I had to get up this morning to go to the anatomy lab for the 1st semester mock exam. It involved getting up at 8am on a Sunday, which is sort of a travesty in itself. I've been dreading this day, since I've been delaying our mandatory proctoring until the last possible one. I figured staying for two mocks (morning and afternoon, thanks to the huge 1st semester class) and not getting out until 5pm would be a major drain on my study time and prevent me from getting anything done. Wow, I sure was wrong...
My time spent in the anatomy lab could constitute my most productive day of studying this semester. During the exam, we were told to sit and watch the exam take place. I found a comfortable seat in the corner with a second chair put my feet up. I grabbed my notes and settled in. Over both exams, I was able to cover the entire block's MCB and most of Immuno, which is a lot of material to get through. I thought I would be distracted by the intercom voice telling students to move to the next station, but I was able to zone it out. After each exam, we stuck around for 30 minute and answered questions from the students. I wrote out 5 questions for the exam and was commended by some of the head TAs for the focus of my questions... count it.
Overall, I came out of the mock ahead of schedule and finished up my studying for the day at 5pm. I snuck in a trip to the gym, studied for the ICM quiz tomorrow, and reviewed some physio with Tran. All in all, it was a productive day. They even threw in Domino's pizza for lunch, so I ended up not needing to go back on break to get a bite.
I don't know if I'll be TAing again (since it was a relatively big time commitment), but I may end up volunteering for the mocks, just so I can get some studying done. I hate to admit this, but I think I would get a lot more work done if I left my computer in my bag.
Hello internet, you a big time suck, you!
On Saturday, we borrow Dutta's car and picked up groceries. I figured I could get enough stuff to last me until I left. And even though I only picked up food for 3 weeks (which I think is less than normal), the bill still came out to $150. I think the Red Bulls take a fair amount of that I suppose. On our way back, we stopped off in Marigot and Tran picked up some sugar cane juice. We both agreed that it was not as sweet as something we'd get in our respective home countries, but it was still refreshing nonetheless.
With all this food at home, I decided to make some pasta. I was able to make the sauce, but as I was cooking the pasta, the gas in our stove ran out. We let the manager know and she took the propane tank, telling us she'd get us a new one when they opened during the week. So now I have half-boiled pasta in the fridge, waiting to be finished when the new tank comes.
Overall, a busy and productive weekend. Just what I needed before the last stretch and end of this semester.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
21 Days
The marathon continues, but I can almost see the finish line. Block exams come up in a week and half. Finals are a week after that. I'll be hopping onto an American Airlines flight to Miami and then San Francisco. I wonder what it's like to be in cold weather. I recall vaguely from DC, but it's not winter without a little cold. I think it might be getting hotter here and we're not even south of the equator.
Listening to the Sharks game, since video streams a little too bandwidth heavy for the connection here. I miss fast internet; although my connection at home wasn't exactly a scorcher, at least it was more reliable and quicker, for about half the cost of internet here. I guess that's what happens when a local ISP has a monopoly.
On a side note, AUC is now enforcing a new rule in which students will need to buy insurance from the school. Unfortunately, that is not the worst part. The insurer is Nagico, which is the main insurer on the island. From the nightmares I've heard about people dealing with their car insurance division, I'm scared to see what their health insurance is like. For instance, car insurance is mandatory on the island, but does not cover theft, which is a common occurrence here. If they won't cover a major component of car insurance, I fail to see how they'll protect your health. The only advantage I could see is that the school would be more responsible to help cover claims.
Either way, there has been an uproar on VMD and people were planning on speaking up at the SGA meeting this evening. I was planning on going, but I ended up taking a nap. I'll have to check in to see how things turned out.
Listening to the Sharks game, since video streams a little too bandwidth heavy for the connection here. I miss fast internet; although my connection at home wasn't exactly a scorcher, at least it was more reliable and quicker, for about half the cost of internet here. I guess that's what happens when a local ISP has a monopoly.
On a side note, AUC is now enforcing a new rule in which students will need to buy insurance from the school. Unfortunately, that is not the worst part. The insurer is Nagico, which is the main insurer on the island. From the nightmares I've heard about people dealing with their car insurance division, I'm scared to see what their health insurance is like. For instance, car insurance is mandatory on the island, but does not cover theft, which is a common occurrence here. If they won't cover a major component of car insurance, I fail to see how they'll protect your health. The only advantage I could see is that the school would be more responsible to help cover claims.
Either way, there has been an uproar on VMD and people were planning on speaking up at the SGA meeting this evening. I was planning on going, but I ended up taking a nap. I'll have to check in to see how things turned out.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Bite Me
I was bit by a centipede the other night. It happened when I was sitting on the couch, browsing the internet, when I felt a pinch. I looked down at my foot and saw a creature run out from under my jeans. I smashed it with my shoe and then finished it off with a butter knife. It was about an inch long, colored in browns and greens. Anyways, I quickly ran to my medical information database (www.google.com) and looked up bites. Luckily, unlike poisonous snakes, the little ones are less dangerous. They recommended washing the bite and taking a pain killer. I followed the recommended instructions. The pain went away after 20 minutes and I was good to go.
It feels like my day is full. I start at 8am, have a 40 minutes break before immuno review, and then ICM from 1-3pm. All of this kind of kills my afternoon. I have a feeling that ICM in the future will be taking over my afternoons and take away from my study (and nap) time. Grr... messing with my nap!
It feels like my day is full. I start at 8am, have a 40 minutes break before immuno review, and then ICM from 1-3pm. All of this kind of kills my afternoon. I have a feeling that ICM in the future will be taking over my afternoons and take away from my study (and nap) time. Grr... messing with my nap!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Intro to Clincal Medicine
We had our first standardized patient yesterday. Usually, these test "patients" are spouses who come in so that we can practice talking to patients. I have to admit, even though it was a controlled setting, I still felt pretty nervous and it showed in my performance as it was suggested that I slow down while I was talking. Oh well, I hit the major points (introduce yourself, explain your position, and then allow the patient to begin speaking about their chief concerns) at the least.
We then went into the Harvey lab. Harvey, is a simulated patient which allows us to hear different, abnormal heart rhythms. We were able to listen to murmurs, heaves, thrills, and lifts, which are all different types of heart beat abnormalities. It's interesting to see all the variations, but also seems difficult to tell the difference in a real world examination. I suppose these get easier with time.
I sort of felt like a doctor, which is both exciting and scary at the same time. I don't mind the classroom stuff, since that has not really changed since I first started school. But now these human interactions with the intention of providing care for another person is a pretty daunting task. I imagine it gets easier with time, but it sure seems like a big task to take one.
These last 3 weeks of class are going to be tough. The marathon is winding down, but it does get hard to keep up the pace. The addition of ICM doesn't help either, since it takes 2 hours out of my afternoon. Normally, I would be sleeping or eating during that time.
I can't wait to get home, spend time with my nieces and nephew, see my family and fiancee... and play some video games. I need to load up Win7 64-bit on my desktop (so that I cant finally take full advantage of the 4GB of RAM I bought). Matt told me Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out soon, so I'll need to buy that and mindlessly blow away zombies when I get a chance. Still waiting on StarCraft II and still watching Korean pro matches to get my fix of good SC while I wait.
We then went into the Harvey lab. Harvey, is a simulated patient which allows us to hear different, abnormal heart rhythms. We were able to listen to murmurs, heaves, thrills, and lifts, which are all different types of heart beat abnormalities. It's interesting to see all the variations, but also seems difficult to tell the difference in a real world examination. I suppose these get easier with time.
I sort of felt like a doctor, which is both exciting and scary at the same time. I don't mind the classroom stuff, since that has not really changed since I first started school. But now these human interactions with the intention of providing care for another person is a pretty daunting task. I imagine it gets easier with time, but it sure seems like a big task to take one.
These last 3 weeks of class are going to be tough. The marathon is winding down, but it does get hard to keep up the pace. The addition of ICM doesn't help either, since it takes 2 hours out of my afternoon. Normally, I would be sleeping or eating during that time.
I can't wait to get home, spend time with my nieces and nephew, see my family and fiancee... and play some video games. I need to load up Win7 64-bit on my desktop (so that I cant finally take full advantage of the 4GB of RAM I bought). Matt told me Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out soon, so I'll need to buy that and mindlessly blow away zombies when I get a chance. Still waiting on StarCraft II and still watching Korean pro matches to get my fix of good SC while I wait.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Doctor Training
This week we start Intro to Clinical Medicine (ICM). The function of this course is to learn how to take vital signs and make basic assessments of patients, so that when we get thrown into clinicals, we'll have some idea of what is going on. From what I have heard, ICM can be a big time waste, but so far at least the lectures are interesting. We've talked about professionalism and competence in the medical field. It almost feels like a medical philosophy class. It's a welcome break from memorizing pathways in biochemistry or some interleukon in immunology.
I did make it out to the gym for a run yesterday. I feel like it improves your mood overall to go to the gym. I need to stop trying to go so late into the night and figure out times that work in the late afternoon. I think it gives me the second boost I need to make it through the later half of my day.
I did make it out to the gym for a run yesterday. I feel like it improves your mood overall to go to the gym. I need to stop trying to go so late into the night and figure out times that work in the late afternoon. I think it gives me the second boost I need to make it through the later half of my day.
Friday, November 13, 2009
It Has Arrived
I finally got my laptop. And what's the first thing I decided to do with it? Wipe the hard drive. And thanks to the fact that it does not have a optical drive, I had to make a working bootable USB, which took me three days to finalize. Now I have Windows XP on here, which puts me somewhere in the mid-90s. I'm working on trading in my copy of 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium for the 32-bit version. If only the 64-bit version would unpack in a 32-bit environment, then I wouldn't have to wait.
The island/chiclet keys have a funky coating on them which makes my fingernails scrap against them and has the exact same feeling of scraping your nails against a chalkboard. I now have to modify my typing posture to avoid the scraping and the wonderful feeling that runs up my spine every time.
Other than that, I really like the design and the functionality of the computer. It's simple and sleek. The screen is pretty nice, although it has a funky resolution (1366x768) which might make the few games I plan on playing look odd. Although, now my battery lasts more than 15 minutes, so I can actually appreciate some mobile computing.
Also, I would like to slap the genius from Dell XPS who put the processor exhaust port in a place where it is blocked by the monitor. My new computer runs at 38-40C which is about 5-7C cooler and is pretty impressive considering what I was dealing with earlier.
The island/chiclet keys have a funky coating on them which makes my fingernails scrap against them and has the exact same feeling of scraping your nails against a chalkboard. I now have to modify my typing posture to avoid the scraping and the wonderful feeling that runs up my spine every time.
Other than that, I really like the design and the functionality of the computer. It's simple and sleek. The screen is pretty nice, although it has a funky resolution (1366x768) which might make the few games I plan on playing look odd. Although, now my battery lasts more than 15 minutes, so I can actually appreciate some mobile computing.
Also, I would like to slap the genius from Dell XPS who put the processor exhaust port in a place where it is blocked by the monitor. My new computer runs at 38-40C which is about 5-7C cooler and is pretty impressive considering what I was dealing with earlier.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Study Avoidance Maneuver.
It's the weekend before blocks, which means I need to post on here to avoid studying. Currently, I am on schedule to finish up at a reasonable point, which I guess is a good thing.
I had my birthday this week, but it was mostly in name, since I was in the library. Apparently, having a birthday is not a good enough excuse to skip exams. Shuman came to get me in the library with a slice of cake, which I thought was pretty cool but it seemed odd that she didn't bring a fork to eat it with. So I was under the impression we were going to the cafeteria to pick one up. As I walked out of the library, I took a peak into the rotunda to see a lot of people I happen to know. And when I walked down to the first floor, they all surprised me. I was caught completely off-guard; I had no idea it was coming. I'm pretty lucky to have awesome friends, and it made me feel a lot closer to my classmates, oddly enough. Also, everyone who wrote on my facebook wall is awesome too.
After, I grabbed dinner at the Thai Savanh. All in all, it was pretty cool, although I probably should have gotten a little more studying between, but it was my birthday, so it was warranted.
Four weeks of material is a crap load of stuff to read up on. I honestly wonder how I'm going to be able to retain all of this information for my exams. The stack of notes is about 3 inches thick, which is a lot of information when you actually open it up and see what's inside. I kept up with all the material during the 4 weeks, but it almost feels like I saved it all until the end. On a cool note, I essentially taught myself cardiovascular physiology this week. I sat down with the book and read all the information until I felt like I had a solid grasp on it. And since it's pretty fresh in my memory, I'll should only have to review it minimally.
Alright, I'm starting to feel the hunger pains, so I think I should look into finding something to eat soon. I've basically run out of food at home, so I think I'll end up ordering out for the next couple of days until I can replenish after finals. I'm surprised the food I had lasted as long as it did, but daily peanut better and jelly sandwiches are starting to get old (although my $5 toaster could be my most prudent investment so far in medical school).
I had my birthday this week, but it was mostly in name, since I was in the library. Apparently, having a birthday is not a good enough excuse to skip exams. Shuman came to get me in the library with a slice of cake, which I thought was pretty cool but it seemed odd that she didn't bring a fork to eat it with. So I was under the impression we were going to the cafeteria to pick one up. As I walked out of the library, I took a peak into the rotunda to see a lot of people I happen to know. And when I walked down to the first floor, they all surprised me. I was caught completely off-guard; I had no idea it was coming. I'm pretty lucky to have awesome friends, and it made me feel a lot closer to my classmates, oddly enough. Also, everyone who wrote on my facebook wall is awesome too.
After, I grabbed dinner at the Thai Savanh. All in all, it was pretty cool, although I probably should have gotten a little more studying between, but it was my birthday, so it was warranted.
Four weeks of material is a crap load of stuff to read up on. I honestly wonder how I'm going to be able to retain all of this information for my exams. The stack of notes is about 3 inches thick, which is a lot of information when you actually open it up and see what's inside. I kept up with all the material during the 4 weeks, but it almost feels like I saved it all until the end. On a cool note, I essentially taught myself cardiovascular physiology this week. I sat down with the book and read all the information until I felt like I had a solid grasp on it. And since it's pretty fresh in my memory, I'll should only have to review it minimally.
Alright, I'm starting to feel the hunger pains, so I think I should look into finding something to eat soon. I've basically run out of food at home, so I think I'll end up ordering out for the next couple of days until I can replenish after finals. I'm surprised the food I had lasted as long as it did, but daily peanut better and jelly sandwiches are starting to get old (although my $5 toaster could be my most prudent investment so far in medical school).
Monday, November 02, 2009
Back To Reality,
Sadly, my trip to DC is over. It was well spent and I saw Azima along the way. A list of events:
Being in DC also helped remind me of the great history of this country and the men (and women) who helped shape and evolved this country. I was reminded of the power behind its founding documents. Sadly, all of this sits in contrast to modern-day politics. I'm so proud of the foundation and ideals which the country was founded upon and somewhat disillusioned by the current state of affairs.
We have resided to sounds bites and conspiracy theories. Although both sides can be held accountable, I can't but think the Neo-Con movement helped drive the discourse of today. They removed debate and logic and replaced it with a screaming, crying voice and appeals to emotion. It has worked for this up until this point, but I think its quickly becoming a dying brand of politics and may have met its end.
I believe that Pres. Obama truly wants to change the discourse in Washington, but the entrenched playmakers will continue to make that very difficult. I understand his want to extent an olive branch, but it seems like people will not change.
- Tour of Congress and Capital Hill
- Walking up to the Supreme Court
- Halloween party in the Dupont district
- Caps vs. Blue Jackets hockey game (with overtime!)
- Walking among the monuments at night (including the Lincoln Memorial information center)
- Shoe shopping
- Krispy Kreme donuts and McDonald's chicken nuggets (2 months in the making)
- Warm jackets in cold weather
- Getting "scolded" by the "Poto-mac" River
Being in DC also helped remind me of the great history of this country and the men (and women) who helped shape and evolved this country. I was reminded of the power behind its founding documents. Sadly, all of this sits in contrast to modern-day politics. I'm so proud of the foundation and ideals which the country was founded upon and somewhat disillusioned by the current state of affairs.
We have resided to sounds bites and conspiracy theories. Although both sides can be held accountable, I can't but think the Neo-Con movement helped drive the discourse of today. They removed debate and logic and replaced it with a screaming, crying voice and appeals to emotion. It has worked for this up until this point, but I think its quickly becoming a dying brand of politics and may have met its end.
I believe that Pres. Obama truly wants to change the discourse in Washington, but the entrenched playmakers will continue to make that very difficult. I understand his want to extent an olive branch, but it seems like people will not change.
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