FIRST DISSECTION!!

(I wrote this on Thursday August 13th)

So today was my first day dissecting our cadaver and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be Let me start off by saying i have found out that i love to cut! Anyways, Group A had already dissected the superficial (outtermost) muscles of the back and we dissected the deeper muscles around the spine. I was totally fine until about 9:30 (we started at 8) when we started dissecting the base of the neck and skull. We had to cut the skull and pull back the skin (with hair on it and all) and at that point i decided to step out and get some air. It was the sight and smell that made me get hot all of a sudden, in the beginning i forced myself to not think about the person but seeing her hair made it very very real. Yesterday in lecture our professor told us that whenever we need to, we should go outside for about 5 minutes until we feel better and then stay outside another 5 after that. With formaldehyde its a pretty intense smell so leaning over the body for 3 hours at a time is not exactly comfortable, not to mention very bad for us. For example, i cant wear contacts because the formaldehyde will start to stick to them and thats no bueno.

On a good note, i have decided to run for vice president of our class and will know on Aug 20th if i won the position or not. There are 4 or 5 other people running so we'll see what happens!

Tonight is gonna be a fun night of going to dinner with friends and studying. we will see how much studying actually gets done :)


i dissection down, a LOT more smelly ones to go!!!
:)

FIRST DISSECTION!!

(I wrote this on Thursday August 13th) So today was my first day dissecting our cadaver and it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be! Group A had already dissected the superficial (outtermost) muscles and we dissected the deeper muscles around the spine. I was totally fine until about 9:30 (we started at 8) when we started dissecting the base of the neck and skull. We had to cut the skull and pull back the skin (with hair on it and all) and at that point i decided to step out and get some air. It was the sight and smell that made me get hot all of a sudden, in the beginning i forced myself to not think about the person but seeing her hair made it very very real. Yesterday in lecture our professor told us that whenever we need to, we should go outside for about 5 minutes until we feel better and then stay outside another 5 after that. With formaldehyde its a pretty intense smell so leaning over the body for 3 hours at a time is not exactly comfortable, not to mention very bad for us. For example, i cant wear contacts because the formaldehyde fumes will start to stick to them and thats no bueno. On a good note, i have decided to run for vice president of our class and will know on Aug 20th if i won the position or not. There are 4 or 5 other people running so we'll see what happens! Tonight is gonna be a fun night of going to dinner with friends and studying. we will see how much studying actually gets done :) i dissection down, a LOT more smelly ones to go!!! :)

not overwhelmed just yet....

Yesterday was the first day of classes and it was a day full of "Introduction to the Study of Medicine" lectures so it wasnt to bad. We did have Intro to Anatomy in the afternoon but the material hasnt piled on...YET. I still studied for a LONG time last night though. Our schedule works out where we have to study and LEARN the information dissected/lectured for the following day. Thus, Mondy night is spent preparing for the dissection to be done on Tuesday morning and a lecture quiz on the same material at the beginning of class which has not yet been taught to us. crazy!

I did not actually dissect today because we have a Group A and Group B. Basically, I will do every other dissection. In each group there are 4 people so they are 8 total working on one cadavar. At the last 30min of lab, the group that did not dissect will come into lab and the dissecting group will go over everything they did and vice versa for the next day. Group A dissected the superficial back muscles today and I (in Group B) came at 11:15 to be shown what they dissected and study the muscles they revealed. Sooooo, I did get to touch, feel, and learn from a cadavar today. A very big deal!!

Our cadavar is a woman that died at the age of 60. I do not know how I feel about this whole situation yet but since we are working on her back muscles right now I think I won't freak out until we start work on the anterior (front) of her body. Either way, I have nothing but respect and gratitude for her decision to donate her body in order for me to become a competent physician.

Tomorrow is another dull day of "Intro to Medicine" with lectures on Self awareness, professionalism, learning styles, Developing an Osteopathic identity, and some other Physician and Society Classes. Thursday morning it is back to the lab when I will be exposing the deep back muscles of the cadavar!

Tomorrow brings new adventures and challenges...

It has been non stop since Monday and I am finally able to sit down at my desk and relax a bit before tomorrow...my first day of classes. I have met so many amazing people in the past week that it is hard to believe i will be meeting even more. I am impressed with Western because they picked a LOT of wonderful people to be in our class.

White coat was yesterday and this whole process of pretending to be a doctor is starting to become real. I had a great day with the parents and then went out to a GREAT party. It was the perfect way to celebrate our LAST NIGHT of absolute, no responsibility, no studying FREEDOM. But, I cannot wait for anatomy to start and to make my first cut in the cadaver. It will all be worth it! Here goes!!!

An email all first years received...its pretty great

Dear lifelong learners with distinctive philosophies:

To the class of 2012 welcome back and to the class of 2013 welcome! The second
years are finishing up a summer of sun, fun, brain dumping, and traveling
while the first years are enduring orientation filled with bone boxes,
structural exams, (no these do not affect your GPA!) and free night-of-sleep
cards.... yeah, we're guessing you are starting to wonder what you signed up
for this year....


Have no fear! Disorientation 09' is ready to help you let loose, meet your
classmates, mingle our classes together, and have a great time! The following
events have been planned for your imbibing pleasure:


Friday August 7th---Basic life support: disclaimer: mouth to mouth is not
to be used in lieu of medical emergency. That being said come out with your
classmates and fufill some of your most basic needs: food and drink! Dana, Omar and Min have graciously offered their new house to kick off the start of the year.

BYOB, and come enjoy the fire pit around 8:00. A great way to meet your classmates and destress from orientation~!

xxx
Claremont CA 91711

Saturday August 8th---Financial Aid (put to good use) Come out to one of our
favorite post-exam hangouts and learn how to rack up a bar tab with uncle
Sams' financial aid "living expenses" After you purchase your shiny new
stethoscope we promise there will be some leftover cash for fun. So head over
to the brand new outdoor shopping and dining center in Chino Hills. The
Shoppes has three of our favorite places jammed into a convenient location:
Trader Joe's, Ra, and The Yardhouse.

Phase 1: HAPPY HOUR @ RA!!! 3pm-7pm 1/2 off Appetizers, 1/2 Sushi, $1 Hot
Sake, $@ Bud, Bud Light, and Miller Light, $3 Well Drinks, Corona Extra,
Heineken Light, Stella Artois, $4 Cosmos, Apple Martinits, ect. The food and
atmosphere at RA is great. Recommendations: pineapple chicken, calamari
tempura, vegetarian roll, and of course sapporo. 909-902-004

Phase 2: Yardhouse-50 beers on tap and plenty of martinis topped off with
awesome food. This place serves the greatest beers around. Recommendations: Rogue Hazelnut Brown

The Shoppes, 13920 City Center Drive, Chino Hills, Ca 91709


Monday, August 10th--Health and Stress Sessions: First day of class. Not sure
which side of the ophthalmoscope is the end you look in. Not sure what an
ophthalmoscope is. No worries. Your second years are here to help. Since the
class of 2012 will all theoretically be back in action (sure there might be a
few on "extended vacation") come out to Buffalo Wild Wings to get all your
questions answered over some tasty treats and a few beers.

Buffalo Wild Wings
CHINO HILLS (#3333)
3160 Chino Avenue
Chino Hills, CA 91709-3518
Phone: 909-591-9035


Tuesday, August 11th--- Fire safety: the moment you've all been waiting for.
FIRE ON THE BOWLING LANES!!!! You've heard the rumors, our class king is a real
stud. Our class queen knows a few moves herself. (reference facebook circa
2008) Come on out for a big night on the town before life gets crazy and you
are spending far too much time in anatomy or OMM lab. $2.00 games and shoe rentals, See you there at 7:00!
Oak Tree Lanes
990 North Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar Ca 91765
909-860-3558


ALso please stay tuned for the annual beginning of school party at Dr. Mac's
house. It's tradition for the second years to throw a huge party complete with
swimming, BBQ, dancing and we will be giving aspiring surgeons a chance to practice their hand-eye
coordination at the beer pong tables. More info to follow!

As always, bring your favorite sober DO to give you a ride home!


Your faithful rec leaders,
xxx



*These events are MANDATORY..... not really DEAN'S LETTER..... probably not going to be on it.....
=Do not delete, trust me this will be important later

Orientation week madness!

This past week has been a crazy mess of meeting people, having drinks, trying to memorize names, and oh yeah...preparing to start school!

Monday night a group of us got together via facebook and other randomness and all met in Clairmont at Michelle's place (Michelle went to state with me and i foresee many night sleeping on her couch) . We ending up coming back there after realizing most bars closed at 11pm. Then the real party began and shots were poured left and right. I believe the motto is work hard, party harder ;)
Tuesday was a hang -over day but quickly turned into another hang out day. I went riding with Nicole in san dimas and went home to prep for the first day of medical school orientation!
After finally falling asleep around 1am i woke up at 5:15am Wednesday....i headed to school for our 7am boot camp..

It has been a long day and i have learned a lot about the process to come. Some things to note: -3,900 people applied to western this year, 550 were interviewed and 222 were selected to our class.
-There are way more guys than girls; i think it was around 95 women and then rest are men ( i am liking the ratio)
-with the great ratio,i have met many many people that are engaged or married
-i am SOOOOO excited to become a D.O. after hearing every professor speak so highly of the school and its reputation
-i learned i am not the only one who has answered "what kind of doctor do you want to be" a million times ;)
-my faculty mentor is amazing and i could not have picked a better match to help me out for the next 4 years
-apparently med students spend more money on alcohol than books because basically no one buys them since we get around 50 pages of powerpoint pages a day to learn (and that is with 3 to 4 slides per page!)
-i will accrue approximately $50,000 of INTEREST debt that will be added to my loans


So Wednesday night a great member of our class decided to host the first med student party for the Class of 2013. I met at Michelle's and we drove over to a new friends place and hung out for a bit. Then it was off to a house party (the first of what i am told will be MANY) and met waaaay more people (which means learning waaaaay more names :/ )

Thursday morning i woke up once again on michelle's couch and we headed to school for 8. We were both tired (and not to hung over i swear! we knew it was gonna be a hard morning so we planned not to drink to much) and we headed to starbucks. Then, it was back in the lecture hall for another day or presentations and speakers. We received a 'bone box' today which is pretty self explanatory...a box of every bone in the body (yes they are real) to study. For those that have not taken anatomy, this is because we dont just need to learn the names of the bone we need to learn every characteristic about every bone. For example, the humerus has the landmarks: the head, anatomical neck, greater tubercle, and intertubular groove of the surgical neck, the trochlea and capitulum, both the medial and lateral epicondyle, the olecrenon fossa and corresponding coronoid fossa, and a portion of the shaft (dont worry i totally just googled that but i kinda knew it from anatomy last semester!).

So now i am back at michelle's hanging out and we are off to the school sponsered Ice Cream Social at the Dean's house from 7 to 8:30 (no i am not 12...they are really doing this)

1 more week

I have exactly one week until I report for duty at orientation at 7am.... I have never been so nervous in my life.