CPR Recertification

Today I had to get recertified to do the basic CPR course. This should not be a very difficult task, but it definitely was an annoying one. With every breath the computer told me- "too much air, not enough air, too fast, wait longer between breaths, speed up the breath", and then with each compression the computer told me- "push deeper, push harder, lighten your push, push faster, etc., etc., etc." All in hopes of me getting it just right.

We had to do full CPR on both an adult dummy as well as an infant dummy. I got the adult down pat, but the infant dummy. That was a different story. By the 6th cycle of trying to do compressions on the dummy I finally had to have one of the TAs come over and help me. The darn computer didn't think that I was pushing in the correct location - meaning I heard "good compressions, but your finger placement is incorrect" 1000000 times! Finally I passed the infant CPR portion and got through the course.

At the end of the day - I AM RE-CERTIFIED IN BASIC LIFE SUPPORT SKILLS. yay.

Success out of an Unsuccessful Test

Yesterday we had our first renal (aka nephrology) test. And, in very kind words, this test was HARD! I thought that I had understood the material as I studied, but when the test questions take a clinical scenario and then we have to apply our knowledge, it made it very difficult for me to reason through things.

I understand that we will have to use our medical knowledge when taking care of patients in the future. But it is very hard to reason through clinical scenarios and apply our knowledge on paper because I haven't really "worked" with the information. Yes, I can sit there memorize/understand the information, talk through the information with friends, etc. but I think that the only way to really learn renal is to use it; and use it on a regular basis. Hence, I struggle with the application of renal.

One good thing though, I did get to check one more thing off my list of potential careers: nephrology.

I Really Need to Stop ...

eating full meals at midnight. It just makes me stay up longer and, undoubtedly, is going to make me fat.

Fish Murderer

I was going to write this post tomorrow, but I decided that I was hungry before I went to bed so I made myself an egg-on-a-bagel sandwich and had a piece of cake (courtesy of my friend's husband's birthday party), and I can't possibly go horizontal will all that food still in my esophagus (I know, not literally.....but point stands).

So yesterday I finished up my OB/GYN block (as previously noted) and I decided to get myself two gold fish. I named one Sal and the other remained unnamed. Well, when I woke up this morning, Sal was belly up at the bottom of the vase I was using as fish bowl. So, I changed the water and flushed him down the toilet. Sad.

I wasn't heartbroken because I know that many times goldfish don't last that long. Not to say that Sal was a backup, but I wasn't terribly surprised that he croaked. But the bigger guy that was still living, I noticed that he had had a tumour on his side from the moment I got home. When I came home at lunch his tumour was flaking off (aka in medical terms: excoriating) into the water and his tail was turning whitish. Not a good sign for a little fish. When I got home from lab this afternoon, the unnamed fish was also belly up at the bottom of the tank.

That is two fish, dead, within 24 hours. Horrifying. Although the second fish didn't have a name, his death hurt more than the previous death; I had figured I could have had him in my life more than 24 hours. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. When a fish's time comes, a fish's time comes.

As I flushed him down the toilet and watched him swirl away into the abyss of sewage....I thought of the perfect name: Swirls.

I go to bed mourning the loss of two fish.

It has been quite some time....

So things have been very busy on my part. I have been studying my OB/GYN notes like crazy and had the final exam today. It really enjoyed this block and, can say with some certainty, that OB/GYN has been my favourite block and unit in all of medical school. It is just so fascinating. I actually liked the gynecology portion better than the obstetrical portion (odd, I know). But I am kind of sad that it is over.

On another note, being that I am moving back home next year and plan on commuting to the hospital each day, I will have to have a vehicle. Now, something came up that seemed like a decent car for a decent price. But I found out about this this afternoon, and would have to make my decision this evening. Although it might have worked out just fine, I feel like I need more time to make a decision of this magnitude. It involves thousands of dollars and I just couldn't commit to something on such a short basis. I hope that I made the right decision. I realise that I need a very reliable car and will not be able to get it for a thousand dollars, but I simply need more time to digest something of this nature. Part of me thinks that I should have gone ahead with this- and just get the car....but then the other part of me tells me that I could probably find something that would suffice for similar pricing and not be all freaked out and nervous about it. Such a difficult decision - one that I will have to make in the near future about any sort of vehicle. Hopefully the next car that comes around will allow me to have some time to digest some details.

In the mean time, I suppose that some of my study breaks are going to be spent looking up cars for next year. Fun.

Hospital Placement!!!!!!

Yesterday the results came out for the lottery process that our school does in order to determine what hospitals every student will be at next year. Because our medical school doesn't have it's own hospital, the school tries to keep the majority of the class in the local area, but many students can travel farther away to do their rotations. Since I have no connection to where I am going to school, I really, REALLY wanted a specific hospital or two so that I could live at home and do my third year rotations.

And, I GOT MY FIRST HOSPITAL PICK!!!!

I am so incredibly happy! :) I get to do my third year rotations a half an hour away from my house. This means that I get to live at home, be around family and friends, save a lot of money, and still go to school for what I want! I don't think that things could have turned out any better.

So now I know that after I write boards on June 27th, I will move back home to do my clinical rotations for at least a year. I am SOOOOO thrilled!

Honestly, I prayed about this for so long - God is good!! :)

Blizzard and Uncertainty

Today school was closed at 3:00pm because the weather was so bad. There were blizzard conditions that started around noon today and then are expected to continue until noon tomorrow. We are guessing that they will shut down the school tomorrow because if they closed it yesterday and it isn't going to get any better tomorrow I can't see them wanting the students or employees travelling to the school. But, I hope that they don't do this because it would cause all of our classes and labs from tomorrow to be squished into another day; which makes things more stressful.

Another thought that I am trying to suppress is the fact that on Friday we find out what hospitals we are going to be placed at for our third year clinical rotations. Eeek! It will be nice to have an idea of where I am going to be next year! Fingers crossed I get my first or second choices!