Rebecca Taylor Off the Shoulder Blouse

 

Rebecca Taylor Off the Shoulder Blouse (similar here, here, here, here, and here)
Paige Denim Skyline Jeans 
Cole Haan Peep-toe Flats (also here, other colors here, similar here, here, here, and major splurge here)
Kate Spade Bow Cross Body (similar options here, here, here, here, here, and here)
Bracelet 1, 2, 3, 4
Bow Earrings
H&M Sunglasses

Thanks for reading!

Summer Skin Protection Article

I recently read a super helpful article about the do's and don'ts of sun protection. Of all my friends, I'm definitely "the mom" who always has her floppy hat and UPF50 shirt but some of the facts in the article even surprised me! After how popular my previous sun protection post was, I wanted to share the article and the main take away points (below!)!

Take Away Points:

Up to 90% of skin aging is caused by the sun - Say WHAT now?! Let me get pen and paper and write these tips down because I do NOT want to be wrinkly (Canadian Dermatology Association).

Use "broad spectrum" sunscreen - It protects against UVA and UVB rays, you need protection against both!

1 coat of lotion sunscreen = 2 coats of spray sunscreen - 1 shot glass is enough to cover your entire body if you're using lotion sunscreens. If you're using sprays or sticks, you need 2 coats to be completely covered and protected!

My neck, my back (of the legs), my lips, and my ears - The most commonly missed spots are the most common places for cancer to pop up, so don't forget to apply to yours ears, lips, back of the neck, and the back of the legs!

Apply 30 minutes BEFORE going outside - Most sunscreen needs to be applied 30 minutes before you go into the sun because it takes that long for the ingredients to start protecting your skin! I was definitely not aware of this rule!

Hope these help! If you have more tips, I'd love to read them in a comment below!

Thanks for reading!

Love Yourself

The past few weeks I've had a lot of discussions with friends, family, and in my bible study about the importance of your relationship with yourself. One of the biggest life lessons I've learned is that YOU are the only person in life that you can always 110% rely on. Not only that but you spend more time with yourself than any body else, so accordingly, you hear your own voice more than any other voice in the world. Isn't that crazy?! I never thought about it that way.

With that said, most people's internal voice is very critical and negative. How many times a day do you think to yourself "why did I do that?" or "I should have done better on x, y, z"? If you can't give yourself a pep talk and believe in yourself, then no one else will! It's really hard to combat those critical internal voices but if you can wake up and look in the mirror and say "Hey! YOU are awesome! I believe in you! You can, and WILL succeed! You are doing your best and that IS enough!", how can you have a bad day? It sounds silly, but it really does work because eventually you will outnumber and overpower all those negative thoughts!

This may seem like a silly connection, but this Meghan Trainor song really strikes a cord with me, especially when she says "I can't help loving myself". You deserve it, so love yourself! Wherever you are in life, make a conscious effort to love YOU because you are amazing, perfect, and worthy of love! If you aren't going to love and believe in yourself, who will?

If you want more resources on the topic, I'd highly recommend the Relatable study by Louie Giglio! 

Thanks for reading!

GoodRx

I was in clinic the other day and ended up using this website for a lot of our patients because they wanted to know how much their prescriptions would cost. We were able to tell them the exact cost at different pharmacies, plus we were able to find them coupons! I definitely thought this was common knowledge but I was surprised when so few people knew about it, so I wanted to spread the word for anyone who buys medicine (aka almost everyone at some point!), as well as all the practicing clinicians out there.

GoodRx is an amazing company that was made just to help patients find the best prices for the drugs you need, by giving you the prices at all the pharmacies in your city. It also gives you COUPONS (hello!) for most drugs! Even better, you can sign up for a prescription discount card that you can use for up to 80% off! They even have mobile apps (alternatively you can find the same information by going to Goodrx.com on your phone)! Read more about GoodRx here!

It's super helpful for when you're in clinic and your patient asks how much their drugs will cost AND helps them find where they can get the best price, whether they are insured or not! I would highly recommend it! Thanks to my sweet dad for keeping me up to date with technology and telling me about GoodRx a while back!

Do you have any helpful medical resources or apps you like to use?

Thanks for reading!

Back to (Medical) School Essentials

School is starting soon, especially medical schools that start back in July! I wanted to do a post about some of things I found helpful for the classroom years of med school, most of which are also totally applicable for undergrad, grad school, really any type of school!

Bose Noise Canceling Headphones | Colorful pens | Book Stand | Cheap Scrubs | White Board | Silent Mouse | Littman Cardiology Stethoscope III | Keyboard Arm Rest

Bose Noise Canceling Headphones - If you buy one thing to improve your studying, it should be this! They're pretty pricey but almost everyone in my class had a pair of these! When it's the night before your exam and people are chatting nearby and your stress level is higher than normal, you can just click the "noise canceling" switch and boom you're in your happy place. Trust me, you'll thank me later :)

Colorful pens (& highlighters) - Colorful pens and highlighters make studying so much more fun and  happy! When you're studying 12 hours a day, you will really appreciate the little things like that! I absolutely love the Paper Mate Flair pens linked above because they don't bleed through the page. I also love these Pilot Ink Gel pens because they are so smooth and ink-y to write with! For highlighters I love these (remember this post when I first got them?!) and these!

Book Stand - I have the 16.5x10.4 and it's perfect for holding up big text books when you're tired of craning your neck! A lot of my classmates ended up getting the same one and really liked it too!

Cheap Scrubs - You'll spend A LOT of time up in anatomy lab and you'll need scrubs for lab. Get a pair or 2 that are cheap so you can throw them away after the semester is over! Trust me, you (and your future patients and colleagues) won't want to keep them! Matching scrubs bottoms here. You can also check Goodwill for even cheaper prices!

White Board - White boards are super helpful if you're writing out a pathway or trying to map out a complex idea. I used mine all the time and almost all my classmates had one at their desk! Be sure to get some colorful white board markers too!

Silent Mouse - When you spend the majority of your time either taking notes on your computer in class or studying from your computer, it gets frustrating to always use the laptop track pad. Getting a mouse definitely made my wrists hurt less! I highly recommend a wireless mouse that's silent so that you won't hear all the clicking sounds! 

Littman Cardiology Stethoscope III - Most schools recommend this stethoscope. Check with your school to see what they recommend and if they have discounts! If not, the Student Medical Shop usually has good deals!

Keyboard Arm Rest - Again, spending most of the day on the computer is not the most ergonomic thing for your wrists! One of my friends had this arm rest and after using it a few times, I was hooked and got one for myself. It really does reduce nerve pain from resting your arm on one side for too long! I found it on sale here! I'm obsessed with my arm rest but if you don't get wrist pain from typing for 12 hours (#jealous) then you definitely should not spend money on this!!


Do you have any other back to school essentials to add?! Comment below!

Thanks for reading!