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: