Human Again

I can officially call myself a 'human' again. I am not at all deprived of sleep and am no longer a walking zombie. Yay! It is so nice to be around family and friends again. It totally beats the craziness of medical school at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I am happy I am in medical school, but one needs a break from stress every once in a while; I am enjoying every moment of it too.

I feel utterly lazy lying around, visiting, shopping, eating, etc. But it feels glorious. Today my Mum and I went shopping and I got some very trendy new tops. They will look amazing with my new boots and tights. I might be the most fashionable medical student around! (hehehe, not really, but at least I can try).

So I have a few more days of Christmas break and I plan on savouring every moment. I am very blessed to have such a lovely family; all them are truly amazing people. I love them all!

Gloriously Lazy

Since I have finished the semester I have been gloriously lazy. I am pretty sure that I can be a bonified bum. Yup, I sleep 10 hours each night, lounge around all morning (and most of the afternoon), then I go to the arena to teach some skating. It is great! I get to see my family & friends, eat home cooked meals, sleep, and make a few extra dollars teaching. I can't believe that this is actual real-life. It seems as if it is a dream. But I love it! It is such a far cry from studying, stressing, and not sleeping. I suppose that I could get used to this.

Home Stretch

I am so close, yet so far. I just finished one of my exams (simulated patient appointment/SOAP note) and now I have to study for my final hematology/oncology exam, and then I have another practical exam tomorrow two hours after heme/onc. Less than 24 hours now and I will be half done my second year of medical school.

I am so close I can taste it, but, alas, I can't enjoy the thrill of getting time off until I cram a WHOLE BUNCH of information into my head. Next time I post I will be: FREE and HAPPY!


:)

5 DAYS!!!!!

In 5 days I will be home for the holidays! I can hardly contain myself if I think about it long enough. Really, I can't wait for some sleep, being around real people (I am sorry, but at this point, I don't think that medical students are real people. We all try to be studying-robots! That is what is expected of us. lol) So yeah, I am going to suck up that last 5 days and three exams (all within the last 24 hours of the semester) and then enjoy my Christmas break immensely.

But now, I get to go and learn about rectal cancer. Not one of the most interesting subjects; it is rather a pain in the butt.

Phew, Tiredness Kicks In

I was busy today but didn't feel like I got a heck of a lot done. But now I am all ready for bed and tried to do another lecture, but it seems as if my eyelids are not cooperating. So, I am not fighting them any longer and am going to bed. I will get up very early in the morning and get a lecture in before we start our lectures for the morning.

I don't know if it is a smart thing since I have stuff planned until 3:00pm tomorrow, but I certainly am not learning anything right now. So, off to bed I go.

Cried In Lecture

Today was the first time that I have ever cried, literally cried, during lecture!

We are currently in the midst of our Hematology/Oncology block and some of the stuff that we are learning is heart wrenching. We had a speaker come in who discussed the language of children dying from cancer. The speaker was a lady who did volunteer work and visited children who were dying from cancer. Some of the stories she told us were absolutely amazing! I can't imagine facing such a disease now, let alone as a child.

I won't get into details, but I don't think there was a dry eye in the lecture hall as she completed her last anedote. It was important for us to hear, but my goodness, it meant for an emotional morning.

The speaker had books that she was selling detailing many of the stories she has experienced throughout the years. I really would have liked to purchase one, but I was afraid that if I did buy one that I wouldn't read it because I know that I would cry with each story.

One thing that I do know is that pediatric oncologists are special people, and I am not sure that I could do it.

The Difference Between Optimism and Pessimism

Today I was walking up to one of the school's doors while another student was trying to swipe her ID card to get into the building and it wasn't working. So I gave it a shot, but to no avail. So I said that I guess we get to walk around the school to the next door so that we could get in. She was all frustrated and angry and I mentioned how we would be burning a few extra calories so it was actually a good thing. She shot back with, "but time is too precious these days."

I realize that time is precious, but man alive, burning extra calories is no big deal. I often walk around campus to get in so that I can get a LITTLE bit of physical activity during my long days of studying.

To top all of this off, she ended up not having to back track at all in campus and just went right in and sat down as soon as we walked into the door and I had to back-track thru the entire campus to get to my intended spot.

Some people.

This is how I feel:

I am the little girl and information is the water.
Hopefully I'll get some in.

So Tired

I am so incredibly tired. I feel burnt out :(

I have been studying nonstop for several days and it won't end until we get our Thanksgiving break in 12 days. I cannot wait to be able to sleep in, rest, and not study 24/7! How glorious will that be?

Until I get the chance to rest, I have a test tomorrow, simulation tomorrow, simulated patient experience on Monday, test on Thursday, and then a test that Tuesday.....and then FREEDOM!

But, I have to continue studying until then. So, I should get back at it.

I can't wait until next year when I can actually learn how to do things. I feel like I am learning about things so that I can learn how to DO things in the future. Exhausting....but worth it in the end.

Three Thoughts that Cross a Medical Student's Mind

1. Yay, the clocks changed this past weekend. I not only got another hour of sleep, but it also gets dark earlier, so it feels later than it really is, which makes me feel like my evenings are longer so I can get more studying in.

2. To save time, it is a good idea to eat both lunch and dinner at the school whilst studying.

3. Maybe if I put enough eye drops into my eyes I won't feel tired.

In all honestly, I had this post planned for the past hour and then, I could only think of two of the three things I was going to write. So I had to make up another point. It isn't nearly as good as my original thought, but it will have to do since I am going brain dead and absolutely, for the life of me, can't think of what I was going to write. I suppose fourteen hours of studying will do that to you.

Good night

Wonderful Birthday Weekend

I had an amazingly amazing birthday weekend. My parents came to see me this past weekend and it was so great to see them again. Four months (almost) is a really long time! It was nice to spend time with them, go out for supper, get some good groceries, and not study all day for a change. It was sad to see them go, but I will see them at Christmas which is only 6 weeks away!

Now I am currently studying (well, procrastinating) pharmacology. This is my final exam for this class and I will be so utterly excited for it to be done since I am kinda tired of learning drugs, drugs, and more drugs. Blah.

In any event, I am heading back to the books. I can't wait until 12am comes so that I can go to bed.

I feel bad

So my roommate has this thing with not being able to keep things clean. I don't know why, but it bothers me quite a bit. I should just get over it and suck it up because it is not forever...but honestly, it is not that hard to do your dishes and pick up your stuff before you go to bed. Especially with three girls living together, it should just go without saying that you should keep your stuff clean. Not only for your own organization, but also out of respect to the other two that share the space.

Tonight really bothered me. I shouldn't complain on here but I have to vent. My roommate decided that she would do her dishes before she went to bed. Well, I had run the dishwasher earlier and she told me that she wasn't lazy, but was going to leave her dishes in the sink until tomorrow when the dishwasher got emptied. If this isn't lazy, then I don't know what is. :S Also, this means that I would have to empty the dishwasher tomorrow if I had any hope of her dishes getting into the dishwasher. So I decided that I would empty the dishwasher right then, as fast as possible, so that she could put her dishes away.

Lesson: it only takes 2 minutes to empty the dishwasher so you can put dishes into it. Not. That. Hard. Ugh.

Sorry if this seems horrible to write about, I just needed to vent because it really bothered me. I suppose I should head off to bed so I don't write more posts discussing dishwashing issues.

Sorry again. :S

Hills & Valleys: it is now about time to climb up a hill

Well, everybody has hills and valleys, currently here in school everybody seems to be going through a tough time. We are all very tired from the non-stop testing we have had for the last couple of weeks. I have had 6 exams in the last two weeks and have another two this week. It is just incredible how much I am learning. Or....supposedly 'learning'. Needless to say I have been putting in many, many hours of studying and can't wait for a slight break this weekend.

I have come to the conclusion that, no matter how busy I get, I will never, ever compromise my well-being for the sake of doing well. It is just not worth it. I have learned to be much less stressed out about my grades, because, in the long run, these pre-clinical grades don't matter too too much. I have done really well all through medical school so far that I just need to continue doing what I am doing and not let negative people around me pull me down. It isn't easy since my best friends seem very stressed right now and my roommate has just started taking antidepressants (with which she often forgets to take at the right time and takes a glass of wine or Benadryl to help her sleep; I feel so bad for her). This, coupled with me being exhausted and slightly burnt out, is very difficult. But this craziness doesn't last forever. And, no matter how difficult things get, or how much I don't feel like studying at least I have the comfort that I know that I am doing what I want with my life and wouldn't want to be doing anything other than medical school. Because in the end, I will be a doctor and I will save lives. (Now how cool is that?) :)

Quote the Cardiologist

One of my favourite quotes to date from the cardiologist lecturing about heart failure:

"You know these old folk, they remember their hygiene classes in elementary school about how you were supposed to drink 8 - 12 glasses of water a day. And guess what? These are the people turning into water balloons."

I don't know why this struck me as so humourous, but it made me laugh out loud.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought that it might be appropriate to copy what, I think might be the best Facebook profile status in a really, really long time:

Fake(+)(+), Perfect (o)(o), Perky (*)(*), Cold (^)(^), and even Grandmas \o/ \o/. Big ( • )( • ), or small (.) (.) save them all.

Support Breast Cancer

Awareness (Save the TaTa's) ♥

When Can I Stop Studying?

I think that I could use a break from studying.

Today one of my friends left me some cake in my mailbox at school. It was wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. I decided to reward myself for finishing a lecture by eating it. After I was done I bunched up the plastic wrap that had some leftover icing. I pushed the icing down to make a little pocket of icing then squeezed the icing out. Then I thought to myself....I'd rather be popping peoples' abscesses than sitting here in the library memorzing random cancer drugs.

Sigh.......

And Breathe....

I believe that I am a better person for surviving the last two weeks of med school. Really. Everybody around here was calling last week Hell Week. And indeed, it was not fun. Normally we have one or two exams each week. This amount keeps me plenty busy and on my toes. Last week I had four exams. Well, technically, I suppose that you could count my surgery final as two exams, thus making it five. Sigh. I felt like I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. It was extremely grueling since all I did was study, study, study. I didn't sleep much, I was so nervous I didn't eat much; not a good situation.

My goal was to pass all of my exams, and, of the grades I know of, I have passed everything. Mind you, I have to wait until to tomorrow to see if I passed my surgery multiple choice and written components...keeping fingers crossed!

Completing my surgical skills class I a wonderful feat. Don't get me wrong, I really, really, really enjoyed learning the sutures, surgical etiquette, scrubbing in, aseptic technique, etc., but I didn't like that it was jam packed into the busiest weeks of second year so far. But, I survived, and it is done.

I managed to celebrate finishing my crazy weeks by getting a pedicure with my friends and getting my hair trimmed so that I feel better. It is amazing how doing small things for yourself sometimes makes such a big difference.

Now, I have to play catch-up since lectures continued to march on last week while I was busy studying for my exams. Sigh. But, on the bright side, only three weeks until my parents come and visit me :)

Glad Today (yesterday) is Over

I had a cardio exam this morning that was absolutely brutal. Meaning it was difficult, long, and annoying. The class average was very low, as was my mark. At least I get to take a make-up exam that is already scheduled so that we can pass cardio. ugh. To add to the fun today, I got an email from our course coordinator for the patient simulations we do, saying that I need to attend the review session or I lose ten points because I didn't get above 80% on my last patient encounter :( I didn't think I did stellar, but I didn't think I did that poorly.

So I had to swallow two hard things today. :(

How My Life Has Changed in 2 Years

I was thinking about this earlier today, my life really has been busy these last two years. I have moved away from home for the first time, finished my first year and a quarter of medical school, as well, had and recovered from two surgeries. (well I am still working on my recovery from the last one, but I can still count it!)

I feel like I have really grown up and learned a lot about life and people in general. I could go into spiel about what I have learned, but this should be an entirely different post all together.

Anyhow, I am off to bed now!

Desheveled

De.shev.eld (adjective)
1. hanging loosely or in disorder; unkempt: disheveled hair.
2. untidy; disarranged: a disheveled appearance.

Funny story....

I was sitting outside today studying in the sun trying to shove some antihistamine drugs into my head before I had to head off to bed, when some girl sat at the table beside me. She was all decked out! Man alive was she all prettied up.

Random girl's appearance: green dress, high heels (which were super cute), straightened hair pulled up, blonde hair, unchipped nail polish.

My appearance: humongous t-shirt and long shorts (for lab), hot pink flip-flops, hair that I threw up in a pony tail in my 20 minute spree getting ready this morning, unkept nails that are half chipped. All in all, desheveled.

Hehehe. :)

My reasoning for this difference in appearance: the other girl was a first year medical student, and I am a second year medical student (and am in the busiest part of the year to boot).

18 Hour Day

So today I put in 18 hours of work. Work in the sense that I did stuff for school and stuff to sustain my life for the past 18 hours. This includes:

• studying before my test
• writing a medical neuropharmacology test
• two hours of lecture
• assignment during lunch
• surgery lab (5 hours mind you!)
• eat supper/Skype home
• study cardiology and surgery
• get groceries
• study surgery and practice suturing/knot tying

Goodness, I can't wait until next Friday comes! A free weekend is headed my way :)

My Angora Sweater Vest

Every time I wore my angora sweater vest I thought how cute little bunnies had to die so I could get my clothing. Today I found out that I no longer need to be concerned:

They could always use a haircut!

almost have time to eat

Yup, I almost have time to eat, but not much time for sleep. I am so incredibily busy I don't stop from the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I go to bed at night. I am so, so, so thankful that I am only this busy for two full more weeks then things slow down. This is unsustainable. I really dislike being this stressed; I have to remember that I am never given anything that I can't handle. I just wonder sometimes why I was part of the lucky twenty students who got stuck with surgery lab/lectures during cardio and pharm. Such is life.

I can't, can't, can't, can't wait until October 8th when I can rest!!!!!!!!! Two weeks tomorrow :)

Until then, I am on the go and can't stop. So, I trudge on .... and will listen to one more lecture before I go to bed.

Lesson Learned

Never mention that you are stressed to a doctor.

I was in lab today and one of the doctors asked how I was doing, this is how the conversation went:

Doctor: "How are you today?"

Me: "Fine, a bit stressed though."

Doctor: "But aren't you all done with GI now?"

Me: "Yes, but I am now in cardio, pharmacology, and surgical skills, so I basically don't have a life right now."

Doctor, as if it was no big deal at all: "Yes, you don't have a life." ....like, duh!

So, now I will never, ever mention my stress to a doctor, because they have all been through it themselves...and probably worse. Lesson learned.

TGIF

Thank GOODNESS it's Friday!!!

This week was a crazy, insane, busy, sleep-deprived week. I started off last weekend still trying to recuperate from my Thursday test, and powered through and majorly studied pharmacology for my Monday test. On Wednesday I got to deliver a plastic baby from a dummy (as already mentioned) and promise to detail that experience, along with my neonatal resuscitation, on another day. Then I had an test this morning followed by my first surgical skills lab. I can't say I like it because it might jinx it, but I really enjoy tying the knots and being all anal retentive about how you move about in a surgical field. It is meticulous and clean, and I like that. One thing I can't stand and will have to work on is wearing that darn mask. I am so claustrophobic with it on that I can't keep it on for more than a few minutes at a time. I plan on studying with it on so that I can get used to it since I will HAVE to wear it in the future. Again, I will detail my surgery experience soon. But right now I need to sleep. Ciao!

-Me

Tired

I have two good posts to put up, but I am so darn tired that I cannot do it today. I have been going non-stop since 6:00 this morning. So now I am going to bed. One cool thing I did today was deliver a plastic baby! I'll have a more detailed post in the future (after Friday).

Off to bed for some much needed rest....

zzzzzzzzzz............

How Doctors Think

I once read a book titled: "How Doctors Think." It was a great book about how certain medical errors could have been avoided had the doctor made different decisions; basically it was about avoiding linear thinking in medicine. It was really interesting and I quite enjoyed it. But how do doctors really think? Quite honestly, I haven't the foggiest idea!

Today I had my first 'real' simulation experience. A doctor was in the next room acting as the voice of our dummy, as well, others were controlling the vitals and what the dummy was doing (ie changing breath sounds, heart beats, stomach distention, etc.) Let me tell you it was quite the experience to say the least. My role was to perform all physical examinations on the "patient". This didn't consist of much since it was a GI case. But, I felt like I just stood there whilst everybody else did work, thinking, etc. There are two people in my group that, honestly, I don't know how they know what they know! It has got to be previous clinical experience because, well, let's just say, my clinical thinking skills are not at that level yet.

It is quite frustrating to go into a room with a group of peers and then feel like they know more than I. I realize that this is my very first time attempting to apply the knowledge I have learned for my exams EVER, but it is still disheartening to think how much I still really don't know. This will come with time, but right now, this simulation learning experience was a tough one to swallow (partially because I was overwhelmed and partially because our patient coded, went unconscious, and stopped breathing....which subsequently caused all of the students to stop breathing in fear our 'patient' had died!) It is scary to think that one day that will be a real person in front of me coding, but, at that point, I certainly hope I know what the heck to do.

So, all in all, I have to learn how to think clinically and learn how to apply my book knowledge to medicine. It is unfortunate though, that reading the book, "How Doctors Think" doesn't really give you any idea how doctors really do think. I suppose some time I will figure this out.

Today I Tried to Break My Tibia

So every morning, instead of skipping across the street and using the front doors of the school, I walk around the side of the school, around the clinic, to use the back doors of the school so that I can get a bit of fresh air and burn a handful of extra calories. Today was no different. I had a tupperware full of watermelon and coffee in hand and headed toward the library to study. So I was ready to go up the staircase inside the school, and missed the first step completely. My coffee went flying along with my watermelon, I rolled my right ankle and whacked my shin on the hard, marble (?) stair in attempts to break my tibia. Holy crow did that hurt!!!! It immediately swelled up, but I was so made I stomped to the bathroom, got some paper towel to mop up my precious caffeinated beverage off the stone stairs. But, at the time, I didn't care about my coffee because my shin hurt so much! I even had to go ask the ladies at the coffee shop for some ice in a plastic baggie so I could ice my shin in the library as I studied. All I can say is thank goodness nobody saw me! It would have been a sight to behold.

So now, I nurse a sore shin, sore back, and slightly achy hips. I am in great shape!

Thinking's the Game

I have been sitting on my bed for hours and hours studying and have come to the conclusion that I like to think better than I like to memorize. This, perhaps, could be the problem that I have to face in the remainder of my gastrointestinal block. Honestly, I understand the information presented, but then the doctors who submit the questions for our test decide to pick out the most obscure details and expect us to remember them. I would consider myself a fairly good memorizer, but sitting for hours and shoving details into my head is more painful than sitting for hours and remembering how things work and why certain drugs are better for certain situations.

Conceptual things are more fun to learn.

For example, anything that has to do with the heart is more interesting than the GI system, only because if you effect one thing in the cardiac system, it results in different, logical, effects upstream or downstream from the initial pathology or problem. Where as in the GI, I have a hard time seeing it.

Needless to say, I may find it slightly refreshing to switch from GI to cardiac pharmacology for the next hour before I head to bed.

It Made Me Smile :)

One of the pediatricians who was lecturing on neonatal hyperbilirubinemia had this cartoon in the slide set and thought it was funny:

Sigh

I have been feverishly trying to learn as much as I can and I think that I have hit a wall. I have studied all day and can barely keep quinidine, lidocaine, propranolol, verapimil, adenosine, etc. straight in my head. And I've been doing this for hours. Blah. I am sure that it is in there somewhere, but I'll have to go back and look at it when I am fresher.

On the positive side, I am going out to grab some food with some friends this evening for an hour or so as a study break. It'll be good to get out and not study for some time.

Ah the life of a second year medical student.

Sigh....

I Like My Space

Well, it is official, I am feeling suffocated. Well, not literally, but I am definitely not used to people being around the apartment all of the time. Last semester my one roommate didn't like me very much and stayed clear of the apartment as much as possible and my other roommate hung out with her boyfriend 24/7/365.

So I got used to being alone, doing whatever I wanted wherever I wanted and nobody was around. I could burst into song whenever I pleased and do random dances whenever I wanted. Now, things have changed. The new roommate is definitely around more, but I would much rather have somebody who is pleasant and around more than somebody who didn't like me and isn't around at all. And, my other roomate just broke up with her boyfriend so she is around ALL OF THE TIME. Don't get me wrong, she's a great roommate, I am just not used to her being present so much.

I remember when everybody started going other places last semester and I was all alone and it was an adjustment. It taught me that I really do like my own space and not being around people all of the time. Ugh, that sounds anti-social. I am definitely not a hermit, I go to classes, study with my friends, etc., etc., but there is something to be said about being alone in an apartment for a certain amount of time.

Well, I guess that things are always changing, so I must get used to this again. Heck, the majority of last year seemed as if I lived entirely by myself in a beautiful huge apartment!

One Friday Night in the Library

I spent the majority of my Friday evening studying common anorectal problems. After spending a couple of hours I fail to understand why anybody in their right mind would want to be a colorectal surgeon.

ewww!

Feeling Un-Green

Normally I am all for reducing, reusing, and recycling in order to save the environment. To go along with this, I am also all up for conserving energy consumption, but there is one thing I cannot stand: ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS!

I can't stand the things! When I flick the light switch, I would like to have the lights come right on, not having to wait two minute s for them to warm up to give off maximal light.

It is a good thing that my roommate bought them and replaced all of our bathroom lights with them. Even better....they are supposed to last three years!

Snow Day in August

Today was the oddest of days. Despite getting up at 6AM to go to an extra didactic session this morning, our first two lectures where canceled because the clinician could not get to the university to lecture. I am assuming that something came up for the doc and he or she had to deal with that. Additionally, they closed the library mid-morning, then they sounded the fire alarm and evacuated the entire campus. I've never been in a real fire-alarm situation before. We all piled out of the study room we were studying in and stood at the street. The fire department came, so we decided to head to my place to get some studying done. The administration then closed the entire campus and made everybody go home because they had some sort of electrical problem (?) and, to resolve it, they had to shut off the power to the entire campus. So all of our other lectures were canceled too.

This was great for today! But it is going to bite us in the butt when we have to make up the missed lectures at some abscure and inopportune time. It is funny how things change! Before, when we had a closing or class canceled in undergrad, I was happy, but now, I am a bit disappointed because A) they will shove these lectures into our already busy enough schedule and B) I think it is important information we missed out on (i.e. colon cancer and common rectal diseases and injuries).

So I love my First Aid book!

I bought a couple of board review books and I am currently making my way through a tonne of gastrointestinal lectures while using my lecture notes and the First Aid book. The First Aid book, not only helps me know what to place emphasis on in my lectures, but also has wonderful little quirks to help me remember things. For example:

Crohn's Disease:

A fat granny and an old crone skipping down a cobblestone road away from the wreck.

this means: that Crohn's disease has fat wrapping around the intestines, skips segments of the intestines (ie not continuous), has a cobblestone appearance and spares the rectum.

Although this may not mean much to you, I think it is pretty clever and now I remember everything pertinent about Crohn's Disease.

This makes me happy :)

Ah the endless days of studying!

It is so weird because I sat on my butt all day today staring at my computer attempting to learn some biostatistics and other evidence based medicine principles, and didn't enjoy learning the material at all, yet, despite this, I am still happy that I am doing what I am doing. Yes, studying this subject for 12 hours is synonymous with eating sand for half a day, but heck, what else would I rather be doing? Nothing. This is part of the game, I have to suck up the boring stuff so that I can get to the better stuff like studying other systems like GI or cardio. Or, even better, to get to start doing clinical work! Ah will be the day that I don't have to study all day by myself and I can go into the hospitals, see patients, and learn real medicine. This thought frequently motivates me, because one day I will be doing 'doctor-things'. Until that day comes though, I will continue to study.

Tired

I am extremely tired but also very happy. I studied my butt off for my first pathology exam and it paid off. My score was in the top 16% of the class. Wahoo! Mind you, I hope I "learned" some of the drugs rather than simply memorized them!

Other than that happy note, I have actually been quite productive today. I had lab, slept a bit, cleaned, and read three journal articles and answered a quiz on each of the articles for my evidence based medicine class. It was boring but needed to be done. Now I lie in bed with my eye balls all dried up and my eye lids feeling heavier my the second. Which is why I am going to go to bed now.

'night!

Drugs, drugs, why art thou so difficult?

So I am knee deep in studying for my first pharmacology test and I often wonder why drugs have names that don't go along with their form or function. What does Atropine, Hexamethonium, or Trihexyphenidyl really tell me? Not much. Which is why I am feverishly memorizing these and many, many more drugs today, tomorrow, and the next day. At least this feels like stuff a doctor should actually know.

Psychotic Week

Man oh man, I survived my first psychotic week of second year. This explains my lack of posting in the recent days. I was in class for 25 hours this week, then I had two labs, a doctor's appointment and meetings for my little sibling (a program for incoming medical students to contact and gain advice from a second year). Needless to say it has been a long week. To top it all off we had a nutrition exam this morning that, well, lets say that it was difficult to say the least. I really enjoyed going to lecture and learning about nutritional things (although it has made me very aware of my current lack of nutrition in my current diet...but that is another post). But when the exam came it was more difficult than I had anticipated. :( Oh well, I was above the class average but I expected more of myself. I guess that I will just have to kill the second exam.

Well, I can say that one full week is done and look forward to next week because that means that I can be done yet another week. Gosh, that sounds like it is horrible to be here in medical school. Every time I complain I am just venting (we all need to do this once in a while). In all honesty, I LOVE what I am doing and really look forward to what this next semester brings for me (even if it hurts a bit in the process :))

100th Post

This post marks the 100th entry in this blog. How cool?! Things are going fine here at school. We don't have an exam for about a week and a half. So things are pretty laid back. I am just going through some lectures so that when it comes down to the cram sessions the days before the exam, I won't have to freak out. Eliminating as much stress as possible.

I have come to the conclusion that I thrive off of stress. Honestly. Since I don't have to do something, and I do not have a feeling of impending doom, I have to force myself to do anything. Although we haven't covered a tonne of information, I still feel like I should be doing something. I would much rather be busy as a bee instead of being half busy but pretending that I should be busy. I would say that is a rather poor explanation of how I feel, but, all I can say, is that it is really weird feeling. Having said this, I know that things will get hectic soon enough.

Well, I am off to watch a movie in bed on my computer. Might as well cherish my last evenings of freedom, right?

And 2nd Year Begins

Yesterday was my first day of 2nd year medical school. Within the past two days, I have had 11 lectures on various subjects. They certainly throw the information down our throats quickly! At least it is not boring! To make things a bit less boring yet, I have almost finished my disaster response online course. I am just waiting to get some technical gliches ironed out with the course coordinator.

I have yet to do any studying, but I plan on doing a lot this weekend so that I am not too far behind when school starts on Monday again. Oh the joys of time management begin again! To be honest, I would rather be busy, stressed, and tired than to sit around the house not doing anything. Having 7 weeks of nothing this summer is just about all I could take.

Things here are well. My roommate and I are waiting for our other roomie to come. She comes August 1st. The new roommate sure is cutting it close moving down to school one day before her classes start.

So, all in all, my first few days of my second year are going well. Now, I am going to go and continue to watch Boston Med. My new favourite television show :)

Kinda Itching to.....wait....get back to school?!? :S

There, I did it. I typed it. Yes, I actually am excited to start my second year of medical school. Although the first year was draining and difficult, it was worth it and I can't wait to get on with my medical education so that I can be one more step closer to actually helping people. It does actually sound insane to want to get back to the grind, but I have spent the majority of my summer lounging around on my recliner and on a float in the pool. And what do I have to show for it? A healing hip and a darn good tan.

I wish that I could be doing something useful for my future (ie research, observership,etc.) Well, I supposed getting a nice fixed-up hip is useful for my future since I will now be able to stand for more than 10 minutes without hurting, I'll be able to walk without my hip locking, and I'll be able to function properly come next year when I am doing clinical rotations. So, when I actually think about it, yes, I am actually doing something useful with my summer. Although, it doesn't mean that I have to like it! hahaha. But, in reality, I am enjoying spending quality time with my family and pets. And, I got some really great reading and got to watch a LOT of movies.

Heck, I still have two weeks home and I am going to have a blast. I plan on finishing some of my boring (biostatistics) reading this week so that I can read a novel before I leave and just give my brain a last chillax before I start cramming disgusting amounts of information into it again.

Until next time,
Me

A.W.A.L.

Since I have finished my first year of medical school, I have been A.W.A.L. here on my blog. Sorry about that! Honestly, things were quite busy (at least near the beginning) and then have slowed down so much that I barely have anything to blog about regarding my medical journey.

I will sum up my summer vacation so far. After partaying with fellow classmates to celebrate being 25% done medical school, I packed up and took an 11 hour road trip home. How nice was it to see my family and animals! Then I went out of town, visited my brother, went to an amusement park (as a last horrah) and then had surgery on June 2nd.

Since the surgery, I have laid around, being a slug, trying to rest and regain strength. Now I am stronger and do not need pain medication anymore, so this means that I can do some reading. I just finished a fiction novel for pleasure and now I am a quarter done my High Yield Biostatistics USMLE Review book. Although this is a board review book, I thought that keeping my mind active would help when I got back to school. Even if I don't remember any of it by the time boards actually come around next year, at least I will have heard about this stuff before and maybe it will come back more quickly than had I taken the entire summer off. In any event, doing this board review won't hurt me.

As I enter my second year of medical school, I have to start thinking about the board exams. Should I study as I go through my systems this upcoming year? First Aid? USMLERx? UW Qbank? Should I just 'learn' the information presented in class? So many questions. I am trying to research about ways that have worked for students in the past and still have a way to go before I finalize my attack during the school year. All I know is that I MUST rock the boards so that I can keep my options open. I have no idea what field of medicine I want to go into, so I must do well on the boards to prevent setting limitations on what is feasible for me in the future.

And now, I am going to start another fiction novel.

Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1/4 of a Doctor

Today I finished my first year of medical school. It feels amazing to have put so much work into something, do well, and look forward to almost two months of well deserved rest. This semester has been so incredibly busy. I didn't ever think that I could work this hard. I poured everything I had into my school the entire year and am happy to be on the other side of first year. This means that I am one step closer to being able to do actual doctor-things!

This semester I have learned a lot. Obviously the information I have crammed into my head counts as a LOT of learning, but I have also learned a lot of non-academic things too. I realized just how important sleep is and I have managed to get more sleep than I did last semester. I realized that I actually have to spend money on food so that I don't whither away. I found that eating a bag of chips a week can really alleviate weight loss :)

Also, I have made some amazing friends that are truly great individuals. They will surely be life-long friends. The social support going through stressful times has made a world of difference in my ability handle things. We share so many common experiences and we are there for each other when we need a good laugh, a shoulder to cry on, or a listening ear. I absolutely love them! And couldn't have made it through as sane as I am without them.

Less is more. Honestly. I study just a tiny bit less and do a tiny bit better. This means that I am not as much of a walking zombie, plus I get the added side effect of getting better grades.

I think that summarizes what I have learned in this past semester. Now I am getting ready to go home for the summer. The packing process is slowed because I have to wait for the washer and dryer to finish washing my clothes before I can pack them.

Sincerely,

SECOND YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT :)

Cadaver Memorial

Today was an extremely busy day. Aside from completing my 2nd last exam of first year medical school, and getting my pre-op physical and blood work done, I attended a memorial for our cadavers in our anatomy course last semester.

After lunch today, our school put on a memorial service to honour our cadavers and their families. It was a wonderful experience. Many families of the donors came to the service where there was a choir, musicians, and speakers from the various colleges within our university. The medical school dean and student president spoke. The student president gave an emotional speech that didn't leave a dry eye in the house. Also, each of the groups submitted a short paragraph on how thankful we were to our cadavers for donating their bodies to science. Ours read as follows:

"The human body is so incredibly profound, and the experience offered us simply couldn't be taught by any textbook. Our knowledge of the integrity and dynamics of the human body is now so vast, and we are incredibly humbled by the sacrifice given for us. Thank you!"

Donating a body to science is truly an amazing gift to so many people. Not only have we, as medical students, learned (as best we could) about the intricacies of the human body, but it has laid an anatomical foundation upon which we build our medical school knowledge. Anatomy is integral to every aspect of medicine, and for somebody to help in this way to facilitate our knowledge is incredible.

Having said this, I would rather never step into another anatomy lab ever, ever again.

It's Official, I am sick of studying.

I couldn't think of a better tite than that. I have only four days left before my final exam in my first year of medical school and I am more than ready for this to be over. Don't get me wrong, I love what I am doing, but one can only study so much and remain sane. I feel like I have been studying for an eternity and it just keeps on going. Today, I woke up got studying, then have remained here on the couch all day. Basically all I have done today is sit on my butt and eat. Seriously, I am totally going to get fat if I keep this up!

I can't wait to go home and see everybody again. March to May is a long time! It will be so nice to re-enter society and catch up on some socializing, and some much needed R & R. Basically what is keeping me motivated is the idea that in a few weeks I will be lounging by the poolside getting my dose of vitamin D.

Well, I should get back at it because I still have a lot of information to cover yet today. Can't wait to go home....a week from right now I will be in a car on my way home :)

Today Is A Day I Will NEVER Forget

Today I had the opportunity to watch my first baby delivery. I am still amazed and dumbfounded on how absolutely amazing this experience was. Let me tell you about it.

I am a member of the OB/GYN club and we have arranged it so that we can shadow doctors (one student at a time for two hour blocks) at the local hospital. I have had my time scheduled for about 2 months now and today was my day to go. I made special arrangements to get over to the hospital since I am lacking in wheels at the moment. When I went to the OB/GYN clinic I was expecting to follow a physician, resident, or medical student around on pre-natal check-ups. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. When I arrived, one of the doctors explained to me a fetal/maternal heart monitor and showed me what one of his patients' readings were and welcomed me to stay longer than my scheduled time if I wanted to see his patient deliver. I had said that I was very interested and he had expected her to deliver in 2 - 3 hours. We (the doctor, medical student, and I) went on a pre-natal check-up and then when we came out...not 45 minutes later...the doctor was called down because this patient was ready to start pushing. We rushed down and I watched him deliver a tiny baby boy. 5 pounds 10 ounces. When the head started to appear it really hit me that this was a real-live person ready to come into this world. I got shivers running from head to toe. When she finally delivered, I stood there all sweaty and then I started to cry. Right in front of everybody. It must have been comical to see this first year medical student, standing there in the midst of chaos crying. Oh man. Then I regained my composure, I watched them deliver the placenta, and then the doctor explained to me all about the placenta. It was pretty neat. After the nurses had cleaned up this baby, they placed him into the mothers arms, at which point, I began to tear up again. Oh man.

Needless to say, this was a great experience. I have never seen a delivery before and this was a fantastic way to end up my first year of medical school. It is things like this that really make me happy to have chosen to go to medical school. It is so easy to get caught up in studying like a mad-woman, sitting for hours on end staring at a computer hoping that something makes it through my thick skull. One day, I won't have to study for ten hours each day, one day I will be able to be around patients, one day I will be able to make a difference in a life, and....one day I will be able to actually deliver a baby!

Standardized Patient Assessment Lab Exam

I stood outside the exam room with pen and clip board in hand with my short white coat's pockets filled with various things like reflex hammer, vibrating tuning fork, and a stethoscope around my neck. I knocked and entered and, to my left, was a doctor sitting with a clip board and a patient on the exam table. My heart started pounding and sweat started accumulating on my forehead. Somebody must have turned up the thermostat!

I introduced myself as a first year medical student, confirmed the patient's name and date of birth and then washed my hands. I then proceeded to perform a physical exam. I started out with the heart exam. I was really hoping to get a male patient because in order to do a proper exam on a woman you need to go right under the left breast. Alas I had to ask the patient to lift up her left breast as I listened (TWICE!!!) and felt for her maximum heart impulse. It isn't the easiest thing to ask somebody you've never seen before to help out in this manner.

Regardless, the rest of the exam went smoothly. I did a full neurological exam, musculoskeletal exam, reflex exam, and abdominal exam without a hitch. Near the end of the exam I had the patient lying down on the table with the foot rest out so she had a place to put her feet. The patient had a drape over her lower body to keep her covered, and her blue booties were beside her feet (since I had to take them off for examination of the foot). Well, I was in a rush to conclude because I had only a couple of minutes left before I ran out of time. And I was trying to put the foot rest back....the booties were getting in the way, flying everywhere, the drape kept getting stuck in the foot rest as I tried to jam it into the bed. Finally I freed up the drape and then......SQUISH.....I decided to put the foot rest and my finger into the table. Normally this would have made my eyes sweat, but I had no time, I still had to do more tests, so I just kept on going; despite lacking all feeling in my left index finger and having the overwhelming urge to yelp.

It ended up I finished everything on time and remembered to do all of the tests required for the exam. So it, overall, went well (finger and foot rest issues aside!)

RELIEF!

Now I can breathe! Honestly, I don't think that I have been so relieved to finish a set of exams in my life. I wrote an exam on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. With yesterday's exam being cumulative from the beginning of medical school I am so happy that I am free now....Well, kind of free. I have three more exams but they are a bit more spread out so I will be able to prepare without having to cram. I don't think that I can sit on my couch for 30 hours during the weekend studying. My butt might mold into the cushions!

Well, last night I went out to Olive Garden with my friends and had a lovely dinner. It was so nice to go out in public and not study and have a good meal. I then went to be at 10PM so that I could catch up on some much needed sleep. Now I am currently sitting in physiology lecture (well in between lectures) and thought that I'd post since I haven't had time to post since all I have been doing is studying.

Anywho, lecture is starting now so I have to wrap up this post.

14 Hours

Today, I spent 14 hours here:




Studying this:



Feeling like this:

A Day in the Life of...ME...

6:00AM: wake up....well, actually my alarm goes off, but I don't get out of bed until 15 minutes later. Which causes me to have to jump into the shower, rush around like a mad-woman trying t o get everything together so that I am not late for my 7AM meeting in lab. Yeah, we have didactic sessions at 7AM once a week to get us prepared for next years clinic / treating our athlete-patients.

8:00AM: go to class for...four, I mean three hours. I decided that I was too tired to stay in class. So I skipped out on one of our neuroanatomy lectures. I decided sleep was more beneficial. I don't know if that was smart, I guess we'll see when the Monday exam comes around.

12:00PM eat lunch and talk on the phone with Mum for 45 minutes. This did me a world of good. She is such a great listener and lets me vent all I want without judging me. I always feel better after I have talked with her.

1:00PM: study neurophysiology

2:30PM: meet with my group for my Complementary and Alternative Medicine elective class. I take extra classes for extra credit because I don't think that medical school is busy enough for me. ha!

3:30PM: finish up the neurophysiology lecture

6:00PM: eat and skype with Mum. :)

7:00PM: study neuroanatomy, pediatric cardiovascular exam. Honestly, I got up to pee once. When I finally finished up my legs hurt and then I realized that I had studied in the same spot all day. I wouldn't be surprised if someday in the headlines we read: "Med student dies of DVT from studying too much!"

12:00AM: do my dishes and put my Magic Cookie Bars into plastic baggies to freeze because they are going to make me fat because I can't stop eating them all. No human being should eat an entire batch of them in a matter of days!

12:20AM: get ready for bed, write this, and now I am going to put on a lecture on my computer so that I can listen to what I have already learned this evening. Audio reinforcement is always awesome! ....that is if I don't fall asleep while listening, which has been known to happen.

In any event....Good Night!!!!!

5 New Things I Learned Today

1. Why, while I was skating, I didn't get dizzy from spinning. My brain learned how to suppress the automatic reflex that causes us to get dizzy. This is why I could skate forward after spining dozens of times around in one spot.

2. I learned that physiotherapists and occupational therapists often have to go and do a screen of an elderly person's home after they have had a debilitating injury or illness in order to ensure safety in the home.

3. Learned the steps involved in a well-womens physical exam.

4. I learned how to check to see if somebody has a hernia. I can't wait to do one of those in real-life :S

And finally...

5. The only time a rectal exam should not be done when there is a complaint in the area is:
a) if the physician doesn't have fingers
b) the patient doesn't have an anus

5 Things that Made Me Feel Like a Medical Student Today

1. the first thought that I have when I wake up is....oh, I'm gonna be late for class
2. the highlight of my day is that we got a mark back on our pathology exam, which now means that I get an A in the class
3. I placed fried up ground beef into numerous ziplock baggies to freeze so that I don't have to cook meals in the next couple of weeks. 2 minutes in the microwave and viola....TACOS!!
4. I joked with a doctor today about how much fun diagnosing the thoracic inlet is
5. I am eating left-over spaghetti at midnight after studying for 5 hours straight

Kiss the Boo-Boo Phenomenon

I am currently studying neuroanatomy and neurophysiology and came across a phenomenon that I thought was extremely interesting.

Basically we call it the "Kiss the Boo-Boo Phenomenon". Although this is not the technical term for it (it is actually called the Gate Theory to Pain), but I thought that it was interesting.

There is actually a reason why Mum's and Dad's kiss a 'boo-boo' of a child. The light touch of a kiss actually travels down nerve fibers that relay the information faster than the pain fibers. So the light touch of a kiss actually reaches the brain before the pain signal does, and essentially blocks out the pain signal, leaving the child feeling only the light touch signal.

Pretty neat!

Hard Work Pays Off

Well, I finished this string of exams. And I did very well, if I say so myself! :)

Today was endocrinology physiology and I actually got perfect on the exam. I am so happy!!!! Too bad I don't love the material though. You would think that if I could get perfect on the exam that I would love that material the best, but this was not the case. I actually enjoyed studying the physiology of the heart, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract better; but didn't do as well. Go figure.

I put everything I had into these lasts tests that I am so tired. It is just after 9PM and I am going to bed. I am so tired that I can barely keep my eyes open.

I had a busy day as well. I volunteered at a high school talking about medical school (which was a waste of my time, but that is another story in and of itself), and then I slept, then I had my elective class about Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Today's speaker was an integrative pharmacist. She was an amazing speaker, extremely intelligent, and very interesting to listen to. I thoroughly enjoyed her presentation this evening.

One more exam to check off my list

Now 11 more exams to go. (and 42 days until I am a quarter of a doctor) :)

I totally rocked my neuroanatomy exam today. I was above the standard deviation and everything. I don't think that I have ever studied as hard in my life. Essentially I learned four days worth of studying in three. Which was painful, but I managed to do it. Yay!

I have come to the conclusion that, no matter what happens on my never-ending string of exams, as long as I do my best, I have to be happy. This means that if I put everything I have into an exam, and write the exam knowing that I did everything that I possibly could have done, then I have succeeded. It is a great feeling when this work does work out, but when/if it doesn't at least I have no regrets.

Tired....of....pathology.....

Oh man, I will be SO HAPPY when tomorrow is over and pathology is finished. I will have survived 32 lectures of pathology as of 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. And I am not looking back!

I don't know what it is about pathology, but I hate studying it. I shouldn't dislike it so much because the material does seem like it should be interesting. But it just doesn't strike me as something fun to study. Actually, I dreaded studying for this exam.

This may be partially due to the fact that I know that I am NEVER going to be a pathologist. I can't imagine working this hard to go and take a residency for 5 years to look at slides and specimens, sit in a lab all day looking at microscopic cells and then doing autopsies for the rest of my career. Nope. Never gonna happen. I think that I might go insane! I want to be a doctor that interacts with patients, gets to talk with them, take histories, do procedures. (Although, never having call at the hospital and making $250K / year does sound attractive...not enough to make me go into pathology though).

Enough about my rant on pathology. My studying is almost over and then I can say that I have completed another medical school course and move on to my next exams(neuroanatomy and physiology).

Night!!!!

Happy Easter

Surgery Day

Today was so incredibly fun!!!!

I got into a workshop for OB/GYN & Surgery that took place for four hours this morning. I was excited but it turned out to be even more fun than I had anticipated.

We learned so many cool things.

I learned how to hand-tie knots that would be used to suture things back together. I would consider myself to have decent manual dexterity, but this was really hard. We learned how to do a two-handed square knot and then a one-handed square knot. Eventually I will have to become efficient at doing the one-handed knot since this is helpful when holding an instrument in one hand and still be able to suture things up. In addition, we learned how to tie knots with instruments too! (ie learn how to do isolated stitches and uninterrupted running stitches). You would think that normal ppl like to tie with their hands, but for some odd reason I enjoyed working with the needle and suture material better; it was finer and more detailed.

Next, we learned how to intubate a dummy-person. This was pretty neat too! Honestly, they have to be rough and apply a lot of pressure to establish an airway. I just wonder how many teeth are broken by medical students while learning how to intubate in the OR. I imagine quite a few considering it is so easy to hit the teeth when forcing the tube down the person's throat.

We also learned the steps that go into creating a sterile field, surgical scrubbing of the hands, gowning up, and setting up a mayo-stand. I didn't realize how much care goes into creating a sterile environment for surgery. I suppose that this is a good thing though because I certainly want the greatest of care when I have my surgery! No staphylococcus aureus infections for me please!

Then we learned various OB/GYN procedures as well. We learned: a sutureless vasectomy....as described: "effective, permanent contraception in 10 minutes or less!" Also, I learned how to close an episiotomy, place an intrauterine device (Mirena and copper types), and also a manual vacuum aspiration (MVA).

The MVA was kind of cool. We set up a hand-held vacuum device, and then used a papaya as a model cervix/uterus. Did you know that a papaya resembles a cervix and uterus? I didn't! But it is the same shape and everything! We gradually dilated the "cervix" of the papaya and then placed the vacuum in to suck the guts out of the fruit simulating the actual procedure. It was kind of neat to think that I could actually be doing this one day.

Having this experience makes me wonder if I would actually be interested in surgery. But I guess I can't tell until I actually experience the real thing out on clinical rotations.

March Break = Done, School = 8 weeks left!!!!!!!

I can't believe that my break is done and now I sit here on my bed back at school.

Sigh.....

Time certainly does fly, and now I am entering my final stretch of school until I am done with first year. Wahoo! I can't believe that I am slighly more than 75% done my first year of medical school. I feel like I have learned so much, yet still know absolutely nothing compared to a full doctor. It is just insane!

My flights were uneventful (which is definitely preferable) and I got in around 4:30PM (my time). Then I unpacked all my suitcases and cleaned my room. There was no way that I could put my stuff from my luggage back into a disarray of clothes and mess. So, I went to town and cleaned my room until 7:30ish, ate something, then tried to do some school work. This was fairly unhelpul because I was so tired that I barely retained anything. It is for this reason that I stopped studying, took a hot shower and now am lying in bed all ready to catch some ZZZZZs before my week begins.

I had the most amazing March Break ever! Again, I have to reiterate the fact that I definitely have the most amazing family on earth. I got to spend quality time with everybody in my family (well, almost everybody.....except for a certain few who are, at the moment, living it up in the Sunshine State). But I am truly lucky to be surrounded by such great people.

xoxoxo

Getting Recharged and Some Answers

So I am officially more than half done my March Break :( I have been looking forward to this for so long (it was extremely powerful motivation to get through the last couple of grueling weeks of exams). I love coming home and being around my family and pets. It makes me so happy! It was exactly what I needed; to get away from my medical school bubble, come back to 'real-life' and get rested up. I have had a wonderful break so far (minus the lack of school work and countless doctor's appointments).

Today I am going to try to get some work done and, guess what? Today is the first day since the weekend that I have not had an appointment. Yay for a free day! Speaking of doctor's appointments. I got the final word on my other hip on Tuesday. I went to the orthopedic surgeon and we decided to scope my left hip. It should make it feel better. Heck, I can't be lop-sided, eh? Both my hips have to match so, Mr. Left hip gets fixed as soon as I get finished with this semeter. I am kinda bummed about spending my precious summer recovering, but this is the only time I can get it done and it will be so lovely to not have a sore hip in the future :)

Anywho, I am just procrastinating now and really should get to learning about the thyroid gland. Doesn't that sound like an exciting topic to spend the next couple of hours studying? Oh, I can hardly wait!! :P

Now I Can Breathe

I have officially survived the first half of this semester. Yay! I wrote my last exam yesterday (well, I guess two days ago when I look at the clock) and I am so relieved that it is done. I had to dig really deep to make myself study for my last exam. I am happy that I studied as much as I did, but man, it was difficult to force myself to study despite being so tired.

Today was semi-productive. I got through almost three lectures and scrubbed the apartment down. Meaning, I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floors and everything. It needed it so badly. And it looks AMAZING. I didn't have the energy or time to vaccuum or straighten the 'living' area, but what I did will suffice.

I just crawled into bed after going to a friends house for a St. Patrick's Day party. It was so nice to get out and be social! Now, I am so incredibly tired and I need to be able to get up in the morning to do school work so that I can learn lots because I am trying to get stuff done so that I do not have to do too much work while I am home.

Gosh, words can't describe how excited I am to go home!!!!

Mark My Words....

I am never, ever, ever going to be a pathologist. EVER!

I have been studying pathology for three days straight now (only stopping to practice how to do a physical exam) and I still haven't been through all of the information and I am calling it quits and going to bed.

I have studied from 10:00 this morning until now....only stopping to eat and perform bodily functions. Sounds lovely, eh?

There are 19 lectures on this exam and some of the lectures have 100 powerpoint slides to them. This is not cool on the brain. In fact, I don't even know how it is possible to get thru all of the information, that's getting thru it, and then learning it all is yet another story. I have picked what I think is "important" and hopefully the doctors writing the exam tomorrow think along the same lines as myself. Not getting through everything stresses me out. Oh well, I have put forth my best effort and que sera sera.

Also, tomorrow I have a simulated patient experience in which I have to take a history on a patient, do a physical (focused on eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and head) and then write a SOAP note on my findings. Oh, I forgot to mention that a doctor is in the exam room marking every little thing we do during our physical.

Oh tomorrow is going to be such a fun day!

The good thing is that I am going to be able to cross off 66.67% of the exams I have until March Break and I am one day closer to going home. :)

P.S. If this sounds negative, I apologize...I am just super tired....zzzz....

OB/GYN

Today was a full day of studying, classes, and free lunch yet again! Last week I went to meetings during lunchhour and got two free lunches and this week I also got two free lunches (then there were left overs so I took some for my dinner too!) All in all, free food rocks!

I am a member of the OB/GYN club and today we had a meeting over lunch that included a panel of four family doctors who also deliver babies. They got additional training in obstetrics so they are able to deliver selected patients' babies. I thought that the talk was interesting and I actually look forward to our meetings.

After the meeting the president of the club came over and said that I have been the only student who has attended all of the meetings the OB/GYN club has had, and they would like me to be an officer next year for the club. She said that she wants people who are enthusiastic and interested in the club's focus. I said that I would think about it, but I think that I am going to do it. From what I understand there are four meetings a semester (to which I am required to attend) and I would also play a part in organizing the monthly speakers - so I would email various doctors and see if they would be willing to talk at our school and other various things. It not only lets me have a say in what happens in the club, but also looks good on a resume for residency programs.

I am pretty excited about this. Even though I do not really know what I want to do when I "grow up". I guess that's what clinical rotations are for during my third and fourth years.

Productive :)

I learned so much today....now fingers crossed that it sticks around long enough to A) get a good mark on my exam on Friday and B) to make board review easier (ie some sort of long term retention)

I studied my butt off and feel like I actually got somewhere today :) yayayay

Also, as the day progressed my torticollis started to let my neck/upper back muscles to relax. I can now look down and study! My sternocledomastoid muscle is still firing nonstop; it feels like a guitar string. But it should go away soon enough.

Anyway, I am headed off to bed because I need to make some neuronal connections while I sleep.

Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh me oh my...time certainly does fly by!

I can't believe that this semester is almost half done. Honestly, time flies by way too quickly. I am closer to the start of second year medical school than I am to the start of first year medical school. And I still feel like everyday I am trying to figure things out. Mind you, I am getting slightly better grades than first semester while studying the same amount. I guess that is a small sign that I am figuring things out enough to do well.

As medical school has progressed I have really become self-centered. Honestly, my life revolves around getting my brain ready for the next exam. I buy groceries for myself, I clean up so that I like the apartment, I do practically everything for myself. For instance, yesterday I made a whole banana loaf (as opposed to making a half one!) all for me. Like I need an entire banana loaf! Not to toot my own horn, but man it is good!!!! With glazed brown sugar topping and chocolate chips to boot.

Despite feeling self-centered, I do have to say that talking with my family every day keeps me grounded and helps me realize that life does go on beyond the two-block area of the globe in which I set up shop. I truly am blessed for such a loving family that supports me in everything I do in life. The Lord has truly blessed me and I can't ever let stress and worry take over my life (despite how stressful things get in medical school) because I have to realize that I have been given a wonderful opportunity to study medicine, and hopefully make a difference.

That is all.

-Me

So much for going to be early!

I had planned on going to bed early, but I got on a roll and ended up sucking back one more lecture of renal things before I headed home. I tried to study here at the apartment this evening but ended up just getting frustrated, tired, and then, I decided that I would head on over to the library to study. Today was semi-productive but I am super tired which is why: A) I can't wait for March Break and B) I need to go to bed now.

Night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check Off Another Exam

I wrote yet another exam this morning and I have an oral exam with a physician tomorrow afternoon and then another exam on Monday. But....I am done todays and I can check that one off. Yay! Only 5 more exams until March Break. I think that this deserves a countdown!!

The weather here is quite chilly. The ice keeps melting then freezing over and over. But I think that it is going to remain frozen considering that it is well below freezing right now. Currently I am nursing an extremely sore body. I managed to fall 3 times yesterday but one time really, really hard in the parking lot of our apartment complex. I whacked down on my hip so hard that I had a difficult time getting up. Now I am sore from my neck to my knee on my right side. I could go into detail, but I'd be complaining too much and would rather try to forget how sore I really am.

On a lighter note, the icicles from our eaves-troves (I don't really know how to spell that word!) are huge!!! Some are probably 10 feet long! The ones right outside my bedroom window aren't the longest ones, but the lights at night make them glow like fire. I took some pictures of them! :)

Anywho, I am heading off to bed to get more than 6 hours of sleep. Oh how I treasure sleep these days.

Med School Gala - 2010

We had our Med School Gala last night. It was absolutely beautiful. It was really nice to see everybody all dressed up and eat scrumptious desserts (chocolate fondu fountain included) at a lovely venue with great music, dancing, and friends...and...GREAT SHOES :)

Breathing...meh, who cares???

I have been studying breathing for days now....I think that it is overrated. Honestly, good air in - bad air out. That's all I think that doctors need to know. Don't you think?????

I have a respiratory physiology exam tomorrow and think that it is going to be extremely hard. Especially since the professor teaching is one of the worst ones I have had here in medical school. He just realized (this morning, the morning before the exam) that he forgot to post additional material that we are responsible for even though he didn't lecture on it. So, within 24 hours we have an additional 40 pages to know. That's what I call NOT COOL!

Well, back to studying!

xoxo

Catty Girls!

You would think that students in medical school would be mature individuals who exhibit the utmost level of professionalism and integrity considering that is what the medical profession demands of all individuals involved. This is not the case.

Since I have been here in medical school I cannot tell you how friendly and non-competitive it has been here. Regardless of hundreds of Type A personalities galavanting around the campus, I have yet to run into many people who are immature or mean. People seem very collaborative and friendly; exactly the type of environment in which I strive to learn.

Having said this, I am slightly disappointed in my roommmate. We were getting along very well and now....well....she refuses to talk to me. Without going into too many details, I basically had said that I was going to study with her and then found out that it would be much more productive and helpful to study with other people since they are more at my level of knowledge and plus, they are my friends, and I like to hang out with them. Well, I told my roommate this, and she decided that I was being irrational and giving her the shaft, and I was a terrible person. Needless to say she flew off the handle, screamed and cried at me (let me mention that I was extremely calm and mature about this while she was doing this)... and now she is no longer talking to me.

*sighs*

Honestly, I was nice about it and she was being immature, but on the other hand, it really does suck to have sombody 'hate' you and not talk to you when you share an apartment with them. Talk about tension. I am still polite to her and she basically ignores me. I have come to the conclusion that can't try to understand some people; especially bipolar girls with issues.

The end.

(of my vent)

Yes, I am still alive...

I am sorry that I haven't posted anything for a while yet, I have been so busy! I wrote four exams in seven days. Without going into too much detail, all I will really say is that it sucked. I am still totally sleep deprived and I still have to survive six more weeks before I get March Break. Oh the thought of going home gives me something to look forward to, which is great since the only thing I get to look forward to here is when the next test is. Oh the joys of medical school.

Today in our physical diagnosis lab I learned how to look into people's ears, mouths, and noses. Yeah, we stuck speculums up our partner's noses and forced a light with a pointed tip up to see if we could see the turbinates of the nose. I was alright at the nose one (mind you, my partner kept breathing through his nose and fogging up my view thru the scope I was looking through), but looking into the ear was difficult. I felt like I had two left hands!! You have to hold the otoscope with one hand, stabilize the fingers against the head so that you have more control, put the scope into the ear all with one hand and then use the other hand to pull the ear up and back so that you open the ear canal so that you can see something. To add onto the level of manual dexterity required we have to hold an insufflation bulb (a pump that gives a 'puff' of air into the ear to see the tympanic membrane move) with the same hand that is holding the otoscope and stabilizing the ear. Tough stuff for somebody with freakishly small hands! But with the help of the TA and the family doc in the lab, I (kind of) got the hang of it. Now I'll have to practice looking into people's ears, mouths, and noses to become a pro at these skills that so many doctors don't even think twice about doing.

All I can say is that my respect for doctors grow each day! hahaha

This is an otoscope:



This is what you see when you look inside the ear with the otoscope:

Supper = Homesick

I am about the weirdest person ever to let my supper make me homesick! I made meat balls in the crockpot for supper this evening (yes, an actual full meal, go ME!!!) and as I was eating it all I could think about is how we would have this at home. The thought of me sitting on my couch eating this lovely meal all by myself when, just a year ago, I would be sharing this same meal with my family, kind of made me sad. Don't get me wrong, it was a really good meal, but it made me think about just how much I miss my family. But honestly, you can't blame me for feeling this way when I have the most awesome parents, brothers, grandparents, and yes...animals EVER! I am truly blessed even if I am far away from them. :)

Love,
Me

Medical School Tuckered Me Out! Go figure!

I can officially say that I am exhausted and need sleep in the worst way. In fact, I might fall asleep right now writing this.

Yesterday I studied until 1AM and then was up just after 7 in the morning to go get groceries because, go figure, I need to eat. And to eat I need food, so off to Walmart I went. Then I studied all day until right now. I just took a hot shower and am lying in bed getting ready to listen to one more lecture as I drift off to la-la land.

Sometimes when I am this tired and stressed I have to remind myself that this is going to be worth it. Especially when I save somebody's life!

BUTT IT ITCHES

The pinworm is a parasite
That makes a journey every night,
From the intestine where it resides
To lay its eggs on the outside.

The usual symptom is an itchy bottom
Though in the appendix it can cause a problem.
It generally resides in tiny tots,
But can infect both moms and pops.

Its thin walled eggs float in the air
So they can end up anywhere.
So if tonight you start to squirm,
remember it might be this worm.

But, this nematode’s easy to diagnose
By affixing scotch tape to the host;
Then examining the microscopic slide
For eggs that are flatter on one side.

So if you have him, don’t be embarrassed
Anyone can have Enterobius vermicularis.

S.M. Reynolds
Pediatrics 71(2):245, 1983


Only in medical school would this poem be so funny!!!!

Ice Storm 2010

It is official that I have survived the Ice Storm of 2010! lol Actually it has been quite a hectic time here. We were blessed with an ice storm all day yesterday and the previous night which left us and surrounding areas with up to an inch of ice. School was cancelled yesterday which, although sounded like a good idea at the time, really turned out to cause a bunch of stress. We had a microbiology exam scheduled for Friday and the administration had to make a decision about what they were going to do with the lost lectures and the exam. Earlier in the day the registrar decided that it would be fine to give us 7 hours of lecture today and then have our exam tomorrow morning at 8AM. Then the course coordinators decided that this was not fair and they decided to re-schedule the re-schedule to Monday morning at 6:30AM!! At least now I get to study all weekend and kick micro in the butt!! (hopefully)

The remaining ice that was left everywhere is actually beautiful to look at, just not pretty to drive / walk in. This morning took 10 minutes to walk down our 'drive-way' from the apartment and across the street. It was like skating! Too bad wearing boots doesn't create graceful flow across the ice! So I am now going to go home a (rather, SKATE home) take a much needed and well deserved nap, then study until early evening then take the rest of the night off before I start yet another round of studying for micro and physiology and physical diagnosis, and.....the list doesn't end.

Bye from a winter / icy wonderland!!!

xoxo

study study study

....and study some more.

That is all I have been doing is...STUDYING!

Not that I mind it, but my brain is actually starting to hurt. I am cramming massive amounts of physiology and microbiology into my head. Right now I am needing a break and the people on Facebook aren't changing their status' fast enough for me :) So I decided to write on here.

On Friday I was trained to be an interviewer. Man that was fun! I felt so professional and important (even though I am at the bottom of the pecking order in the medical field!) So that was exciting. Then on Friday a bunch of us decided to go to the Family Practice Chapter evening "dinner". Although they didn't give us dinner, instead we got "heavy appetizers", we still had a fun time. Then we went out to have something to eat afterwards. That was my fun Friday. While Saturday and Sunday were filled with studying. Now I am trying to finish off the last of the lectures I need to finish before I can head off to bed. Hopefully it won't be too late. So, I should stop writing and go learn a thing or two about neuronal transmission!

xoxoxo