So pretty much every day Kris and I end up asking each other this question. For me it's usually a variation on study and work out with a few extra things thrown in there. For him it's usually work and playing video games with a few extra things thrown in.
So, without further ado, here's exactly what I did today:
8:00 - Woke up and frantically realized that if I was going to make it to my 9:00 I had to leave in 20 minutes. Scrambled to get out the door by 8:33.
9:00 - Attended lecture on MHC activation in T cell immunity. Enthralling.
9:50 - Power walked to the cafeteria to get breakfast and be back in my seat in 10 minutes. Feat accomplished.
10:00 - Enjoyed eggs, grits, and wheat toast while listening to a fancy pants guest speaker with about 130 publications give a terribly boring lecture covering about 30 immune diseases. He was too smart - I was listening but completely unaware of most of what he said.
11:00 - Listened to and simultaneously transcribed pathology lecture on transplants. Could have been interesting, but the speaker , Dr. Cruse, talks so fast we've all dubbed him the "Cruse Missile." He covered 84 slides in 50 minutes.
11:55 - Freedom at last! For some glorious reason most of us got out of class at noon today. I looked forward to relishing the next 12 hours of not sitting in class.
12:00 - Ran 2.7 miles and did a few crunches. Almost died on the walk back to the car due to heat exhaustion.
1:00 - Upon walking up to car notice the passenger rear tire is flat. Yippee...
1:10 - Find can of fix-a-flat in trunk and thank God for a smart father and sister who always told me to carry the stuff. (Mom, you're smart too. You just never stressed the dire importance of having a can of fix-a-flat.)
1:11 - Read the directions and fixed the flat.
1:13 - Realize I have no idea where I've put my cell phone in all this craziness. Had it just 4 minutes ago when I called Kris to say I had a flat. Now it's nowhere to be found.
1:30 - Arrive at Tire Depot (where they think I'm stalking them because I was there 2 days ago to get my oil changed.) They take the screw out of my tire and patch it. All this happened in about 40 minutes and only cost me $20. They also have wireless internet, so I got to catch up on e-mails while I waited. I like Tire Depot :)
2:15 - Go back to school to look for phone. Goose chase ensues. Can not find it.
3:00 - Go home, have a beer, and watch Dr. Phil. It's been a rough day. Then I realize I have not eaten anything so I eat lunch at 3:30.
The rest is just pretty much the normal routine. Kris got home from work. I studied. I did some laundry and dishes. I'm about to study some more. Here are the things I'd rather be doing though:
1. picking out fabric at Hancock's to make a cushion to go on my hearth.
2. dying all of my faded jeans to re-darken them and make them look new again. I just learned how to do this today and can't wait to try it when I have the time.
3. planting flowers
4. hemming all my pants so that they either work with flats or the 3 actually comfortable pairs of heels I own. That would make life so much easier.
So, in a nutshell, those are the things I'm either doing or thinking about doing on any given day. It's a little exhausting.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
This One's For You Amy!
This blog post is dedicated to my cousin Amy because she harassed me about not posting since April 6th when I met her for lunch today. I suppose that is quite a while, but I've had a little bit going on! Let's see, what's changed since April 6th...
1. I completed (and passed, thank you Jesus) all my M1 classes.
2. Kris and I got married.
3. We honeymooned in West Palm Beach, FL.
4. We found and bought a house in Ridgeland.
5. I worked in the UMC Emergency Department for a few weeks shadowing doctors.
6. I worked at the Lakeland Family Medicine Clinic shadowing/learning for the past month.
7. We got a puppy named Woodrow and have since lost our cat.
8. Oh yeah, 2 of my good friends got married and Jennifer & Andrew are engaged!
That's about it in a nutshell. I've been trying to catch up on all the sleep I lost in the past year, but since I've had to be at work at 8am every morning it hasn't really happened. I've got to start going to bed before midnight. Tomorrow is my last day of work at the Family Medicine Clinic and we have 1 week off before school starts so I'm planning on sleeping 'til at least 10:00 every day next week. No phone calls please.
Married life is going great so far. It's pretty much the same except you always know where the other one is since you're living in the same house. It's much more convenient for the most part. I also enjoy the fact that Kris takes out the garbage and mows the yard. (I really suck at taking out the trash.) For some reason he's also learned how to use a hamper and is actually much better than I am about not leaving clothes everywhere. It's miraculous. I don't remember that being in the vows anywhere, but the preacher must have snuck that in at some point.
I'm also in the process of learning how to cook a few things. So far I've had a few successes and a few terrible failures.
Successes = turkey sausage and rice casserole, applesauce spice cake with cream cheese frosting (I ate 1/2 of it and have since decided I'm not allowed to ever make it again), baked pork chops (yes Amy, I used Oven Fry and they were delicious!!!), and turkey burgers (not exactly difficult, but they were yummy.)
Failures = homemade caramel cake. The cake was actually okay, but the caramel frosting was a complete disaster. It had a wonderful flavor but had the consistency of an ice cream topping. Another failure was chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole (and you thought that was impossible to screw up). The rice was crunchy and the broccoli was soggy. Yuck. Must learn to cook more. The only problem is that I refuse to cook anything that's loaded with cream cheese, full fat sour cream, butter, and full fat cheeses. What's the point of cooking a chicken breast when you put all that crap on it? I could just as well eat a Big Mac! Therefore since we live in Mississippi, my options are very limited. Oh yeah, did I mention Kris doesn't eat onions? That cuts out the few recipes that are left. Any good ideas (healthy, easy, or cheap) are welcome!
As for our pup Woodrow, we were told he's a Yellowcreek beagle. I think that's just a really fancy way to say he's white with yellow spots instead of black and brown. He's 8 weeks old and we're in the midst of potty training. It sucks - especially since neither Kris nor I are morning people and if you have an inside dog you must be a morning person. I don't like being woken up at 5 am to whincing and having to go find my robe and sit outside with the puppy while I wait for him to tinkle. So I usually just make Kris do it. Did I mention I love being married?
Working this summer has been AWESOME. It does suck to have to wake up at 6:30 during the summer, but it's worth it. They're paying us a good amount and we get to pretty much do what we want. I've enjoyed family medicine more than the ER surprisingly. The family medicine docs let you do more hands-on stuff since the patients aren't as critical. We get to go in and see the patients, ask them what meds they're taking, get a history, do a physical, look in their ears, and listen to their hearts and lungs. I've also gotten to do 4 Pap smears, a bimanual pelvic exam, and removed about 60 skin tags using lidocaine injection, cutting them with Iris scissors, and cauterizing them. I've also learned how to tell when a patient just wants pain meds and when to get a psych consult, which will be very useful in a year or so.
School starts August 4th so I'll be back in action as an M2 (hooray!). I am planning on blogging more regularly then once I'll be attached to my computer at least 12 hours a day.
Love y'all!
1. I completed (and passed, thank you Jesus) all my M1 classes.
2. Kris and I got married.
3. We honeymooned in West Palm Beach, FL.
4. We found and bought a house in Ridgeland.
5. I worked in the UMC Emergency Department for a few weeks shadowing doctors.
6. I worked at the Lakeland Family Medicine Clinic shadowing/learning for the past month.
7. We got a puppy named Woodrow and have since lost our cat.
8. Oh yeah, 2 of my good friends got married and Jennifer & Andrew are engaged!
That's about it in a nutshell. I've been trying to catch up on all the sleep I lost in the past year, but since I've had to be at work at 8am every morning it hasn't really happened. I've got to start going to bed before midnight. Tomorrow is my last day of work at the Family Medicine Clinic and we have 1 week off before school starts so I'm planning on sleeping 'til at least 10:00 every day next week. No phone calls please.
Married life is going great so far. It's pretty much the same except you always know where the other one is since you're living in the same house. It's much more convenient for the most part. I also enjoy the fact that Kris takes out the garbage and mows the yard. (I really suck at taking out the trash.) For some reason he's also learned how to use a hamper and is actually much better than I am about not leaving clothes everywhere. It's miraculous. I don't remember that being in the vows anywhere, but the preacher must have snuck that in at some point.
I'm also in the process of learning how to cook a few things. So far I've had a few successes and a few terrible failures.
Successes = turkey sausage and rice casserole, applesauce spice cake with cream cheese frosting (I ate 1/2 of it and have since decided I'm not allowed to ever make it again), baked pork chops (yes Amy, I used Oven Fry and they were delicious!!!), and turkey burgers (not exactly difficult, but they were yummy.)
Failures = homemade caramel cake. The cake was actually okay, but the caramel frosting was a complete disaster. It had a wonderful flavor but had the consistency of an ice cream topping. Another failure was chicken, broccoli, and rice casserole (and you thought that was impossible to screw up). The rice was crunchy and the broccoli was soggy. Yuck. Must learn to cook more. The only problem is that I refuse to cook anything that's loaded with cream cheese, full fat sour cream, butter, and full fat cheeses. What's the point of cooking a chicken breast when you put all that crap on it? I could just as well eat a Big Mac! Therefore since we live in Mississippi, my options are very limited. Oh yeah, did I mention Kris doesn't eat onions? That cuts out the few recipes that are left. Any good ideas (healthy, easy, or cheap) are welcome!
As for our pup Woodrow, we were told he's a Yellowcreek beagle. I think that's just a really fancy way to say he's white with yellow spots instead of black and brown. He's 8 weeks old and we're in the midst of potty training. It sucks - especially since neither Kris nor I are morning people and if you have an inside dog you must be a morning person. I don't like being woken up at 5 am to whincing and having to go find my robe and sit outside with the puppy while I wait for him to tinkle. So I usually just make Kris do it. Did I mention I love being married?
Working this summer has been AWESOME. It does suck to have to wake up at 6:30 during the summer, but it's worth it. They're paying us a good amount and we get to pretty much do what we want. I've enjoyed family medicine more than the ER surprisingly. The family medicine docs let you do more hands-on stuff since the patients aren't as critical. We get to go in and see the patients, ask them what meds they're taking, get a history, do a physical, look in their ears, and listen to their hearts and lungs. I've also gotten to do 4 Pap smears, a bimanual pelvic exam, and removed about 60 skin tags using lidocaine injection, cutting them with Iris scissors, and cauterizing them. I've also learned how to tell when a patient just wants pain meds and when to get a psych consult, which will be very useful in a year or so.
School starts August 4th so I'll be back in action as an M2 (hooray!). I am planning on blogging more regularly then once I'll be attached to my computer at least 12 hours a day.
Love y'all!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Counting Days
Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. Tisk, tisk. Things are going good. We're on the downhill slope. There are 30 days of class left with 4 days of testing left. This is very exciting! It actually affords me a little time to take care of very important wedding business. Most recently we (meaning my mother and I) have:
1. had the invitations and thank you cards printed
2. gathered most of the addresses
3. addressed a few invites
4. picked out a place to alter the dress
5. bought everything to assemble the favors
6. visited 1 florist, received too high of a bid, and are currently getting estimates from several others.
Not too shabby, eh? The main things I still have to do are actually get the dress altered, have bridal pictures made, ask the musicians to play, etc... Hopefully that'll all be done in the next 2-3 weeks. The 1st florist we visited wanted us to pay $2700. That's basically the budget for 1/2 the entire wedding. Not possible. Anyway, hopefully we can get it all worked out.
Kris and I have also started daydreaming about houses. Jennifer is supposed to e-mail me some mortgage info this week so we can get started on that process. I really need a front yard - I have to plant flowers. I'll have a whole summer to nest so I can pretty much get anything that I want to done without feeling guilty for not studying. Hooray!
Speaking of houses, we were very lucky that Jennifer's house in Madison didn't sustain any damage from the bad storms we had here last week. Some places still don't have power. A few of the hotels along I-55 had shingles and large parts of their roofs ripped off. I heard Old Fannin Road looked like a war path. Mom and I were going to take care of wedding business that day, but unfortunately weren't able to get much done since noone had power. We settled for shoe shopping, looking at mother-of-the-bride dresses, and eating dinner with Jennifer at Anthony Z's. It wasn't a terribly productive day, but it was fun.
1. had the invitations and thank you cards printed
2. gathered most of the addresses
3. addressed a few invites
4. picked out a place to alter the dress
5. bought everything to assemble the favors
6. visited 1 florist, received too high of a bid, and are currently getting estimates from several others.
Not too shabby, eh? The main things I still have to do are actually get the dress altered, have bridal pictures made, ask the musicians to play, etc... Hopefully that'll all be done in the next 2-3 weeks. The 1st florist we visited wanted us to pay $2700. That's basically the budget for 1/2 the entire wedding. Not possible. Anyway, hopefully we can get it all worked out.
Kris and I have also started daydreaming about houses. Jennifer is supposed to e-mail me some mortgage info this week so we can get started on that process. I really need a front yard - I have to plant flowers. I'll have a whole summer to nest so I can pretty much get anything that I want to done without feeling guilty for not studying. Hooray!
Speaking of houses, we were very lucky that Jennifer's house in Madison didn't sustain any damage from the bad storms we had here last week. Some places still don't have power. A few of the hotels along I-55 had shingles and large parts of their roofs ripped off. I heard Old Fannin Road looked like a war path. Mom and I were going to take care of wedding business that day, but unfortunately weren't able to get much done since noone had power. We settled for shoe shopping, looking at mother-of-the-bride dresses, and eating dinner with Jennifer at Anthony Z's. It wasn't a terribly productive day, but it was fun.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Hooray, Kris is officially well!!!
Kris had his last doctor's appointment today to get stitches out. Dr. Copeland told Kris he never wanted to see him again. (I think he meant that in the nicest way possible though). That's exciting. I'm heading home this weekend to attend a wedding and Kris and I are going to take our engagement pictures. Hooray! This should be fun. Fortunately his mom's pretty handy with a camera (she always wins a prize at the Natches Trace Festival for her photography), so we don't have to pay an arm and a leg for them.
Right now life is a balance between school and wedding. The wedding was on the back burner, but since it's just a few weeks away - and I know this because I keep getting annoying little reminder e-mails from the knot.com and various other places - it's become a priority. When staring at the brain in neuro lab today all I could think about was what I needed to wear for my pictures. What about the florist? What about the diamond that fell out of my ring last week? It's enough to drive a girl crazy.
You know what else can drive a girl crazy? A cumulative physiology final with 167 questions on it (that's 50 pages thick, y'all!!!). It was ridiculous. We had it Friday. We were supposed to be given 4 hours to take the thing, but we got started 15 minutes late and ended 10 minutes early. Then as we're all rushing to finish, the teacher comes in and tells us he'll give us 30 minutes. So really they gave us 5. But at that point we were all so freaked out that none of us could think straight. I even forgot equations. I never forget equations!!! Anyway, we got the thing back today and the class average was 79. That makes me feel not so bad about my 76. I'm usually 5-10 points under class average, so 3 under is actually an improvement. I can justify anything really.
Must study neuro now. It's bizarre and hard to remember. Oh goody.
Right now life is a balance between school and wedding. The wedding was on the back burner, but since it's just a few weeks away - and I know this because I keep getting annoying little reminder e-mails from the knot.com and various other places - it's become a priority. When staring at the brain in neuro lab today all I could think about was what I needed to wear for my pictures. What about the florist? What about the diamond that fell out of my ring last week? It's enough to drive a girl crazy.
You know what else can drive a girl crazy? A cumulative physiology final with 167 questions on it (that's 50 pages thick, y'all!!!). It was ridiculous. We had it Friday. We were supposed to be given 4 hours to take the thing, but we got started 15 minutes late and ended 10 minutes early. Then as we're all rushing to finish, the teacher comes in and tells us he'll give us 30 minutes. So really they gave us 5. But at that point we were all so freaked out that none of us could think straight. I even forgot equations. I never forget equations!!! Anyway, we got the thing back today and the class average was 79. That makes me feel not so bad about my 76. I'm usually 5-10 points under class average, so 3 under is actually an improvement. I can justify anything really.
Must study neuro now. It's bizarre and hard to remember. Oh goody.
Monday, February 18, 2008
More of the Same
Today we have 3 tests. Well, I have 2 left now. I just took 1. It was pretty brutal, but I managed not to have a complete panic attack in the middle, so that's good. I think I'll do better on the next 2. It's out last actual histo written and last histo practical except for the board. I know that probably doesn't mean much to y'all, but I have a deep hatred for histology. Hence, I am very, very excited it's going to be over soon. Physiology will end soon too. Then the dreaded neuro starts. Anyway, I'll pretend to be a normal person for the rest of this post starting... Now.
I got to have lunch with my BFF Julz and her boyfriend Scotty on Saturday. That was a good thing. It's so nice to catch up and see some familiar faces that have known you for a while. Julz is in the waiting process - waiting to hear from law schools. That's not really the most fun place to be. I have no doubt she'll get in though. It's just a matter of where. Scotty is teaching Spanish to Jackson hoodlums. Lord be with him.
I celebrated a very exciting first 2 days ago. Austin and I have been running nearly every day after class. We get on the treadmills and go. When we fist started it was really hard for me to run more than 5 minutes without stopping. Two days ago I ran 30 minutes (3.1 miles) continuously. Hooray!!! I never would have thought that I could do that. Sometimes peer pressure is good.
Another funny thing happened in the gym the day before that. I was running along and sweating my butt off. I tried to ever-so-gracefully wipe the sweat from my head and neck and ended up losing my balance and yep, you guessed it... toppling from the machine. I didn't actually ever fall completely down. The knees stayed above the ground at all times. I do have a nice-sized bruise on my left calf as a reminder though.
You should all be aware that bruises on soft tissue (such as the calf) are often cardinal signs of child abuse, as we learned during a luncheon on the subject the other day. I promise Kris is in no condition to beat me just yet though. We had a choice the other day between a lunch about wound care in war zones or signs of child abuse. We chose the signs of child abuse - figured there would be less graphic pictures there as we tried to scarf down our free lunches.
I am heading to Kosciusko to visit Kristopher tonight. We are going to try and get the honeymoon condo all booked up. We are hoping for either Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Bahamas sounded nice and all, but the thought of spending $1500 on plane tickets made us both cringe. *Perhaps* later in life we'll be a bit more financially stable and be able to take trips like that - a lot :)
I got to have lunch with my BFF Julz and her boyfriend Scotty on Saturday. That was a good thing. It's so nice to catch up and see some familiar faces that have known you for a while. Julz is in the waiting process - waiting to hear from law schools. That's not really the most fun place to be. I have no doubt she'll get in though. It's just a matter of where. Scotty is teaching Spanish to Jackson hoodlums. Lord be with him.
I celebrated a very exciting first 2 days ago. Austin and I have been running nearly every day after class. We get on the treadmills and go. When we fist started it was really hard for me to run more than 5 minutes without stopping. Two days ago I ran 30 minutes (3.1 miles) continuously. Hooray!!! I never would have thought that I could do that. Sometimes peer pressure is good.
Another funny thing happened in the gym the day before that. I was running along and sweating my butt off. I tried to ever-so-gracefully wipe the sweat from my head and neck and ended up losing my balance and yep, you guessed it... toppling from the machine. I didn't actually ever fall completely down. The knees stayed above the ground at all times. I do have a nice-sized bruise on my left calf as a reminder though.
You should all be aware that bruises on soft tissue (such as the calf) are often cardinal signs of child abuse, as we learned during a luncheon on the subject the other day. I promise Kris is in no condition to beat me just yet though. We had a choice the other day between a lunch about wound care in war zones or signs of child abuse. We chose the signs of child abuse - figured there would be less graphic pictures there as we tried to scarf down our free lunches.
I am heading to Kosciusko to visit Kristopher tonight. We are going to try and get the honeymoon condo all booked up. We are hoping for either Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Bahamas sounded nice and all, but the thought of spending $1500 on plane tickets made us both cringe. *Perhaps* later in life we'll be a bit more financially stable and be able to take trips like that - a lot :)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Sadie Likes to Swim
Sadie the cat took another dip in the tub last night. This is her second. Unfortunately the water was scalding. I made the mistake of telling Andrew not to turn my hot water heater on too high and now the only way I have warm bathwater is to turn it on completely high. Not his fault, just my poor judgement since I love scalding hot baths.
So, good news are in order. My friend (and bridesmaid) Robin Bryant is now engaged! Hooray! The funny part is that her tentative wedding date is the Saturday after mine. I hope we'll be back from our honeymoon in time for that one. We're planning all that this weekend. I am very excited. Thanks to my grandmother's generosity we can go pretty much anywhere we want to. I'm thinking somewhere warm though, since I hate the cold.
Out of the 7 of us that hung out in high school, 3 are getting married this summer and 2 got married last summer. Julia and Erin are going to be the last sane/single ones :) ha ha. Don't get peer-pressured my good friends.
I was planning on having lunch with my grandmother today, but unforunately we got our 2 hour lunch break taken away. They moved our 2:00 class up to 1:00. There's no way I could have made it all the way to Ridgewood Road, eaten, and made it back to class. Thank goodness my Aunt was headed there so I could relay the message.
So, good news are in order. My friend (and bridesmaid) Robin Bryant is now engaged! Hooray! The funny part is that her tentative wedding date is the Saturday after mine. I hope we'll be back from our honeymoon in time for that one. We're planning all that this weekend. I am very excited. Thanks to my grandmother's generosity we can go pretty much anywhere we want to. I'm thinking somewhere warm though, since I hate the cold.
Out of the 7 of us that hung out in high school, 3 are getting married this summer and 2 got married last summer. Julia and Erin are going to be the last sane/single ones :) ha ha. Don't get peer-pressured my good friends.
I was planning on having lunch with my grandmother today, but unforunately we got our 2 hour lunch break taken away. They moved our 2:00 class up to 1:00. There's no way I could have made it all the way to Ridgewood Road, eaten, and made it back to class. Thank goodness my Aunt was headed there so I could relay the message.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Another Quick Update
Kris is out of the hospital - hooray!!! He got out late in the afternoon on Feb 1st. Unfortunately they sent him home with his wound still open and aren't planning on sewing him back together for 2 more weeks, so he's a little confined. Anyway, must study now. 3 tests tomorrow :)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Update
Kris is still in the process of recovering from surgery. They took out his feeding tube yesterday, so that's a good thing. He managed to get out of bed and sit in a chair for a while. Currently they are only letting him eat ice chips, so he's pretty weak. Hopefully today we will graduate to broth - hooray! He's still getting antibiotics, blood thinners (which are shots that go directly into his stomach, no fun), and lots and lots of pain meds. I'm hoping for him to go home sometime this weekend, but that's looking doubtful unless he makes some sort of miraculous recovery.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Of Course It's Complicated and Rare, It's Kris!!!
I'm writing from Baptist Hospital in Jackson. I'll give you 3 guesses.
1. UMC shipped us down the street to practice on Baptists' patients.
2. Kris had a hernia that decided to twist on itself and herniate into his actual abdominal muscles, thereby spilling part of its contents there (and thankfully not into his peritoneum).
3. They have really good cafeteria food here.
Guess #2 is correct. We started out thinking gallstones, then a CT showed a mass which the doctors thought was just a hematoma. Then an exploratory surgery today showed that part of Kris's small intestine decided to get caught up in his stomach muscles and twist and all that good stuff. The smart surgeon took it out though, along with his appendix while he was in there. So that probably saved us another trip. Anyway, Kris is recovering. He's a little unhappy at the moment because of the tube going up his nose and down to his stomach, and also that big gash on his belly that isn't quite closed yet, but other than that, we're good. Just thought I'd give everyone an update. Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming!
On the upside, I found out today I passed my Biochem national board, so I am officially finished taking biochem - forever!!! Not even 1 more class :)
1. UMC shipped us down the street to practice on Baptists' patients.
2. Kris had a hernia that decided to twist on itself and herniate into his actual abdominal muscles, thereby spilling part of its contents there (and thankfully not into his peritoneum).
3. They have really good cafeteria food here.
Guess #2 is correct. We started out thinking gallstones, then a CT showed a mass which the doctors thought was just a hematoma. Then an exploratory surgery today showed that part of Kris's small intestine decided to get caught up in his stomach muscles and twist and all that good stuff. The smart surgeon took it out though, along with his appendix while he was in there. So that probably saved us another trip. Anyway, Kris is recovering. He's a little unhappy at the moment because of the tube going up his nose and down to his stomach, and also that big gash on his belly that isn't quite closed yet, but other than that, we're good. Just thought I'd give everyone an update. Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming!
On the upside, I found out today I passed my Biochem national board, so I am officially finished taking biochem - forever!!! Not even 1 more class :)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
So Much to Talk About, So Little Time
Whoa I haven't posted in a while. I'm between classes right now, so I'm going to make this one snappy. We'll start from today and work backwards. Today has been great so far. I got a speeding ticket on the way to school this morning which was completely pointless because I wasn't even late. This means I shouldn't have been speeding. I'm just meant to be a race car driver, that's all. I will definitely be taking the class so I don't have to pay for it. I just wonder how much the class costs. I was only going 58 in a 45. Blech. Anyway, life will go on.
Today we have a presentation to give to the class. We were given a patient 2 days ago, not a real one, just a paper one. Then we had to diagnose and figure out a treatment plan. It was surprisingly easy for this particular one. I just hope we don't all get nervous and blow the whole thing. Just for fun they're bringing in an attending and a resident to intimidate us.
Two days ago I did surgery on a pig. It was insane. We opened the femoral arteries and veins and inserted catheters (which are apparently just little plastic tubes). We also slit the throat down and found the carotid arteries and vagus nerves on each side. We used those to adjust the blood pressure manually. Anyway, we got to play and inject drugs and watch the effects and all that. Then at the end I made a huge incision down the side of the pig parallel to the ribs and then we used a rib spreader to spread the ribs and they actually went a good ways without breaking. Then we got to hold the beating heart in our hands, watch the lungs inflate and deflate, and then.... We sent the heart into v-fib. Then I grabbed the shock paddles, we charged them. I said Clear! just like on Grey's and I brought him back to life. We killed him and brought him back to life 5 times! It was pretty amazing.
Anyway, class is starting now. Must pay attention.
Today we have a presentation to give to the class. We were given a patient 2 days ago, not a real one, just a paper one. Then we had to diagnose and figure out a treatment plan. It was surprisingly easy for this particular one. I just hope we don't all get nervous and blow the whole thing. Just for fun they're bringing in an attending and a resident to intimidate us.
Two days ago I did surgery on a pig. It was insane. We opened the femoral arteries and veins and inserted catheters (which are apparently just little plastic tubes). We also slit the throat down and found the carotid arteries and vagus nerves on each side. We used those to adjust the blood pressure manually. Anyway, we got to play and inject drugs and watch the effects and all that. Then at the end I made a huge incision down the side of the pig parallel to the ribs and then we used a rib spreader to spread the ribs and they actually went a good ways without breaking. Then we got to hold the beating heart in our hands, watch the lungs inflate and deflate, and then.... We sent the heart into v-fib. Then I grabbed the shock paddles, we charged them. I said Clear! just like on Grey's and I brought him back to life. We killed him and brought him back to life 5 times! It was pretty amazing.
Anyway, class is starting now. Must pay attention.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Back to the Real World
Ahh.... It's fun to be a normal person again. Tonight I get to go to... (gasp, wait for it....) Wal-Mart!!! I can even spend time looking at things other than the 5 frozen meals I used to grab on the go. Today I slept 'til noon. It was bliss. I spent all last night watching reruns of shows on ABC that I never got to see the 1st time. All is right with the world.
We got back our scores from the tests we had Monday in Gross Anatomy and Developmental Anatomy. I somehow managed to pass them both. I thought I'd made a 50 and an 80 on the Gross written and practical, but ended up with a 74 and a 74 - weird, huh? Class average was a 79, which is the lowest class average we've ever had on any test. I also thought I'd done terribly on the Developmental test, but ended up with an 83. Surely to goodness I passed those boards and never have to take those classes again.
The white coat burning ceremony was Friday night. All of us were running on about 2 hours of sleep, but it was a good time. If I can figure out how to post pictures on this thing I'll try. We didn't burn our white coats that we received at the white coat ceremony at the beginning of the year. Those are the nice ones we'll actually wear our 3rd year when we get to practice being doctors on unsuspecting patients. Instead we burned the nasty white lab coats we wore in gross lab all semester. I tried washing mine the 1st couple of weeks, but then decided it wasn't worth the time or trouble. It also made Jennifer's laundry room and garage smell like dead people and she didn't like that too much. So, I think my lab coat went at least 2 1/2 months without being washed. It smelled great :) It looked even greater - blech.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and called me and texted me during this stressful time. I really appreciate it and I know that's what got me through the week without going completely bonkers. Kris surprised me with a new kitten a few nights ago. She's tiny and black, but seems to be turning a dark grey. Jennifer named her Sadie. She's a cutie :)
We got back our scores from the tests we had Monday in Gross Anatomy and Developmental Anatomy. I somehow managed to pass them both. I thought I'd made a 50 and an 80 on the Gross written and practical, but ended up with a 74 and a 74 - weird, huh? Class average was a 79, which is the lowest class average we've ever had on any test. I also thought I'd done terribly on the Developmental test, but ended up with an 83. Surely to goodness I passed those boards and never have to take those classes again.
The white coat burning ceremony was Friday night. All of us were running on about 2 hours of sleep, but it was a good time. If I can figure out how to post pictures on this thing I'll try. We didn't burn our white coats that we received at the white coat ceremony at the beginning of the year. Those are the nice ones we'll actually wear our 3rd year when we get to practice being doctors on unsuspecting patients. Instead we burned the nasty white lab coats we wore in gross lab all semester. I tried washing mine the 1st couple of weeks, but then decided it wasn't worth the time or trouble. It also made Jennifer's laundry room and garage smell like dead people and she didn't like that too much. So, I think my lab coat went at least 2 1/2 months without being washed. It smelled great :) It looked even greater - blech.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and called me and texted me during this stressful time. I really appreciate it and I know that's what got me through the week without going completely bonkers. Kris surprised me with a new kitten a few nights ago. She's tiny and black, but seems to be turning a dark grey. Jennifer named her Sadie. She's a cutie :)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times.
This week shall be written down in Allison's little black book of THE WORST WEEK EVER!
It started with 6 hours of testing on Monday. This included 25% of our developmental anatomy grade and 25% of our gross anatomy grade. This 50% came from 2 written tests and a practical - with decapitated heads everywhere. Great fun - lemme tell ya... I must say I enjoyed gross overall, but honestly, by Sunday night I was ecstatic that it was the last night I'd ever have to spend in lab looking for some miniscule artery or nerve. I hope it's the last night anyway. I don't think I did too well on the written part of that test (I'm thinking in the 40-80 range), but there's really no way to tell. I'd had about 8 hours of sleep over those last 3 days, so I can't even really remember what was on the test.
Anyway, after that exhaustion, Austin and I decided we needed to do 2 things - eat and sleep! So we grabbed some Mexican, shoved it down our throats, and went and conked out at her house for about 4 hours. We woke up at 10:30 (because we'd set our alarms - for 10:30 PM - in order to get up and study for the Gross Anatomy National Board Test (which I just finished taking), but we were so exhausted we just ended up going home. Then instead of studying when I got home I decided to catch up on Grey's Anatomy while I was in the tub, and since the last 2 episodes were a "to be continued" type deal, I couldn't watch one without the other. I literally hadn't seen tv in weeks - probably about 5-6 weeks. I still don't know what the whole deal was with that mall shooting I vaguely heard about and that television writers' strike that may or may not still be going on. I have absolutely no clue what's going on in this crazy world.
Yesterday we studied all day - not really knowing how to study the entire human body in one day. Some of our fellow classmates were able to read through the entire Board Review Series book (conveniently written by our very own professor). We want to physically hurt those people. But that's beside the point. By the time I got home I was mentally exhausted, sleep-deprived, and all around just freaked out about my 1st board test. (If you fail it, you fail the class.) Then I get to find out that my cat, Gracie, got hit by a car and died. Kris gave her to me last year for Christmas when she was so tiny she could fit into my hand. I've had other cats and dogs before, but those were more of "family" animals that we all shared. This is the 1st one that was all mine. I paid her vet bills, got her fixed, bought her food, and scooped her poop (most of the time. Thanks sister :) ) She kept me company when Julia was in England and I was in an apartment all alone. She liked to sleep on my pillow just above my head every night. She only drank running water - or water from my glass. All around, she was just a silly cat and I'll miss her.
It was enough to throw me off of my studying for a while and I was really worried when I went into my Gross Board earlier today. I didn't get any studying done this morning because I was so upset and wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat a good lunch before I went into this test. I think it all worked out though. I didn't freak out during the test and I had plenty of time leftover. I don't know if that's just because I didn't think the questions through, or because I knew the right answers. I guess we'll see when I get back to school after Christmas break. I've heard only 2 people from UMC have ever failed and you have to miss way over 1/2 the questions to fail it, so I really hope I'm not one of those people. I don't feel like I am. The questions seemed easier than any of the ones we ever had on a test, I just couldn't quite remember the specific innervations and blood supply of every single muscle. Whatever though, I guess that's over and it's on to the next. We have our cumulative biochemistry test Friday. That'll be another 20% of our biochem grade. So this week I've had 45% of gross, 25% of developmental, and I'm about to have 20% of my biochem grade determined. I'm slightly stressed. My sister says it's inhumane the way they treat us and I'm very much obliged to agree.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I really felt the need to vent!!!
It started with 6 hours of testing on Monday. This included 25% of our developmental anatomy grade and 25% of our gross anatomy grade. This 50% came from 2 written tests and a practical - with decapitated heads everywhere. Great fun - lemme tell ya... I must say I enjoyed gross overall, but honestly, by Sunday night I was ecstatic that it was the last night I'd ever have to spend in lab looking for some miniscule artery or nerve. I hope it's the last night anyway. I don't think I did too well on the written part of that test (I'm thinking in the 40-80 range), but there's really no way to tell. I'd had about 8 hours of sleep over those last 3 days, so I can't even really remember what was on the test.
Anyway, after that exhaustion, Austin and I decided we needed to do 2 things - eat and sleep! So we grabbed some Mexican, shoved it down our throats, and went and conked out at her house for about 4 hours. We woke up at 10:30 (because we'd set our alarms - for 10:30 PM - in order to get up and study for the Gross Anatomy National Board Test (which I just finished taking), but we were so exhausted we just ended up going home. Then instead of studying when I got home I decided to catch up on Grey's Anatomy while I was in the tub, and since the last 2 episodes were a "to be continued" type deal, I couldn't watch one without the other. I literally hadn't seen tv in weeks - probably about 5-6 weeks. I still don't know what the whole deal was with that mall shooting I vaguely heard about and that television writers' strike that may or may not still be going on. I have absolutely no clue what's going on in this crazy world.
Yesterday we studied all day - not really knowing how to study the entire human body in one day. Some of our fellow classmates were able to read through the entire Board Review Series book (conveniently written by our very own professor). We want to physically hurt those people. But that's beside the point. By the time I got home I was mentally exhausted, sleep-deprived, and all around just freaked out about my 1st board test. (If you fail it, you fail the class.) Then I get to find out that my cat, Gracie, got hit by a car and died. Kris gave her to me last year for Christmas when she was so tiny she could fit into my hand. I've had other cats and dogs before, but those were more of "family" animals that we all shared. This is the 1st one that was all mine. I paid her vet bills, got her fixed, bought her food, and scooped her poop (most of the time. Thanks sister :) ) She kept me company when Julia was in England and I was in an apartment all alone. She liked to sleep on my pillow just above my head every night. She only drank running water - or water from my glass. All around, she was just a silly cat and I'll miss her.
It was enough to throw me off of my studying for a while and I was really worried when I went into my Gross Board earlier today. I didn't get any studying done this morning because I was so upset and wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat a good lunch before I went into this test. I think it all worked out though. I didn't freak out during the test and I had plenty of time leftover. I don't know if that's just because I didn't think the questions through, or because I knew the right answers. I guess we'll see when I get back to school after Christmas break. I've heard only 2 people from UMC have ever failed and you have to miss way over 1/2 the questions to fail it, so I really hope I'm not one of those people. I don't feel like I am. The questions seemed easier than any of the ones we ever had on a test, I just couldn't quite remember the specific innervations and blood supply of every single muscle. Whatever though, I guess that's over and it's on to the next. We have our cumulative biochemistry test Friday. That'll be another 20% of our biochem grade. So this week I've had 45% of gross, 25% of developmental, and I'm about to have 20% of my biochem grade determined. I'm slightly stressed. My sister says it's inhumane the way they treat us and I'm very much obliged to agree.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I really felt the need to vent!!!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Crunch Time!
Well, it's officially crunch time. In 2 weeks and 5 days I will have finished my first semester - hooray! Now, we won't know for a few weeks whether or not I successfully finished the first semester, but it will be finished nonetheless. The only reason I'm able to blog right now is because I've decided to start bringing those little frozen dinners [+ Mom's homemade food] in an effort to save time and money. So, now I have a few extra minutes of dinner break to play.
The money problem is being solved. I'm signed up to do 5 transcriptions this week. At $40 a transcription - I will make $200 this week. Not too shabby, eh? Now, for the studying problem... That's not solved so easily. I just have to study until I can't study any more for the next few weeks and then even if I do badly I'll know I gave it all I could. I'm sorry school is all I talk about, but it's all I do these days.
Today we talked about a disease called "pica." I had heard of people eating clay before, but I never knew there was a whole disorder for it. These people eat things like clay, dirt, chalk, ice chips, etc... Our lecturer even said that at some truck stops you can find dirt and clay for sale - to eat - seriously. He then proceeded to ask the class if anyone had ever been to a truck stop and seen dirt for sale. Then about 5 people raised their hands. So I asked the girl beside me about it and she said that she has 2 aunts that have pica. They prefer chalk, and will bring each other chalk as presents from New York. P.S. - They're art teachers.
The money problem is being solved. I'm signed up to do 5 transcriptions this week. At $40 a transcription - I will make $200 this week. Not too shabby, eh? Now, for the studying problem... That's not solved so easily. I just have to study until I can't study any more for the next few weeks and then even if I do badly I'll know I gave it all I could. I'm sorry school is all I talk about, but it's all I do these days.
Today we talked about a disease called "pica." I had heard of people eating clay before, but I never knew there was a whole disorder for it. These people eat things like clay, dirt, chalk, ice chips, etc... Our lecturer even said that at some truck stops you can find dirt and clay for sale - to eat - seriously. He then proceeded to ask the class if anyone had ever been to a truck stop and seen dirt for sale. Then about 5 people raised their hands. So I asked the girl beside me about it and she said that she has 2 aunts that have pica. They prefer chalk, and will bring each other chalk as presents from New York. P.S. - They're art teachers.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Mo Money most Definitely does not Equal Mo Problems
So, there's this rap song and I believe the chorus says: "Mo money, mo problems." (Mo = more, just in case you're not fluent in ebonics like me). The point is, I tend to disagree.
I started out this semester with $10,000. Now there is only $1,000 left. This, my friends, is a problem. UMC sucked out a little over $6,000 for tuition and then another $1,000 went to books and scalpel blades and lab coats, etc... Now there's not too much left. Fortunately, I have signed up to be a transcriptionist for the class. This is how it works:
Our class has this thing called the Note Service. What happens is, we record every lecture and one person is required to attend the class and type that lecture up into concise notes which are posted onto a website we all have access to. Sometimes people don't want to type their notes because either they don't have time or they don't like to type, or they are really slow, etc, etc... Anyway, the going rate is $40 per lecture, so I'm thinking if I do like 4 a week I should be golden in the money department - especially if Kris helps me fill in all the words I couldn't get while I was in lecture :)
Another positive is the fact that apparently there is a scholarship for people from counties that are medically underserved. You get bonus points if you went to public school or your parents don't have too much income coming in. By bonus points, I mean extra $$$ - ka-ching!
Between that and Sumner's grant [thank you Sumner's people, I've been meaning to send you a nice thank you card for that huge chunk of my college education you paid for], I should probably be fine and not have to take out any more loan money before this year is over. Maybe I'll even get to work this summer and make a little bit more.
Austin and I were seriously discussing the possibility of skinning cadavers over the summer for the dental students - because their bodies come pre-dissected, but that's a whole other rant of mine. Anyway, when I asked Austin if we'd get paid per body or what she replies: "I think it's just $2,000 for the whole lot of 'em." For a second I forgot we were in med school and thought maybe we were fur traders or something.
Right now lots of interviewees are coming through for next year's M1 class [God, I hope I'm not with them as an M1 again next year.] and apparently one of them got in because as Austin and I were facebook-stalking her profile we saw that one of her friends had posted this quaint little message:
"Oh my Gosh! - I'm so jealous - you get to be the real-life Meredith Grey!"
These girls have no freakin' clue what's in store for them. No clue. At all. The end.
Back to money though, doctors really have to make a lot, because
1. We don't start working till we're 30 - or 35 for those really smart ones.
2. Most of us have ~ $100,000 - $130,000 of debt from medical school.
3. Those first few years we work, we make ~$30,000 - yes, just like teachers, and last but not least...
4. I'm seriously thinking of skinning people for money - and I've had to clean explosive diarrhea from a dead man's bisected colon. I deserve it.
I started out this semester with $10,000. Now there is only $1,000 left. This, my friends, is a problem. UMC sucked out a little over $6,000 for tuition and then another $1,000 went to books and scalpel blades and lab coats, etc... Now there's not too much left. Fortunately, I have signed up to be a transcriptionist for the class. This is how it works:
Our class has this thing called the Note Service. What happens is, we record every lecture and one person is required to attend the class and type that lecture up into concise notes which are posted onto a website we all have access to. Sometimes people don't want to type their notes because either they don't have time or they don't like to type, or they are really slow, etc, etc... Anyway, the going rate is $40 per lecture, so I'm thinking if I do like 4 a week I should be golden in the money department - especially if Kris helps me fill in all the words I couldn't get while I was in lecture :)
Another positive is the fact that apparently there is a scholarship for people from counties that are medically underserved. You get bonus points if you went to public school or your parents don't have too much income coming in. By bonus points, I mean extra $$$ - ka-ching!
Between that and Sumner's grant [thank you Sumner's people, I've been meaning to send you a nice thank you card for that huge chunk of my college education you paid for], I should probably be fine and not have to take out any more loan money before this year is over. Maybe I'll even get to work this summer and make a little bit more.
Austin and I were seriously discussing the possibility of skinning cadavers over the summer for the dental students - because their bodies come pre-dissected, but that's a whole other rant of mine. Anyway, when I asked Austin if we'd get paid per body or what she replies: "I think it's just $2,000 for the whole lot of 'em." For a second I forgot we were in med school and thought maybe we were fur traders or something.
Right now lots of interviewees are coming through for next year's M1 class [God, I hope I'm not with them as an M1 again next year.] and apparently one of them got in because as Austin and I were facebook-stalking her profile we saw that one of her friends had posted this quaint little message:
"Oh my Gosh! - I'm so jealous - you get to be the real-life Meredith Grey!"
These girls have no freakin' clue what's in store for them. No clue. At all. The end.
Back to money though, doctors really have to make a lot, because
1. We don't start working till we're 30 - or 35 for those really smart ones.
2. Most of us have ~ $100,000 - $130,000 of debt from medical school.
3. Those first few years we work, we make ~$30,000 - yes, just like teachers, and last but not least...
4. I'm seriously thinking of skinning people for money - and I've had to clean explosive diarrhea from a dead man's bisected colon. I deserve it.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Hell Week is Over!!!
Well, I say hell week, but in fact it's been 2 weeks of hell. Austin and I realized late last night when delirious on caffeine and pent-up energy that we've been studying 12-18 hours a day for the last 12 days. Ridiculous, no??? Especially considering that I probably just failed the 2 tests I took this morning... They were a tad bit... shall we say - convoluted and detailed. I can now draw every step and intermediate and enzyme of the citric acid cycle and electron transport chain/oxidative phosphorylation. However, those things only helped me with about 6 questions out of 64.
Anyway, on to happier thoughts. There shall be NO studying tonight. I will not look at one electromicrograph, one histology slide, one CT, or one book. Kris and I are having a pretend-7-year-anniversary. This is due to the fact that :
a) The actual anniversary was the day before the last gross test
b) We both forgot
c) We both forgot because we've been together 7 years.
d) all of the above are true.
D is the correct answer. I'm not sure what we're doing, but I bet it will involve dinner and a movie - or maybe ice-skating. I've been meaning to go ice-skating for over a year now.
Oh, P.S. - Kris is now a productive member of society! He has a job! He is working at Game Stop over in Dogwood. I think he likes it, or will like it since he's really into video games and movies, but he's only worked 2 days so far, so we'll see. I'm just happy to see $$$ coming in instead of rolling on out.
Anyway, I'm about to spend the next 30 minutes blissfully returning any e-mails I've received over the last 2 weeks, playing on facebook, and checking out popsugar.com to see what stupid things the celebrities have done this week.
See you all over Thanksgiving! [that's next week, y'all!!!]
Anyway, on to happier thoughts. There shall be NO studying tonight. I will not look at one electromicrograph, one histology slide, one CT, or one book. Kris and I are having a pretend-7-year-anniversary. This is due to the fact that :
a) The actual anniversary was the day before the last gross test
b) We both forgot
c) We both forgot because we've been together 7 years.
d) all of the above are true.
D is the correct answer. I'm not sure what we're doing, but I bet it will involve dinner and a movie - or maybe ice-skating. I've been meaning to go ice-skating for over a year now.
Oh, P.S. - Kris is now a productive member of society! He has a job! He is working at Game Stop over in Dogwood. I think he likes it, or will like it since he's really into video games and movies, but he's only worked 2 days so far, so we'll see. I'm just happy to see $$$ coming in instead of rolling on out.
Anyway, I'm about to spend the next 30 minutes blissfully returning any e-mails I've received over the last 2 weeks, playing on facebook, and checking out popsugar.com to see what stupid things the celebrities have done this week.
See you all over Thanksgiving! [that's next week, y'all!!!]
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Life is Busy, Will Write Again Soon
I am currently shackled to a table in the classroom wing studying my butt off for what will probably be the hardest test we've had all semester in Biochemistry. The test is on Tuesday. This past week we had a gross written, gross practical and developmental anatomy test on Monday, then a physiology test on Friday and now in 2 days another test. Hence, things are not all sunshine and butterflies in the land of Allison.
It doesn't help that I had to spend $500 on repairs to my car this week - that'll get you 1 oil change, 2 new tires, new rotors, a front end alignment, and a plethora of other things. It's riding very good now - as it should be.
It doesn't help that I had to spend $500 on repairs to my car this week - that'll get you 1 oil change, 2 new tires, new rotors, a front end alignment, and a plethora of other things. It's riding very good now - as it should be.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Well, it's not quite Christmas yet, but it may as well be. It's been freezing and drizzly here for the last few days. We've had 5 tests since the last time I wrote. Things have gone well!!! I managed to pass them all - even making a 96 on a developmental anatomy test and a 91 on a gross anatomy practical (over the thorax and abdomen - perhaps internal medicine is in my future?)...
Things are getting a bit more difficult, but overall I'm optimistic about it all. This might have something to do with the fact that we're over 1/2 way done and Christmas is looming and I haven't even had a mental breakdown or emotional meltdown or any of the above. That's a very good thing. At the beginning of the year they told us this was the hard part and by the end of last year about 40% of the M1s were on antidepressants. I've only had 2 slight hissy-fits and those were before the 1st 2 biochem tests. I know how to study for that now, so it's not so bad. There are only 4 more big test days before Thanksgiving and then just 4 after that before Christmas. This does not mean I only have 8 tests. This means I only have 8 days of testing - which usually last most of the day and cover 3 - 5 subjects. It's kind of like having my finals from undergrad all crammed into one day. Not fun.
Anyway, on to happier notes. The next test we have is November 5, so I'm taking a break and heading home this weekend. Our class has reserved Hal & Mal's for this Friday night for a Halloween party and I'm planning on going, but I need a good costume idea. Last year Kris was a devil and I was an angel and that worked out pretty well. We might have a repeat performance this year. Anyway, I shall be home this Saturday. I know Julz has already reserved me for dinner Saturday night, so if you want an appointment, you'd better book one fast! Time slots are filling up.
Things are getting a bit more difficult, but overall I'm optimistic about it all. This might have something to do with the fact that we're over 1/2 way done and Christmas is looming and I haven't even had a mental breakdown or emotional meltdown or any of the above. That's a very good thing. At the beginning of the year they told us this was the hard part and by the end of last year about 40% of the M1s were on antidepressants. I've only had 2 slight hissy-fits and those were before the 1st 2 biochem tests. I know how to study for that now, so it's not so bad. There are only 4 more big test days before Thanksgiving and then just 4 after that before Christmas. This does not mean I only have 8 tests. This means I only have 8 days of testing - which usually last most of the day and cover 3 - 5 subjects. It's kind of like having my finals from undergrad all crammed into one day. Not fun.
Anyway, on to happier notes. The next test we have is November 5, so I'm taking a break and heading home this weekend. Our class has reserved Hal & Mal's for this Friday night for a Halloween party and I'm planning on going, but I need a good costume idea. Last year Kris was a devil and I was an angel and that worked out pretty well. We might have a repeat performance this year. Anyway, I shall be home this Saturday. I know Julz has already reserved me for dinner Saturday night, so if you want an appointment, you'd better book one fast! Time slots are filling up.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
It's All in the Details
Well, there's not much to report here in StudyLand. I took the most miserable test of my life Monday. We started the day off at 10:00 am with a developmental anatomy test covering the formation of the heart (it's more complicated than one might think - it starts out as a single tube!), formation of the digestive system, respiratory system, and body cavity. It was interesting. Anyway, then me and Austin had Back Yard Burger and a panic attack for lunch. It's important to mention the Back Yard Burger part because in order to not have a more severe panic attack before the next test, you must distance yourself as far away as possible from the other (smarter, more gunnerish) people in your class. In our case, the best we could do was the Back Yard Burger a hundred yards away. It worked though, not a classmate in site.
There we reviewed for the gross practical and written test while eating ice cream to soothe our worries from the test before. Then we huffed it back to school and rushed into the practical. The practical actually went pretty well. By well I mean that I only had question marks by 12 of the 70 structures tagged. On the 1st practical I only had 6 smiley faces on my paper. A definite improvement I must say.
All hopes were shattered once we stepped into that written test though. I think I may have gotten the 1st 2 questions correct. I really enjoyed periodically hearing the people around me mutter cuss words or flip pages frantically before lowering their heads to do deep breathing exercises. One of my lunch table buddies told me she prayed over all the questions she didn't know at first, but it just got too time-consuming near the end.
I'm generally a speedy test-taker, but I only had 10 minutes left on this one. Of course I sat out in the hall to see everyone's faces as they walked out. We're in a general consensus. It was a horrible test. It's really funny when you see a few of the "smart" med school kids come out after you with a glazed look in their eye, walking like zombies towards their lockers.
I went home immediately and showered, got ready, and made Kris take me out for queso, margaritas, and a movie. Then I came home and tried to watch all the shows I missed last week online. Because I was trying to cram all the fun from 2 weeks into one night, I stayed up way too late and woke up at 7:35 the next morning. This was not okay because the geniuses on the curriculum committee thought it would be smart to put a mandatory "professionalism" (read, bullcrap) class at 8:00 the day after our horrible tests. The really ironic thing is, the presentation was on time management, and the lady giving the talk was 20 minutes late - just like me :)
Anyway, there is no time to cry over the test, we have another one Monday. This time it's biochem and histology though, so hopefully it will be better.
There we reviewed for the gross practical and written test while eating ice cream to soothe our worries from the test before. Then we huffed it back to school and rushed into the practical. The practical actually went pretty well. By well I mean that I only had question marks by 12 of the 70 structures tagged. On the 1st practical I only had 6 smiley faces on my paper. A definite improvement I must say.
All hopes were shattered once we stepped into that written test though. I think I may have gotten the 1st 2 questions correct. I really enjoyed periodically hearing the people around me mutter cuss words or flip pages frantically before lowering their heads to do deep breathing exercises. One of my lunch table buddies told me she prayed over all the questions she didn't know at first, but it just got too time-consuming near the end.
I'm generally a speedy test-taker, but I only had 10 minutes left on this one. Of course I sat out in the hall to see everyone's faces as they walked out. We're in a general consensus. It was a horrible test. It's really funny when you see a few of the "smart" med school kids come out after you with a glazed look in their eye, walking like zombies towards their lockers.
I went home immediately and showered, got ready, and made Kris take me out for queso, margaritas, and a movie. Then I came home and tried to watch all the shows I missed last week online. Because I was trying to cram all the fun from 2 weeks into one night, I stayed up way too late and woke up at 7:35 the next morning. This was not okay because the geniuses on the curriculum committee thought it would be smart to put a mandatory "professionalism" (read, bullcrap) class at 8:00 the day after our horrible tests. The really ironic thing is, the presentation was on time management, and the lady giving the talk was 20 minutes late - just like me :)
Anyway, there is no time to cry over the test, we have another one Monday. This time it's biochem and histology though, so hopefully it will be better.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
The Pause Button is Broken
So, this post can't be very long because I need to be ________________. If you guessed studying, you were correct. I seem to be overwhelmed, but unfortunately the pause button is broken. We have a Physiology test Friday and a Gross Anatomy Practical and written test along with a Developmental Anatomy test which is 25% of our Developmental grade. Everyone is borderline in that class, so we all need to do really well. The point is, there is no time. Just for fun, there is also a Biochem and Histology test Monday after the gross test.
Anyway, enough griping. There are some positive things going on. I managed to find a really good study buddy who reads just a slow as I do and doesn't ever confuse me when explaining things. It's nice. We went to Ole Miss and were in the Honors College together, but just didn't ever end up studying together. Anyway, we've been helping each other along through gross. It's a good thing.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find a mechanic to fix the pause button.
Anyway, enough griping. There are some positive things going on. I managed to find a really good study buddy who reads just a slow as I do and doesn't ever confuse me when explaining things. It's nice. We went to Ole Miss and were in the Honors College together, but just didn't ever end up studying together. Anyway, we've been helping each other along through gross. It's a good thing.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find a mechanic to fix the pause button.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
And Then... I Beat the Class Average
So, the 1st 2 biochem tests did not go so well. We're talking 20 points below the class average. I'm no brain surgeon, but that's not good. Well, we got back our last biochem test today and let me tell you, the studying paid off. (And by studying I mean: my car did not leave the garage this past weekend, except for 1 late-night run to McDonald's). Not only did I pass, I *almost* made an A. The only 2 questions I missed on the new material were thrown out due to their amount of detail. So that means the only questions I actually missed were off the old material. Anyway, the point is, I beat the class average. This is a day that shall go down in history.
Also, I might actually be learning how to prioritize. I was planning on going to the fair tonight, but... then I realized I'm playing on Jennifer's tennis league tomorrow night and everyone knows it's a sin to do more than 1 fun thing a week when you're in med school. So instead I stayed at the gross lab with a study group from about 2:30 'til 8:30 with a dinner break in there. We got some learning done - let me tell you.
Randomly, I would like to give a shout out to my mother for all the tasty food she brought last week. It was so delicious, it's all gone *hint, hint...
Also, I might actually be learning how to prioritize. I was planning on going to the fair tonight, but... then I realized I'm playing on Jennifer's tennis league tomorrow night and everyone knows it's a sin to do more than 1 fun thing a week when you're in med school. So instead I stayed at the gross lab with a study group from about 2:30 'til 8:30 with a dinner break in there. We got some learning done - let me tell you.
Randomly, I would like to give a shout out to my mother for all the tasty food she brought last week. It was so delicious, it's all gone *hint, hint...
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