On Friday i sat my first exam at BL -> Fundamentals of medicine '09
It's been 3 years since i've sat any EMQs, and i had forgotten what a pain they could be; though no pain can even come close to the spotter exam !!
Flicking through the microanatomy slides before the exam, in combo with my stupid "fingers crossed" ritual, had come no where close to preparing me well. I predict a flop.
At least i now know i really need to work on my anatomy!
The final kick of the day came in the form of my SSC allocations >.<
(though i'll try and keep an open mind)
So... that brings Funmed to an end..
..........................roll on human development!
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Friday, 20 November 2009
Funmed
Being a science grad on an undergraduate course, I get the:
"you'll do fine, you've done this all before"
comment quite a lot, and if i'm being honest, i'm sure i've muttered those words among the grads a few times myself. It's a bit of a weird feeling, even more so now that the.....
FUNMED assessment is in 7 days time!!
OK i don't really know the exact weightings, but i think its worth like 27% of paper A overall.... and the spotter component makes up 5% of the 27%....
so its decided, im giving up on the spotter!
(well i'll revise a bit of it, and have my fingers crossed for the bits of anatomy and microanatomy i like to pop up, but im not going to stress over it too much....now lets hope i've made the right decision!)
"you'll do fine, you've done this all before"
comment quite a lot, and if i'm being honest, i'm sure i've muttered those words among the grads a few times myself. It's a bit of a weird feeling, even more so now that the.....
FUNMED assessment is in 7 days time!!
OK i don't really know the exact weightings, but i think its worth like 27% of paper A overall.... and the spotter component makes up 5% of the 27%....
so its decided, im giving up on the spotter!
(well i'll revise a bit of it, and have my fingers crossed for the bits of anatomy and microanatomy i like to pop up, but im not going to stress over it too much....now lets hope i've made the right decision!)
Thursday, 8 October 2009
new experiences
Med-Soc: GP Placement
I HATE the hour long journey to uni, and from next week onwards, i'll have to add a 2 hour journey to my fortnightly rota, as we start Medicine in Society >.< Luckily for me, its still within the zones of my travel card (I would be even more whiney if i had to pay anything ontop of the £81/month travel card!!) BUT, travel pains aside, i'm actually genuinly quite excited about med soc; in contrast to some of the people i've spoken to, i quite like the idea of being in a general practice.
PBL: isn't so bad.
If i have to choose one word to define my first session of PBL, i would choose: Awkward!
It really was a bit odd, none of us actually knew what we were meant to do, and i think the chair had a hard time getting everyone involved. (the tutor pointed us in the right decision throughout, and finally got us there)
However, the follow-up PBL session went a LOT smoother, we went through the objectives quickly, and onto the next case scenario. This time we knew what we had to do, and it actually wasn't so bad (actually i quite enjoyed it). I think it will just take some time to get use to.
Anatomy
Anatomy consisted of walking around to different stations, looking at specimens and seeking help from the demonstrators; asking one of the demonstrators a question about the brain was probably the best decision i made of the day.
Whilst answering my question and describing the different features of the brain, the demonstrator whipped out a pair of pink latex gloves from his lab coat pocket, handed them to me and told me to pick up the brain "Go on pick it up, i know you want to", and he was right.
The smell of formaldehyde was bearable, but I did feel a little queezy.
I HATE the hour long journey to uni, and from next week onwards, i'll have to add a 2 hour journey to my fortnightly rota, as we start Medicine in Society >.< Luckily for me, its still within the zones of my travel card (I would be even more whiney if i had to pay anything ontop of the £81/month travel card!!) BUT, travel pains aside, i'm actually genuinly quite excited about med soc; in contrast to some of the people i've spoken to, i quite like the idea of being in a general practice.
PBL: isn't so bad.
If i have to choose one word to define my first session of PBL, i would choose: Awkward!
It really was a bit odd, none of us actually knew what we were meant to do, and i think the chair had a hard time getting everyone involved. (the tutor pointed us in the right decision throughout, and finally got us there)
However, the follow-up PBL session went a LOT smoother, we went through the objectives quickly, and onto the next case scenario. This time we knew what we had to do, and it actually wasn't so bad (actually i quite enjoyed it). I think it will just take some time to get use to.
Anatomy
Anatomy consisted of walking around to different stations, looking at specimens and seeking help from the demonstrators; asking one of the demonstrators a question about the brain was probably the best decision i made of the day.
Whilst answering my question and describing the different features of the brain, the demonstrator whipped out a pair of pink latex gloves from his lab coat pocket, handed them to me and told me to pick up the brain "Go on pick it up, i know you want to", and he was right.
The smell of formaldehyde was bearable, but I did feel a little queezy.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
First Week
I did plan to update after the first day at BL, but i think i've already slipped into my old student routine of pushing things back for later... so i'll have to settle with blogging about my 1st week instead ^^
Things on a whole have been going well, theres not really that much going on as its the typical induction week; however there was this GREAT welcome lecture on friday (i don't want to go into great details in case i ruin it for others) which was a combination of shock, fear, laughs and feeling stupid right at the end for believing it all from the start ^^, if this is BL, then i think i'm going to love it!
Freshers fayre was another highlight of the week (!!) - a concise medical dictionary, highlighters in the shape of syringes, and random pens were nice gifts, but i think the free mini oxford handbook of clinical medicine was the cherry on top! (especially since i was planning on buying it!).
Roll on week 2, and my first session of PBL on Tuesday!
Things on a whole have been going well, theres not really that much going on as its the typical induction week; however there was this GREAT welcome lecture on friday (i don't want to go into great details in case i ruin it for others) which was a combination of shock, fear, laughs and feeling stupid right at the end for believing it all from the start ^^, if this is BL, then i think i'm going to love it!
Freshers fayre was another highlight of the week (!!) - a concise medical dictionary, highlighters in the shape of syringes, and random pens were nice gifts, but i think the free mini oxford handbook of clinical medicine was the cherry on top! (especially since i was planning on buying it!).
Roll on week 2, and my first session of PBL on Tuesday!
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Welcome Pack
Despite how much economic sense it would make to go for the unexpected 4 year GEP offer, i've decided at the end to stick with the 5year..... so roll on enrolment!
(Thank you Sengcheek and Lily for the supportive advice, but my fear of failing and flopping med school has both hands shaking me and telling me to stick with the less intensive 5 year course... and as seng put it, its still a win-win situation ^.^ )
**My welcome pack arrived this afternoon!**
OK, to be fair the excitement only lasted through the receiving, running upstairs to my room, and the careful opening part; after that it sort of died down as i flicked through the paperwork. Nestled inside the A4 sized envelope was a letter from BLSA, a book list, a two-day timetable, the pre-enrolment form (this just means i have to go to the student office next week and show them a few certificates), and few other bits and bobs. On a plus note, theres advice on getting myself a new student oyster card (i need one of those!), and real excitement in knowing i'll finally be starting on the 21st !!! (even if its a horrible 8am start to the day >.<)
(Thank you Sengcheek and Lily for the supportive advice, but my fear of failing and flopping med school has both hands shaking me and telling me to stick with the less intensive 5 year course... and as seng put it, its still a win-win situation ^.^ )
**My welcome pack arrived this afternoon!**
OK, to be fair the excitement only lasted through the receiving, running upstairs to my room, and the careful opening part; after that it sort of died down as i flicked through the paperwork. Nestled inside the A4 sized envelope was a letter from BLSA, a book list, a two-day timetable, the pre-enrolment form (this just means i have to go to the student office next week and show them a few certificates), and few other bits and bobs. On a plus note, theres advice on getting myself a new student oyster card (i need one of those!), and real excitement in knowing i'll finally be starting on the 21st !!! (even if its a horrible 8am start to the day >.<)
Thursday, 27 August 2009
GEP upgrade?
Received an early phone call this morning from an unknown number. Instantly i thought it was going to be telly-sales, though surprisingly rather than having a chatty lady trying to upgrade my mobile, it was a call from Barts saying i can go onto the GEP course (!!!)
.....BUT starting 2010!
Its a VERY tempting offer, and one i have to make a decision on by next tuesday!
Pros:
- GEP funding (less debt!)
- Graduate the same time as i would if i start on the 5 year this September
- No need to reapply on ucas, as it will just be deferred
Cons:
- Not sure if i can manage the workload
(a BIG worry, as i rather do the 5 year and pass, than to do the 4 year and fail at the first hurdle!)
- Was really geared and ready to start this September
- Not sure what to do with another gap year
Currenlty finding this a really difficult decision to make!
- on a random note, i have an interview tomorrow with kaplan, for a part time teacher of the UKCAT! (randomly found the job advert online!)
.....BUT starting 2010!
Its a VERY tempting offer, and one i have to make a decision on by next tuesday!
Pros:
- GEP funding (less debt!)
- Graduate the same time as i would if i start on the 5 year this September
- No need to reapply on ucas, as it will just be deferred
Cons:
- Not sure if i can manage the workload
(a BIG worry, as i rather do the 5 year and pass, than to do the 4 year and fail at the first hurdle!)
- Was really geared and ready to start this September
- Not sure what to do with another gap year
Currenlty finding this a really difficult decision to make!
- on a random note, i have an interview tomorrow with kaplan, for a part time teacher of the UKCAT! (randomly found the job advert online!)
Friday, 7 August 2009
Summer
My plans for a holiday never happened at the end, no one can ever predict an accident, and neither did i expect my mum to fracture her spine and break a rib after a slip. So since then its been a major operation for mum (2 plates and 8 screws), a bit of an emotional rollercoster of a summer, and putting all the HCA skills to good use looking after mum post-op. Thankfully she is gradually on the mend, and just a checkup in September to make sure the screws havn't loosened, so its fingers crossed until then; but as the surgeon told us, "if you have to have another operation, then you have to have another operation, thats the way it is".
Medical school wise, track finally changed to Unconditional a few weeks ago, and as my mum's friend made a visit yesterday i quickly went over (it was still the hour plus journey!) to the Whitechapel student office, showed my documents and got my CRB sorted. So now £41 poorer, its just a wait until September!
Medical school wise, track finally changed to Unconditional a few weeks ago, and as my mum's friend made a visit yesterday i quickly went over (it was still the hour plus journey!) to the Whitechapel student office, showed my documents and got my CRB sorted. So now £41 poorer, its just a wait until September!
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