All righty, where were we? Oh yes, the lungs. It was brought to my attention that my last post had a confusing statement. My parents are both still alive and cigarette-free. So now we have that straight.
On Friday we cut out the heart! The thorax really is interesting. So many important things sit all together right there, with very little protecting it. And it's weird to hold a human heart in your hands. And a little slippery.
I got good news on all my tests last week! Then I had a great weekend at home, but now the tests loom once more, so I'm back to the books. We have started physiology this week, which is super exciting. Physiology is all about how your body works, and it's one of my favorite things to study. Also, in biological engineering we had a class called Physiological Systems, so we have a head start on the uber-technical parts of the heart, muscles, and nerves. Like, using equations to describe them, technical. Maybe overkill for this class, but it can't hurt! Thanks, Dr. Cathcart!
My sainted aunt sent me all sorts of little decorations and things for my apartment, making it look a little less like a hobo lives there and more like a person. I'll try to put up some pictures soon, but not until it's super cute. It's getting there, slowly but surely.
A few more tidbits about my life:
Book I'm reading ... Stuff Christians Like
Show I'm watching ... Glee
Subject I'm studying ... Histology
Tune in next time to hear more about the wonderful world of medical school!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
dem bones, dem bones
Today, we had tests. That's all we did - test and study. Developmental anatomy was in the morning, and it wasn't difficult at all. That or I was more prepared than I thought, which is always a good thing! Then this afternoon was our first gross anatomy written test and practical. They were both okay. Just okay. But maybe it'll turn out better than expected. How's that for glass half-full?
Even though it's only Monday, I'm really looking forward to going home this weekend. But we have a lot to do between now and then!
Tests are the only thing I have to update with (or maybe they're just the most present thing in my mind), so now I'm going to go eat cookies and watch The Devil Wears Prada. I hope you all have a fabulous week!
Even though it's only Monday, I'm really looking forward to going home this weekend. But we have a lot to do between now and then!
Tests are the only thing I have to update with (or maybe they're just the most present thing in my mind), so now I'm going to go eat cookies and watch The Devil Wears Prada. I hope you all have a fabulous week!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
what's med school like?
My cousin Danny came down to interview at UMC today! He goes to West Point, so he had to wear his dress whites, which garnered quite a few impressed looks. But he felt good about his interview afterward, so I'm hoping he'll get good news next month! In other good news, I did well on the second biochemistry test this week. I'm not failing med school! Yay!
So, an interesting turn of events happened regarding my future specialty. I still want to do oncology, but I had previously been leaning toward radiation oncology. Then a radiation oncologist came to talk to us about the specialty and what they do. He also said that in order to be competitive for a residency position, one needs to be published at least three times. 1) I have very little chance of doing that in the next four years; 2) I wasn't really drawn to the field itself as he described it. So, my mind switched over to medical oncology (because surgical is right out). Fortunately, the internal medicine department hosted yet another of our free lunches/info sessions. Since I would need to do my residency in medicine in order to be a medical oncology, I was suddenly very interested. So that's where we are now. Internal medicine 1, radiation oncology 0.
One question I get asked a lot (besides, "How's med school?") is, "What is your schedule like?" This questions is usually posed by future med students/interviewees, and I want to answer all their questions, so here goes.
6:00 I get up. Usually I think to myself, "My, it's early. What time will the sun come up today?"
7:00 I leave my apartment. I usually leave at this time even if I don't have class at 8, because I know there's studying or reading ahead or something that needs to be done. I leave this early to beat traffic and be able to read my Bible in my car before class, which is something I need to schedule into my day to maintain sanity.
8:00 (or 9, or 10) Class begins. For the most part, we have 4 or 5 hours of lecture or other activity scheduled, some of which is mandatory, some not. This also includes a couple hours each week that is "self-study." Typically there is an hour-long break in the morning, and we have 12-1 off for lunch.
1:00 (or 2), 1-2 times a week: Gross lab. On these days the time I leave depends on the length of the dissection. Then I go home and shower and do laundry immediately. Remember, this is a war, people.
When I get home, I usually have a snack (or dinner, depending on the time). Then I study (hopefully). On non-lab days, I shower at 9 and hit the sack by 10. And on and on it goes.
One day, I intend to put pictures up so you can see the places and people I mention. And I started a twitter account so I can share the things I forget by the end of the day when I write blog posts. My username is erinknewman, so follow me!
I'll be studying all weekend for the first gross and developmental anatomy tests on Monday, so I probably won't post before Monday or Tuesday. But I know you'll be anxiously awaiting news, and I like to keep the people happy.
So, an interesting turn of events happened regarding my future specialty. I still want to do oncology, but I had previously been leaning toward radiation oncology. Then a radiation oncologist came to talk to us about the specialty and what they do. He also said that in order to be competitive for a residency position, one needs to be published at least three times. 1) I have very little chance of doing that in the next four years; 2) I wasn't really drawn to the field itself as he described it. So, my mind switched over to medical oncology (because surgical is right out). Fortunately, the internal medicine department hosted yet another of our free lunches/info sessions. Since I would need to do my residency in medicine in order to be a medical oncology, I was suddenly very interested. So that's where we are now. Internal medicine 1, radiation oncology 0.
One question I get asked a lot (besides, "How's med school?") is, "What is your schedule like?" This questions is usually posed by future med students/interviewees, and I want to answer all their questions, so here goes.
6:00 I get up. Usually I think to myself, "My, it's early. What time will the sun come up today?"
7:00 I leave my apartment. I usually leave at this time even if I don't have class at 8, because I know there's studying or reading ahead or something that needs to be done. I leave this early to beat traffic and be able to read my Bible in my car before class, which is something I need to schedule into my day to maintain sanity.
8:00 (or 9, or 10) Class begins. For the most part, we have 4 or 5 hours of lecture or other activity scheduled, some of which is mandatory, some not. This also includes a couple hours each week that is "self-study." Typically there is an hour-long break in the morning, and we have 12-1 off for lunch.
1:00 (or 2), 1-2 times a week: Gross lab. On these days the time I leave depends on the length of the dissection. Then I go home and shower and do laundry immediately. Remember, this is a war, people.
When I get home, I usually have a snack (or dinner, depending on the time). Then I study (hopefully). On non-lab days, I shower at 9 and hit the sack by 10. And on and on it goes.
One day, I intend to put pictures up so you can see the places and people I mention. And I started a twitter account so I can share the things I forget by the end of the day when I write blog posts. My username is erinknewman, so follow me!
I'll be studying all weekend for the first gross and developmental anatomy tests on Monday, so I probably won't post before Monday or Tuesday. But I know you'll be anxiously awaiting news, and I like to keep the people happy.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
practice makes perfect
Today we got to see exactly how much we still need to learn about gross anatomy! We had a practice practical this morning, meaning we got to pretend like we were taking a test. Sounds fun, yes? And, lucky me, I got to go at 8:30 (yes, on a Saturday) to help tag body parts. It turns out that I still have a good bit of reviewing to do, but that test isn't until next week. Today was also my first time going out in public after being in the lab. Since we didn't actually do any dissecting, I figured I didn't smell so bad and that it would be okay for me to go to Target to get laundry detergent so I could wash the only slightly-smelly clothes I was wearing. But I ran into Stacy, a recently-married friend from State, and that was super exciting.
This week: biochemistry! We have a test on Tuesday, so that's what I'll be doing the next few days. This block we had a really great teacher, and I think this is the last time we'll have him, which is really too bad. I like him a lot better as the engaging professor than as the interviewer playing devil's advocate as he asked me questions about vague ethical dilemmas, but maybe that's just me.
Is it possible for time to crawl and fly at the same time? It seems to creep slowly along every week, but then all of a sudden I've been in medical school for a month. I'm also pretty sure time ceases to exist during gross lab, which is a concept only theoretical physicists can solve for me. Speaking of which, "The Big Bang Theory" is always funny, no matter how many times you watch it. Believe me, I should know.
Moving on... I'm now going to learn about some really tiny stuff inside which some even tinier stuff interacts in ways that can alter your entire body's ability to function. It's neat and weird and awesome and sometimes I just love it.
This week: biochemistry! We have a test on Tuesday, so that's what I'll be doing the next few days. This block we had a really great teacher, and I think this is the last time we'll have him, which is really too bad. I like him a lot better as the engaging professor than as the interviewer playing devil's advocate as he asked me questions about vague ethical dilemmas, but maybe that's just me.
Is it possible for time to crawl and fly at the same time? It seems to creep slowly along every week, but then all of a sudden I've been in medical school for a month. I'm also pretty sure time ceases to exist during gross lab, which is a concept only theoretical physicists can solve for me. Speaking of which, "The Big Bang Theory" is always funny, no matter how many times you watch it. Believe me, I should know.
Moving on... I'm now going to learn about some really tiny stuff inside which some even tinier stuff interacts in ways that can alter your entire body's ability to function. It's neat and weird and awesome and sometimes I just love it.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Lizards and bones
I can't believe I forgot to mention this last time. Lindsey threw a lizard on me.
I thought we were friends. We've been buddies throughout this whole med school process. We sit near each other. We talk. Then, last week, a little lizard was on her leg and suddenly it all went away. In what she claims was a "reflex," she swatted the lizard off her leg and onto my foot. Fortunately, I never saw or felt the lizard throughout this whole incident. The lizard moved to my backpack, and a girl named Joan said, "It's just a lizard." This was a ridiculous statement to make. I mean, honestly. But it meant we could ask her to rid the classroom of the vile creature, which she did, bless her soul. I don't know what she did with it. I hope it's free and that Joan didn't eat it like Bear Grylls on Man vs. Wild. Because that would be gross.
SO. Yesterday we went to the gross anatomy lab for the first time. We didn't do any dissecting, but we picked up our boxes-o'-bones and met our cadavers. It was weird. The class is split into groups, and my group starts tomorrow. Fingers crossed that Erin doesn't pass out. That would be embarrassing. The smell isn't terrible, though, so maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe.
In developmental anatomy today we watched a video showing development up to the first seven weeks of life. The video does the whole gestation period, but we had to stop. I can't wait to finish it. They filmed development with a camera in the amniotic fluid, so we actually watched the embryo develop. By the way, a baby's skin is only a cell thick for the first several weeks, so you can see all the internal organs start to develop. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Seriously, wish you could have been there. Most of my class wasn't, though, because it was a review session, so you're actually not that far out of the loop.
I need to go read now. And maybe have a snack. Oh, the wild and crazy life I lead.
I thought we were friends. We've been buddies throughout this whole med school process. We sit near each other. We talk. Then, last week, a little lizard was on her leg and suddenly it all went away. In what she claims was a "reflex," she swatted the lizard off her leg and onto my foot. Fortunately, I never saw or felt the lizard throughout this whole incident. The lizard moved to my backpack, and a girl named Joan said, "It's just a lizard." This was a ridiculous statement to make. I mean, honestly. But it meant we could ask her to rid the classroom of the vile creature, which she did, bless her soul. I don't know what she did with it. I hope it's free and that Joan didn't eat it like Bear Grylls on Man vs. Wild. Because that would be gross.
SO. Yesterday we went to the gross anatomy lab for the first time. We didn't do any dissecting, but we picked up our boxes-o'-bones and met our cadavers. It was weird. The class is split into groups, and my group starts tomorrow. Fingers crossed that Erin doesn't pass out. That would be embarrassing. The smell isn't terrible, though, so maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe.
In developmental anatomy today we watched a video showing development up to the first seven weeks of life. The video does the whole gestation period, but we had to stop. I can't wait to finish it. They filmed development with a camera in the amniotic fluid, so we actually watched the embryo develop. By the way, a baby's skin is only a cell thick for the first several weeks, so you can see all the internal organs start to develop. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Seriously, wish you could have been there. Most of my class wasn't, though, because it was a review session, so you're actually not that far out of the loop.
I need to go read now. And maybe have a snack. Oh, the wild and crazy life I lead.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
From the beginning...
After intending to start my medical school blog "tomorrow" for about three weeks now, it has finally begun. We have a lot of catching up to do.
Orientation started on August 5th. I say started because it was a five-day process, mostly due to scheduling with the CEO of AAMC. We had our coating ceremony to receive our short white coats and spent a lot of time listening to people, much like we do in class now. This mostly consisted of people telling us a) to get involved in their organization, b) medical school is really hard but a really awesome experience, c) you cannot access medical records without a legitimate "need to know," even if your Mama calls you about Aunt Sally, or d) all of the above. Oh, and "marijuana is illegal."
It was funny how so much of the advice sounded exactly like what we were told about being Orientation Leaders, just more. For instance, it's going to be hard and time-consuming. We need to eat healthy and exercise. Time management is important. There will be one month that will be the busiest of your life (October, this time, rather than February). You are here to be a leader and to serve. Ultimately, it's not about you. You will make great friends. I don't remember Lindsey specifically saying that marijuana was illegal, but the implication was there. So I feel like I have a head start on some of my classmates.
Class finally started last Monday, the 16th. Since then we have had an entire undergraduate semester's worth of biochemistry, plus some histology and a little developmental anatomy. It's a lot to take in, but not overwhelming or panic-inducing, although you wouldn't know it to look at some of my classmates. Good gravy some of these people are nuts.
It's generally accepted that you retain about 90% of the material that you teach to someone else. If you're like me and have a tendency to be more distracted and chatty when trying to study around other people, this doesn't help you. But don't worry; I'm here to help. I've discovered a way to trick myself into teaching myself. I read things aloud, thereby forcing myself to make complete thoughts and sentences out of the material, which is mostly what teaching another person does for you. Also, since I study alone, I don't have anyone to hear me and think I'm crazy, especially when I switch to a foreign accent to keep things interesting.
Today was our first test, a block test on biochemistry and histology. I passed the biochem test and scored above the traditional average (don't know the class average yet), so I'm pleased. But I will do better on the next one! I will not be defeated! Histology posts their test answers on some door of some department somewhere in the research wing, like we're in the Stone Age with no internet (or maybe the 80's), so I'll have to hunt down those answers and see how I did. I was fairly confident about all but a few of my answers, so I'm hoping for good things.
Tomorrow begins Gross Anatomy. As best I can tell, we're sitting in a lecture and then picking up a box of vertebrae for self-study. Doesn't that sound like fun? Aren't you jealous? I know you are; you don't have to tell me. Actually, if you did, maybe it would make me more excited about smelling like formaldehyde for the next four months, so go right ahead.
Oh, and about the blog title. We had a doctor come in and give a presentation about "medical terminology." We were expecting something lecture-y, but it turned out to be his advice on med school and some examples of the terms patients would use to describe their illnesses. One patient had a "history of two bugs and a locust." That would be "tuberculosis." I personally like two bugs and a locust better.
Orientation started on August 5th. I say started because it was a five-day process, mostly due to scheduling with the CEO of AAMC. We had our coating ceremony to receive our short white coats and spent a lot of time listening to people, much like we do in class now. This mostly consisted of people telling us a) to get involved in their organization, b) medical school is really hard but a really awesome experience, c) you cannot access medical records without a legitimate "need to know," even if your Mama calls you about Aunt Sally, or d) all of the above. Oh, and "marijuana is illegal."
It was funny how so much of the advice sounded exactly like what we were told about being Orientation Leaders, just more. For instance, it's going to be hard and time-consuming. We need to eat healthy and exercise. Time management is important. There will be one month that will be the busiest of your life (October, this time, rather than February). You are here to be a leader and to serve. Ultimately, it's not about you. You will make great friends. I don't remember Lindsey specifically saying that marijuana was illegal, but the implication was there. So I feel like I have a head start on some of my classmates.
Class finally started last Monday, the 16th. Since then we have had an entire undergraduate semester's worth of biochemistry, plus some histology and a little developmental anatomy. It's a lot to take in, but not overwhelming or panic-inducing, although you wouldn't know it to look at some of my classmates. Good gravy some of these people are nuts.
It's generally accepted that you retain about 90% of the material that you teach to someone else. If you're like me and have a tendency to be more distracted and chatty when trying to study around other people, this doesn't help you. But don't worry; I'm here to help. I've discovered a way to trick myself into teaching myself. I read things aloud, thereby forcing myself to make complete thoughts and sentences out of the material, which is mostly what teaching another person does for you. Also, since I study alone, I don't have anyone to hear me and think I'm crazy, especially when I switch to a foreign accent to keep things interesting.
Today was our first test, a block test on biochemistry and histology. I passed the biochem test and scored above the traditional average (don't know the class average yet), so I'm pleased. But I will do better on the next one! I will not be defeated! Histology posts their test answers on some door of some department somewhere in the research wing, like we're in the Stone Age with no internet (or maybe the 80's), so I'll have to hunt down those answers and see how I did. I was fairly confident about all but a few of my answers, so I'm hoping for good things.
Tomorrow begins Gross Anatomy. As best I can tell, we're sitting in a lecture and then picking up a box of vertebrae for self-study. Doesn't that sound like fun? Aren't you jealous? I know you are; you don't have to tell me. Actually, if you did, maybe it would make me more excited about smelling like formaldehyde for the next four months, so go right ahead.
Oh, and about the blog title. We had a doctor come in and give a presentation about "medical terminology." We were expecting something lecture-y, but it turned out to be his advice on med school and some examples of the terms patients would use to describe their illnesses. One patient had a "history of two bugs and a locust." That would be "tuberculosis." I personally like two bugs and a locust better.
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