COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 39 First-Person Perspectives T ime management, organization, and hard work are all attributes that are regularly being refined as a medical student. However, this pandemic has forced medical professionals, at every level, to put their adaptability to the test. Thankfully, this attribute has regularly been required of me as a husband and father of three children. Quarantine studying was initially very experimental, but we quickly learned what would and would not work. Prior to the closure of NSU’s Fort Lauderdale /Davie Campus, and the subsequent mandated COVID-19 quarantine, my children knew that when I came home for dinner, they and my wife had my undivided attention. However, with me beginning to study from home, my children regularly found their way into my office to show me something they found amazing, to tell me a funny story, or to receive help in resolving a conflict. Repeatedly, my wife and I spoke to them of the importance of leaving me alone to focus on my studies during certain times of the day. Nevertheless, with children who are still learn- ing how to tell time, I knew there had to be another way. While I pondered the solution to this dilemma late one night, studying after my kids were in bed, the silence of the house reminded me of that same silence I had previously experienced months earlier while studying in the Martin and Gail Press Health Professions Division Library. That was when it occurred to me: What if I were to institute a self-imposed sleep inversion? As a way of meeting both the demands of my medical school curriculum, as well as spend time with my family, I purposefully flipped my sleep-wake cycle. I would study throughout the night and early-morning hours, go to bed around 7:00 a.m., and then wake up around 2:00 p.m. I was pleasantly happy to see how easily my body made the change. Though some nights were difficult, I finished my last semester of my second year of medical school successfully—and with another reminder of the drive and versatility I continue to work to perfect. Though my wife and children are what I live for, I have a similar dedication to the future children I hope to take care of as an aspiring pediatrician. This is what keeps pushing me to give every ounce of energy I have to the vocation I love— no matter the number of changes thrown my way. Peter F. Cammans is a second-year KPCOM student. BY PETER F. CAMMANS Developing Homelife Protocols During a Pandemic FAMILY MAN Peter Cammans Prior to the…quarantine, my children knew that when I came home for dinner, they and my wife had my undivided attention. However, with me beginning to study from home, my children regularly found their way into my office. That was when it occurred to me: What if I were to institute a self-imposed sleep inversion?