I have spent the last two weeks at Atlanta Medical Center shadowing Dr. Jean Philippe at his Internal Medicine clinic. The experience really made me realize just what a day in the life of an internal medicine doctor is like. I really liked the laid-back environment of the clinic. The slow-paced and relatively stress-free days are definitely an upside of the field.

It was great to have such close one-on-one interactions with the patients. Dr. Philippe encourages us to do many of the procedures and take the histories of the patients. Everyone in the office was such a pleasure to work with. I loved working with Dr. Philippe, who has had decades of experience under his belt in various fields of medicine. It was also interesting to work with other medical students who are ahead of us in their medical career. Their advice was invaluable and it is really exciting to see what’s in store for us!

While there is a plenty of free time in Atlanta to study for the USMLE, a portion of our time must be spent studying for our practical exam and preparing for our presentation.

Fortunately, taking ICM on the island prepared us really well for our upcoming practical exam. Our experience at the hospital helped us get comfortable with using the medical equipment. I am glad we are not seeing any of this information for the first time. There are many PowerPoints to study so I will really have to work hard these next few days.

The rest of my study time is spent studying for the USMLE. Most of my fellow classmates have scheduled their STEP exam for a date within the next month. I will be taking a bit more time to study but I want to get it over with soon as well. I cannot wait to finish studying for the STEP and move onto my clinical rotations!

Today marks the last day of my Internal Medicine rotation at Atlanta Medical Center for my fifth semester at AUA. When we were asked to choose between Atlanta and New York for the rotation, I had a really hard time deciding between the two places. I ended up picking Atlanta because there was a STEP review course here that I wanted to take. When I got to Atlanta, however, I realized I just needed to study on my own. Even though I did not take the review course, I am so glad I picked Atlanta!

Atlanta is such a beautiful city. There is so much to do like visiting the Coca-Cola factory, watching the Festival of Lights at the Botanical Gardens, and eating fantastic sushi at Ru-Sans. The people here are the friendliest I have ever met. The warm weather doesn’t hurt either! I never thought I would say something like this, but I wish the semester was longer!

by Melanie Chan, Class of 2014