Sunday 5 December 2010

Toodle-pip CR/MET

Like every exam there is something i come out annoyed about, and this time is no exception. I was pretty happy with it all, came out, and went to the bathroom.... and thats when it hit me...!!! To measure GFR, urine needs to be collected for 24 hours... how could i forget to mention that in my answer.. how how how?! ironically it only came to me whilst i went to the loo... ah if only i went during the exam itself! damn it!

Ahhhh, so this time round the exam was held in a giant hall, a semi-frozen one - my hands were literally shaking, and i found it so hard not to just ask them to turn the heating on.. the place was COLD! - But hey that kept me awake i suppose.. ^.^

Not too sure how the exams went this time round, im happy about the saq.. apart from the 24 hour urine collection point ARGhhhhhhhh, EMQs were a real hit and miss, and well... spotter was as always... hard.

But for now, that's goodbye to CR/MET and hello... Dissection of the thorax and abdomen, i look forward to finally getting a go at dissection tomorrow!

Saturday 20 November 2010

Revision


13 days before my first ICA of the year, and my panic mode has sort of semi-kicked in.. and since we've recently been learning about the actions of cortisol, i predict my cortisol levels to be reaching new highs.

I tried starting the first evening of revision crams last night, with the whole mmmmmm i need coffee and sugar thing, and then ended up wasting my excess energy on youtube and repeats of friends on E4.... this was all whilst i was chomping through late night chinese take-away... so if exams dont go too well, at least i will now have more adipose tissue to keep me warm at Christmas.

But seriously, i keep telling myself, revision really does have to start! So the cram begins today! and then it will have to take a quick diversion tomorrow as we've been annoyingly set a PBL write up due in next week, a week before our ICAs!

Are ICAs not stressful enough without having to do a pbl write up too? - now that i have to do my write up..Please please please for the ICA let there be a SAQ on spontaneous pneumothorax...! :/

Sunday 14 November 2010

Nov - Catch up

Ok so from when i last posted, MedSoc has only gotten worse!

This week i've moved on from measuring waistlines to spend my tuesday afternoon from 1.30pm to 5pm observing a technician take photos of the macula and the optic disc of patients... it was like watching a robot work on a factory line!!

A patient would walk in, she would ask the patient to sit, snap of the right eye, snap of the left, tells the patient they'll hear in 2 weeks, and repeat. I don't understand why i had to stay there for so long (>.<). I even tried to take a learning moment and ask her to explain what was shown on screen, for me to then discover that her answer to everything was "the patient has too much sugar" and she had originally applied for the job as receptionist, but they needed a technician. So yep... I HATE YOU MEDSOC!

That aside...... many more exciting and fun things have happened since then!

- Kumar lecture take 2!
Everyone, and i mean everyone loves her! (some a little too much, some people even went to get her to sign their K&C's after the lecture, though if i lived closed enough to uni i might have done the same - that book is too heavy for me to just throw in my bag!), though to be honest i preferred her lecture last year. The layout was pretty much the same, she would give an awesome intro, and then her students would follow with clinical demonstrations, and she ended with her "rules of kumar". Love her!

Since my last post, the CR module has also finished, and we're half way through metabolism now.. I actually REALLY enjoy Metabolism this year, it was amongst my fave modules last year and it's not failing to keep me happy this year either - what can i say.. i have a huge soft spot for bits of biochemistry that spring up in this module.

And.. last but not least.. just 3 more weeks till the first set of ICAs for Year 2! >.< i'm not feeling ready to sit exams again just yet! i miss my holidays, and seriously can't wait till X'mas!

But before i get to put my feet up and sip tea all day, i have SSC2b in my way.. and this year, i won't be complaining, as i've managed to get my first choice:

1009 - Human Structure by Dissection: Thorax and abdomen
YAAAAAAYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Now... back to finishing my PBL for tomorrow (>.<)

Tuesday 26 October 2010

MedSoc: too many waistlines

Supplementing all the science from the lectures, we now have EPC which has nicely substituted what used to be called Medsoc from last year; and what is supposed to be medsoc this year has now turned into a bit of a whiney topic for me.

I've been allocated an Okay-ish placement which itself is of interest to me, the location (a hospital in london) isn't too difficult to get to either, but today.... i literally just spent the morning waiting for the dietician to turn up late, 3 of the 5 expected patients to not turn up at all, and then learnt about how many hobnobs the remaining patients have had for breakfast (literally).

This was then followed by a logistical challenge in the rain to dash to another hospital site, which is where it did get slightly better... the fact that as soon as i got back i got taken into a room with free sandwiches for lunch! Woooooop, there was some sort of talk at the clinic earlier, and all the uneaten bits of food were free for all.. and having nothing but 3 jacob crackers i managed to grab this morning.. i picked up a plate and said thank you.

The afternoon just consisted of standing at a stall at the front of the hospital measuring the waistlines of randomers...and out of boredom i got my blood sugar and blood pressure taken too when i ran out of waistlines to measure.

Okay.... so it could be worse.. but this time the grass actually is really greener on the other side.. especially when i learnt of my friend's placement in renal which finished at 12pm, and he gets to go see kidney transplants in the upcoming weeks, whilst i have more weeks of measuring waistlines coming up (> .<)

Sunday 10 October 2010

Extended Patient Contact

So since starting 2nd year, i've been introduced to a new component of the course, Extended Patient Contact (EPC).

To be fair, i've had my first EPC session this week, and i'm still pretty unsure what the purpose of EPC is (other than what's suggested by the module name)... i could easily read the module handbook, but that requires too much effort at the moment, and so i will just go with the flow for now.

I wasn't too keen on the location of my placement... its a tad further than my last placement.. in fact its on the tube map (the ends of it), but esssentially, it falls into ESSEX! ... so on a fortnightly basis, i will be trecking it into Essex for 9am starts >.< (travelling to MedSoc last year seems like a treat now).. but i might actually start to look forward to these EPC sessions.. particulary since the first one turned out to be really good (unexpectedly)!

EPC is pretty much MedSoc from last year, with more hands on experience and teaching. I'm not sure if its because of the GP i'm placed with this year, or its just the module itself, but it is defiantely a LOT better! The fact that we're a smaller group of just 4 students also means we get more opportunities to get a go at everything.

This week, we managed to sit in through 3 consultations, asked the patients a few questions, each do an ecg on another student, practised taking each other's blood pressures, watched 2 CR examinations, and got quizzed on drugs. All in all... a fun day!

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Lecturer's Youtube link

Our Clinical skills lecturer sent this youtube link to our year group.......
"Doctor Dances to Hip-Hop Heart Rhythms-Arrhythmias "

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Starting Year 2 - Cardiorespiratory

Finally i'm back, and safe to say i made it through 1st year, and am currently already a week into year 2!

Couldn't have asked for more this summer, had an absolutely amazing summer holiday - went to see so many different places, got some part time work done, and managed to do things i would have never had the chance to do if i hadn't come to Barts and made the friends i've made here, i LOVE BARTS!

.......and now onto CARDIORESPIRATORY, a big dose of it; in fact its a chunky 6 weeks worth of it! Not exactly how i wanted to start the year, but hey.. i'm glad it's not B&B!

So far the lectures have been "okay" bordering on the lines of "dull", it's all been a big chunk of anatomy revision with a few new diseases chucked in... *Fingers crossed for more interesting lectures soon, before i actually fall asleep in a lecture (again)* Ok, perhaps i'm being unfair, we did have one interesting lecture moment on ECG interpretation this week; however the intersting part came from our lecturer's slip up, answering a student's question about AF along the lines of - "atrial fibrillations don't exist" ... ¬.¬ (They are amongst the most common arrythmias - we even had a 2 hour pbl session discussing it!)

Hmmm ok, i guess i did enjoy the ecg practical this week - finally made sense of Einthoven's triangle, and i know this sounds so so silly, but i now know what they mean by a 12 lead ecg! A bit embaressing, but throughout the entirety of first year, i thought it meant literally 12 leads/electrodes attaching to the chest to acquire 12 seperate readings, when leads actually refers to the readings, and only 9 electrodes are required.... i always wondered where the other 3 missing leads attached!

And finally a bit of an annoying revelation and not so CR related, is that according to the welcome lecture we had at the start of the week, it is required to be in the top decile to get a distinction, whilst all along i was under the impression we just had to obtain a merit in 2 consecutive years... grrr i knew it was too good to be true!!

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Summer Break

So i'm finally back from my summer trip, and am now just stuck between occasional shift work for my part time job, and heaps of lazing around...
....a tad random, and very non-medical school life related, but TOY STORY 3 was ....... AMAZING! It even had me shedding a few tears towards the end of it, damn you evil Lotso!

Anyhoots, i learnt that second year doesn't start again till the 27th of September, so thats literally just 2 months away! YAY to long summer holidays, but NAY to the occasional boredom that comes with it.

I know i should be glad to have any holiday at all though, its a a really odd feeling, but when i meet up with my old uni friends, or just call to catch up, its odd to hear how everyone is now getting on with their lives, some getting engaged, and most are working a monday-friday, 9-5 job, whilst i'm still living the student life. Its another one of those, "the grass is greener on the other side" moments for me, but what keeps me motivated, is the prospect of going into the final year of pre-clinicals, and being able to hit the clinical years after next summer!

Ok back to lazing around until september!

Friday 4 June 2010

Do i regret choosing 5-year over GEP?

Its finally been a year at Barts (well, not quite the 365.25 days, but its been an academic year) and it seems a fitting time to review my ucas decision. I also get asked this question now and then, so a post would probably be good.

I suppose until i complete my MBBS, i'm not really going to know if i regret it or not, as it is with this post, my mind sort of flickers now and then between yes and no. BUT at this moment in time, and indeed throughout the entire year so far (apart from funmed... that even had me thinking of quitting... crazy, i know!) i have no major regrets..but i do have a few.

It would be a lie for me to say i have no regrets at all, being able to graduate a year earlier and start earning a salary would have been nice, but i suppose some things are worth more than money, and if i try to look into the future, the experiences i've had at Barts more than makes up for a year of lost earnings.. though i really could do with a regular income right now!

With a 5 year course there's simply more time to absorb the material, more time to take part in sports and societies, and just generally more time to myself to get on with other important things in my life. I didn't really cherish any of these opportunities during my Biochemistry degree, but it's never too late to get involved... and especially at barts, which is very mature friendly (~40% of my year are grads!!)

However, being in London, my home town, really did sway the decision for me, if the 5 year offer wasn't in London, i think i would have chosen the GEP, i'm 90% certain.

Yes, London is expensive, but as a Student it's the cheapest time to live here, my family and friends are here, and i simply had some issues which meant i had to be in London often, so going to Barts really did tick more boxes than a GEP outside of London. Indeed, i would have probably gone for a GEP in London, but i didn't want to wait a year for my deferred GEP offer at Barts, and at the time of making my ucas decision, the fear of failing medical school meant i chose the easier option. So that's how i ended up where i am now.

Although i sometimes do have a "what if" moment, it's probably out of curiosity, rather than regret and wishful thinking.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Year 1 Results: 1/5th of a doctor ^^

The student office decided to release the results a day earlier than stated, and it came as a bit of a shock! (but kudos to them for releasing them so soon - exams finished on Friday, so thats less than a week) I felt so unprepaired to see the results, and as overly dramatic as it may sound, my hands were actually a tad shaky when i had to click the button and load the results page...

But... YAY! It finally feels like all the coffee, and sleep deprivation during the cram has been worth it - though it probably knocked a good half, if not a whole year off my life expectancy >.<

Paper A - 79%
Paper Bi - 80%
Paper Bii - 71%
Paper C - 79%
Paper D - 78%

Outcome: Pass with Merit

1/5th of the way there - Roll on year 2! ^^

Saturday 22 May 2010

Paper C: Spotter

The lack of sleep, caffeine over-use and general tiredness all crept up to me last night, and all i wanted to do was sleep!

In fact i managed to sneak in a good 6 hours worth before waking up at midnight to start the 8 hour cram, and going in to uni to sit 2 hours worth of identifying gross and microanatomy images... this was scary, partically since it was 8 hours to cram the entire year's worth of it!

I took the "just keep doing the past papers" approach, and that definately paid off, i recognised a few of the images as soon as they came up, and as per usual as soon as i left the place i realised some of the silly mistakes i made. Meh... at least first year exams are all over now ^^!

Just "the wait" now!

Thursday 20 May 2010

Paper D: OSCEs

This was why i wanted to come to medical school!
Odd as it may sound, but i don't think i've ever had so much fun in an end of year exam before ^^ (i can't wait to get to clinical years!)

I was among the lucky half of the year group, who got placed in the archives room at Barts (not sure on the official name for the room) - it was a grand room, with tall ceilings and specimens preserved in bottles placed around the room! In fact i couldn't help but stare at the spots on the face of a sagitally dissected head in one of the jars, as i shaded in the boxes of my emq sheet.

The room was beautiful, almost on par to the Gordon Museum at GKT (ok, im not going to be bias the Gordon museum does have the edge!)

We rotated around the room, going to various stations and performed various tasks, and although i know i missed quite a few marks here and there, it was genuinly a lot of fun! (Gargh thinking back, i have no idea how i managed to get Varum and Valgum the wrong way round!).

Glad it didn't turn into the nightmare i thought it would have been!
Now just the Spotter left for tomorrow....!

- edit:
How am i going to learn all these images tonight?!!?!?!?!??!?!!

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Paper Bi: EMQs

EMQs were nice today!

I left the exam early, and by then half of my pbl group and the majority of people from the exam hall had already left too, with almost everyone wearing a smile ^^. (a big contrast to what happened after the SAQs yesterday!)

Compared to the past ICAs, they were actually pretty 1st year friendly, apart from the questions on the brain nuclei, and.. well i can only blame myself for getting the antibiotics and antifungal drugs wrong! - had a feeling they were going to come up, but last night i just wanted to sleep, and i did... a good 12 hours!! (the most i've had the night before an exam)

As it's 50% of Paper B, im hoping its going to pull up my abysmal mark from yesterday! - then again... we still need to pass all Papers to progress to next year hmm... will just have to wait and see if i'll be resitting that one next week.

OSCEs to tackle on thursday and Spotter on Friday!
Bring on the cram!

-------------------------------
The new London hosp, had to take a photo of it! It's so modern looking, and such a big contrast to the current hospital!

Monday 17 May 2010

Paper Bii : SAQs

OK, todays paper was HARD!
- not impossible, but definately not a nice one!

I had some how hoped it would be pretty similar to ICA standards... but nope, it was so hard that after the exam i felt that all my revision and last minute cramming has been in vain, as i wasn't going to get the answers even if i had an extra day to revise for it.

A few questions felt rather ambigous, and i only have my poor vocabulary pool to blame for not knowing what "Corroborating" meant (i came home and did a google..), and so probably babbled along the wrong lines!

EMQs tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Saturday 15 May 2010

Exam on monday

Exams start on monday....
....... i've never been so annoyed with myself for not having started revision earlier! GARGhhhhhhhhhhh~! (and yet i come on here to waste even more time!!)

PBL cramming now, and still not had a look at CR since.. er.. since the last ICA... will i be able to cram a whole module tomorrow....?! errrr...things are not looking good at the moment!

Back to revision cramming!

Sunday 9 May 2010

SSC update

OK, i take back what i said in the last post - the accelerated learning SSC did actually turn out to be a huge daily revision session, with 2 power naps! Fair enough it's not exactly the most exciting of SSCs, but 3 weeks before the exams.... it turned out pretty useful afterall.
(So... am i still jealous of those who got dissection or surgical sscs? .... er....... YES! Ah the grass is always greener on the other side =P )

And.. Finally, just a week left until the end of the year exams, typically the internet at home has to go down! So im currently sitting on the floor in the corner of my cousin's room, typing in semi-darkness whilst he snores away (very loudly!), and i scramble to put together some information on the 3 seen pbls for paper Bii!

Not sure why, but i felt like taking a photo of the scene, so meh:



.... 7 days left to go!

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Accelerated learning ssc

It's ironic how slow and little work we actually get done on this SSC!

Having read the course brief i was expecting to have a whole day to do revision, and be given the occasional command to take a break..or maybe have a few revision techniques taught to us (i even thought i was one of the lucky ones to get a ssc based on revision and improving on it.. oh .. how wrong i was!)

Instead we were put through 2x 30minutes of "hypnosis sessions" where she would try and take us on a wonderful journey to success...
- all i remember was "repeating the word success as you count down", and "success..blah blah.. see the green light" . The rest of the day just consisted of sitting in a cramped room, a 1.5 hour lunch, and too many breaks in between.

I suppose i'm glad i don't have a hectic SSC, but nor is this SSC turning out to be the amazing revision cram sessions i thought it would be.. meh the grass is always greener on the other side!

I'm hoping it would get better towards the end, but im not optimistic.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Exam Timetable

OK, the feeling has completely changed from yesterday..!!
- I have "THE FEAR" now!

I went into uni and had a talk on our upcoming end of year exams.... and whilst it doesn't count towards my ranking (MTAS final year blah), i need paper A to go well if i want to have a shot at getting a merit (top quartile - quite unlikely, but it's good motivation to work!). Grr~ so .. this ICA is sort of important-ish afterall >.< !

On a plus note, the talk did get my "fear" going! Plus i had my last PBL today too Yahey~ no more PBLs or PBL write-ups until September!(well ...sort of... we've been annoyingly given 3 pbl scenarios to prepare for the summer exams on our own... ¬.¬).. accelerated learning SSC doesn't look like such a bad allocation anymore!

Ok so this is how my Summer Exam timetable looks:

17th - EMQ
18th - SAQ
20th - OSCEs
21st - Spotter (A possible flop!)
27th - Results

Over in a week, and results the following.. i like the efficiency!
BUT until then...

B&B / LOCO ICA on Friday! lets do this!!

Lazy

Simply put, i have been so lazy!

I worked out from percentages, that i've already passed paper A, and since it doesn't count towards the final year grade, i really lack motivation to revise for the upcoming ICAs on Friday >.<

So meh, time to update my blog instead of some hard-core revision (despite all this, i'll give revision another try tonight). I am scared of the upcoming exams, but i dunno.. i think i'm just tired from the whole year now, and i can't wait for the summer holidays!

On another note, i can't believe the year has gone by so quickly!!!

- had my last learning landscape, microanatomy and practical today, and technically i'll have my LAST LECTURE of the year on Wednesday, ending with a B&B lecture on neural control of emotional behaviour..

...i say technically the last lecture since next week i'll be braced with another 2 weeks of SSMs.... and i'm not sure which is worse... my first SSM, or my upcoming SSM in "accelerated learning" hmmmmmm...!

Sunday 4 April 2010

Revision Begins!

18 Days left until B&B/Loco ICAS
42 Days left until End of year exams!

feeling: PANIC!
----------------------------------------

Revision officially begins today!

...Well for 2 days, then im off on holiday to europe for 4 days (away from my notes), before im back to uni to face 2 more weeks of B&B lectures, the B&B/Loco ICAs, and 2 weeks of SSCs! Ahhh i wish i got my act together earlier, but now im into revision mode, im sending myself out of the country and away from my notes! this is not good!!!

-the television has been moved out of the room
- msn will be uninstalled
- and ... facebook.. well nothing yet.. im too much of an addict to disable that ^.^

Revision to-do list:

Funmed - 0%
Human Development - 0%
Cardiorespiratory - 0%
Metabolism - 0%
Locomotor ~ 20% completed
Brain and Behaviour ~ 50% completed

PBLs - 0%
Practicals - 0%
OSCEs - 0%

Anatomy ~25% completed
Microanatomy - 0%

... by x% completed.. i simply mean read through it briefly. I'm going to have to spend a lot of time in the library as soon as term starts.

Wednesday 31 March 2010

Easter Break - No revision yet

23 Days left until the B+B/Loco ICAs
47 Days until end of year exams!

Feeling: Ummm lazy.
-----------------------------------------

With the afternoon lectures cancelled and the library closed at 1pm (so i didn't even have to feel guilty for not going in to do any work) ... Easter got off to a very good start!

In fact since last Friday i've refused to wear anything but pyjamas, and have eaten an unhealthy amount of cereal whilst dossing around the house. This..... is NOT good!!!

... particularly since for the last 2 years of my biochemistry degree Easter always resulted in a revision frenzy; however this year i'm just not feeling it. I've done some notes, but nothing in terms of revision and although i know the end of year exams are only 47 days away, i've just lost the motivation.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Nerve Block: Best Practical Ever!

Today's practical was rather painful, but SUPER FUN, and definately falls into the category of "Unforgettable"! (i'm even tempted to say i want to do it again, despite the pain i was in!!) .

I volunteered to be the subject of the experiment today, which involved sticking my arm into a sphyg cuff, and have it there for 35 minutes at 180mmhg! (i thought "meh, it can't be that painful" .. i was wrong!). My friends would then come and poke and prod it with an array of different bits and bobs to test my sensory response at 5 minutes intervals.

Initialy the pain was from my friends jabbing the lance into my arm with force, but my arm started going numb rather quickly, and by 20 minutes i had lost the ability to feel a few things; i couldn't even fully extend my fingers, and my arm just flopped about. As friends do, they took advantage of this and just laughed as i struggled to control my dead arm to pick up a pen. (fun aside, it was rather scary!)

By 25minutes all i wanted to do was to get the damn thing off, as my arm had now turned a very odd shade, and er.. it was uncomfortable to say the least! However when the 30 minutes were over, removing the cuff didn't give instant relief, instead my arm shot red with intense pins and needles.

Ok, it just sounds like a giant moan, but i genuinly really enjoyed the practical today!!
(However i suspect this may be the only bit of B&B i enjoy)

Sunday 21 March 2010

End of Loco

Friday's lecture theatre happened to be really empty.... it was the Dental Beer Race!!

A lot of people stayed home designing and putting the last touches to their costumes... and i was impressed! With a first year's naivety, I genuinly thought my team's costumes were pretty good, this was until we got back to whitechapel and saw teams of lego men, doughnuts and highlighters! I think next year i'll go easy on the beer, and spend more time on the costumes.

Also on friday, B&B started without my acknowledgement of it untill i sat down in 2 hours worth of lectures on the brain. Sadly locomotor has finished, and whats i've seen of B&B so far isn't too bad, but i've been told by many upper years to expect it to get a lot worse!

Locomotor -
Likes: was enjoyable-ish, most of it was just upper and lower limb anatomy, so its just about remembering what fits where.
Dislikes: i'm really going to suffer with learning those dermatomes!!!

One more week until Easter holidays (wooohooo 2 weeks off! ^^), but then.... 8 weeks until summer exams!!

Saturday 6 March 2010

Ragged out

Rag week finally drew to a close yesterday, and I'm feeling confident we've managed to hold the record as London's top ragging medical school once again!

-It was an excuse to walk around in scrubs and harass persuade the general public to give generously for the entire week. I managed to get myself into weird situations including being told off by traffic police, called a beggar too many times, and got invited to sit next to orthopaedic consultants during their morning meeting, before showing them my bucket!! (i watched the junior doctors present the different scans and x-rays, then to be grilled exessively by the orthopaedic top guns - it's scary to think in 5 years time i may have to face a similar grilling)

but now that Rag is over... it's back to dressing normally, and sadly time to get back to work !! (don't think i'll miss seeing the black stuff when i blow my nose... who knew the tube was THAT dirty?!)

Locomotor has technically just been heap loads of upper and lower limb anatomy - So it's not really all that bad, seeing i quite like sitting down with Gray's; in fact i far prefer using a text book and rarely enjoy learning landscape. However it was really good last week, particularly the station with all the X-rays!

I think locomotor will easily be my favourite module, and although i've not experienced it yet, i have a feeling brain and behaviour to follow will be my least.

to end this post on a positive note, the results for the hd/cr/met exams are back, and i'm happy ^^

Thursday 25 February 2010

Almost back to lectures

My first taste of SSCs felt like a half-term, an unproductive one.

Now for a final ssc assessment tomorrow, a week of Rag fun to look forward to (managed to blag ourselves some random scrubs, not too keen on the unidentified stain on it, but finally i can say goodbye to the disposable ones!), and back to normality (lectures!!).

- i didn't think i missed lectures, but after speaking to some friends last night, it just seems so odd to be so lazy (its been a fantastic and well needed break after what was hd/cr/met!), but i think its time to roll on the locomotor!

Tuesday 16 February 2010

Lazy SSC

Woohooooo, the ICAs are over!
thinking about it, i'm probably just over half way done with 1st year now! ^^ time does fly!! (there is always the obstacle of the summer exams, but i'm trying not to scare myself just yet)

The spotter this time was a lot better, i felt so much more prepaired, and for once i looked at the image and actually knew what the arrow was pointing to! Can't say i felt the same for the SAQ/EMQ paper though, my mouth dropped open as i tried to recall as much info as i could from a CR practical session on the ... VITALOGRAPH.. oh and the question about the ECG lead! (this will haunt me for quite a while!), i didn't revise the practicals and that probably hit my chances of passing pretty hard.

Well, whats done is done now, just a relaxing wait for exam results, whilst i enjoy my 2 weeks of self-study SSC lazyness.

I managed to get Membrane Transport, not so exciting, but a well needed break from 9-5 lectures. Not much to talk about really, i literally went into uni to pick up a self study pack, went home, and now have an exam on it next monday and friday, and thats simply it. I'm tempted to do a spot of travelling!

Can't say i'm not jealous of those who managed to get Dissection though! I spoke to a few people who are complaining about their 10-5 shedule, and wish they had the 2 weeks off (though they are in the minority, most people seem to be loving it!); whilst i wish i got a spot of "cadaver juices on my lab coat" and have "hands that smell of formaldehyde" >.<

I'm definately putting dissection as first choices for both sscs next year!

Thursday 4 February 2010

Ah Poo!

Ah Poo! for 2 reasons:

1) Our last PBL was quite literally on diarrhorea.

- one of the objectives was to look up the different types/causes of diarrhorea, and all of them were pretty much the norm., apart from Factitious!
A bit of a random find from the K&C, but it was quite a: -- "REALLY, people do that?? O.o" moment for me when i read that some people would dilute their faeces with urine or with tap water to make it seem like they have diarrhorea. A tad random, but because its so odd, it'll stick in my head.

2) HD/CR/MET ICAs panic!!

I thought i was scared for Funmed, but that seems so much easier now compared to what's coming up next Friday!

I have barely touched Met, and CR is a bum of a module (i've always had to try really hard to get my head round physiology), and well HD.. that just seems to never end!
......and to make matters worse, i've got MedSoc the day before to keep me away from a last day cram!!

I don't usually complain about MedSoc; although the placement is really far, the gp teaches really well, and lets us have a go at different things. Just last week she whipped out a few spygs, and let us practice taking blood pressures on each other (it was a bit random, seeing that the topic for the week was diabetes!! - but i wasn't complaining!), and for the first time i finally managed to take a blood pressure, so i was happy. BUT the fact that its literally the day before the exams is a pain!

OK.... now back to some revision!

Wednesday 27 January 2010

Meeting Kumar

I always loved clinical demonstrations, they're not exactly very sciency, but it gives us the opportunity to learn a bit more about relevent diseases, and to hear it from a patient's perspective. What made the session even better today, was having Prof. Kumar!

Ok i sound a little star struck (i was!!), but she was so down to earth, and funny.

At the end of the lecture, she asked us what the rules of Kumar were, and from what i remember these were it:

1st rule of Kumar.... (i missed this one >.< )
2nd rule of Kumar ... Listen to your patients
3rd rule of Kumar ... Don't be arrogant
23 b) rule of Kumar ... (along the lines of work hard!)

So with Rule 23b in mind, its time to kick start the revision for the upcoming HDxCRxMET Exam! >.<

Although content wise, it's only 9 weeks worth (similar to Funmed), but this time round, it feels like it's 3x more work!

Thanks to Super idiot for reminding me:
"she asked someone how much poo they make!! and the guy said 400-450 grams and she started laughing :D"

Friday 22 January 2010

Anatomy: Body painting!

This week's learning landscape and practical session was by far the MOST ENJOYABLE anatomy session so far; as we swapped pens for brushes, and prosections for torsos during a session of body painting (!!), and played around with spirometers during the practical.

Thankfully some of the boys were happy to take their shirts off, so off we went following a booklet of instructions, and painting on the bones, muscles, and arteries of the thorax. It sounds a bit odd, and at first i was like "hmmm interesting....", but it was actually really helpful to see where the different things were in relation to each other, and it was something different for a change ^.^

CR module finishes tomorrow, and Metabolism starts on Monday.
It's taken me so long to get into medical school, but i'm actually sort of glad there'll be some sort of biochemisty coming up, i know i may regret saying this later, but..... i miss learning pathways!

Saturday 16 January 2010

Clinical Skills

On Monday i had my first clinical skills session.

We were seperated into 2 rooms (one for boys, and the other for girls), and then given 2 hours to turn the - CV examinations lecture into a touchy feely session.

I managed to locate the radial, brachial and carotid pulses, and failed from then onwards to find the apex beat and any of the other pulses below my waist (>.<), i'll keep trying, but having tried a couple of times at home, i'm still in search of my apex beat!

Oh and we finally got to do something with a stethoscope, but to be honest i had no idea what i was doing or trying to listen out for. Thankfully, i have a few people who have agreed to become my guinea pigs, and i have until the summer to work these things out.

Until then, its time to start stressing about the next set of ICAs!

Saturday 9 January 2010

Snow Days Cardiorespiratory

Firt week of CR is over, and of the 5 days i was late on 4, and the only day i turned up on time, the facilitator couldn't make it in. Travelling in the Snow, is definately not FUN!

That aside, consistent lateness has led me to stumble across a new route to uni, which although involves a few more stops, actually ends up shaving a good 5, possibly 10 (on a good day) minutes off my travelling time!! Will give this route a good trial over the remaining 2 weeks of CR.

Fun fact i found whilst writing up some notes:
The blood vessels in humans stretch for 100,000km through the internal body landscape!!
-My RBCs have travelled further than i have in the past year, im pretty jealous.

So hows CR?
Hmmm well on first impressions, CR anatomy is more friendlier than that of the pelvis from HD last term (pelvis anatomy stole many of my evenings). Though i suspect it might just be down to familiarity with the heart, afterall the heart has some how been on my syllabus almost ever year since GCSEs! BUT that doesn't make it easy, in fact im DREADING all the ECG lectures!

Sunday 3 January 2010

New Year + HD notes over

Just about finished with the HD note writing/revision marlarky (but in actual fact i've skipped a few lectures >.<), in time for the start of term. It has been a massive drain over the short 2 week X'mas break, and im not all that refreshed and ready to take on the upcoming CR module, but hey 'ho thats life~!

What HD has made me realise is... wow did my mum go through a lot to give birth to me! HD has definately made me think of pregnancy a bit differently, I'm sure most people in the year will do too (varying amounts, i'm sure), and i know this just from listening out for the "Ewwww"s (probably a photo of a dilated cervix with a head popping out of it), and "Awww"s (Video of the kid growing up and learning different abilities) throughout the different lectures.

So with a fresh (hardly feeling it) start tomorrow, it'll be the simpsons movie followed by an early night tonight ^^




p.s i hope muesli is healthy, ive been eating a lot of it! (not for a health regime, but just because its so damn tasty!)