A few months ago I decided to make the switch from Verizon Wireless to AT&T.  I had been a happy and loyal Verizon customer for about 9 years with the same cell number with several different phones.  Most recently I had been using the Palm Centro, which made internet related tasks a nightmare, leaving a huge hole deep in the techiness of my soul.  Anyway, figuring out the plan was really a pain, although implimenting it was easy, so I thought I would write about it to help anyone out there in a similar situation.

The initiating event was due to daily circumstances in hospitals and needing quick access to search and the bonuses that iPhones offer (apps!); I made the jump.  All hell broke loose when I was unable to port (transfer) my Verizon cell number to the AT&T Family plan.  After deliberating this for a week, I was convinced that no one actually remembers your number these days anyway, so I should just get the new iPhone and deal with the short term hassle of asking all my contacts to update to the new number.

The best solution I found, was to port (transfer) my Verizon number to a prepaid cell phone, and I chose the very cheap Tracfone.  It all worked out without a hitch, I pay only $20 for 60 minutes, per 3 months, just to keep the number alive.  That comes out to $80 a year, plus the $20 phone from the Dollar General store.  Granted that the phone is a POS Motorolla, it gets the job done since I had no intent of carrying or using the phone.

It seems now, a few months later, there are still people who havent updated my number in their phone and I hear it in their voice whenever I call them.  Oops!  At least they can always reach me on the Tracfone if they need to.  So far no one has called the old number, with only 2 people sending texts to it.  I guess its working out, and today I paid the $20 to keep the Tracfone active another 3 months.

I'm finally settled into my new cozy apartment in Albany, Georgia.  I left Houston at 11pm and arrived around noon, so approx. 13 hour drive more or less.  The nice public hospital in Albany, Pheobe-Putney, is only a block away.  I was also surprised to hear that the hospital will be footing the bill on my apartment for the short 6 week internship.  Pretty darn cool!  All in all, I'm happy with what I have seen from the city of about 70,000 people.  Everyone I've met has been really nice and welcoming as well. I've been to the movie theater twice, once for District 9, and once for the G.I. Joe movie.  The walmart and mall are also nearby, making it easy to find things to buy.  I haven't tried any local restaurants yet, just because I figured I would be eating out more frequently once the work begins.  I hear there is some killer BBQ (pork of course) and a couple notable pizza places!  Yum!
 
So tomorrow I start my first clinical rotation, which will be Family Medicine.  As some of you know, earlier this year I did 4 weeks in a family practice internship and really liked it!  So far it is my top choice for residency, but who knows what will come in the next 72 weeks.  After my 6 weeks here in Albany, I will be driving 3 hours North to Atlanta, where I will be for about 5 months.  After that, who knows.  I'll try to update more as I find out.

The night before my exam, I was talking with my friend Alberto and he told me, "You are a terminator sent back in time to destroy the evil USMLE and every question it can throw at you."  I took that with me into the exam and during the breaks I went into the bathroom, washed my face, gave the mirror a stare and a "boo-yeah" to go knock down the next round of questions.
To summarize, the test was easier than I expected it to be, although harder than UsmleRX and Kaplan question banks.  Some things worth noting:

• There are no obvious answer choices.  Most answer choices are very similar, so you gotta know details in order to pick the correct one.
• Removal of buzzwords, common associations, and "easy" high yield items.
• Narrow coverage.  My experience was that most topics were not covered equally.  I had several instances of repeated questions that were related to the same pathology, although not word for word the same.
• Heart murmurs in audio format.  I didn't see this coming because I thought it was more of a concern for the Step 2 exam.  I had 3 questions, each with interactive stethoscopes to diagnose murmurs.  Wasn't ready for that.
• Pharmacology was the easiest.  Straightforward and to the point.
• Physiology was a majority of the exam.
• The test anxiety went away after I sat down and began the exam.
• Fatigue levels were managable.
• I had sandwich, 2 cokes, and a variety of energy, granola, chocolate bars during the breaks.  I brought much more than I could ever eat, and was glad to have variety to choose from.

I'm gonna get my study schedule in a web-friendly format and post it sometime next week.  Finally a break while I wait the 4-8 weeks for the scores to be reported!

Nothing new, still truckin along with the Step 1 preparation.  So far I've finished Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Immunology, and Microbiology.  Kaplan books have been great with the exception of Physiology which is likely to be painful no matter how I review it.  Also I regret reading the entire Microbiology review book because once I reached page 500, the last 20 pages of the book were flowcharts and summaries!  Doh!  If only I would have known.  Anyway next week is Pharmacology, then continuing with Behavioral Sciences and then finishing up with Genetics and Biochemistry.  The last few days I'm gonna speed read the Pathology book again and look up mneumonics from the First Aid book.  USMLERx question bank has also been a great resource, although I definitely recommend starting on easier difficulty at the beginning of your cram month, then working your way harder as you cover more material.  My scores jumped from mid 60's to high 70's during my Pathology week.  I guess that is to be expected in the higher yield topics.  So enough for now, once I have finished my exam, I'll post my complete study schedule for anyone out there who might need a guideline on how to manage your last month up to the exam.  That's all for now.

Last week we finished up a hellified 5th semester in Miami.  I've never wanted something to be over with so badly in my life.  Anyway, after loading the Jetta over the weekend, I drove the 19 hours straight to Houston and yesterday I finally made it to my new (temporary) home in San Antonio.  I wish there was time to visit but my USMLE step 1 exam will be May 27th, which is about 40 days from now, leaving me with a good 5 weeks to prepare.  Today I woke up at 9am, ate a cinnamon roll, started with Anatomy, and made it through half of the 400 page book.  Afterwards I did a round of 48 practice questions, scoring a measly 52% (60% is the average.)  I guess it's not too horrible considering it's the first day of 40.  Tomorrow the goal is to finish the anatomy book, do some more questions, and make an outline for the remaining cram session.  I've got about 10 of these books to go through.  For fellow medical students who are curious, I am using the Kaplan review books from the live course as my primary sources, Pre-test subject books for portable questions, and USMLErx online question banks as the main question source.  I also completed the Kaplan Qbank this past fall, however I doubt I will have time to use the USMLEworld question bank.
I have a good feeling that I will be ready after 40 days of this...