Guilty Pleasures

I have two: sleep and not studying.  I'm not staying up all night studying, or anything like that; I go to bed at a reasonable time - I just don't get restful sleep every night.  In fact, I have had very few nights of restful sleep since orientation started 3 weeks ago.  Every Saturday morning, I realize how tired I am.  I feel like I am thinking about school all night, and when I'm not actually thinking about it I'm dreaming about it.  I've already failed a few tests, and didn't even show up for one...forgot about it. 

 

Speaking of tests...I think I might be a little overconfident about biochem.  I have seen almost all of the material before, so it is familiar (but I definitely don't remember the details).  I have also realized that I don't hate biochem at all; I hate memorizing structures and reactions and having to draw them on tests (all very useless in the real world, unless you are a chemist, or teach it).  We don't have to draw any structures for this class = much happier students. 

 

Jen  

I Can't Believe the Second Week is Already Over

This is pretty much how we all feel about the first test (biochem) on Tuesday...except, we're not actually biting our fingers...

Biochem did get a lot more interesting today - our professor is already tying in some clinical correlations - different sources of insulin, sickle cell disease, digestion and blood clotting.

In anatomy, we are learning about Horner's Syndrome (among many, many, other things). A typical symptom of this syndrome is one very slow reacting pupil (slow to dilate). Dr. W taught me that a tumor is one of the possible causes of this syndrome. Disclaimer: this is a very simplified explanation, and is meant for entertainment purposes only. It is in no way intended to replace the advice, or counsel of a licensed physician. Hey, if I can't pass med school, maybe I should go to law school...

Jen

Second Year Mentors

Each first year student, or MS1 (medical student, year 1) gets a second year mentor.  Some of the mentors are very helpful and give great advice, others not so much.  My mentor is awesome!!  She loaned me all of her books from first semester (so I didn't have to buy very many), and has given me a ton of great advice (now I just have to apply it all). 

 

I got a second bonus point in anatomy today (out of three so far), but not all of our clickers registered (so it didn't count)  :-(  We have another quiz in histo tomorrow...more studying...

 

Jen

The Pressure Builds

The pressure is definitely affecting all of us as the first exam approaches.  Our first biochem test is Sept. 2nd, and many of us (including me) have not even looked at the material outside of class.  We are far too busy trying to catch up in anatomy and histo...and I do mean "catch up".  Everyone I have talked to feels like they are one week and two days behind.  Most of the students have probably never even failed a test, and most of us will fail at least one test during our first year.  The good news is that, apparently, you can fail a test and still be in the top 20% of the class; that is what the second years in the honor society tell us, anyway.  I wonder how many tests I can fail and still pass...?  I have also talked to several second years who said they failed the entire first round of tests (and they still passed!).  So, there is still hope!

 

Speaking of grades...pretty much every student in my class graduated at the top of their class in undergrad.  Only a handful of us get to be at the top of the class here - don't hold your breath for me; at this point, I just want to graduate (without remediating - repeating a year). 

 

Time to play more catch up with anatomy...

 

Jen

Our Cadaver

Today my group finished our part of dissection for the first test; the next week of anatomy labs will be like a vacation!  We get to "observe", which means "study" for our two-hour lab period.  They have to start on the neck, which is really hard (because there are a lot of important structures crammed into such a small space).  Four of us would work on the back at the same time, but only one - two people can work on the neck at one time.

 

Our cadaver was an 80 year old woman who died of sepsis (that's an infection of the blood - if you watched The Sopranos you know that Tony had sepsis, but lived).  She was thin and had some huge lower back muscles (longissimus thoracis and multifidus muscles).  Don't feel bad if you can't pronounce those words; I can't pronounce half of the structures they give us; they tell us not to worry about pronunciation - that doesn't get us extra points.  All total, there are 11 cadavers for us to dissect and two that are already dissected (for us to use as a reference) - they smell really bad.  We have to be able to identify the structures on any cadaver, x-ray, MRI, skeleton, ect. 

 

My meal schedule has been very irregular since school started.  I eat whenever I have time, so sometimes I don't notice that I haven't eaten for a while until I get really hungry.  Apparently I'm not the only one...my whole dissecting group was famished during our dissection, and we wondered if there was something wrong with that...

 

Jen

Thank You!!

I am really enjoying the weekend - probably too much.  I studied for a couple of hours last night, but mostly vegged in front of the tv.  Then I slept for nine hours (so awesome!), and ran 10 miles this morning.  I am hoping to get a 10 mile run in almost every weekend; I want to run the Tulsa Run and maybe the half at Route 66 - we'll see... 

 

Brett is in Crested Butte with his parents (hopefully, they are all having a wonderful time).  We have designated Friday night as "date night" - starting next Friday.

 

Thank you all for the nice emails!  I am very lucky to have such a wonderful support system. 

 

Okay, now I'm procrastinating...time to get back to studying.

 

Jen

 

 

Bonus Points

I have made it through a whole week of classes, and I got home before 5:00!  I am so tired.  I was fighting to stay awake in biochem today; no one should have to think about biochem for 2 consecutive hours. 

 

We have bonus point quizzes in histo and anatomy lectures and labs.  I haven't had any in anatomy yet, but two of the profs hinted that we might have quizes Monday and Tuesday.  In histo, they ask 3 - 6 questions for 1 - 2 bonus points (you have to get 3 right to get one point, and 6 right to get two points - if you're wondering, 5 correct responses is still only worth one point.  These points are highly coveted, because they can add an entire letter grade.  They are very hard to get - I have only gotten one point so far (pretty good considering I have no idea what I'm doing, and we only have class and lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays). 

 

My group stayed after class today to finish our presentation (we get out at noon on Fridays).  It is on breast cancer; he gave us several questions and objectives.  I found a picture of some breast cancer cells to use as the slide background - I am such a nerd.  FYI - histology is the study of microscopic tissues. 

 

Jen  

Tomorrow is Friday!!

I am so excited that it is almost the weekend!  I have already survived four (very long) days of med school!  No, I'm not looking forward to vegging; I'm excited to have an entire weekend to study; in fact, I have never been this excited about studying in my whole life.  So, that's what med school does to you - it turns you into even more of a nerd... 

 

I have a great dissecting group.  We are a little ahead, which means we don't have to dissect again until Monday.  Tuesday the other half of the class (labs are divided into two groups) gets to dissect (for about a week, then it's our turn again), and we get to observe after they are done.  I am looking forward to that, because dissecting takes up so much time outside of class.  By the way, the cadavers are really greasy - it is disgusting!  I used to think that they called it gross anatomy in reference to learning the structures, but now I know it is because it is actually a very gross thing to do. 

 

Well, my studies are waiting...

 

Jen

 

 

To be continued...

That is apparently a phrase one of our professors uses to hint that the material will be on the test.  Some of the classes have multiple profs so, potentially, each test could be written/graded differently (since each person has his/her own style). 

 

I found out a few hours ago that we have group powerpoint presentation in histo that is due Monday (but he would like them to be turned in by Friday).  He mentioned that we would have a presentation on Tuesday, but didn't give much info. (tomorrow is the second lecture for that class).  I think he is trying to give us a hint...that we need to step it up. 

 

OMT is my new favorite class (osteopathic manipulation therapy).  That is where we learn how to make adjustments.  Today, we learned and practiced some stretches and breathing exercises (the point was to relax, and ease tension).  She turned out the lights at one point, had us lay down, and said that it was okay if we fell asleep (while we practiced the breathing) - a few people always do.  I'm pretty sure that will be the only class that it will ever be okay to fall asleep in...

 

Tomorrow is another long day; lots of anatomy and histology.

 

Jen

Study Break

I'm prepping for tomorrow's anatomy lecture and lab at my study carrel in the library. There are only 60 something carrels for the first and second years (about 200 students). So, several of us came in the Sunday before classes started to sign in and wait until 5 pm - when they let you choose your carrel. It's pretty nice; I have my own little desk that I can leave my things at, and no one messes with any of it. This is the first library I have ever been in that allows food and beverages - I mean snacks, meals, whatever you want.

One of the second years is holding a tutor session tonight to help us prepare for histo tomorrow. I don't know how the second years have so much free time. They are all so nice, and offer to help us anytime.

More later.

Jen

Sink or Swim

It's like someone has tied rocks around my feet.  I feel like a complete moron; I think maybe they made a mistake when they let me in...oh yeah, my hands smell and I'm tired.  I can't wait for the weekend, so I can catch up on studying - I feel so far behind (and it's only the second day!!!)  Biochemistry, which was my hardest undergrad class, was by far the easiest lecture. 

 

On the brighter side: my group is pretty much caught up on our dissections (we have skinned the back, and dissected the superficial and intermediate muscles, nerves and arteries).  That means we don't have to dissect tomorrow!!; some of the second years put together a presentation full of things they wish they had known = gold; apparently, a lot of my classmates feel the same way I do...I'm not the stupidest person here!; Brett is taking care of everything outside of school (he deserves your pity); some of my new friends voted that Brett gets to bring us dinner at school once a week (he's finding this out with all of you).

 

I hope you're all having a great week!

 

Time for bed.

 

Jen

Day one...Anatomy Lab

It didn't smell very much... I barely know what I'm doing, we are all behind, and we're moving on tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the first full day of classes. Our histology professor wants us to read 92 pages in the book, all 108 slides, plus review the note packet and answer (and memorize) the 62 questions before lecture tomorrow. Some classmates have already answered most of the questions and posted them online, so that's helpful. This should be interesting...

Jen