Zacharia Grami

I know that the internet is saturated with tips for surviving and thriving on your path to taking the USMLE Step 1, but, as a personal tool for my own catharsis as well as to provide my own two cents, I wanted to outline how I studied for my first two years and for the USMLE Step 1. First and foremost, I want to stress that focusing on your organ systems/class subjects is of utmost importance. One thing I noticed many students doing was studying by using review materials from the get go; I highly suggest the opposite! Although it is traditional in method, I found that reading the original textbooks such as Guyton and Hall  and Robbins and Cotran, as well as Lily's Pathophysiology of Heart Disease  and Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine  during my organ systems gave me a strong fundamental knowledge to build upon and made studying for Step 1 much easier. Review texts leave out much of the information and background needed to truly understand the material, plung...

Today, we had a little ceremony remember the last year and a half of medical school. We've worked through OSCEs, standardized patient encounters, practice USMLE Step 1s and countless exams, all for one purpose - to make it out and care for people. It was wonderful today that we were able to give thanks to our SPs. Standardized patients act as proxies for the countless patients we will see as clinicians, and they help us to grow our skills as not only a future clinician but as a human being . I still remember some of my very awkward SP encounters; how do I perform that exam again? where do I palpate? when should I use the drape? how can I phrase this so that my patient is most comfortable? Through all of our awkwardness, our SPs gave their best effort to teach us and evaluate us, to help us to grow. It was very cathartic to be able to hear them speak about how we have grown, and for us to be able to thank them as a class. One of our SPs said something very striking to me, th...

“We carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness.” -  The Movie Wonder This weekend I saw Wonder with my boyfriend, a close friend of mine, and, my mom. Generally, I try to watch uplifting films, and I find myself gravitating to comedies. This film, though, was a drama. I am very glad that I was reminded of the importance of experiencing the wide range of human emotion through this film. Being told from the perspective of the many people involved in Auggie's life, a boy born with a unique facial structure, this movie touched me. It reminded me of some of the reasons why I went into medicine - to be there for my patients. Growing up, I remember feeling sometimes like Auggie felt in the movie - watched, criticized, alone and struggling. His story of prosperity, and being not only lifted up by others but by himself, really hit home. If you have the opportunity, watch this movie or read the book. You won't regret it. Zach...

"The Golden Tongue Depressor"  The Neuroscience and Behavior module was a tough one, and although that generally goes without saying for the academic side of things, it was the social and human aspect for me. We spend a lot of time focusing on the diseases, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, but the time I really look the most forward to is patient facing. A woman came to speak with us today, and she was so powerful. A former teacher, diagnosed with Parkinson's, she felt a strong drive to show my entire class what it means to be an effective clinician in her eyes, and what it is like to have Parkinson's. She was so strong, so resilient and so positive and upbeat in the face of her disease, with a room of wide eyed medical students watching her and analyzing her actions. As we walked out of the room, she wanted us to all know that we would become great clinicians one day, and to remember that it is all about the patient, even when the disease can not be cured a...