all over the place, though we are happy to be in one spot for the next 5 years.
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My gf is a native of the area she lives in and really doesn't want to move. I grew up in a military family and never had a real place to call home. This has been my home for nearly 17 years and I'm just not keen to leave since it's the only home I've ever known
 
Mad Jack said:
My gf is a native of the area she lives in and really doesn't want to move. I grew up in a military family and never had a real place to call home. This has been my home for nearly 17 years and I'm just not keen to leave since it's the only home I've ever known
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Yeah, I get that. I have lived all over, but I spent my entire childhood where I'm originally from, so I always had that place to call home. Now that I'm an adult, I like a little more adventure and moving around. My kiddos will probably be homesteaders because of it lol.
 
Do you think you'll be more nervous for the email that tells you that you matched, or for actual match day itself 5 days later? I thought the first email would be more intense, but I was a nervous wreck on match day.

Also, I'm sure you know this already, but post-match MS4 is hands down the best part of med school.
 
sinombre said:
Do you think you'll be more nervous for the email that tells you that you matched, or for actual match day itself 5 days later? I thought the first email would be more intense, but I was a nervous wreck on match day.

Also, I'm sure you know this already, but post-match MS4 is hands down the best part of med school.
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I feel like I'm going to be more worried about match day itself, as that's a binding agreement that could screw me over so badly in regard to my personal life etc. Matching is great, but matching far from home could be quite painful. Looking forward to maximum senioritis tho
 
DexterMorganSK said:
I think you started school as a non-trad. Any downside to this when being around younger classmates as you progress?
GL for the match!
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Eh, I feel like being a nontrad was helpful in all ways but socially. I had a bit of trouble relating to my younger classmates because they're just in a different place in their lives.
 
Mad Jack said:
I feel like I'm going to be more worried about match day itself, as that's a binding agreement that could screw me over so badly in regard to my personal life etc. Matching is great, but matching far from home could be quite painful. Looking forward to maximum senioritis tho
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Did you rank programs you wouldn’t want to go to?
 
Oso said:
What happened to your eye, if you don't mind me asking?
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Nothing, actually. I just wear an eyepatch when using my computer in the dark so I can switch it over and have perfect night vision when walking to the bathroom. Old trick from my pirate days that has served me well for centuries.

Why Did Pirates Wear Eye Patches?
 
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