Well it is the end of another exciting week of med school here. Mostly this week has been marked by me blowing my nose incessantly and generally feeling like crap. Good times! It seems a lot of people are similarly afflicted in my class so it must be a bug that's going around. We had our first quiz on monday in microbiology. It was pretty easy. We just had a lot of questions where they said the patient had gram positive, catalase negative, optochin sensitive cocci in their blood. What bacteria is it??? It sounds complicated but they gave us a list with all these bacteria on it so we just had to memorize their characteristics. I did well on the quiz so no bad grades yet.
Also this week we had our first videotaped interviews with fake patients. The U has a bunch of exam rooms with cameras in them where we will be spending a lot of time for the next two years apparently. So this was our first time on our own with a patient for 20 minutes where we had to go through the whole interview process. We were assigned a second year "buddy" who will watch our videos and critique them. Also we have groups of 12 classmates plus two doctors who will watch them. All of this sounds a little scary to me. Mostly because I don't want to watch myself on video in front of my peers. But overall, I thought I did okay with the interview and wasn't as awkward as I could have been. I get to tape another one next week so that should be double the fun.
This weekend is going to be long and cold. We get Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day or something. Public school is great for getting days off. But mostly I need to catch up with my studies, since I spent most of this week resting and not studying. We have a neuro quiz in a week which should be fun and an extra credit thing due on wednesday that is worth a whole 4 points. They warned us though that in the past 4 points have made the difference between passing and failing so I suppose I should do it. One thing that was cool this week was we had a demonstration of an electrocardiogram. So one of my classmates we got to see his heart through an ultrasound type thing. I didn't think we would be able to see much but we could see the heart valves and the muscle and the aorta and everything. It was very cool. They could also add color so you could see which way the blood was flowing to make sure everything was normal. Sometimes it's nice to have a reminder of all the cool stuff we will get to do in the future. Gives me more motivation to study hard now. Anyway, I'm going to eat sushi and then watch a movie with my friends tonight so that should be fun. A break before the studying begins!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
New year, New semester
Hello, all. I'm back finally. Since I last wrote I have been through my first finals week in med school which was predictably hellish and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing for the approximately three weeks of Christmas break. It was wonderful. Mostly it was nice to be home and see everyone including Toby.
School started again last week on Jan. 2 which is just cruel. Only a day to recover from New Year's Eve and then they expect us to be up at 8 and actually be awake. So what I've learned about this semester so far is that these folks are no longer messing around. Instead of a leisurely 4 hours of class a day and 1 lab twice a week, we get at least 3 days a week of class from 8-5:30. We have two labs twice a week which takes up the 1:30 to 5:30. Then we have a new class called physician and patient once a week for 4 hours. In this class we will learn how to conduct a patient interview and do a physical exam. So the second day of class this semester we were introduced to our first fake patient and asked to interview him in front of 12 people for 4 minutes. It was pretty awkward since none of us knew what we were doing. But I guess we better learn fast because we have an interviewing final in a month after 6 teaching sessions on it.
The fake patients that we interview are kind of amazing actually. They get a really in depth script of what their story is and you really have to dig to find it all out. We are starting with the patient-centered interview where we figure out the chief complaint and hear the patient's story and find out more about what their concerns are and how they might be feeling. This is pretty complicated usually because the stories often include a recent divorce or a child with cancer or a friend who died and had the same symptoms as the patient etc. So we have to find out all of these things and deal with them which is hard. This past time, our focus for the day was on dealing with emotions so our fake patient cried three times and got really angry and whatnot. It was kind of crazy but nice to practice because we know that those things are going to happen in real life. In the next couple weeks we have 2 or 3 taped interviews that we have to review with a second year buddy they assigned to us. It should be freaky to have to watch myself on tape and analyze my body language and everything. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway, the other classes that we have started this semester are neuroscience, physiology, and microbiology. I think these classes will be much better than histology and biochemistry. (blah!) But of course it is much harder to keep on track with my studying when I don't get done with school until 5 and then am tired and don't feel like doing anything. Mom and Dad keep saying it is like a regular job but I believe that is unfair since I am expected to study like crazy in all of my time off and I don't get paid a dime.
In more positive news, we will be having the med school winter ball in february! It's like prom but with an open bar. The only problem is that last year supposedly they only had open bar for the first hour so everyone drank as much free booze as possible in that one hour and misbehaved from then on out. I feel like that is a bad idea but what can you do? It has been nice to be back here so far and hang out with all my phi rho friends and my body buddies. I'm sure school will get in the way soon enough considering I have a micro quiz on monday which of course I am supposed to study for like it is a test. But perhaps I will go shopping while I can and spend the rest of my christmas money. Hope everyone is doing well!
School started again last week on Jan. 2 which is just cruel. Only a day to recover from New Year's Eve and then they expect us to be up at 8 and actually be awake. So what I've learned about this semester so far is that these folks are no longer messing around. Instead of a leisurely 4 hours of class a day and 1 lab twice a week, we get at least 3 days a week of class from 8-5:30. We have two labs twice a week which takes up the 1:30 to 5:30. Then we have a new class called physician and patient once a week for 4 hours. In this class we will learn how to conduct a patient interview and do a physical exam. So the second day of class this semester we were introduced to our first fake patient and asked to interview him in front of 12 people for 4 minutes. It was pretty awkward since none of us knew what we were doing. But I guess we better learn fast because we have an interviewing final in a month after 6 teaching sessions on it.
The fake patients that we interview are kind of amazing actually. They get a really in depth script of what their story is and you really have to dig to find it all out. We are starting with the patient-centered interview where we figure out the chief complaint and hear the patient's story and find out more about what their concerns are and how they might be feeling. This is pretty complicated usually because the stories often include a recent divorce or a child with cancer or a friend who died and had the same symptoms as the patient etc. So we have to find out all of these things and deal with them which is hard. This past time, our focus for the day was on dealing with emotions so our fake patient cried three times and got really angry and whatnot. It was kind of crazy but nice to practice because we know that those things are going to happen in real life. In the next couple weeks we have 2 or 3 taped interviews that we have to review with a second year buddy they assigned to us. It should be freaky to have to watch myself on tape and analyze my body language and everything. I can't say I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway, the other classes that we have started this semester are neuroscience, physiology, and microbiology. I think these classes will be much better than histology and biochemistry. (blah!) But of course it is much harder to keep on track with my studying when I don't get done with school until 5 and then am tired and don't feel like doing anything. Mom and Dad keep saying it is like a regular job but I believe that is unfair since I am expected to study like crazy in all of my time off and I don't get paid a dime.
In more positive news, we will be having the med school winter ball in february! It's like prom but with an open bar. The only problem is that last year supposedly they only had open bar for the first hour so everyone drank as much free booze as possible in that one hour and misbehaved from then on out. I feel like that is a bad idea but what can you do? It has been nice to be back here so far and hang out with all my phi rho friends and my body buddies. I'm sure school will get in the way soon enough considering I have a micro quiz on monday which of course I am supposed to study for like it is a test. But perhaps I will go shopping while I can and spend the rest of my christmas money. Hope everyone is doing well!
Monday, November 26, 2007
3 weeks left!
Well, It's been awhile huh? The past few weeks have been busy. Let's see. I went to Vegas, turned 22, got white-coated complete with cool reflex hammer, won fantasy nascar (which is both my greatest shame and my greatest triumph), barely passed a biochem test which I studied all week for, went home finally! to see my floppy-eared dog and assorted other family members, finally got to watch some live hockey, and returned home to a full schedule with a quiz and two tests this week. That was a run-on sentence if there ever was one.
So Las Vegas. It was great! It was my first time flying by myself but everything worked out fine. The trip was a little short but I had fun. I got to see many of the casinos which were all pretty crazy. And I got to have the best meal of my life. Filet mignon with foie gras and a red wine reduction. Seriously, Michael Mina is the best chef ever. He made vegetables taste good to me and that is a feat! The only bad thing is that now all other steaks pale in comparison. I'm sure I'll get over that one soon though. Also, I must say that the Bellagio fountain is possibly the greatest thing in the world and I will no longer make fun of mom for saying so.
After I got back from Vegas, I basically spent an entire week studying for my second biochem test which was on every energetic pathway known to man. I was familiar with glycolysis and TCA cycle but when it got down to the pentose monophosphate shunt and the like I was pretty lost. So pretty much the 40 hours of studying was worthless because I got to the test and the question would just pick one molecule out of all the pathways and I had no idea which pathway they were talking about since they were all mixed up in my head. But. I still passed and that is all that I need to do. The studying for the test was made more stressful by a quiz, a paper, and a presentation, but also by the white coat ceremony which was right before the test. I felt like I would have enjoyed it so much more if I could have actually spent some time with my family rather than kicking them out so I could study. It was nice to get the white coat though. I think I look pretty snazzy in it. Mallory was kind enough to point out that when I get the longer real doctor coat it will go past my knees and make me look like a midget. So that is something to look forward to.
After the test, it was excellent to go home for a while. I skipped some class I will admit and went home on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Don't worry! They tape the lectures and put them on the internet so I can watch whenever I please. I tried to study a little at home but that didn't work out so well. Fortunately the two tests we have this week should be pretty easy: Genetics and Nutrition. The only thing that makes me slightly nervous about them is that we only have one test in each of these subjects so we really have to pass them. But it should be fine. Anyway, at home I saw all of you guys at Thanksgiving which was great. I saw Enchanted with Mallory which I think is the first movie I've seen in months. And finally, I watched the sioux play good ole fashioned, old-time, saturday night, rip roaring, head banging, puck shootin', crowd roarin', etc etc Sioux Hockey. Seriously how many adjectives are they going to put in front of Sioux hockey? Really they should add an adjective every night as the season goes on. Also this power play was brought to you by Rydell Chevrolet. Anyway, they won and played great Friday, and lost and played crappy Saturday. Sort of the way the season has been going so far. But at least I'm not a gopher fan!
Okay that is enough. But in closing I am posting this video. It makes me happy. But don't click on it at work because the music is loud and the video is nothing without the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBIOpFwBgNM
So Las Vegas. It was great! It was my first time flying by myself but everything worked out fine. The trip was a little short but I had fun. I got to see many of the casinos which were all pretty crazy. And I got to have the best meal of my life. Filet mignon with foie gras and a red wine reduction. Seriously, Michael Mina is the best chef ever. He made vegetables taste good to me and that is a feat! The only bad thing is that now all other steaks pale in comparison. I'm sure I'll get over that one soon though. Also, I must say that the Bellagio fountain is possibly the greatest thing in the world and I will no longer make fun of mom for saying so.
After I got back from Vegas, I basically spent an entire week studying for my second biochem test which was on every energetic pathway known to man. I was familiar with glycolysis and TCA cycle but when it got down to the pentose monophosphate shunt and the like I was pretty lost. So pretty much the 40 hours of studying was worthless because I got to the test and the question would just pick one molecule out of all the pathways and I had no idea which pathway they were talking about since they were all mixed up in my head. But. I still passed and that is all that I need to do. The studying for the test was made more stressful by a quiz, a paper, and a presentation, but also by the white coat ceremony which was right before the test. I felt like I would have enjoyed it so much more if I could have actually spent some time with my family rather than kicking them out so I could study. It was nice to get the white coat though. I think I look pretty snazzy in it. Mallory was kind enough to point out that when I get the longer real doctor coat it will go past my knees and make me look like a midget. So that is something to look forward to.
After the test, it was excellent to go home for a while. I skipped some class I will admit and went home on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Don't worry! They tape the lectures and put them on the internet so I can watch whenever I please. I tried to study a little at home but that didn't work out so well. Fortunately the two tests we have this week should be pretty easy: Genetics and Nutrition. The only thing that makes me slightly nervous about them is that we only have one test in each of these subjects so we really have to pass them. But it should be fine. Anyway, at home I saw all of you guys at Thanksgiving which was great. I saw Enchanted with Mallory which I think is the first movie I've seen in months. And finally, I watched the sioux play good ole fashioned, old-time, saturday night, rip roaring, head banging, puck shootin', crowd roarin', etc etc Sioux Hockey. Seriously how many adjectives are they going to put in front of Sioux hockey? Really they should add an adjective every night as the season goes on. Also this power play was brought to you by Rydell Chevrolet. Anyway, they won and played great Friday, and lost and played crappy Saturday. Sort of the way the season has been going so far. But at least I'm not a gopher fan!
Okay that is enough. But in closing I am posting this video. It makes me happy. But don't click on it at work because the music is loud and the video is nothing without the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBIOpFwBgNM
Monday, October 29, 2007
Test Test Test
Well, last friday I had my first biochem and molecular biology test. It was not so fun. We had 24 hours worth of lecture material to review which made it pretty difficult to study. The previous tests that they provided for us to look over included mostly general information because they write 3 multiple choice questions for every lecture. So I did well on all the practice tests and felt fine going into friday. However, our test was much more detailed than the other tests and I did not feel fine afterward. All of my classmates felt that the test was difficult too so I am hoping that some curving will be in order. It was nice to have a weekend to relax after the test because we have another test this week on Saturday in histology (the most boringest subject there ever was). After histo test, it is off to Vegas baby! I still need to acquire some sparkly clothes for the occasion.
This weekend as per my relaxation I attended two lovely halloween parties. I dressed as a housewife from the 1950s with a feather duster in one hand and a cocktail in the other. It was good to see some of my friends whom I haven't seen in months! I saw some very good costumes but I must say that none can compare to this:
A rice krispie treat cat!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Well...
Perhaps I should update. The problem is that nothing particularly interesting has happened in the past couple weeks. Now that anatomy is over, I have lecture for 3 hours every morning and histology lab twice a week. All of these things are boring. Histology is the study of tissues so the class involves looking at different types of tissue under the microscope. We have to learn to distinguish between smooth muscle and skeletal muscle and different types of epithelia etc. etc. So basically this class has very little applicability in the daily life of most doctors. The professors told us that the only specialty that uses this class is Pathologists and I am not going to be a pathologist because I don't want to look in a microscope all day! I am learning histology simply so that I do not fail the class and for no other reason. So far so good, I got a 90% on the first quiz. We also have Biochemistry which is more interesting than histology except for the fact that it has been all review thus far. Last week we started Nutrition. The entire message of nutrition is: Obesity is BAD. I think I will do okay on the one quiz we have for that class.
In more exciting news, I am going to Las Vegas for my birthday with Mom and Dad. Yay for taking out too many loans so I have extra money! Okay I probably won't be saying that in 4 years but right now it is excellent. I am looking forward to the holidays coming up because I will finally get to go home and see everyone. I haven't seen Mallory since August and that makes me sad. We can still talk about Legally Blonde the Musical over the phone but it isn't necessarily the same. Well, I should get to some studying since I have been slacking for a while. I call it post-anatomy syndrome also known as: I suck at life.
In more exciting news, I am going to Las Vegas for my birthday with Mom and Dad. Yay for taking out too many loans so I have extra money! Okay I probably won't be saying that in 4 years but right now it is excellent. I am looking forward to the holidays coming up because I will finally get to go home and see everyone. I haven't seen Mallory since August and that makes me sad. We can still talk about Legally Blonde the Musical over the phone but it isn't necessarily the same. Well, I should get to some studying since I have been slacking for a while. I call it post-anatomy syndrome also known as: I suck at life.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Holy Crap!
Hey everyone! I passed anatomy! and not just with a respectable yet not all that impressive B. I got an A!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay obviously this does not actually matter since it is pass/fail but I find it amazing and also hilarious. Why the sudden jump in score you ask? Well the obvious answer is that the curve was applied to my total grade which probably added around 5% to it. Also, I got my Head and Neck test back this week. And surprisingly, I did really well on it. I got 20 points higher than I did on my last test. This really makes absolutely no sense since I felt that studied less for this test, which had more material, and was not very confident in my answers on the test. But obviously I am a head and neck genius. I only got 5 questions wrong on the practical exam when usually I get 15 wrong. Ha! I guess I showed anatomy who's boss.
Now onto the next, Biochemistry and Histology. I have one thing to say about these subjects and that is "Boring!" It has been very weird to transition from having a one hour lecture and then three hours of lab each day to three hours of lecture everyday and a 2 hour lab 2 days a week. Frankly, I don't like it. It is difficult to concentrate for three hours sitting in a nice comfy chair in a warm room with dimmed lights. I get sleepy even if I drink caffeine. So I am definitely going to have to get used to the change. Also it is a lot different going from gross anatomical structures to chemical reactions and cell structures that can only be seen under a microscope. It is more difficult to see the applications of this type of knowledge for me. Also most of class thus far has been review so it seems even less useful since I already know it. But I'm sure it will pick up shortly and be quite challenging when they introduce new material. At least we are getting a little break after anatomy. Now I have an opportunity to catch up on all the new tv shows!
Now onto the next, Biochemistry and Histology. I have one thing to say about these subjects and that is "Boring!" It has been very weird to transition from having a one hour lecture and then three hours of lab each day to three hours of lecture everyday and a 2 hour lab 2 days a week. Frankly, I don't like it. It is difficult to concentrate for three hours sitting in a nice comfy chair in a warm room with dimmed lights. I get sleepy even if I drink caffeine. So I am definitely going to have to get used to the change. Also it is a lot different going from gross anatomical structures to chemical reactions and cell structures that can only be seen under a microscope. It is more difficult to see the applications of this type of knowledge for me. Also most of class thus far has been review so it seems even less useful since I already know it. But I'm sure it will pick up shortly and be quite challenging when they introduce new material. At least we are getting a little break after anatomy. Now I have an opportunity to catch up on all the new tv shows!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Another week, Another test
Well, it is test week yet again here at the U of M medical school. This Friday will be our final anatomy test concentrating on the myriad of structures in the head and neck. In case you were wondering, there is a lot of crap going on up there. Lab for the past week has been very interesting. We use a saw everyday meaning we dissect one area of the head one day and then saw through it to see different structures the next day. That makes lab pretty frustrating because you are continuously ruining the work you did the day before. Also, it is almost impossible to study for the practical exam except out of a book.
The good thing about this exam is that it is the last, so I know exactly what percentage I need to get on this test to pass anatomy as a whole. They average all three test scores and I need a 70% overall to pass. With my two first tests being around 80% without the curve, I have calculated that I need about a 50% to pass anatomy. Of course, my goal will be to pass this individual test with a 70% or above but it is nice to know that I have some leeway with my score. Truthfully, this crap is hard! There are a million bones all fused together, with a bunch of holes in the bone where all the nerves and blood vessels exit, and the nerves go innervate a million muscles with different functions. So basically, I need to be able to name every hole or foramen in the skull and what comes out of it and which bone it is in and where those vessels are going and what they are doing and what the individual muscles are doing too. To this I say, boo. This information is interesting and important but seems less so when it is all flung at me in 2 weeks.
Basically, I am ready to be done with anatomy, though I have learned to enjoy dissecting. I wonder though if different classes will really be better? We start Biochemistry and Histology next week and we only have histology lab about every other day. I am not particularly excited for these classes since they are so much more hands-off compared to anatomy. Looking at slides through a microscope is just not that appealing to me and that is all that histology lab is. I'm pretty sure biochemistry will mostly consist of memorization of chemical reactions in the body. But I guess, I am ready for a change. And frankly, ready to not spend 4 hours a day watching my body buddies do next to nothing. It makes me bitter.
Well, the theme of the week is study study study! (because I definitely did not do that enough for the past 2 weeks.)
The good thing about this exam is that it is the last, so I know exactly what percentage I need to get on this test to pass anatomy as a whole. They average all three test scores and I need a 70% overall to pass. With my two first tests being around 80% without the curve, I have calculated that I need about a 50% to pass anatomy. Of course, my goal will be to pass this individual test with a 70% or above but it is nice to know that I have some leeway with my score. Truthfully, this crap is hard! There are a million bones all fused together, with a bunch of holes in the bone where all the nerves and blood vessels exit, and the nerves go innervate a million muscles with different functions. So basically, I need to be able to name every hole or foramen in the skull and what comes out of it and which bone it is in and where those vessels are going and what they are doing and what the individual muscles are doing too. To this I say, boo. This information is interesting and important but seems less so when it is all flung at me in 2 weeks.
Basically, I am ready to be done with anatomy, though I have learned to enjoy dissecting. I wonder though if different classes will really be better? We start Biochemistry and Histology next week and we only have histology lab about every other day. I am not particularly excited for these classes since they are so much more hands-off compared to anatomy. Looking at slides through a microscope is just not that appealing to me and that is all that histology lab is. I'm pretty sure biochemistry will mostly consist of memorization of chemical reactions in the body. But I guess, I am ready for a change. And frankly, ready to not spend 4 hours a day watching my body buddies do next to nothing. It makes me bitter.
Well, the theme of the week is study study study! (because I definitely did not do that enough for the past 2 weeks.)
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