Med School San Francisco Style

The following is a narrative authored by Yolanda Tejeda and Sara Linarez about the UCSF Med School Visit organized by AMSA ARC during the Spring 2006 semester. Yolanda Tejeda is former AMSA ARC Executive Vice President; Sara Linarez is the club’s former Vice President of Activities.

We arrived to the campus at about 8am. We were all excited to be in San Francisco and even more excited to be at the actual medical school!While we waited for everyone to park we waited in the lobby andlooked at the pillars outside. These pillars were very interesting because they were covered with pictures of graduates from the school. These pictures ranged from anytime between when the school first opened to present day. Lets just say their were some pretty old, and funny pictures. After playing I-spy for about 10 minutes we were greeted by one of the medical students that would be taking us to lecture. She then guided us across campus to her first lecture of the day.

We all crowded in the back to stay out of the way, but the instructor insisted we sit in the empty seats next to the medical students. It was a huge leture hall filled with medical students along with their coffee and laptops. This lecture was about schizophrenia. For the next hour in a half we listened while they discussed the symptoms of schizophrenia and also how to diagnose it. This was done by using example and movie clips of different patients. After the movie clip the class then discussed each patient, what their symptoms were, and how they would diagnose it. I found this lecture surprisingly easy to follow. I felt that I could be a student in this lecture with the education I have now. During the lecture I noticed that most students had a laptop instead of a notepad and a few of them were busy checking their emails. After asking one of the medical students I found out that the teachers give them a copy of each lecture ahead of time, and she said most of the time they don’t really need to come to class. Perfect!

By this time we were all very glad for the 10 minute break before the next lecture because we were exhausted from being up since 5am and also listening to so much information. UCSF is in the middle of the hills in San Francisco, and let me tell you the view is beautiful! During the ten minute break I walked down a path along a hillside, and it was very relaxing. Some of us found out were a snack place on campus was and we filled up on coffee and breakfast to gain some more energy. We then went back to the room for the second lecture. This lecture was still about schizophrenia, except it was about the drugs used for treatment. This lecture was harder to follow because more information was needed before hand to understand some of the terms and concepts. The lecture consisted of a time-line of drug creation and how they have changed. For the next 2 hours we heard about every drug ever made and used for schizophrenia. It was interesting to hear how they have changed over the years. The second half of the lecture was about the side effects from these drugs, and which type of drugs caused which type of side effects. When they were discussing these side effects and symptoms I realized how easily we could identify these in the patient we had previously seen in the video. One thing about UCSF lectures is that they cover a disorder, such as Schizophrenia, and give an entire perspective on it from symptoms to treatment. After the lecture we split up into groups and joined the medical students for their group discussion.

The discussion group really made you feel like the Dr./professor cared that you were able could follow the material and learn it well. There were about eight students and one teacher in each study room. They put their desks in a circle and started reviewing the lecture. The Dr./professor gave us a warm welcome as we sat in the back and listened. After the teacher answered all of their questions they started an exercise where they have a sample patient on paper and go through as a group and diagnose the patient. This was really interesting because it made us feel as though we were really doctors, with the proper knowledge to diagnose a patient. They talked about the questions they would ask the person and their conclusion from their sample answer. They did not get all the way through to practice patient, but it was very interesting to see their though processes that they went through with each symptom. After the group discussion we met up again and split up into two groups for a tour of the campus.

Lauren Carpenter was our guide. She showed us the student lounge, library, gym, and my favorite part, the lab. It was funny because she opened the door and we all followed her in and then she said “Maybe I should have warned you that you would see dead bodies before we just walked right in the lab.” But we were all expecting it so there was no problem. Right when we walked in we could smell the formaldehyde and all we could sea was a sea of white body bags. The lab was being set up for a quiz so we were not able to look at much, but it was very interesting. Lauren showed us the cadaver she had been working on all year. She told us that in the beginning they keep the hands, feet, and head wrapped because they are viewed as personal. As the students get more comfortable they take the wrapping off. Lauren then showed us the body, starting with the chest cavity. She showed us a healthy lung vs. a smoker lung, and the same for a few other organs. As we walked around the room to look inside the bags that were open we saw an arm with all the muscles, a male pelvis cut in-half to view the inside, and a few other body parts. We then left the lab to get lunch across the street. There is nothing like eating after you just looked at dead bodies. The school had Panda Express, Pizza, and Sandwiches, something for everyone.

After enjoying our much needed lunches we went to listen to a board of advisors, doctors, and medical students. They answered everything from medical school requirements to questions about residency. We first listened to two medical students, one was Lauren, and we listened to each of their stories of how they got to UCSF Medical School. We then heard from a very interesting doctor that specialized in Pediatrics, dealing with special cases. He was like a “Dr. House” for pediatrics. He told us some very interesting stories. Finally we heard from someone from admissions at UCSF. A lot of this information we already knew from past speakers but we were able to get a lot of requirements and information specific to UCSF. We the concluded the day by getting dinner and stopping by the San Francisco beach before heading back to Sacramento. All in all San Francisco is a great city, and having such a good experience at UCSF definitely makes me want to be a medical student there.