written Tuesday Oct 27th
NO MORE ANATOMY. No more formaldehyde, no more fearing getting cancer from formaldehyde, no more stinky clothes, no more messy glovees, no more smelling formaldehyde when I eat my lunch well after lab, no more akward moments of dealing with pink nails, no more dissecting tools, no more sawing off structures of the body that really shouldn’t be sawed off, and of course….no more cutting dead people. Now its on to practicing on the living and breathing ones!
It has obviously been a long time since I have written and that is because I fell victim to disease. Sadly, being in medical school does not prevent me from getting sick. But, it does prevent me from going to school which then sets me back a ton. Missing one day is terrifying let alone 2 and a half (which is what I missed 2 weeks ago). I came to school that week and by Wednesday afternoon I couldn’t take it anymore and I went home. I sucked it up and did my dissection in the morning (even though I know I wasn’t much help anyways) and then I went home to sleep. During these two days and a half days, I missed a Physician and Society class and in class project (which I made up for by writing a 2 page paper on the television show House), 2 anatomy labs (1 being my dissection, another observing)3 anatomy lectures, 2 anatomy quizzes, and to top it off I had to reschedule my patient encounter which I was supposed to do Thursday afternoon. Not to mention I missed a couple of really great parties put on by first and second year! I am very glad I did take time off though because when I finally went to the doctor I got put on a high dose of antibiotics and I was feeling better by the weekend. The weekend I spent studying because we had our Head and Neck anatomy midterm on Monday. (remember Gross Anatomy is separated from Head and Neck Anatomy). We had our midterm at 8am and then 9am we started up again with lab, and then had lecture all afternoon. I came into lab Monday morning and found Lucy’s head complelty off her body and cut right down the middle . Now, I had no problem studying her body because she didn’t look like a body at all. Seriously, anytime I walked up to her or another cadaver it took me a minute just to figure out what I was looking. Orienting anterior and posterior (front and back) is the only way to really understand where you are. Well that and finding the tongue because a tongue cant really be mistaken for anything else.
So that week went on and we learned lots of new fun stuff. We dissected the nose, mouth, and then from the top of the skull (with no brain remember) we found the middle ear and the ear drum. THAT was the coolest thing ever. The 3 tiny little bones that make it possible for you to hear are just that….tiny. and we got to see them and play with them. As you push on one, you can see the ear drum move which moves the rest of them move. It is utterly mind-blowing how our body is made and everyday I forget just how cool it is. But then I get to see Lucy and she reminds me just how complicated and AMAZING the human body really is.
Speaking of which, this past Thursday in Essentials of Clinical Medicine (where we learn how to interact with patients –including our simulated patient encounters- and do physical exams) we learned how to draw blood! My partner was a brave soul but luckily her arm was tiny and her veins were huge so I couldn’t really miss! I got blood on the first try and felt pretty confident about it. So confident that I gave it another try on another friend. Again, his veins were not hard to find so I thought it would be an easy target. Well, it was going very smoothly and I had the needle in his arm and after I let the tourniquet go I kept the needle steady in my left hand and reached for some gauze with my right to put over the injection site as I slid the needle out. Unfortunately, I moved the needle as I turned my body to get the gauze and I pushed the needle a little further in and angled it a little bit up. This caused my partner to voice his discomfort as I slid the needle out of his arm. He then began to describe the pain he was having while the needle was in. It was the same stabbing pain (radiating down his arm) that he was having even after the needle was out of him. I obviously hit a cutaneous (towards the skin) nerve which made him feel some pins and needles in his arm. Don’t worry, the damage isnt serious. He was a very good sport about the whole thing and came up with a very clever way to make me feel better…He told me ‘at least it happened on me and not a patient.’ I obviously still feel bad about it but I guess my overconfidence from having hit blood my first try made me a lil less focused the 2nd time. Something I will definitely work on in the future!
Since I got to take blood on my classmates, it was only fair I return the favor. Both people that practiced on me did a great job and neither caused me any pain or discomfort. I am not an easy stick as my veins are deep so it was an accomplishment that both of them drew my blood on thieir attempts. All and all, it was a successful day that made me feel a little bit closer to becoming a doctor (even though most doctors don’t ever do blood draws! Haha)
As I write this I realize its starting to be a very long post so I will save more details for another entry. I would love to tell you about my head and neck final (that I had Monday) but frankly…I still don’t feel like talking about it. Lets just say I wont be relieved until I see that I passed because I felt like I had been kicked in the head after walking out of the written test. Having metaphorically been kicked in the head and fallen onto the ground in pain, I had my 2:00pm lab practical test to give me a couple more kicks to the stomach to make sure I was really suffereing. All and all….a great way to spend a Monday. But now, after having a very light day I am at home preparing for our next class block to start MCBM- the Molecular and Cellular Basis of Medicine. Oh Joy! The first exam for that bloc is only a week and a half away but we will have had 30 lectures by then so I’m sure they will have plenty of material to test us on! Details of that to come later. ..
Oh, and I am writing this in our pitch black living room with 2 candles and the santa ana winds blowing like crazy outside behind me. Earlier in the evening the power went out because a tree fell onto ‘something important’. Now, I am waiting for the electric company to find that ‘something important’ and fix it so I can use my coffee machine in the morning. God help me, they better fix it by the morning…
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
ALMOST THERE!!
Another facebook status from a classmate...
"Two more days of cutting up dead people, next up live people........daaaaaammmmmnnnn"
-BR
"Two more days of cutting up dead people, next up live people........daaaaaammmmmnnnn"
-BR
Monday, October 19, 2009
Last week of formaldehyde...
I will start off with our OMM test last Friday as I promised I would.
The entire day was blocked off and we were bunched into groups of 20 people. My test was at 2:30 so I had a nice day to sleep in a bit and got to school for 11am to study and practice with my group. Right before the test we were given our partners and the next 40 minutes went like this: go into the room, I was the patient for my partner as he did his 20 min test, feedback for him, switch stations to a new grader and then my partner was my patient for the next 20 minutes. Of course with my luck I was being graded by the most good looking student doctor in the bunch and had to get my words out through the lump in my throat (red face blushing and all). The exam started and I talked my way through the whole thing. We are expected to know everything and be able to structurally examine a patient without any papers or notes in front of us. After we diagnose a somatic (muscle) dysfunction of a certain region, we are asked to demonstrate 2 osteopathic manipulative techniques (we don’t get to choose, they tell us). Sounds simple and to the point but it took a LOT of practice to become comfortable with all this. I am really enjoying this class and am very excited to be well practiced in OMM in the future. If you don’t know, learning OMM is what sets myself apart from M.D. physicians. So, as a D.O. physician I am learning everything an MD knows and MORE!!!!
After taking my test on Friday I had a 3 day weekend and started it off right by going out with all my classmates to celebrate surviving our hell week. On Saturday I got to hang out with the Godwin’s for Heather’s birthday and had a great time out in Hermosa Beach. Sunday I spent sleeping and Monday was spent studying. I was pretty fatigued and sick during hell week and then Monday I started to get serious respiratory infection symptoms.
I went back to school Tuesday to begin the week taking out a human eyeball and studying the ins and outs of the eye and its orbit. Then it was onto the neck. Wednesday afternoon I couldn’t handle it anymore and had to go home and went to the doctor. 500mg of daily antibiotics would do the trick… unfortunately, I missed a patient encounter on Thursday in which we started doing physical aspects of the exam as well as the patient history and Friday I missed the most dramatic labs of all, I missed the disarticulation of the head (to put it professionally). Ania came into town this weekend and unfortunately most of it was spent sleeping and studying. Though we did try going to October Fest on Saturday with dad, it failed. After resting up, I came into lab today to find Lucy’s head not attached to her body AND her face in a cross section (cut in half). I know this sounds gross but you would be amazed at how much you can learn from this cross section. Seeing the inside of the head and neck from the middle out makes everything so much more clear. It is awesome to see how everything fits together and why certain disease processes work the way they do.
For example, I had a major respiratory infection these past couple weeks (a pneumonia if you will). The infection in my lungs was also in my throat and sinus’ and because of a small hole in your throat on either side (the pharyngotympanic tube) the infection spread to my middle ear. This is why I had a headache and was also very dizzy and hazy for a while. I saw this tube in my cadaver today and other connections from the brain to the face and it made me realize even more how delicate our bodies are and how easily we can get hurt. The brain is soooo close to our eyeballs and our nose vasculature, etc, etc. I am amazed not more of us have massive infections or virus outbreaks that debilitate us completely. Not to all of you out there, popping zits in the skin around your nose (think broadly in the nose region) can end up in a brain infection because the blood supplying your nose is going straight to your brain. SO, DON’T squeeze pimples.
Anyways, I know I have been saying over and over that the cadaver business has been bugging me and that I would never get used to it but…..after walking into lab today and laughing off the fact that my lab-mates had to cut a head in half with a saw…I brushed it off and moved right into studying and learning the pharynx and larynx. I know this is not normal but for me, it is becoming normal. I am going to be a doctor, this is normal. I haven’t fainted once and I know I will not ever faint in anatomy lab (THIS IS OUR LAST WEEEEEEEEEK!) But, I can guarantee you I will faint in the hospital at least once. Seeing a LIVING person bleeding and cut open will be very different then a dead one laying on a silver slab.
So, after a weekend of studying for my midterm and fighting with Ania since she came to visit, I am ready for a nap. After a very very long day (Head and Neck Midterm this morning, Lab after that, volleyball game at lunch, anatomy quiz, lecture, lecture, some more lecture (until 5). I am ready to go home and start practicing my auscultation, palpatory, purcussive, and reflex techniques and then go to BED. Look those up if you don’t know what they mean. Oh, and I am counting down the days until Thursday! We are learning phlebotomy on each other! For all you non-science people, that means I get to stick my classmates with needles to make them bleed their own blood ☺
The entire day was blocked off and we were bunched into groups of 20 people. My test was at 2:30 so I had a nice day to sleep in a bit and got to school for 11am to study and practice with my group. Right before the test we were given our partners and the next 40 minutes went like this: go into the room, I was the patient for my partner as he did his 20 min test, feedback for him, switch stations to a new grader and then my partner was my patient for the next 20 minutes. Of course with my luck I was being graded by the most good looking student doctor in the bunch and had to get my words out through the lump in my throat (red face blushing and all). The exam started and I talked my way through the whole thing. We are expected to know everything and be able to structurally examine a patient without any papers or notes in front of us. After we diagnose a somatic (muscle) dysfunction of a certain region, we are asked to demonstrate 2 osteopathic manipulative techniques (we don’t get to choose, they tell us). Sounds simple and to the point but it took a LOT of practice to become comfortable with all this. I am really enjoying this class and am very excited to be well practiced in OMM in the future. If you don’t know, learning OMM is what sets myself apart from M.D. physicians. So, as a D.O. physician I am learning everything an MD knows and MORE!!!!
After taking my test on Friday I had a 3 day weekend and started it off right by going out with all my classmates to celebrate surviving our hell week. On Saturday I got to hang out with the Godwin’s for Heather’s birthday and had a great time out in Hermosa Beach. Sunday I spent sleeping and Monday was spent studying. I was pretty fatigued and sick during hell week and then Monday I started to get serious respiratory infection symptoms.
I went back to school Tuesday to begin the week taking out a human eyeball and studying the ins and outs of the eye and its orbit. Then it was onto the neck. Wednesday afternoon I couldn’t handle it anymore and had to go home and went to the doctor. 500mg of daily antibiotics would do the trick… unfortunately, I missed a patient encounter on Thursday in which we started doing physical aspects of the exam as well as the patient history and Friday I missed the most dramatic labs of all, I missed the disarticulation of the head (to put it professionally). Ania came into town this weekend and unfortunately most of it was spent sleeping and studying. Though we did try going to October Fest on Saturday with dad, it failed. After resting up, I came into lab today to find Lucy’s head not attached to her body AND her face in a cross section (cut in half). I know this sounds gross but you would be amazed at how much you can learn from this cross section. Seeing the inside of the head and neck from the middle out makes everything so much more clear. It is awesome to see how everything fits together and why certain disease processes work the way they do.
For example, I had a major respiratory infection these past couple weeks (a pneumonia if you will). The infection in my lungs was also in my throat and sinus’ and because of a small hole in your throat on either side (the pharyngotympanic tube) the infection spread to my middle ear. This is why I had a headache and was also very dizzy and hazy for a while. I saw this tube in my cadaver today and other connections from the brain to the face and it made me realize even more how delicate our bodies are and how easily we can get hurt. The brain is soooo close to our eyeballs and our nose vasculature, etc, etc. I am amazed not more of us have massive infections or virus outbreaks that debilitate us completely. Not to all of you out there, popping zits in the skin around your nose (think broadly in the nose region) can end up in a brain infection because the blood supplying your nose is going straight to your brain. SO, DON’T squeeze pimples.
Anyways, I know I have been saying over and over that the cadaver business has been bugging me and that I would never get used to it but…..after walking into lab today and laughing off the fact that my lab-mates had to cut a head in half with a saw…I brushed it off and moved right into studying and learning the pharynx and larynx. I know this is not normal but for me, it is becoming normal. I am going to be a doctor, this is normal. I haven’t fainted once and I know I will not ever faint in anatomy lab (THIS IS OUR LAST WEEEEEEEEEK!) But, I can guarantee you I will faint in the hospital at least once. Seeing a LIVING person bleeding and cut open will be very different then a dead one laying on a silver slab.
So, after a weekend of studying for my midterm and fighting with Ania since she came to visit, I am ready for a nap. After a very very long day (Head and Neck Midterm this morning, Lab after that, volleyball game at lunch, anatomy quiz, lecture, lecture, some more lecture (until 5). I am ready to go home and start practicing my auscultation, palpatory, purcussive, and reflex techniques and then go to BED. Look those up if you don’t know what they mean. Oh, and I am counting down the days until Thursday! We are learning phlebotomy on each other! For all you non-science people, that means I get to stick my classmates with needles to make them bleed their own blood ☺
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
the head and neck is a very complicated place
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....
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....
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
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