Monday, August 27, 2007

Post-test

Well one test down, a billion more to go. The big news is: I passed! That is one excellent thing about med school, we no longer get grades. We pass, fail, or get honors. Honors, I have already given up on. Why? Well possibly because over 40% of my class got over a 90% on the first exam. And only the top 10% (18 people) get honors. Obviously I am going to school with some of the smartest people in the nation. In addition the material is very difficult, so really if I wanted to be at the top of my class I would have to study all the time. And since I already know that I don't want to go into a competitive specialty like radiology or orthopaedics, I have decided that honors is not going to be something that I strive for. Frankly, I would rather have a life and not be more stressed out than necessary. We have a motto here and it is P=MD. That means that regardless of whether I get steady scores of 70% throughout med school, I will still be a doctor. I felt good about how I did on the test though. I am not sure about my exact percentage because there is a slight curve but by my calculations I got a B- to a B. That works for me. The best part of the test was when it was over.




The tradition at the U is when the test is over at noon, everyone goes to the bar across the street from campus called Sally's. There everyone proceeds to drink all of the testable knowledge right out of their head. I ate lunch there after the test and had a drink with my classmates. It was fun. Especially because the normal working people who were there on their lunch breaks were very confused by our presence. Another medical fraternity called phi chi held a party on friday night in honor of our first exam being over. That was also fun except I am still annoyed that they charged me $5 for a cup even though I told them I was allergic to beer. Lame! In closing, I have uploaded a picture that I drew of the brachial plexus. All of us have this very structure in the armpit/neck. It contains all the sensory and motor nerves that go to the muscles and skin of the arm, hand, shoulder and pec muscles. Isn't that neat? The answer is yes but that it is not very neat to memorize everything about it.


4 comments:

Billie said...

CONGRATULATIONS! You wanted at least an 80% and you did it! I also think the brachial plexus is cool...even memorizing everything about it (as long as it is you doing the memorizing and not me). :-)

I love you,

Mom
XXXO

Becky and Greg said...

Congrats to you on your exam! Whew, nice to have the first one out of the way, and that drawing?? Who knew you could draw?? Wow, med student, artist, writer, top of Nascar? What next?!?! Love you, Becky

mark said...

Yay! One down and two to go for Anatomy anyway. Now you have some idea what to expect and how much studying it takes. I'll study up on the brachial plexus and you can quiz me the next time I see you. Yeah right:)

I love you,

Dad

Jo said...

We knew you could do it. Sounds like you enjoy your classmates too.

Love from Grandma & Grandpa