im sittin cozy in my bed with blankets, books, my mac, tea and oh yeah, a human skull....
Friday went well, i got through the test without making a complete foul of myself and did just fine. ill write more about it later. now i am battling another bacteria or virus raging in my body as i try to learn some head and neck anatomy. p.s. as of today, Lucy's eyes are not in the same place as they were during her life....
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
work hard....work harder
Where to begin, where to begin....well lets start with this week SUCKED and the only good thing about it is, it is over tomorrow!
my weekend was spent diligently studying powerpoints, book, and dead bodies. Monday we had our LAST gross anatomy exam (I have gotten my grade since then and got an A, but will still be getting an average grade in the class). After fighting that battle, I had the practical portion in the afternoon and then met my classmates again at characters (the bar) for a beer and some laughs. one of the many laughs i got this day was from my classmates talking about "that body that smelled so bad during the practical." see, the way the test is run is 12 bodies are tagged on either side of the room and we rotate around the room at one minute intervals per question (total of 25 questions). so, we each get assigned one half of the classroom and two groups do the practical on two different groups of bodies in the room at a time. thus, half my class had to rotate to my body and this was the "disgusting smelling one" that everyone was talking about. i proudly told everyone it was my cadaver and got many looks and expressions of pity, well deserved pity i might add because she really does smell. also, i have realized i have probably taken off a couple months of my life inhaling all of her 'fumes'. but hey, i have learned a HELL of a lot of anatomy :) anyways, one beer turned into a few beers and then ping pong in the commons (i was responsible and waited to drive home).
theeeeen, the next day we started our Head and Neck anatomy course. my thought process about this week was that Monday was the new Friday and Tuesday was the new Monday...the weekend was cut out of our curriculums. we didnt have lab tuesday which was nice just lots of intro lectures and TONS of new words to learn. the head is a very VERY complicated place.
Wednesday was our first lab on the head region and it was pretty freakin awesome. The dissection was done by group A so i didnt have a lot of 'hands on' time but when i came in later in the morning to see what the group had done i found our cadaver with her skull cut and brain removed exposing the inferior (bottom) base of the skull. FREAKIN AWESOME. Today in lab I dissected from 8 to 10 and we starting exposing facial structures. i wont put too many details cause they sound morbid and not normal but lets just say i am learning a lot about the face and its underlying structures. once again, we had the problem with our cadaver being not embalmed fully so she still smells pretty funky. i really thought i would have had a harder time doing this dissection but i guess i have become desensitized because i was able to hold that scapel. im not a pro at it but i do have fun using it...but no, i wont be aiming for a surgical career believe me!
soooo, this week has also been pretty intimidating because along with all this stuff, we have our Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) midterm tomorrow. The whole day is blocked off as to allow blocks of students to take the test througout the day. the test is done in groups of 14 and we are paired with a person a couple minutes before we actually take the test. we are allowed 19 minutes in which an evaluater will watch me do a structural exam on a classmate, assess a certain region in their body and then use 2 OMM techniques we have learned in class. i will write more about it after its done and i know what its like!
oh, and last week we had a test in Essentials of Clinical Medicine where we were tested and graded on a patient encounter. again we did a patient history and had to write the S (subjective) of our SOAP note. I had ENS again today (its every Thursday afternoon) and we spent another day learning physical exams (heart rate, blood pressure, breath sounds, heart sounds, eye check, ear check, etc etc) we practice them on a patient next week!!!!! i will need LOTS of practice before i do this on a person other then my classmates!
so tomorrow i will be in school early practicing my OMM and then i have my exam at 2:30. after that, its our class organized party bus to Hollywood... yes you read that right. WORK HARD, PARTY HARDER!!! :)
my weekend was spent diligently studying powerpoints, book, and dead bodies. Monday we had our LAST gross anatomy exam (I have gotten my grade since then and got an A, but will still be getting an average grade in the class). After fighting that battle, I had the practical portion in the afternoon and then met my classmates again at characters (the bar) for a beer and some laughs. one of the many laughs i got this day was from my classmates talking about "that body that smelled so bad during the practical." see, the way the test is run is 12 bodies are tagged on either side of the room and we rotate around the room at one minute intervals per question (total of 25 questions). so, we each get assigned one half of the classroom and two groups do the practical on two different groups of bodies in the room at a time. thus, half my class had to rotate to my body and this was the "disgusting smelling one" that everyone was talking about. i proudly told everyone it was my cadaver and got many looks and expressions of pity, well deserved pity i might add because she really does smell. also, i have realized i have probably taken off a couple months of my life inhaling all of her 'fumes'. but hey, i have learned a HELL of a lot of anatomy :) anyways, one beer turned into a few beers and then ping pong in the commons (i was responsible and waited to drive home).
theeeeen, the next day we started our Head and Neck anatomy course. my thought process about this week was that Monday was the new Friday and Tuesday was the new Monday...the weekend was cut out of our curriculums. we didnt have lab tuesday which was nice just lots of intro lectures and TONS of new words to learn. the head is a very VERY complicated place.
Wednesday was our first lab on the head region and it was pretty freakin awesome. The dissection was done by group A so i didnt have a lot of 'hands on' time but when i came in later in the morning to see what the group had done i found our cadaver with her skull cut and brain removed exposing the inferior (bottom) base of the skull. FREAKIN AWESOME. Today in lab I dissected from 8 to 10 and we starting exposing facial structures. i wont put too many details cause they sound morbid and not normal but lets just say i am learning a lot about the face and its underlying structures. once again, we had the problem with our cadaver being not embalmed fully so she still smells pretty funky. i really thought i would have had a harder time doing this dissection but i guess i have become desensitized because i was able to hold that scapel. im not a pro at it but i do have fun using it...but no, i wont be aiming for a surgical career believe me!
soooo, this week has also been pretty intimidating because along with all this stuff, we have our Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) midterm tomorrow. The whole day is blocked off as to allow blocks of students to take the test througout the day. the test is done in groups of 14 and we are paired with a person a couple minutes before we actually take the test. we are allowed 19 minutes in which an evaluater will watch me do a structural exam on a classmate, assess a certain region in their body and then use 2 OMM techniques we have learned in class. i will write more about it after its done and i know what its like!
oh, and last week we had a test in Essentials of Clinical Medicine where we were tested and graded on a patient encounter. again we did a patient history and had to write the S (subjective) of our SOAP note. I had ENS again today (its every Thursday afternoon) and we spent another day learning physical exams (heart rate, blood pressure, breath sounds, heart sounds, eye check, ear check, etc etc) we practice them on a patient next week!!!!! i will need LOTS of practice before i do this on a person other then my classmates!
so tomorrow i will be in school early practicing my OMM and then i have my exam at 2:30. after that, its our class organized party bus to Hollywood... yes you read that right. WORK HARD, PARTY HARDER!!! :)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Last day of Gross Anatomy Lab....
Our professor before lecture today....
"Good morning! And it is a good morning right? your done dissecting for gross anatomy....(series of claps) the next time you put your hand on a scalpel it will be to skin someone's face"
this is my life :)
"Good morning! And it is a good morning right? your done dissecting for gross anatomy....(series of claps) the next time you put your hand on a scalpel it will be to skin someone's face"
this is my life :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
last week of GROSS anatomy
I am excited to say that this is my last week of gross anatomy!! Considering our cadaver is not fully embalmed and she is deteriorating in front of us, it is safe to say i am really really ready to cover up her body for the last time! Sadly, I will still have head and neck anatomy for another 3 weeks but this will be much less smelly since we will only be working on, well..her head. For some reason most medical schools separate the anatomy course into two courses; Gross anatomy (everything below the shoulders) and head and neck (self explanatory). Thus, I have a total of 4 weeks left of formaldehyde.
We started dissecting the thigh late last week and already we have worked down to the knee. During lab this morning a professor came up to my dissecting group and announced that our neighbor had an artificial knee and that we should take a look. One table down I came to see my first knee replacement. A very very shinny metal knee that I could see my reflection in, it was pretty cool. The rest of the week will be dissecting the leg, ankle, and foot and then we have some review stuff friday. Then once again, an anatomy exam on Monday...technically its our gross anatomy final. yaaaaaaay! Also this week I have another patient encounter thursday and a whole lot of OMM to practice since we have our OMM midterm next friday. This will consistent of me doing a physical assessment and an OMM technique to a classmate. We are given our partners right before so we go in blind and are given 20ish minutes. Im still a lil fuzzy on the details and am pretty scared since I have not been focusing on this class at all....
to end this, i would like to say that i did not study at all this past saturday. i layed out, went swimming, and relaxed GUILT FREE. glorious
We started dissecting the thigh late last week and already we have worked down to the knee. During lab this morning a professor came up to my dissecting group and announced that our neighbor had an artificial knee and that we should take a look. One table down I came to see my first knee replacement. A very very shinny metal knee that I could see my reflection in, it was pretty cool. The rest of the week will be dissecting the leg, ankle, and foot and then we have some review stuff friday. Then once again, an anatomy exam on Monday...technically its our gross anatomy final. yaaaaaaay! Also this week I have another patient encounter thursday and a whole lot of OMM to practice since we have our OMM midterm next friday. This will consistent of me doing a physical assessment and an OMM technique to a classmate. We are given our partners right before so we go in blind and are given 20ish minutes. Im still a lil fuzzy on the details and am pretty scared since I have not been focusing on this class at all....
to end this, i would like to say that i did not study at all this past saturday. i layed out, went swimming, and relaxed GUILT FREE. glorious
Thursday, September 24, 2009
SOAP notes and Sunday Fundays
I never wrote about my last simulated patient encounter so I will go ahead and start with that. Thursday (September 10th) I had my 3rd 'clinic' encounter. Its pretty cool to say that considering we have only be in school for 6 or 7 weeks. We again worked on our patient history taking (the S of the SOAP note). S is for Subjective (what the patient tells us as we ask questions) is for Objective (the physical part of the encounter ie Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, etc) A is for assessment (what we think is wrong) and P is for Plan (what we are going to do for them). Soooo, as you can see we have a hell of a long way to go but its ok, one step at a time. We are given 20min with the patient to fill out a patient history (S part) and then after the encounter we were given 7 minutes to fix it/perfect it before we turned it in for grading. We were allowed to bring in a basic rubric for what questions to ask so it wasnt to difficult but being on the spot makes it a lot damn harder.
The funny part about simulated patient encounters is that the actors are pretty much the same. I personally dont get the same person every other week but we see them walking around the school and halls during the day so its starting to get harder to 'pretend' that they are real patients. It would be great if I saw one of them out and about in Claremont of Pomona one day.
The following Thursday (the 17th...last week) we began practicing the O (objective) of the SOAP note on each other. The hard part is we have to listen to a lecture and then arent given very much time to practice the technique before we are lectured about the next week. Needless to say I still dont know how to take blood pressure without fumbling the cuff or looking stupid. Also, im pretty sure i will never be able to use an ophthalmoscope properly (the thingy that the doctor looks into your eye with). its impossible...there i said it.
Back to anatomy...my favorite thing to write about because i could write details about it forever. But i think i will spare some considering we have been dissecting reporductive organs and the pelvic 'area' and i know that my family reads this....and thats just weird. yes, i am going to be a doctor and should be more mature about it but no, thats ok. use your imaginations on these dissections people!
Saturday was awesome as i attended a Healthcare conference hosted by the California Medical Association (a division of the American Medical Association). I listened to a couple speakers discuss the methods of healthcare reform and these are some details i wrote down that hopefully will interest you:
Sunday was a library day.....my new definition for SUNDAY FUNDAY!
Ill write about this week later because I have already procrastinated enough for the evening. Back to the books..i swear....well maybe after checking my facebook another 5 times and chatting on gchat. ;)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
SOAP notes and Sunday Fundays!!
I never wrote about my last simulated patient encounter so I will go ahead and start with that. Thursday (September 10th) I had my 3rd 'clinic' encounter. Its pretty cool to say that considering we have only be in school for 6 or 7 weeks. We again worked on our patient history taking (the S of the SOAP note). S is for Subjective (what the patient tells us as we ask questions) O is for Objective (the physical part of the encounter ie Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, etc) A is for assessment (what we think is wrong) and P is for Plan (what we are going to do for them). Soooo, as you can see we have a hell of a long way to go but its ok, one step at a time. We are given 20min with the patient to fill out a patient history (S part) and then after the encounter we were given 7 minutes to fix it/perfect it before we turned it in for grading. We were allowed to bring in a basic rubric for what questions to ask so it wasnt to difficult but being on the spot makes it a lot damn harder.
The funny part about simulated patient encounters is that the actors are pretty much the same every week for every different college (physician assistants, podiatrists etc). I personally dont get the same person every other week but we see them walking around the school halls during the day so its starting to get harder to 'pretend' that they are real patients. It would be great if I saw one of them out and about in Claremont or Pomona one day. I would def buy him or her a beer so they would like me :)
The following Thursday (the 17th...last week) we began practicing the O (objective) of the SOAP note on each other. The hard part is we have to listen to a lecture and then arent given very much time to practice the technique before we are lectured about the next week. Needless to say I still dont know how to take blood pressure without fumbling the cuff or looking stupid. Also, im pretty sure i will never be able to use an ophthalmoscope properly (the thingy that the doctor looks into your eye with). its impossible...there i said it.
Back to anatomy...my favorite thing to write about because i could write details about it forever. But i think i will spare some considering we have been dissecting reproductive organs and the pelvic 'area' and i know that my family reads this....and thats just weird. yes, i am going to be a doctor and should be more mature about it but no, thats ok. use your imaginations on these dissections people!
Saturday was awesome as i attended a Healthcare conference at USC School of Medicine hosted by the California Medical Association (a division of the American Medical Association). I listened to a couple speakers discuss the methods of healthcare reform and these are some details i wrote down that hopefully will interest you:
- 1/5 of california residents use MediCal
- a doctor is given $18-$24 reimbursement for an office visit by a MediCal patient
- thus, only 50% of doctors in California will see a MediCal patient
- there are only 5 HMOs that control 90-95% of all the insured people in california
- The increase in ER patients is by insured people (with insifficient insurance) NOT by the uninsured
- There are NO physicians in the California legislature but there is a ex-used car salesman and an actor
- if a federal health reform bill does not get passed by this January or February, it is estimated that it will be another 10 to 15 years before any other health reform bill will be sought after
I obviously learned much more but these are some interesting details. If you are interested in the progress of the federal government, please visit www.hsreform.org for a DAILY updated website.
Moving on...
Sunday was a library day.....my new definition for SUNDAY FUNDAY!
Monday was a easier day as we didnt have much scheduled so of course, i used my time to study. i have been spending more and more of my time at school, starbucks, and random libraries. i find that studying at home is the least productive way to study as i usually find myself cleaning, organizing (i refolded all my clothes a couple nights ago) or just watching the cat and dog piss each other off. my thought process at home is usually "ok, back to the books. I have already procrastinated enough for the evening. Back to the books..i swear....well maybe after checking my facebook another 5 times and chatting on gchat." :)
i pretty much only see dad in the morning (while he makes my lunch...thanks dad) or in the evening during a quick dinner. my kitten continues to bite me. i see him lounging with dad more often. its a sign that he is slowly picking favorites and i think i am on his shit list. just the other day i swear i saw him roll his eyes at me as i walked by him without feeding him. hahaha
im beginning to despise my 25 minute commute to school and hate that i never get to hang out with my classmates during the week. i will most likely be moving soon closer to pomona. dont know where and dont know when but i have a couple options that (fingers crossed) work out.
ok, im off to bed. i had a lovely evening once again eating dinner at Alissa's (love you girl!) and now i need to get to sleep so i can wake up early tomorrow. to gym or not to gym in the morning, that is the question....
The funny part about simulated patient encounters is that the actors are pretty much the same every week for every different college (physician assistants, podiatrists etc). I personally dont get the same person every other week but we see them walking around the school halls during the day so its starting to get harder to 'pretend' that they are real patients. It would be great if I saw one of them out and about in Claremont or Pomona one day. I would def buy him or her a beer so they would like me :)
The following Thursday (the 17th...last week) we began practicing the O (objective) of the SOAP note on each other. The hard part is we have to listen to a lecture and then arent given very much time to practice the technique before we are lectured about the next week. Needless to say I still dont know how to take blood pressure without fumbling the cuff or looking stupid. Also, im pretty sure i will never be able to use an ophthalmoscope properly (the thingy that the doctor looks into your eye with). its impossible...there i said it.
Back to anatomy...my favorite thing to write about because i could write details about it forever. But i think i will spare some considering we have been dissecting reproductive organs and the pelvic 'area' and i know that my family reads this....and thats just weird. yes, i am going to be a doctor and should be more mature about it but no, thats ok. use your imaginations on these dissections people!
Saturday was awesome as i attended a Healthcare conference at USC School of Medicine hosted by the California Medical Association (a division of the American Medical Association). I listened to a couple speakers discuss the methods of healthcare reform and these are some details i wrote down that hopefully will interest you:
- 1/5 of california residents use MediCal
- a doctor is given $18-$24 reimbursement for an office visit by a MediCal patient
- thus, only 50% of doctors in California will see a MediCal patient
- there are only 5 HMOs that control 90-95% of all the insured people in california
- The increase in ER patients is by insured people (with insifficient insurance) NOT by the uninsured
- There are NO physicians in the California legislature but there is a ex-used car salesman and an actor
- if a federal health reform bill does not get passed by this January or February, it is estimated that it will be another 10 to 15 years before any other health reform bill will be sought after
I obviously learned much more but these are some interesting details. If you are interested in the progress of the federal government, please visit www.hsreform.org for a DAILY updated website.
Moving on...
Sunday was a library day.....my new definition for SUNDAY FUNDAY!
Monday was a easier day as we didnt have much scheduled so of course, i used my time to study. i have been spending more and more of my time at school, starbucks, and random libraries. i find that studying at home is the least productive way to study as i usually find myself cleaning, organizing (i refolded all my clothes a couple nights ago) or just watching the cat and dog piss each other off. my thought process at home is usually "ok, back to the books. I have already procrastinated enough for the evening. Back to the books..i swear....well maybe after checking my facebook another 5 times and chatting on gchat." :)
i pretty much only see dad in the morning (while he makes my lunch...thanks dad) or in the evening during a quick dinner. my kitten continues to bite me. i see him lounging with dad more often. its a sign that he is slowly picking favorites and i think i am on his shit list. just the other day i swear i saw him roll his eyes at me as i walked by him without feeding him. hahaha
im beginning to despise my 25 minute commute to school and hate that i never get to hang out with my classmates during the week. i will most likely be moving soon closer to pomona. dont know where and dont know when but i have a couple options that (fingers crossed) work out.
ok, im off to bed. i had a lovely evening once again eating dinner at Alissa's (love you girl!) and now i need to get to sleep so i can wake up early tomorrow. to gym or not to gym in the morning, that is the question....
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tomorrow should be fun...
It has been very difficult to get back into the swing of things after mondays test. i swear it felt like a friday since i was studying all weekend and on campus on sunday!
on a good note, we got to take out and bag up all the internal organs in Lucy (we have started calling her Lucy since she has Ricki tattooed on her butt). Lucy smells better (better...but still not good). Tomorrow we get to saw off her leg. no seriously, we are dissecting one leg and dissecting through the pelvis of the other. loose your appetite yet?
on a good note, we got to take out and bag up all the internal organs in Lucy (we have started calling her Lucy since she has Ricki tattooed on her butt). Lucy smells better (better...but still not good). Tomorrow we get to saw off her leg. no seriously, we are dissecting one leg and dissecting through the pelvis of the other. loose your appetite yet?
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