Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The most disgusting lab ever

Today in Anatomy lab we probed and prodded the pelvic area, and then proceeded to cut it in half. That's right, right down the middle. We cut all the soft tissue with a scalpel, and then had to use a saw to cut through the pubic (poo-bic) symphysis and up through the coccyx and sacrum, up to about L4/L5 (lower back).

Needless to say, I think I am scarred for life. There is something so wrong about turning a dead woman onto her side, raising one leg, and sawing down the middle of her lady bits. Looking around and seeing everyone do this at their lab tables and hearing the saw go through bone was probably the strangest, most disturbing thing I have ever experienced. And there was poo everywhere. Ev-er-y-where. And then we had to clean everything up, and take any remaining poo out of the rectum so it wouldn't smell too bad and we could actually find all the structures we needed to.

I just feel so gross and dirty.

Monday, September 22, 2008

It wasn't just me this time

So today in Anatomy we were lectured on the Pelvis. The professor, who has a strong accent from I-don't-know-where, kept pronouncing "pubic" as "poo-bic". I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, but at least this time other people were laughing, too. It made me feel a little better that I wasn't the only one getting the giggles from "poo-bic".

Hee hee. Poo-bic.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Breakfast of champions


Iced coffee
Bacon (oops, ate that before I took the picture!)
Chocolate chip pancakes
Physiology textbook

Wait, one of these things doesn't belong.....

Exams

Well, I passed my first exam of medical school. Woo-hoo!

Now back to studying for the other four exams I have coming up. Ugh.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

We got to pray

Just to make it today.
-MC Hammer

Spotted this little guy outside my apartment today.
Of course the real one disappeared by the time I got my camera, so this internet picture will have to suffice.

This was after my ECR lab got out early due to a fire drill. So much for learning how to find pulses and take blood pressure. Who really needs those skills anyway?!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

What's the word I'm looking for...?

I didn't really want to delve into politics in this blog, but I found this online and thought it was pretty funny.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Anatomy lab part three

We get to use the bone saw in lab tomorrow and I'm disturbingly excited about it!

Monday, September 8, 2008

I'm a 13 year old at heart

In my clinical reasoning lecture this morning, we had a professor demonstrate a musculoskeletal exam with a standardized patient after we, as an audience, obtained an HPI (history of present illness). Our standardized patient had rheumatoid arthritis, and talked about how his fingers and other joints felt stiff when he woke up. The professor asked us what this was called. When no one answered (as is usually the case in a lecture hall of 300 people), he went ahead and informed us that it was called "morning stiffness". And he did this without a smirk, or a laugh, or even an inkling that it might also mean something else (at least that's how it seemed). I, on the other hand, could barely suppress my inner 13 year old from bursting out in laughter. Oh goodness.

Friday, September 5, 2008

We didn't start the fire

Okay, well, someone here did. Apparently they loaded the washer too much, and it spun out of balance, which caused the motor to burn out, which caused the fire alarm to go off. Forty minutes later we were allowed back in the building by the fire department.

All for a clean pair of chonies. I'm sure the guys in the two fire trucks, ambulance, and incident command vehicle were thrilled.

Anatomy Lab part deux

I just ripped off a woman's breast. For reals. We were starting our thorax dissection today in anatomy lab, and we needed to examine the breast. We had to remove the skin except for around the areola, then blunt dissect underneath the areola and nipple. That means stick our fingers under there and rip it off. It was horrible. Absolutely disgusting. And it took a while. There were a lot of suspensory ligaments (also called Cooper's ligaments) that we had to tear through. Eeeewwww. And now I reek of formaldehyde, too. Bleh.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Be careful what you wish for

As many of you know, I love fall. Love. It. So I was very excited when the weather finally got cooler and it even started sprinkling a bit. Well, now we have a flood advisory, and I went through two pairs of pants today because they got soaked when I had to walk back to my apartment. At least the rain let up a bit when I walked to class so I didn't have to sit through lecture with wet pants sticking to my legs. Ick.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Weather

It is finally cool, cloudy, and drizzly here! We'll see how long it lasts.

Monday, September 1, 2008

A good day is...

...sitting outside in the warm sunshine with a light breeze blowing, in a beautiful serene garden getting your studying done. The surroundings sure make it easier to relax and focus. I'd take a garden over the library any day.